"Another music pick, this time from James who is the accordion player in The Pogues. I read his memoir, Here Comes Everybody, about half way through writing my own, and it made me go back and change some things as it was just so good. It made me really think about my own writing and how I could improve it. Even if you’re not a huge Pogues fan it’s well worth a read."

"While researching an upcoming book, I read a lot of nonfiction about the wine life. This was the juiciest. (Pun intended.) Victoria James shares the inspiring story of how she overcame the obstacles of her childhood and misogyny to become a 21-year-old sommelier at a Michelin-starred restaurant."

"One of the first books I read when I moved to New York City, I like that James Baldwin imparts some of his own experience growing up in Harlem into this novel. It deals with issues of race and the church, and how both can be positive and negative factors in life."