“Love, Dishonor, Marry, Die, Cherish, Perish,” David Rakoff

I walked away with tears of beauty, gasping for more of him.

“Sex Tips for Girls,” Cynthia Heimel

Modern, smart, funny, kind and as ahead of its time as “The Heidi Chronicles.”

Image The comedian Julie Klausner. Credit... Suzanne DeChillo/The New York Times

“Manson: The Life and Times of Charles Manson,” Jeff Guinn

If this were the only cultural history of the 1960s you read, you’d “get it” a whole lot more than most white male boomers who thought the ’60s were about making everything cool for everybody, man.

“Cult Movies,” “Cult Movies 2,” “Cult Movies 3,” Danny Peary

Growing up, I’d highlight the name of every movie in here I’d see, and read the synopses of the ones I was too chicken to actually sit through.