Do I buy a book with a movie cover? Do I want to keep looking at Toby Maguire? Do I spend the $2? Do I go with the better cover for more money?Do I feel ridiculous for even asking these questions?

#40: In Persuasion Nation by George Saunders

I thought I didn’t know George Saunders before this book, but willing to admit my mistake, it turns out he wrote one of my favorite stories in My Mistress’s Sparrow is Dead (also highly recommended). This is his collection of short stories where he oozes satire from every page. Saunders proves words and ideas can be twisted into outragous commentary that somehow show it’s not he who is the crazy one, but you and your modern lifestyle. In reading it, I was caught off gaurd by how connected I felt to characters and places even though on the surface they resemble little of my current world. This kind of manipulatation isn’t always easy to read or write, and I’m often a tough critic of it, but I would gladly suggest this book if you want fiction entertainment without hesitation.

This may be an interesting article, but gobsmacked is really funny word. Say it out loud.

#39: Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger

I am starting to find that the more I read Salinger the more I feel an equal amount of annoyance and fascination. This book is mostly dialogue and he is able to tell so much story just by showing a conversation between two characters, but at the same time I find those same characters to be utterly pretentious. It’s almost as if I loath myself for agreeing with some of their points all the while wishing they would just shut up. Is that what Salinger was trying to accomplish? I don’t have a clue. Either way, the book is surprisingly easy to get through. It’s a good travel read and nice look into the work of an author who has since cut himself off from the public realm.