Yay!! I've been so excited to sit and write about my favorite book (thanks @lyxzen and @charmaine!), and when I finally did, I tried to attach a photo and my iPad crashed (because of course it did.) But I have access to a computer for a minute, so here we goooooo!
Let me preface this by saying that I read. A lot. Especially this time of year. Any spare afternoon I have is spent here:
With a coffee in one hand, and stack of books in the other. I've gone through so many "favorite books" over the years, but like soulmates, you always think you've found it until you REALLY find it, and then you realize that nothing else ever really came close. That's how I feel about 'House of Leaves', by Mark Z. Danielewski.
Not only is this the most visually entertaining book to read...
...but it's also got one of the best storylines/plot twist(s) of anything I've ever read. I can't really describe the book, or I'll either give something important away, or confuse the hell out of you (more likely, both) so I'll put it this way: If you love the TV show 'LOST' as much as I do, you'll probably love this book. Every chapter leaves you with more questions than it answers, you're paranoid the entire time you read it, and (as you can tell from the above sample text) you start to question your sanity a little; but when it's over, you're SO bummed it's over.
I started this book 10 years ago when I was living with my ex and his intellectual, brooding, hipster-before-it-was-cool, barista/bartender/band frontman BFF (in hindsight I thought, 'Maybe I should have dated him instead of my ex', but it wouldn't have worked out - he can't grow a beard. I digress...) who recommended it. It took me starting it half a dozen times over the next decade before I finally just committed to the damn thing, and honestly I wish I would have never started it, because I know nothing else will ever come close to being so perfectly written for me. In fact, I love this book so much that I'm dedicating the 1/4 of my left sleeve to a (loose) tribute to it.
So there you have it, the book to beat.
(And if any of you photographers want to come out to nowhere-Indiana and shoot a set of me in my favorite book store, I'll convince the grumpy old dudes who own it to let me get naked in there ;)
