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This week we’re reading books of a more emotional caliber, as well as articles ranging from the domination of TV to investment banking. Let us know what you’re reading in the comments below or on Twitter @ChiReviewPress. #CRPreads

I liked the article “Times Square: The City’s Id, Now and Always”  from New York magazine. Times Square has gone through so many different shades of weird. It has a life and history all its own, separate—and yet inseparable—from the rest of New York City. As the writer says, “It’s more like Checkpoint Charlie: a cordoned-off chunk of enemy territory in the middle of the city.” New Yorkers avoid Times Square like the plague, but the city’s urban planners are trying desperately to change that way of thinking. To them I say, good luck! —Caitlin Eck, publicity manager

This past Sunday I finished JPod, and I’m afraid I can’t recommend it. The book remained empty the whole way through, and its dialogue-heavy pages turned from snappy to grating. There were a handful of interesting ruminations on the emptiness of a certain kind of modern, attention-deficient lifestyle, but the 448-page novel could have easily been chopped down into a short story without losing anything important. Now that I’m between books, I’m trying to pare down the pile of magazines on my end table, and just yesterday I read Bloomberg Businessweek’s fascinating piece on Tom Hayes, one of the few investment bankers to be prosecuted after the 2008 financial collapse for his key role in the manipulation of Libor, a critical and (at the time) largely unregulated number that gave bankers a feel for how the market was performing. I can practically hear some of you nodding off out of boredom, but the story’s actually quite fascinating and well told. —Geoff George, publicist

This week’s reading has been very much on-trend. I’ve been seeing a lot of marketing for Garth Risk Hallberg’s City on Fire lately in both publishing as well as consumer publications, and the “next big thing” label that’s hanging above the book has me curious. The Atlantic’s piece “City on Fire Proves How Culturally Dominant Television Has Become” is, to pardon the pun, adding fuel to that fire. I’m also listening to the audiobook for Welcome to Night Vale. I’ve been a devoted listener to the podcast for a couple of years now and the opportunity to hear more about Night Vale was something that was not to be missed. I’ll own the book eventually, but there was no way I wasn’t going to first have Cecil tell me the story. All hail the Glow Cloud.—Mary Kravenas, marketing manager

I just started Jonathan Safran Foer’s Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. Since I’m the type of person who cries while watching Undercover Bosses—a surprisingly emotional show—Foer is probably not the smartest choice for a commuter read, but it’s been on my to-read list for a while. —Emily Lewis, editorial and marketing assistant

I finished Judy Blume’s In the Unlikely Event this week (3 stars) and am excited to start Don’t Suck, Don’t Die: Giving Up Vic Chesnutt, which I learned about from UT Press’ Instagram of the stellar NPR review. —Meaghan Miller, senior publicist

I’ve been enjoying Allison Bechdel’s Fun Home. Though I’m not a huge fan of graphic novels—or in this case, memoirs—I thought I’d give it a chance after seeing Sydney Lucas perform “Ring of Keys” at the Tonys. It’s remarkable and touching and tough to read on the train for fear of choking up. —Jerome Pohlen, senior editor

I’m currently reading Milan Kundera’s new novel, The Festival of Insignificance. It came out last July and I have been excited to read it ever since it was first announced. Kundera is one of my favorite writers and his novels have marked important points in my life. I am savoring this very short (only 115 pages), mercurial read. Kundera is eighty-six years old and this might be his last novel. I wouldn’t miss it. —Cynthia Sherry, publisher

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All of the books featured in this blog post can be found on CRP’s Staff Reads bookshelf on Goodreads.