Hello and welcome to the week! For those of you who caught Word Porn on Friday, you might have noticed the quick mention of my weekend plans. If any of you were concerned I had stepped out of the house looking like a hooker, going to the weekend’s Miami Vice-themed party as an homage to the undercover Trudy and Gina, you can can rest easy. While I did take a cab ride dressed in gold sequin pumps, taffeta blouse, and horrendously big hot-rolled hair, there were no private bits on display.

Bookworm

Now that that’s settled, let’s move on to the theme of the week! I tell myself each week that I am going to add a “Books to Read” or “Writers Who Matter” post, like these on Octavia Butler, the Master and Margarita, and Love is a Mix Tape. Each week I get snowed under and focus on the posts concerning freelancing and publishing. So I’m going to dedicate this entire week to books and authors that knocked my brain around a bit, books and authors that could hit you in the head and the heart and leave you much satisfied.

Most of my childhood memories revolve around reading. Twin brothers born and wreaking havoc in the household? I retreated to my bedroom and read whatever I could get my 5-year-old hands on. A bit shy and awkward around other kids? I stuck to the safety of the library. Exhorted to go out and play with my younger brothers? I brought a book. Through adolescence, through the painful beginnings of adult decisions and relationships, through solitude and pain and joy and life, I had my books. They comfort me, surprise me, inspire me, punish me. They take up lots of space (our movers thought we had 50 boxes of bricks waiting for them), but they’re absolutely necessary.

As writers and creative folks, I know many of you feel the same way. So this week I’ll share some of my favorites, and you can share some of yours . Let’s do this.

Stay tuned for this week’s posts with lots to add to your reading list. Subscribe with the link below, and you’ll get free updates to stay on top of the QRW world!

RANDOM LINK of the day: Even kittehs like the books…