My friend Marc emailed a bunch of people last weekend asking for our favorite books. I quickly replied with little thought and off the top of my head, these were my favorites:

• A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers: Just a great, fast, entertaining read filled with anything and everything about life. He's an extremely talented writer, who has been around for some time. TED has a great write up on him. However, I didn't enjoy You Shall Know Our Velocity and have yet to get into What Is the What after two attempts.
  
• The Kite Runner | A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hossieni: If you haven't read these yet, you must live under a rock, have kids, think they are 'girly' (anything but), or are illiterate. It has been my impression that you favor whichever one you read second, which is surprising. The Kite Runner is also just recently out on DVD but I have yet to see it because it's subtitled and I'm that lazy. Horrible - I'm aware of that.
  
• Set This House in Order by Matt Ruff: If there was ever one book in which the back description does no justice, this is it. I wouldn't have picked this up in the bookstore, yet, it's easily one of my favorites on recommendation from Nate. A fiction story about a man with multiple personality disorder - but don't think Sybil, nor Me, Myself and Irene. The book is written extremely well and is really more of a story with many characters.
  
• A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole: I'm not even sure how to preface this book. In short, it's about a social nerd living life in New Orleans. Word has it that John Kennedy Toole committed suicide and his mother had his manuscript published. I may have that wrong, though.
  

A few authors in which everything they've written should be read:

• Tom Robbins: I'm partial to Jitterbug Perfume and Skinny Legs and All, but any and every book by him is the best. "Master of the Metaphor" as he's known. I had to include this short description of him on Wikipedia - "His novels are complex, often wild stories with strong social undercurrents, a satirical bent, and obscure details." He was a philosophy major with a religion minor in college, if that helps you.
  
• David Sedaris: Holidays on Ice and Me Talk Pretty One Day are my favorites.
  
• I wasn't really sure if he should get his own bullet point, but what the hell, Bill Bryson here you go, your own bullet point on igetzit.com. Now you're a star. Start with A Walk in the Woods, which focuses on his time hiking the Appalachian Trail. He actually has some sort of website, too!
  

Where are all of my favorite female authors? This is no good. Ladies, speak up if you have some. Oh wait, Anne Lamott definitely makes the list, who else?

On a very different note: I'm not too depressed and you shouldn't be either, Flyers fans - they have lost the first game of each series in the playoffs this year. Here's to a good game on Sunday. In other news, the Wings continue to kick ass. I'm not wearing any pants, film at 11.

Tags: book reviews, dave eggers, tom robbins, favorite books, detroit red wings

I really enjoy running into John Krakauer.

I don't have many celeb encounters. In fact, one of my guilty pleasures is reading In Touch magazine (for the Sudoku, of course, as US doesn't have the games) and watching horrible reality TV (think The Hills). So, as you can imagine, when I do happen to stumble upon someone that I consider to be a celebrity, I usually don't have the most profound things to say.

My first run-in with Mr. Krakauer was at Brandon and Kate's wedding last summer. I have to admit that once I noticed him, I would randomly check in on what he was doing from across the room - while we were having dinner, listening to speeches, dancing, etc. I wasn't stalking him, I was just waiting for the right time to approach him and tell him how much I enjoyed Into Thin Air.

Sure - like that was going to be something original he had never heard before.

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Tags: boulder, john krakauer, into thin air, into the wild, under the banner of heaven, book reviews

The first couple of chapters in Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential made me feel like I had just tied my apron on and was back in the restaurant industry. Thankfully, the book has progressed to some pretty interesting and amusing stories. I just finished the chapter where Bordain talks about things he stays away from when dining - and realized that I have a short list of my own.

For those of you who don't know me, I managed a brewpub in Portland, OR for 5 years. I actually really enjoyed the restaurant industry, there are a lot of positive aspects about it. First off, the money is great, it's a very social atmosphere, and you have your days off. I spent a good amount of time hiking in the gorge, going to the coast and snowboarding on Mt. Hood. However, you have to endure really long hours, physically demanding work and you constantly smell like onions. I did take away some lifelong lessons, and in the spirit of Bordain, I thought I'd share a few 'restaurant don'ts.'
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Tags: anthony bourdain, kitchen confidential, restaurant tips, book reviews