On Amelia’s Nightstand

Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger

A Wrinkle In Time by Madelaine L'Engle

Garden of Shadows by V.C. Andrews

The Lover's Dictionary by David Levinthan

Bright Side Up by Amy Spencer

Poser by Claire Dederer

Girlchild by Tupelo Hassman

Swamplandia! by Karen Russell

God In Not Great by Christopher Hitchens

Add More -Ing To Your Life by Gabrielle Bernstein

Girl Land by Caitlin Flanagan

Most of the books on my nightstand are books that I am planning on reading, just as soon as I finish the five other books I currently am reading. A few of them have a kind of spiritual, happiness focus, because I really like to read books that help me understand my own occasional bouts of depression and my desire to empower myself to defeat them. I have been meaning to read the Hitchens book for awhile and I bought Girlchild because I liked the cover, the title and the fact that the author's name is Tupelo. Sometimes I'm impulsive like that.

The top few books are some random favorites: Franny and Zooey practically saved my life in high school, when my peers were obsessed with Ayn Rand and getting into Yale and I felt like I would never be understood by anyone. I'm a big fan of YA and sci-fi-ish material, so A Wrinkle In Time is a longtime favorite because it's beautifully written and just the right amount of fantasy mixed with real life. As for V.C. Andrews? Her books inspired me to masturbate and I collect them and re-read them often (though they don't get me off anymore). The Lover's Dictionary was a clever little book I read in a couple hours that I just adored; it tells the story of a relationship alphabetically. Just read it. It's great.