Question of the week: WHATS ON YOUR BOOK SHELF?

Tell us about something you've read; a novel you've picked up, a picture book from your childhood, or any other writing that sticks in your mind at the moment (magazines, articles, street signs)...

Meghan: I'm "reading" WACKY PACKAGES - plus interview with Art Spiegleman. It's a pile of cool stickers from the late 70s that mock packaging design. Think Garbage Pail Kids. Think Awesome. Yeah.

Anna: I've been reading To Kill A Mockingbird for a month or two. I'm in a painting frenzy so I don't have much time for reading, so I pick it up a little bit at a time. I love re-reading books I read when I was a kid, coming across passages that had completely different meaning the first time I read them.

Alvina: I just finished reading an advanced reading copy of HUNGER GAMES by Suzanne Collins. It's been getting a TON of buzz, and we chose it for one of my book groups. I found it to be incredibly gripping, and certain elements reminded me of THE GIVER. Sadly, this is actually the only "published" book (it's coming out in September) I've read all year. Well, not counting picture books. I've managed to have time to read some of those! But before this one, the last novel-length book I finished (not counting submissions, of course, that's all I'm ever reading these days) was Joan Didion's THE YEAR OF MAGICAL THINKING. At any rate, I'll stop rambling now.

Elaine: Recently, I read Sherman Alexie's The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian and loved it. It's tragic and funny--and Alexie writes with great voice in this semi-autobiographical novel. The book has gotten me interested in Alexie's poetry. I hope to order some of his poetry books when I return home from my vacation in New Mexico. At the moment, I'm reading Candyfreak: A Journey through the Chocolate Underbelly of America, a nonfiction book by Steve Almond. This is a good book for anyone who has a serious sweet tooth. Parts of it are really funny.