It’s been too long, and I’ve been devouring books at an alarming rate. And so, a little compendium of the titles you simply can’t miss this month:

The Hicks family is just entirely too stylish for me. In fact, if I’m honest, I wanted Allegra Hicks’ newest book, Eye for Design, simply because I knew it would look awesome on my coffee table (it does, by the way). But the interior is every bit as fabulous…packed with beautiful images of her interior projects and textile designs that are endlessly inspiring.

I like Tina Fey, but wouldn’t have considered myself a serious fan…until I read Bossypants. Now, her jokes seem funnier, and I find myself rooting for her at every possible opportunity. I’m utterly impressed by her ability to dole out hysterical stories and sage advice (sometimes simultaneously) – she’s so damn funny, you can easily forget what a major force she’s become. I’m particularly in love with the fact that she manages to talk about women’s rights in an intelligent, non-bra-burning sort of way.

And Kyung-Sook Shin’s debut English novel, Please Look After Mom is heartbreaking, but so beautifully written, you must read it. It’s the story of a Korean woman whose mother goes missing, and it details how she and her family cope with the search, and their memories of her. Most of the story is written in the second person, which gives you a unique feeling of being involved in the story. The tale is heart-wrenching, thought-provoking, and makes you work just hard enough to follow the story. It’s one of the best novels I’ve read in ages…you simply must.

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