november beach reads.

One of the problems with being a librarian is that you're surrounded by books all the damn time. People always assume this is a perk, but in fact it is a pain in the neck. I can't even tell you how often I find myself completely paralyzed in the paradox of choice, unable to so much as crack a spine on something new. (Just kidding. I never crack the spines, and if I see you doing so I will give YOU a pain in the neck.) There're too many of them. They're all so beautiful. Please, don't make me choose. I always tell people not to buy me books as gifts--I don't need them, is what I say, but what I really mean is, I'll never get to them. My backlist is out of control.

It's even worse when you're traveling. My suitcases are usually 50 percent clothing and 50 percent paper. The thing is that you never really know what kind of a book you might be in the mood for when you're away. You might want a collection of essays, you might want a slightly smutty AGA Saga, you might want the one book in the Ramona series you haven't re-read as many hundred times as the others. (Bibliophilia should be listed in the DSM.) You have to be prepared for any scenario. Also, I feel like vacation reading should be as non-obligatory as possible. It's a time to read the books you've been meaning to get to for years. Screw the new releases! You'll still be on the request list at the library when you get back. They're not going anywhere. Grab the random paperbacks someone loaned you at yoga school, the publisher's proofs you schlepped home from a meeting downtown, the dusty novels newly reshelved in the back corner. Now's their time. They've waited so long.

With this in mind, here is my grossly inflated reading list for my trip to Costa Rica this week.

The Woefield Poultry Collective, by Susan Juby. This is one of the ones I've been meaning to get to for years. I devoured the Alice books ten years ago during my mid-twenties teen fiction obsession. They were fucking hilarious. If you are a fan of stories told by teen girls who are too smart for their small towns but also too loving to be too mean about them, this series is a must-read. I also loved her memoir of addiction, Nice Recovery. A copy of Woefield crossed the desk at my library the other day. Ah, I thought, serendipity.

In tangential news, one of my best librarian friends, Jen, is real-life AND facebook friends with Susan Juby. I just like knowing that this is so.

He's Gone, by Deb Caletti. This one's an advanced proof with a publication date of next May. There's something pretty wicked about reading a book before it's been published. Deb Caletti's one of those teen writers in the grand tradition of Sarah Dessen, so much drama, so much heart. She makes you remember how IMPORTANT everything felt when you were fifteen and articulates it beautifully. He's Gone is her first adult book, and it's about a woman whose husband disappears into thin air, forcing her to confront the dark truths about their relationship. YES PLEASE.

Awake In the World, by Michael Stone. No vacation is complete without a little yoga reading--not for me, anyway. When I'm on holiday I feel like I can relax into a complicated, philosophical text in a way I just can't when I'm really busy. Michael Stone is a yogi and Buddhist teacher whose teachings are firmly entrenched in the realm of social justice and left wing political action. He is such a great writer, so clear and thoughtful. This is a book of his transcribed talks and lessons, and I look forward to forcing all my friends to listen to me read eloquent lines out loud by the pool.

Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar. People keep telling me I'd love Wild by Cheryl Strayed but god DAMN if the library request list isn't a mile long. Instead, I've got this collection of columns from her former advice column. I'm an advice column junkie. I love thinking about what I'd do in the same ridiculous scenario. I love being thoughtful and mindful about how to act. I also love peering into the dark, anonymous heart of humanity. There, I said it.

I'm also bringing along a really rad iPod filled with a lot of ridiculous things that I hope will make for excellent poolside dance parties. Among the requisite catalogues of Billy Joel, Elton John, Plaskett and the Strokes are a few new favourites, including the Lumineers. I like some jingle bells in my little love songs.



See y'all in December.