Books I Wish I'd Written

Amazing Grace, by Jonathan Kozol
Far From the Tree, by Andrew Solomon
Gilead, by Marilynne Robinson (actually, everything by Marilynne Robinson)
How We Die, by Sherwin B. Nuland
Educated, by Tara Westover
Operating Instructions: A Journal of My Son's First Year, by Anne Lamott
Paper Lion, by George Plimpton
Paris to the Moon, by Adam Gopnik
​The Collected Stories, by Grace Paley
The Warmth of Other Suns, by Isabel Wilkerson
The Year of Magical Thinking, by Joan Didion
Uncommon Genius: How Great Ideas Are Born, by Denise Shekerjian

Also, I always flip to the back of the New Yorker for Anthony Lane's movie reviews

Animals That Are Also Verbs

Ape
Dog
Duck
Crow
Flounder
Grouse
Hound
Quail
Shark
Weasel
​Worm

Real People With Names That Match Their Professions

John S. Pistole, FBI agent
​John C. Flood, plumber
Roc Rawlins, jeweler
Ilene Hatch, fertility doctor
Rebecca Busch, OB-GYN
Nate Shearer, hair stylist
​Brandon Sargent, soldier
Pastor Praylow, pastor
​Melody Bober, musician