August 15, 2017

Books For People Who Love Books

Today's Top Ten Tuesday topic is Ten Book Recommendations for ______________. I took the easy way out and chose people who love books. Top Ten Tuesday has been on a break for awhile, so I'm glad to see them back!

There shouldn't be any surprises on this list, but here we go:

I'm going to start with non-fiction books about books.

The Art of Reading in an Age of Distraction by Alan Jacobs - No one is surprised to find this here, so I'll just get it out of the way early. What I love about this book is the permission it gives to read what you want to read. Don't listen to people who tell you what you should have read. Don't read those lists of top 100 books to make you a smart, well-read, decent adult. Read whatever you want to do feel guilty about it. He probably says more than that, but that's what I remember most.

The Novel Cure: From Abandonment to Zestlessness: 751 books to cure what ails you by Ella Berthoud - This fun books suggests books to help you deal with all kinds of ailments. Colds, breakups, sprained ankles, whatever. It's equal parts hilarity and serious suggestion. I really need to acquire a copy of this for myself.

So Many Books, So Little Time by Sara Nelson - This book has been one of my favorites for a very long time. The author embarks on a project to read a book a week and write about it. About half the books she reads make it into the book. And the book is so old, the books are all old news now. She doesn't read many books I am interested in, but that's not why I love it. I love the peek into someone else's life. I can kind of picture her apartment, and I love hearing about her bizarre reading patterns (i.e. short bursts in the middle of the night). This is definitely comfort reading for me.

Tolstoy and the Purple Chair by Nina Sankovitch - In this book, the author reviews her year of reading a book a day. The author's sister died, and that sister was her book sounding board. The loved to talk about and bond over books. After she died, the author and her husband decided that the way she would grieve would be to read a book a day for a year. Must be nice. But also, so much pressure!

The Reading Promise by Alice Ozma - This is a beautiful tale of her father's commitment to reading to her every day. The author's mother died when she was 11 or 12. Afterward, her father promised that he would read to her for at least 20 minutes every day. And he kept his promise, even when it wasn't convenient for her social life. This is so sweet and a perfect example of people getting through grief together.

Book Lust by Nancy Pearl - And really all the Book Lust Books she wrote. The organization of this books is very interesting. Some books could turn up in several categories. The first section is called I Am Alice and contains all books written by people named Alice.

Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi - This book is really difficult to read. I don't really understand everything she says. Well, I didn't when I read it last. I'm a little smarter, now. But I do know that this book is about the great love of literature that made these women break the law to meet and talk about books.

OK. Now for the fiction!

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield - This book is only tangentially about books, but it feels so bookish and book-lovey. It feels like a bookstore smells. I had to include it.

The Case of the Missing Books by Ian Sansom - This is the first in a series of lovely books about Israel Armstrong who moves to the back of beyond Ireland to be the bookmobile driver. When he gets there, all the books are missing! It's a quirky little cozy mystery about books. What's not to love?

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde - I love this book. It's so silly and imaginative.Thursday Next is a literary detective. She is called up because Jane Eyre has gone missing. The jokes are hilarious and make you feel very smart.

So there are my books for people who love books! What would you add to this list?