This week's #ReadWomen2014 is a particularly fun one, because getting to know Nora Ephron as a writer absolutely includes a screening of her movies, especially When Harry Met Sally, the screenplay of which is even included in The Most of Nora Ephron, a posthumous collection of her work which I recommend for its breadth and variety. In addition to the screenplay, it includes her early journalism, later essays, her Wellesley commencement address about being flat-chested, and her post-divorce novel Heartburn. Really hardcore Nora Ephron fans might want this in addition to some of the individual essay collections (Wallflower at the Orgy, I Feel Bad About My Neck), even though there will be some overlap.

Her writing is smart and funny and so. so absolutely touching and human. She bares her soul in so many ways that manage to be simultaneously funny and sad, and she pretty unapologetically and honestly embraces her flaws, which feels in a strange way like a granting of permission for the reader to do the same. She is someone you can read when you want a really fun, smart book that is entertaining and soulful.