furiously furious fury

I have always been a furious reader. I could gulp books down like a box of red fries since I was in the 3rd grade. I become so enthralled in the strange worlds writers cast around me when I'm reading that I often myself reluctant to join the "real" world again. I was talking to my love last night about the different categories I find my reading fall under: candy reading: books I read purely for entertainment value, similar I guess to how some people watch tv. inspiration reading: books that I find inspire my writing or are similar to the writing I already do, and lastly informative reading: books that I take in more like texts and are mainly comprised of non-fiction. Does anyone compartamentalize their reading habits? ? ?

Here's some winter reads I've been juggling lately:

Kelly Link is one of my favorite writers, I even wrote my analytical thesis about her for my MFA. Her new book is aimed towards 'young adults' but who follows those rules? The cover features a lovely monster/conjoined twins shillouette and has so far been an interesting read of speculative fiction, which is the genere I gear my own fiction towards. Her worlds are so interesting that I found myself both stunned and incredibly jealous at her inventivness, for example: ghosts and living people marry and even have children, zombies have plans and the baysitter's dead and dangerous.

Stacey Levine is creepy as hell and I love her for it. I first ran aross her work in the rad journal 'Tin House.' The above book doesn't come out until March and I feel like an overzealous fan waiting on line in a sleeping bag for the release....if such things happened for book releases......

This book by Sarah Shun-Lien Bynum is a real treat that I found out about via the amazing artist over at Art & Ghosts. The cover photo is by Lewis Carroll and is weird and beautiful and heartbreaking. I've been taking this book in small doses as its written in short titled vingettes which is also a way I love to write. This book includes a sleeping girl who may or may not be sleeping her life away, who becomes a freak, joins a circus troupe and falls in love with someone with a Dali moustache.........