What to Read When...

Today's Top Ten Tuesday topic is What to Read When You're In the Mood For... and I've chosen Books About Books/Reading. Because I have lots to recommend.

1. The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction by Alan Jacobs - This is my number one favorite book about reading. I reread it often. He has a lot to say about "rules" and "lists". So inspiring.

2. So Many Books, So Little Time by Sara Nelson - This is another book I reread frequently. Nelson gives herself a year-long project to read a book a week and write about it. This is the result. I believe what a person reads says a lot about who they are. This book isn't just about what she reads, but also where, how, and why.

3. All Roads Lead to Austen by Amy Elizabeth Smith - It might be about time to read this one again. Smith is a professor in California who takes a Sabbatical to go do book discussions about Jane Austen books with women in various countries in South America. Her goal is to see if Austen's books are so universal that they have the same effect on women in another culture and using a different language.

4. The Novel Cure by Ella Berthoud - This is a really unique reading guide. It lists various physical and mental/emotional complaints and prescribes books to relieve those symptoms. So, so much fun.

5. Howard's End Is On The Landing by Susan Hill - Like most book worms, Hill's house is bursting with books. But she has many she hasn't read. This book is about her resolution to read her own damn books and read them intentionally. I liked this one a lot.

6. The Reading Promise by Alice Ozma - Ozma's mother died when the author was young. Her father was facing raising her alone and he made a promise to her that he would read to her at least 20 minutes every night. This book is about how he kept that promise and what it meant to Alice.

7. Tolstoy and the Purple Chair by Nina Sankovitch - The author and her sister connected over books. They were both avid readers and recommended books to each other and raved to each other about what they'd read. When her sister died, Sankovitch decided to spend a year reading a book a day as a way to ground herself and still feel that connection to her sister. She had an old purple chair she sat in to read her book a day. This is the story of that year.

8. Booklust (the series) by Nancy Pearl - This is exactly what I think of when I think about books about books. These books are divided by topic and give suggestions of books to read when you're looking for a certain thing. Mine are marked all up. There really need to be more of these.

9. Why We Read What We Read by Lisa Adams - This is a mash up of books about books and statistics about reading. Just the idea gives my heart a little flutter. The author interviewed tons of people about what they read when and why. It has statistics and anecdotal information and I loved it.

10. Read This Next by Howard Mittlemark and Sandra Newman - This book is a fun way to get ideas for what to read next. There are quizzes and quotes, discussion questions and anecdotes. It's very lighthearted and happy.

Got any I need to check out? Let me know!