Especially those lovers of Oprah favorite Eat, Pray, Love.

Everyone gets a book!

Have I read the book? No. Is my irritation justified? Hell, no. The book probably is really good. It’s simply the people that like Eat, Pray, Love that I can’t stand; those who adhere religiously to the “NPR and Oprah-approved canon.” It’s Intellect-Lite — books that “make you think.” I would much rather read (and admit to) liking really trashy literature than act like I’m some literary genius because I’ve read Under the Tuscan Sun.

So what are my literary turn-ons?

Graham Greene, first and foremost. I have never seen any man read Greene other than the director of my master’s program -- who is gay -- but when I do, I will walk up and give that man a big tongue-y French kiss. Close seconds? Any British literature from 1890-1950. Chuck Klosterman, Nick Hornby, any book about music, and Salinger (oh god, is that list ridiculously cliché?)

That said, I'm not sure I necessarily need my boyfriend to be a reader. Sometimes having a partner who does not read (and certainly not anything I write) can be very freeing. On the flip side, it would be nice to talk about books now and then instead of “Did you feed the dog?” and “Have you seen my keys?”

I’m a huge, huge bookworm, starting with the Anne of Green Gables series. A new friend and I bonded over our love of Anne -- mine so great that on a trip to Canada, I forced my parents to go to Prince Edward Island. (We decided that there is a certain type of girl out there who falls in love with Anne. A bookish girl, a dreamy girl, passionate, one too smart to be cool, possibly a shy girl who wishes she had Anne’s sassy impudence along with her bookish smarts and passion.)

I’m still waiting for my Gilbert…

Literature certainly bonded my friend and I; and now I have many friends I discuss books with. Just as a boyfriend doesn’t have to be my be-all and end-all, it doesn’t need to be the two of us in an insular little book club.

Perhaps I say this defensively because my last great love had read little but The Alchemist and The Da Vinci Code. But he was a wonderful guy, we did tons of outdoor activities together, and he taught me all about camping and cooking and sophisticated food. And he bought me books even if he wasn’t reading them himself. I’ve written a lot about him, and although he does like reading it, I like that I know he won’t be devouring and analyzing each sentence about him. We didn’t have reading tastes in common, hell, we didn’t even have the fact that we read in common, but it worked.

Then again, I'm not sure I could say the same if he'd liked CSI instead of Law & Order SVU ... Just sayin'.