she is joined by dave barry, terry mcmillan, jay mcirnerny and maria semple. please tell me welcome, you are getting very excited, please help me welcome pamela paul and the panelists. [applause] >> is this on? hello. this is not on. is this on? okay. hi, i am not going to bother introducing these people because they need no introduction and i want to get right to it. this panel is different from the other panels, going to this week or this weekend because we are not going to be talking about what we write but what we read because who we are is so often forged by what we read and what we read shapes who we are. what we read doesn't influence what we write so we will talk about books that inspire us, terrify us, inform us, entertain us and allow us to escape. let me start with the question i often started a conversation with which is what are you reading? we start with jay mcirnerny. >> i have just finished the book on the plane down here, was very impressed with. >> mine isn't working. >> hello, hello, hello. >> is that better? all right. so sorry. just finish

she is joined by dave barry, terry mcmillan, jay mcirnerny and maria semple. please tell me welcome, you are getting very excited, please help me welcome pamela paul and the panelists. [applause] >> is this on? hello. this is not on. is this on? okay. hi, i am not going to bother introducing these people because they need no introduction and i want to get right to it. this panel is different from the other panels, going to this week or this weekend because we are not going to be talking about what we write but what we read because who we are is so often forged by what we read and what we read shapes who we are. what we read doesn't influence what we write so we will talk about books that inspire us, terrify us, inform us, entertain us and allow us to escape. let me start with the question i often started a conversation with which is what are you reading? we start with jay mcirnerny. >> i have just finished the book on the plane down here, was very impressed with. >> mine isn't working. >> hello, hello, hello. >> is that better? all right. so sorry. just finish