Amy Poehler is a proud book lover and isn’t shy about showing it!
On August 22, the 52-year-old actress and comedian appeared on Late Night with Seth Meyers and revealed that she’s on a mission to read 50 books this year.
“I want to be an intellectual guest from now on,” Poehler joked, referring to Meyers’ tendency to feature authors on his show. “I want to talk about smart stuff.”
Poehler, who authored the book Yes Please, shared some of her favorite reads and what she plans to go into next.
Her first recommendation was the short story collection Tenth of December by George Saunders, which came highly recommended by her friend Tina Fey.
She also mentioned All Fours by Miranda July, calling it a “great, sexy book.”
The actress also highlighted the novel Vladimir by Julia May Jones, which follows an English professor who starts developing feelings for a married colleague on campus. Poehler described the book as “hot stuff in a weird way.”
Other picks included the classic essay A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf, the novel Excavations by Kate Myers, and the nonfiction book Somehow by Anne Lamott.
“Anne Lamott is to writing what Jack Black is to singing — joyful, so talented, every time I read her work, I want more,” Poehler said.
Continuing with her eclectic taste, Poehler mentioned a 1960s fish cookbook called Catch ’em and Cook ’em by Bunny Day, which she discovered in a Nantucket bookstore.
She also admitted that she might need to add some children’s books to reach her reading goal, highlighting Little Penguins by Cynthia Rylant and illustrated by Christian Robinson.
“It’s a thrilling tale,” Poehler quipped, joking that “Marvel has the rights.”
The star also teased what’s next on her reading list: the classic Russian novel Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky.
“The reason I’m reading this is that every guy in my life has been like, ‘You haven’t read Crime and Punishment?’” Poehler said of the heavy tome.
“So I’m tackling this light fare, which I imagine is about one guy trying to decide if it’s okay to kill people.”
Meyers then posed a question that often divides book lovers: does Poehler finish every book she starts, or does she move on if it’s not to her liking? The actress admitted that she usually finishes every book, even if she doesn’t enjoy it.
“Maybe I should start [not finishing books], though, because it is my time,” she reflected. “My time is valuable, but there’s something in me that just has to finish it, even if I’m miserable doing so.”
“Something to discuss next time Professor Poehler stops by,” Meyers concluded.
