Besides writing, I could easily say my favorite thing to do is read. Ever since I could read I’ve been consuming books at a rate that is probably not healthy since it distracts me from other things I need to do. At least once a week I’ll be posting my thoughts on a book I’ve read, recently or just one that was incredibly memorable that I feel like reminiscing about.

 Charles Bukowski’s “Post Office” was a near perfect read for me. While it was written in a simple enough manner to glide through quickly, I still felt like the writing was intelligently engaging.

“Post Office,” thought to be a semiautobiographical account of Bukowski’s life, follows the story of Henry Chianski, a substitute mail carrier. I normally wouldn’t expect a novel following the life of a postal worker to be that enticing, but Bukowski has a way of writing that’s so realistic and personal I couldn’t help but be drawn in.

There’s some truly genuinely funny moments in the novel that had me laughing out loud, which was a little uncomfortable because I was on a five hour flight to Boise, Idaho most of the time I was reading it and the 30-year-old business man next to me was getting annoyed. The most memorable line for me was towards the end when the post office caught on fire and one of Chianski’s coworkers was screaming “I smell fire!” with which Chianski’s character replied, “No, you don’t! You smell smoke!”

Don’t let the ironic humor fool you though, “Post Office” is a revealing work about human emotions. While it is relatively easy to get through, it’s not a “fluffy” read.

Bukowski is one of my favorite writers and I heard good things about “Post Office” from a few of friends, so I knew I would like it from the beginning. However I can definitely say it’s one of my most recommended books now.