I realize it wasn’t intended to be a reading book (well, then again, given the creators and audience…) but I’m currently all wrapped up in A FEAST OF ICE AND FIRE: THE OFFICIAL GAME OF THRONES COMPANION COOKBOOK, by Chelsea Monroe-Cassel and Sariann Lehrer. It’s freakin’ amazing. They have itemized all the recipes in the books, divided the chapters up by Westeros regional cuisines, and included TWO options for each dish: a medieval dish (complete with the original medieval recipe taken from some very ancient cookbooks), and a looser, more modern (but sometimes more crowd-pleasing) interpretation. Seriously. This book is a wonder. These authors are so amazingly nerdy on at least three different levels—I hope to meet them someday so we can be best friends. I mean, if they would have me. I can’t cook very well.

Juliet Grames, Editor, Very Good Cook

GONE GIRL! It’s creepy and real and absolutely compelling. Can’t wait to get back to it on the subway ride home tonight.

Bronwen Hruska, Publisher, Author of LJ Starred ACCELERATED (So she knows what she’s talking about, OK?)

Bam

Infinite Jest this week…and well, probably all of the weeks to come.  So many pages!  Amazing, though.

Chad Felix, Intern Extraordinaire, Bearer of Good News

Just finished the audio book of Patti Smith’s JUST KIDS (read by author). One of the funnest and most moving books I’ve read in a long time. Has a very light, self-effacing touch, even as she’s grappling with big questions of art and life, and building a fascinating picture of the scene(s) she and Mapplethorpe emerged from. Gosh do I love her.

Mark Doten, Editor, Knew About It Before It Was Cool

Cold Fire by Tamora Pierce is chilling. The third in a YA fantasy quartet, the book spends a lot of time in the head of a one-time local hero, slowly succumbing to abuse, grief and anger by degenerating into an arsonist, murderer, and domestic terrorist.

Katie Hoffman, Editorial Assistant, Expert

Always the last in the world to do anything, I am reading Jeffrey Eugenides’ MIDDLESEX. I know. It’s fantastic. But you know that because you’ve already read it.

Meredith Barnes, Marketing, Did Not Know About That Before It Was Cool

 The Sun Also Rises. I picked it up mainly out of a feeling of obligation (what kind of college freshman arrives to campus never having read any Hemingway?) but I’m actually quite enjoying it. The sparseness of the prose is kind of a new experience for me, but I’m totally digging it.

Jessica Benmen, Intern, Imminent College Freshman

I’m reading Dennis Cooper’s The Marbled Swarm or the incest/murder/cannibalism book to end all incest/murder/cannibalism books. This is the grim fate that all 20 million+ 50 Shades “readers” have to look forward to. The next and last big high for book perverts.

Rudy Martinez, Marketing, Intrepid Temporary Airport Dweller

I’ve just started rereading Steinbeck’s East of Eden on a whim. Having only read the first few pages there isn’t much for me to say yet, but it is fascinating reading his descriptions of the Salinas Valley having just been there two and a half months ago.

Koko Petitt, Intern, French Speaker