The 7th book.

Last night I finished the seventh book. Not the 7th book that most of you are talking about (the last Harry Potter). Instead it was my seventh novel by Douglas Coupland. This last one was Eleanor Rigby and is probably my favorite so far (I have the new one, the first one and Miss Wyoming still left to read). Mr. Coupland tells kind of bizarre stories but uses such great characters that I can't help but be curiously fascinated at their adventures. Eleanor Rigby was written from the perspective of an overweight, middle aged woman and I never would have guessed that the author was male. Normally I prefer to read women writers but this past year I have pretty much only read books written by men.

I've nearly exhausted the library of David Sedaris and now that my Coupland pickings are few and far between (I generally only read used copies that I find at a good price so I'm not entirely in control of my reading shelf) I have switched my attention to Nick Hornby (High Fidelity, About a Boy, etc.). I mainly only read on the bus so whatever I read has to be the type of book that you are instantly enthralled with or it would be too hard to motivate myself to read rather than blindly stare out the window (an underrated activity I'll have you know). As my friend Greg says, "Oh, Sedaris is perfect for the bus! Except everyone will wonder why you are laughing out loud." Exactly. Coupland was also good on the bus because it easily allowed me to tune everyone else out (which frankly if you have ridden the #12 bus lately you will know what I mean). The only book I have read by Hornby so far is How to be Good which I loved and being how much I adored the movie High Fidelity (and not just because of John Cusack and Jack Black) and enjoyed the movie About a Boy, I have high hopes for the one I started today, A Long Way Down.