I'm trying to read two books a month this year, and so far I've completed 1/12th of my goal! yay! I LOVE reading but I feel like it's something I need to deliberately make time for or I don't do it often enough.
I started off the year with The Postmortal by Drew Magary. I intended to read a chapter or two each night but two chapters turned into three, which turned into ten.. before I knew it I was up all night reading. I had ONE chapter left when I decided I was just too tired to keep going and I don't think I've ever been more excited to wake up.
The Postmortal takes place in a dystopian future where someone has found the cure for aging. It's something everyone probably dreams about at least once or twice (or constantly) but in Magary's book he finds every single possible thing that could go wrong with that discovery. Things you would never think of until you read them and you're like "Drew Magary, you wicked genius!" His writing is insanely funny and sharp and I'm pretty bummed that his only other books are about sports and parenting because I'm dying for another novel.
The second book that I read was Never Have I Ever by Katie Heaney. It's a memoir about her life (so far!) with very little romantic experience. Katie has never had a boyfriend and, well, neither have I. I know, you probably think it's really weird. But if you read her book (please do!) you'll see it's not so weird at all. Honestly, for most of my adult life I've felt like a total misfit because of my inexperience in the love department, but reading this book made me so much more comfortable in my own virgin skin. Katie is laugh-out-loud hilarious, self-deprecating, but also empowering. I've never felt more secure about that part of my life than I have after reading her book.
The similarities between our lives are so many that sometimes I was like, "wait, did *I* write this?!" (Then I reminded myself that, no, I'm not that good of a writer and I'm not nearly as funny or witty.) But seriously, everything down to the nicknames for our crushes (mine was "french fries" to my friends, hers "garlic toast") to the awkward first kiss (although I guess most people share that fun detail?) to the precise reason that she's still single -- a lack of interest from the opposite sex (I swear that I've never been hit on, though my friends think I must just be oblivious), a healthy dose of fear, satisfaction with being single, and Disney-movie-level high expectations of what love should actually be like. Or at least When-Harry-Met-Sally-levels. I know.
All of the blurbs about Never Have I Ever suggest that you'll want Katie to be your best friend once you've read her book, and they're not kidding. It's taking everything I have not to send her BFF necklaces, cross my fingers and hope for the best. I'm sure she must be getting tons of emails and letters from romantic amateurs who have come out of the woodwork to recognize one of our own. We should form our own club or something. Katie can be our queen.
Seriously, just read the book. Even if you're the Casanova of our generation, I promise it's a fun read and it'll make you laugh your socks off.
