5. How Stella Got Her Groove Back    Terry McMillan
I think I read this in high school. It's a trashy paperback involving an older woman and her sexual escapades with a much younger man. Why I read this in high school I have no idea-although I do vaguely remember being the younger woman in one relationship. (There was much less pornography, I'll tell you that). My advice--forget that the book and the movie even exist.

4. Jane Eyre    Charlotte Bronte
Now before you go ballistic on me, hear me out. I can't stand period pieces, they are not my style. Nevertheless, at the urge of some female friends, I gave this book a chance, not once, but twice. Let's just say if I were the main character, Jane Eyre would be about 200 pages shorter. I'm not very good at being 'proper'.

3. Invisible Cities    Italo Calvino
This book was required reading in the same 'Intro to the Novel' class as Jane Eyre. The premise--a long and very confusing conversation between Kublai Khan and Marco Polo. Enough said.

2. Me? Obey Him?    Elizabeth Rice Handford
I was given this book as a Christmas present by someone who had never read it. I really appreciated the thought, but somehow, I don't think this book is for me. Maybe it has something to do with these words in the foreword, written by the author's husband: "The author works hard from morning until late at night to carry out her duties as wife, mother, author, Sunday school teacher, choir member, and counselor to many women on every kind of subject…I have seen strong-willed, nagging wives changed into sweet, submissive mates after counseling with the author." (This guy would hate to be married to me.) Or maybe it has something to do with the cover.

1. The Order of Things    Barbara Ann Kipfer
This was one of Danny's impulse buys from the Truman bookstore. It is 376 pages of lists, from the 6 types of accounting to the 10 types of beer measurements. Care to drink a firkin (9.8 gallons), anyone? How about a hogshead (63 gallons)?