How I Spent the Last Month of Summer

OK, so with these three books and the new Bret Easton Ellis book "Lunar Park" coming out in August, I should be set for the rest of summer.

Why did I buy three books? That damn Borders "Buy 2, Get One Free" table finally got me. I must've spent 45 minutes looking at books yesterday.

Choosing a book is a huge investment of time. It's not like watching a movie, where you know two hours later you do something else. A book can takes days/weeks to finish. If you choose poorly, your only options are to quit on the book, thereby wasting the time you spent diving in, or muscling through it, in hopes that it will get better.

So, here are my new books. First up, "Love Monkey" by Kyle Smith. It's supposed to be a romantic comedy along the lines of "High Fidelity" and "Bridget Jones."

Next, "The Book of Joe" by Jonathoan Tropper. It's about a guy who writes a novel that savages his hometown. However, when his father dies, he's forced to go back to the town and face the people he ripped. This one's supposed to be funny, too.

Finally, I'm going to take in "The Mysteries of Pittsburgh" by Michael Chabon. This has been on my list for quite some time, so I'm excited to finally read it.