Writers First Aid

Set for Life

August 22, 2011

reading I love what author Bob Greene says in “Free entertainment, for life,” an article on CNN.com. It resonates with everything in me.

“Are you a person who loves to read books? If so, you’re set for life.”

Good News for Book Lovers

At first, Greene lists the “not so cheery” conditions of the current writing scene: Borders book stores closing, the digital ebook revolution, the difficulty of selling books now, etc. So what, he asks, is there to be so cheery about? His answer:

“Just this: There are so many wonderful books that have been written over the centuries, books that will thrill you and make you cry and change you and bring laughter to you and keep you up all night. Even if you did nothing else for the rest of your life but read, you would only be able to get to the most infinitesimal percentage of books that you would be destined to adore. They’re just waiting for you — waiting to be found, right now…And in most cases, even in these rugged and scary economic times, they’re free.”

Still Free!

He’s talking about public libraries. (Read his whole article, if you have time.) In my city, I’m sure there are millions of books in print to choose from if you count all the branch libraries. Even when I lived in a very small town, I could get books on interlibrary loan.

So…this is my question for you. What books have you read this past year that you would rank in the top five spots of “best books for the year”? They don’t have to be new reads either.

As Greene points out, “A book that was stirring and lovely when it was written — whether 15 years ago or 60 years ago or 150 years ago — does not lose its power just because it sits on a library shelf for decades at a time with no one pulling it out.”

I’ll Start

Some of my favorites this year have been:

Margins (nonfiction) by Richard Swenson, M.D.
Firefly Summer by Maeve Binchy
several British mysteries by Charles Todd (w/ hero, Ian Rutledge)
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
O! Pioneers by Willa Cather

How about you? Now that school is starting again, and you might have time to settle down with a good book, let’s recommend a few titles to each other. I’d love to know which ones you liked–I will look for them!

Post tags: reading

Posted in: readers,reading | | Comments (9)

9 Comments »

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for all the great titles [see below]! I see I have some soul mates out there.

My idea of heaven has long been living in a huge library and all of eternity in which to read–and eyes that never get tired!

I am copying your lists and will head to the library!

Comment by Kristi Holl — August 22, 2011 @ 7:39 am
Courtship After Marriage: Romance Can Last a Lifetime by Zig Ziglar.

Comment by Marilyn Goertzen — August 22, 2011 @ 1:49 pm
I also loved The Help! This year I’ve also loved Seabiscuit, A Tale Dark & Grimm, Interpreter of Maladies bu Jhumpa Lahiri, and Gilead by Marilynne Robinson.

Comment by Darcy Faylor — August 22, 2011 @ 2:06 pm
Yay! This is exactly my problem: I CAN NEVER CATCH UP WITH ALL THE READING I COULD BE DOING. And I do love that for the most part, all my hobbies are free. Lots of people spend hundreds of dollars on their hobbies!

This year I haven’t been finding AS MANY books I adore as I have in years past (I think part of this is I haven’t had as much time to read this year to begin with), but some of my top books read in 2011 include:

The Lost Conspiracy by Frances Hardinge– INCREDIBLE book, truly unique fantasy, gripping, complex, brilliant; whatever is making you think you won’t like it, YOU’RE WRONG, read it anyway;

Beauty Queens by Libba Bray– off-the-wall satire, utterly ridiculous, and yet the characters are all remarkably well-drawn and complex (ridiculous though they may be)

The FitzOsbornes in Exile by Michelle Cooper, second of the Montmaray books– mildly-alternate historical that I can never figure out how to describe properly, but SO delightful

…and those are the ones I think of off the top of my head.

As for rereads– who has time for that?– but I did have GREAT success reading A Take Dark and Grimm by Adam Gidwitz to my elementary Summer Reading program kids the other week. That was one of my LAST year favorites, personally.

Comment by rockinlibrarian — August 22, 2011 @ 4:38 pm
Thanks for that good reminder, Kristi. There are so many good books out there that we could read and read and read some more without ever running out of books. Here are a few of my favorites:

New faves;

• Max Quick: The Pocket and the Pendant (Mark Jeffrey)
• 39 Clues series (various authors)
• Ranger’s Apprentice series (John Flanagan)
• Fair Weather, A Year Down Yonder, On the Wings of Heroes, A Season of Gifts, The Teacher’s Funeral, Here Lies the Librarian and A Long Way from Chicago (Richard Peck)

Old faves (far too many to list, but here are a few):

• Snow Treasure (Marie McSwigan)
• Carry on Mr. Bowditch (Jean Lee Latham)
• Chronicles of Narnia (C.S. Lewis)
• Daddy Long Legs (Jean Webster)
• Great Expectations (Charles Dickens)
• Sense and Sensibility (Jane Austen)

Comment by Beth MacKinney — August 22, 2011 @ 7:30 pm
“11:11 Countdown to 2012″ by Verna Clay

“The Prophecy of the Sisters” by Michelle Zink

“Little Women, Little Men, Jo’s Boys” by Louisa May Alcott

“The Kane Chronicles” by Rick Riordan

“The Chosen” by Andrea Buginsky (couldn’t help it)

Comment by Andrea Buginsky — August 22, 2011 @ 8:11 pm
Great post, Kristi, and cheers for the library!

A few of my favorite books from the last year: THE RACE TO SAVE THE LORD GOD BIRD by Phillip Hoose, THE IMMORTAL LIVES OF OF HENRIETTA LACKS by Rebecca Skloot, MY ANTONIA by Willa Cather, and MANIAC MAGEE by Jerry Spinelli.

Happy reading!

Comment by Rebecca — August 23, 2011 @ 6:02 am
It is so hard to remember all the books I have read over the year. But here are a few I have read recently that I really enjoyed.
Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer
The Bride Collector by Ted Dekker
Secret of the Sirens by Julia Golding
Bless the Bride by Rhys Bowen
Juliet by Anne Fortier

Comment by Ann Schwarz — August 25, 2011 @ 3:54 pm
Ooooo, how I love this post!

Here are 5 books from my “Top 10” list for this year (so far):
* “Made to Crave” by Lysa Terkeurst
* “Incognito” by Gregory Murphy
* “Reshaping It All” by Candace Cameron Bure
* “Beautiful Outlaw” by John Eldredge
* “Mistress of Rome” by Kate Quinn

~MizB

Comment by MizB — August 27, 2011 @ 8:49 am