Books. Not law books. Good books.

Happy Memorial Day! I hope that you are enjoying a day off, hopefully lounging by the pool with a good book in hand.

Mmm, books... I love to read! I could read all day and all night. Unfortunately, that does not pay the bills. Fortunately, not doing so allows me to do other exciting things, like eat, drink cocktails, watch Bravo, sleep, think about exercising, window shop, invent recipes, and work.

I think I will periodically list books that I have enjoyed, on the off chance that you are looking for something to read...

The Glass Castle - Jeannette Walls

This is, hands down, one of my favorite books of all time. The author chronicles her sometimes shocking childhood with wit, an element of detachment, and the insight that often comes from looking back at a situation long since passed.

Dry - Augusten Burroughs

A straightforward, sometimes harsh, always entertaining look at the author's struggle with alcoholism and rehab.

Valley of the Dolls - Jacqueline Susann

This cult classic chronicles of the rise and fall of three wildly successful young women in the 1940s-1960s. Published in 1966, the slightly antiquated language and slang in Valley of the Dolls actually made the story more interesting to me, because I knew that such a book was groundbreaking at the time.

Shogun - James Clavell

A really long, fabulously written historical fiction novel. The English pilot of a ship is washed ashore in Japan with his crew, and they are forced to live in a land they do not understand. Though the pilot is a central character, the real pull of this book is the interplay between the Western and Eastern cultures. The descriptions of Japan, its people, and its traditions are stunningly interesting.

When You Are Engulfed in Flames - David Sedaris

David Sedaris can do no wrong. This book is no exception.

I was lucky enough to be in the audience when he read some excerpts of this book at an appearance. He had the audience roaring with laughter, and I continue to laugh every time I read this book.

Also, at the book signing, he gave me a mini shampoo bottle from his hotel room. So I love him even more, because he singled me out and thinks I am special. And apparently that I have insufficiently moisturized hair.

The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath

In 9th grade, my professor assigned each student a different book, and selected them based on his assessment of our character and interests.

He assigned The Bell Jar to me... so his assessment of my character prompted him to give me a book about a suicidal teenage girl who ends up having a mental breakdown and getting electroshock therapy. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that was probably pretty poor judgment on his part. I'm not exactly the morbid, despondent type. However, despite this odd introduction, I have always enjoyed the clarity and honesty of this book...

I will post more books as I have suggestions (I obviously like novels and memoirs), since I will soon have time to read again! In case you haven't heard, completing law school and studying for the bar tends to put a damper on the leisure reading...