I am emotionally conflicted about John Green books. I recently heard someone say they liked An Abundance of Katherines better than The Fault In Our Stars, which is preposterous; then I heard someone else say they liked Paper Towns best, and I haven’t read that one yet so I can’t judge (though it seems unlikely); then I heard someone else say they like … More An Abundance of Katherines

Don Tillman is my new favorite literary character. Like, ever. In The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion, Don is a geneticist and professor with a touch of Asperger’s. The Asperger’s isn’t a huge focus of the novel, but it’s important in understanding Don’s unique personality — obsessively organized, completely emotionally detached, extremely intelligent and unbelievably (but … More The Rosie Project

As if I didn’t get enough star-crossed teenage romance from seeing The Fault In Our Stars, the next day I started reading Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell. (I have a hard time believing that is someone’s real first name.) I like my sappy teenage love stories with happy endings and my more serious adult fiction with realistic endings, and this … More Eleanor & Park

I will basically read and fall in love with any work of fiction that has anything to do with Italy, especially Rome. Such is the case with Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter, recommended to me by two of my favorite book recommenders. Pasquale Tursi is a young man living in the tiny Cinque Terre village known … More Beautiful Ruins