"Master books, but do not let them master you... Read to live, not live to read."
— Edward Robert Bulwer-Lytton

There are so many books. And though we'll give it our best effort, Book Talk can't get to them all. Here are a few of the favorite reads of our staff and contributors.

Dave Santina, Book Talk Producer:

• Anatomy of Motive: The FBI's Legendary Mindhunter Explores the Key to Understanding and Catching Violent Criminals
  by John Douglas
  "Why do criminals commit crimes? Douglas' curiosity pulls me into each case he covers, and his explanations fascinate and chill me. This man was the model for Thomas Harris' character Jack Crawford in Red Dragon and The Silence of the Lambs."
  
• The Day I Turned Uncool: Confessions of a Reluctant Grown-Up
  by Dan Zevin
  "I laughed out loud at this collection of essays by Dan Zevin, who tracks his development from disinterested beer-swilling slob into the type of person who suddenly cares about his lawn, joins a health club and visits his college student brother in Europe to relive his own year abroad — all with wit and amusing observations."
  
• Groovitude: A Get Fuzzy Treasury by Darby Conley
  "My favorite new comic strip, featuring one megalomaniacal cat, one sensitive dog, and one perplexed human. Funny as well as cute, with more than a little bite — pun intended."

Chris Orr, Online Producer:

• Here on Earth by Alice Hoffman
  "This is a bittersweet story about hidden passions and the damage love can cause to both the lover and the loved."
  
• The Idiot Girls' Action Adventure Club by Laurie Notaro
  "This hilariously, funny collection of essays had me laughing out loud."
  
• Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
  "To me this story of a proud woman's search for identity is a classic because of the emotions it evokes and the natural simplicity of its telling."
  
• Cowboys Are My Weakness by Pam Houston
  "I love short stories, and this collection is full of humor and poignancy."
  
• Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
  "This is one of those epics where the language, imagery and characters linger and live in your memory for a long time."