FridayReads: Quirk’s Picks For National Readathon Day

Tomorrow, on January 24th, Quirk is participating in National Readathon Day. A campaign organized by the National Book Foundation and Penguin Random House, National Readathon Day seeks to help raise awareness for reading, and get people into books. Which is like, basically the best cause ever. Readers help fundraise, talk about their books, and help support the National Book Foundation. Proceeds will support their education programs, like BookUp.

You can learn more about the organization and Readathon here.

I polled the Quirk HQ about what they were reading today and this weekend for National Readathon Day. Check out some of their picks below! 

Brett Cohen (@BaconTheBooks): I am reading Neil Patrick Harris: Choose Your Own Autobiography. I purchased this book last year and it finally made it’s way to the top of my To-Read list. And, I’m so psyched to dig in—it seems like a lot of fun.

Jason Rekulak: The Philly forecast calls for snow, so I'll be sitting by the fireplace with a glass of Maker's Mark and The Black Lizard Big Book of Locked Room Mysteries. I love a good "impossible crime" story, and this massive 900-page anthology has more than 50 of them. Amazing authors and terrific commentary from the all-knowing Otto Penzler. I'm already halfway through and it's the most fun I've had in ages.

Tiffany Hill (@TiffanyLHill): I'm reading Easiest if I Had a Gun, a collection of short stories by Michael Martin. They're heartfelt with funny moments, and this morning I almost missed my train stop reading them, so watch out for that.

John J. McGurk (@johnjmcgurk): My Readathon pick is Guilt, the 28th entry in author Jonathan Kellerman’s long-running mystery series starring psychologist Alex Delaware. A former psychotherapist and winner of the Edgar and Anthony Awards, Kellerman reliably cranks out compelling thrillers with taut pacing, colorful characters, and vivid imagination that veers into dark but fascinating territory.

Suzanne Wallace (@iamasnarkypants): I will be reading Philip Pullman's Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm: a New English Version. I was that kid who reread Grimm's fairy tales over and over, so you can imagine how excited I was when I discovered the author of The Golden Compass had put together his favorite fairy tales, along with his insight and commentary. I won't grow up and I'm loving it.

Megan DiPasquale (@megdipas215): I am reading We are Water, by Wally Lamb. He's such a great writer, I can't wait to get started! I remember reading his novel She's Come Undone in Women's Studies during my freshman year of college. It still shocks me that a man wrote a book with such insight into a woman's mind. It was one of the first books that I would keep myself awake at night to read because I couldn't get enough. I want everyone to have that experience. Whatever the book may be, there is nothing like reading something so great you find it hard to put it down and want to share it with everyone you know.

Moneka Hewlett (@Moneka_H): Four hours of reading on Saturday?! Yes please. That will give me enough time to get a start on both the fiction and nonfiction titles that top my pile of unread books. I'll be reading All the Light We Cannot See and Bad Feminist.

Jane Morley: Butch Walker is this really interesting musician who started out in a hair-metal band in the eighties, was a member of rock group Marvelous 3 in the nineties, and now writes and produces for loads of big names like Taylor Swift and Pink and Panic! at the Disco and Keith Urban—while still performing and making great albums of his own. Given all the diverse experiences he has had in the music industry, I'm excited to read more about him in Drinking With Strangers (plus I bet he has some crazy stories!).