Staff Picks - Books about Books
Today's blog post looks at book about books. Is there anything more meta than reading a book about reading books? If you'd like help adding to your TBR (to-be-read) list, the books below will surely help!
Kate suggests . . .
Ten Years in the Tub
by Nick Hornby
A humorous and relatable read for anyone who has ever acquired more books than they will feasibly be able to complete in a lifetime, Ten Years in the Tub is a compilation of Hornby's column, "Stuff I’ve Been Reading," which was published monthly in The Believer. Each column starts with "Books Bought" and "Books Read" sections and provides ample suggestions for books to add to your shelf.
Find it in the library Here
The Call Me Ishmael Phone Book: An Interactive Guide
to Life-Changing Books
by Stephanie Kent and Logan Smalley
The Call Me Ishmael Phone Book provides recommendations for books on hundreds of different topics, all organized alphabetically as you would find in a phone book. To access the listings, dial the phone number on the cover and then ring through to the extension listed next to your selected topic. In addition to recommendations, readers will find stories about books, interviews with bookstore owners (including some from Montana!), ads for things like "Bibliotherapy: Recommended Readings and Remedies," and plenty more to explore. You can even call Ishmael yourself and leave a story about your own favorite reading experience!
Find it in the library Here
Watch the Official Book Trailer Here and the YouTube Channel is also fun!
Beth suggests . . .
The Book of Books
by Jessica Allen
Here’s an interesting book to commemorate The Great American Read which was an eight-part PBS series. If you missed the excitement while the program was being aired in 2018, you can revisit the titles and fun by checking out this book. I found myself adding several titles to my TBR list while perusing its pages.
Find it in the library Here
A list of the 100 books Here
1,000 Books to Read Before You Die: A Life-Changing List
by James Mustich
Author James Mustich took years painstakingly compiling book lists to include in this massive tome of 1,000 recommended titles. His choices are diverse, roughly half of the titles are fiction and the other half are nonfiction. You’ll find old and modern classics, timeless books written for young people are also included. The author is passionate about reading and reading culture. The introduction reads “...the right book at the right time can expand our lives in the way love does making us more thoughtful, more generous, more brave, more alert to the world’s wonder and more pained by its inequities, more wise, more kind.”
Book lists and indices at the end of the book are also helpful.
Find it in the library Here
Also available in digital format:
Hoopla eBook
Additional books about books you may find interesting:
Ex Libris by Michiko Kakutani
The Bright Book of Life: Novels to read and reread by Harold Bloom
Books for Living by Will Schwable
Browsings: A Year of Reading, Collection, and Living with Books by Michael Dirda
The Enchanted Hour: The Miraculous Power of Reading Aloud in the Age of Distraction by Meghan Cox Gurdon
Wild Things: The Joy of Reading Children’s Literature As an Adult by Bruce Handy
And as always, Happy Reading!