Books are my drug of choice.
The worlds that I’ve found within them
have saved my life and my heart.

When my house burned to the ground and I was lost,
I went to the local coffee shop and grabbed a dog-eared copy of
Anne Rice’s Interview with a Vampire
from the shelf and escaped with Lestat.
For a few hours, I forgot about all that I lost.

Books have numbed my pain.
They have made me feel more than I’ve felt in real life sometimes.

This just appeared in town and I’m psyched.

Storytellers are my rockstars.

Here is a list of my favorite books:

1. Lolita by Vladmir Nabokov. (adult)
2. The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov.
3. Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut.
4. On The Road by Jack Kerouac.
5. American Gods by Neil Gaiman.
6. Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern.
7. I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou.
8. Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White.
9. The Lord of The Rings Trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien.
10. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston.
11. The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice.
12. Still Life with Woodpecker by Tom Robbins.
13. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
14. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith.
15. The Stand by Stephen King.
16. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl.
17. Women Who Run With the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Ph.D.
18. The Road by Cormac McCarthy.
19. Geek Love by Katherine Dunn.
20. The Red Tent by Anita Diamant.
21. Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak.
22. The Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allen Poe.
23. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho.
24. The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty by Anne Rice (Adult).
25. She’s Come Undone by Wally Lamb.
26. Just Kids by Patti Smith.
27. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis.
28. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.
29. Job: A Comedy of Justice by Robert A. Heinlein
30. High Fidelity by Nick Hornsby.
31. The Secret Lives of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd.
32. The Electric Kool Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe.
33. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.
34. Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel.
35. Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk by Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain.
36. Here is New York by E.B. White.
37. Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs.
38. Crooked Little Vein by Warren Ellis.

I wandered into my favorite bookstore, The Golden Notebook and met poet and author, Gretchen Primack.
She has this awesome literary tattoo that is a Kurt Vonnegut quote.
She is also the author of Doris’ Red Spaces, Kind and The Lucky Ones. Check them out and support this awesome author!
She suggested the below books to me and I left with a brand new copy of The Panopticon (which I read with a clip light under the stars and surrounded by fireflies on my front porch last night).

39. The Panopticon by Jenni Fagan.
40. Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple.
41. My Abandonment by Peter Rock.
42. Fools by Joan Silber.
43. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens.
44. Vegan with a Vengence: 150 Cheap, Animal-Free Recipes That Rock by Isa Chandra Moskowitz

Burke Heffner, my darling husband and co-conspirator recommends:

45. The Stranger by Albert Camus.
46. 1984 by George Orwell.
47. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley.
48. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.
49. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
50. Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing
51. The Wonderful Wizard of OZ collection by L. Frank Baum

One of my best friends, Mr. Jeff Stark – art star and of the Nonsense NYC list and underground experience fame recommends:

52. Lost Illusions by Honore de Balzac.
53. A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemmingway
54. Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion.

Jo Weldon, Burlesque Icon and Head Mistress of the New York School of Burlesque and Author of The Burlesque Handbook loves:

55. The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle
56. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
57. Morning in the Burned House by Margaret Atwood.
58. 100 Collected Poems by e.e. cummings.
59. Loose Women by Sandra Cisneros.

Contessa Create, Theatrical Performer, Aerialist, Plant Whisperer and Queen of Comedy recommends:

60. Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins.
61. Cannibal Kiss by Daniel Odier.

Aubrey Franchell, our traveling partner for Revolver, friend and editor recommends:

62. Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck.
63. Glass Bead Game by Hermann Hesse.
64. Reflections of Loko Miwa by Lilas Desquiron.
65. Night by Elie Wiesel.

Alise Marie, lovely co-conspirator, Vegan Vixen and sultry chef recommends:

66. Delta of Venus by Anais Nin (Adult)
67. Paris Spleen by Charles Baudelaire
68. The Immoralist by André Gide

Friends of mine who have written kick ass books and who I highly recommend are:

69. The Burlesque Handbook by Jo Weldon.
70. Parades, Parties, and Protests: Creative Resistance Culture by Sarah Sparkles.
71. The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls by Emilie Autumn.
72. The Year of Yes by Maria Dahvana Headley.
73. A Man Called Destruction: The Life and Music of Alex Chilton by Holly George-Warren.
74. Sacred Seduction by Kitty Cavalier.
75. Blood and Pudding by Katelan Foisy.
76. Week in Hell: Art Book by Molly Crabapple.
77. The Esbat Sequence by Tara Lindsey.
78. Mermaid: A Twist on the Classic Tale by Carolyn Turgeon.
79. Handbook for Hot Witches: Dame Darcy’s Illustrated Guide to Magic, Love, and Creativity by Dame Darcy.
80. Unspeakable Things by Laurie Penny. (Pre-Order this awesomeness)

My friend, Laurie Penny, put this up today with the hashtag #selfieswithbooks.
I challenge you to put one up on instagram, facebook or twitter with the hashtag so I can see it!

AND speaking of writing,
if you wanna read a new article of mine out in glossy and GORGEOUS print,
check out the Summer 2014 edition of Faerie Magazine.
One of the most beautifully done magazines I’ve ever seen and I’m honored to be in it.
AND get 15% OFF ANYTHING on the Faerie Magazine site, just by putting in code: dangerdiary.
Share with your friends and help support a kickass indie magazine.

Have you written a book? Please share in comments!
What are your favorites?
Do TELL.
Find a bunch of awesome suggestions from my Facebook Friends, too!
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