The books that we choose to keep -- let alone read -- can say a lot about who we are and how we see ourselves. In My Ideal Bookshelf, dozens of leading cultural figures share the books that matter to them most; books that define their dreams and ambitions and in many cases helped them find their way in the world. Contributors include Malcolm Gladwell, Thomas Keller, Michael Chabon, Alice Waters, James Patterson, Maira Kalman, Judd Apatow, Chuck Klosterman, Miranda July, Alex Ross, Nancy Pearl, David Chang, Patti Smith, Jennifer Egan, and Dave Eggers, among many others. With colorful and endearingly hand-rendered images of book spines by Jane Mount, and first-person commentary from all the contributors, this is a perfect gift for avid readers, writers, and all who have known the influence of a great book.
It's time to diversify your reading list. This richly illustrated and vastly inclusive collection uplifts the works of authors who are often underrepresented in the literary world. Using their keen knowledge and deep love for all things literary, coauthors Jamise Harper (founder of the Diverse Spines book community) and Jane Mount (author of Bibliophile) collaborated to create an essential volume filled with treasures for every reader: • Dozens of themed illustrated book stacks—like Classics, Contemporary Fiction, Mysteries, Cookbooks, and more—all with an emphasis on authors of color and own voices • A look inside beloved bookstores owned by Black, Indigenous, and People of Color • Reading recommendations from leading BIPOC literary influencers Diversify your reading list to expand your world and shift your perspective. Kickstart your next literary adventure now! EASY TO GIFT: This portable guide is packed with more than 150 colorful illustrations is a perfect gift for any booklover. The textured paper cover, gold foil, and ribbon marker make this book a special gift or self-purchase. DISCOVER UNSUNG LITERARY HEROES: The authors dive deep into a wide variety of genres, such as Contemporary Fiction, Classics, Young Adult, Sci-Fi, and more to bring the works of authors of color to the fore. ENDLESS READING INSPIRATION: Themed book stacks and reading suggestions from luminaries of the literary world provide curated book recommendations. Your to-read list will thank you. Perfect for: bookish people; literary lovers; book club members; Mother's Day shoppers; stocking stuffers; followers of #DiverseSpines; Jane Mount and Ideal Bookshelf fans; Reese's Book Club and Oprah's Book Club followers; people who use Goodreads.com; readers wanting to expand/decolonize their book collections; people interested in uplifting BIPOC voices; antiracist activists and educators; grads and students; librarians and library patrons wanting to expand/decolonize their book collections; people interested in uplifting BIPOC voices; antiracist activists and educators; grads and students; librarians and library patrons
Perfect gift for book lovers, writers and your book club Book lovers rejoice! In this love letter to all things bookish, Jane Mount brings literary people, places, and things to life through her signature and vibrant illustrations. Readers of Jane Mount's Bibliophile will delight in: Touring the world's most beautiful bookstores Testing their knowledge of the written word with quizzes Finding their next great read in lovingly curated stacks of books Sampling the most famous fictional meals Peeking inside the workspaces of their favorite authors A source of endless inspiration, literary facts and recommendations: Bibliophile is pure bookish joy and sure to enchant book clubbers, English majors, poetry devotees, aspiring writers, and any and all who identify as book lovers. If you have read or own: I’d Rather Be Reading: The Delights and Dilemmas of the Reading Life; The Written World: The Power of Stories to Shape People, History, and Civilization; or How to Read Literature Like a Professor: A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines; then you will want to read and own Jane Mount's Bibliophile.
A look at the culture and fanaticism of book lovers, from the beloved New York Times illustrator and creator of Incidental Comics. It’s no secret, but we are judged by our bookshelves. We learn to read at an early age, and as we grow older we shed our beloved books for new ones. But some of us surround ourselves with books. We collect them, decorate with them, are inspired by them, and treat our books as sacred objects. In this lighthearted collection of one- and two-page comics, writer-artist Grant Snider explores bookishness in all its forms, and the love of writing and reading, building on the beloved literary comics featured on his website, Incidental Comics. I Will Judge You by Your Bookshelf is the perfect gift for bookworms of all ages. “This playful, self-aware collection of strips and gags on the joys and frustrations of reading and writing is equal parts lighthearted and sincere . . . The panels range from gently clever to surprisingly profound to laugh-out-loud.” —Publishers Weekly “A prescient book for these times.” —Newsarama
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Ex-detective Thursday Next faces her trickiest assignment yet in the seventh novel of this renowned series, “[a] bibliophile’s Wonderland” (The Plain Dealer). “It’s safe to say that if you enjoy that particularly British, Douglas Adams–style absurd delivery of wry observations, you’ll get a kick out of [The Woman Who Died a Lot].”—New York Journal of Books Thursday Next, the Bookworld’s leading enforcement officer, has been forced into semiretirement following an assassination attempt. When her former SpecOps division is reinstated, she assumes she’s the obvious choice to lead the Literary Detectives. Sadly, our banged-up heroine is no spring chicken, and her old boss has a cushier job in mind: Chief Librarian of the Swindon All-You-Can-Eat-at-Fatso’s Drink Not Included Library. But where Thursday goes, trouble follows. As the new Chief Librarian faces 100 percent budget cuts and trouble from the ever-evil Jack Schitt, the Next children face their own career hiccups—and possible nonexistence. Don’t miss any of Jasper Fforde’s delightfully entertaining Thursday Next novels: THE EYRE AFFAIR • LOST IN A GOOD BOOK • THE WELL OF LOST PLOTS • SOMETHING ROTTEN • FIRST AMONG SEQUELS • ONE OF OUR THURSDAYS IS MISSING • THE WOMAN WHO DIED A LOT
A professor, critic, and insatiable reader, Jenny Davidson investigates the passions that drive us to fall in love with certain sentences over others and the larger implications of our relationship with writing style. At once playful and serious, immersive and analytic, her book shows how style elicits particular kinds of moral judgments and subjective preferences that turn reading into a highly personal and political act. Melding her experiences as reader and critic, Davidson opens new vistas onto works by Jane Austen, Henry James, Marcel Proust, and Thomas Pynchon; adds richer dimension to critiques of W. G. Sebald, Alan Hollinghurst, Thomas Bernhard, and Karl Ove Knausgaard; and allows for a sophisticated appreciation of popular fictions by Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, Lionel Shriver, George Pelecanos, and Helen DeWitt. She privileges diction, syntax, point of view, and structure over plot and character, identifying the intimate mechanics that draw us in to literature's sensual frameworks and move us to feel, identify, and relate. Davidson concludes with a reading list of her favorite titles so others can share in her literary adventures and get to know better the imprint of her own reading style.
My friend the late Hilton Yow and I talked often, mostly about sports, his beloved daughters, his really bad hip, and religion. Hilton was a strong born again. My dad was a Southern Baptist Minister. Hilton got my attention on TV. While channel-hopping, I spied him, next in line to be healed. The would-be healer called Hilton up. He put it like this: Come on up, sir, and tell us what is wrong. Im thinking hip all the way. But just as Hilton started to speak, the healer admonished my friend, No, dont say anything. Ill tell you where it is! My initial thought was that that was a little risky, even for a healer. Without a word from Hilton, the reverend began to trace with his forefinger parts of Hiltons lower face, his neck, and his upper shoulders. He looked confidently at Hilton and suggested, Im getting it, arent I? Hilton looked chagrined yet still hopeful, adding this, his only comment: Well, no. But go ahead and get all of it while you are in there! My first attempt at writing a book (Play Is Where Life Is [2007]) included a variation of this true story. But I didnt get it all. Allthis time includes parts of Play Is Where Life Is that bear repeating. And large portions of a blog (www.tomparham.wordpress.com), which has nearly one hundred articles on a variety of subjects. With the help of Johnnie Bonehead Dennis, I produced Nearly Fifty in 2013. A coffee-tablestyled book, I tried to portray almost fifty years of friendship among a group of buddies who held the first of these gatherings with a Super Bowl party, the first Super Bowl. We havent missed a year, Classic Americana and friendship. Included is a history in text and photos. I have to apologize for the blog guide. I tried to set it up myself, and that didnt work too well. The best I can offer is that all of the articles can eventually be found on the blog. In this book, I put the blog articles used in the text in the text order they are used. Additional blog articles that seemed appropriate for this book then appear as a group at the end of the text. That confuses even the author. Now to piss you off. There are two parts (A and B) that are new. Part A deals with serious stuff, while Part B is much lighter and hopefully fun stuff. The old coach in me couldn't resist several new tennis thoughts. As well as considerable classic information some may not have seen. Getting it all is tough work. Some are serious as a heart attack. Some are trivial. No one will get it all. Or like it all, but you may not like all my music, but stay with me. Ill find you (Ray Charles).
Academic collection practices in recent years have extended to the private libraries of notable individual authors. As a consequence, book historians have become more interested in the study of provenance of the contents of these libraries, while literary scholars have devoted more attention to authorial annotations. At the same time, the Internet has encouraged both scholarly and hobbyist reconstructions of private libraries (see, for example, the “Legacy Libraries” on Librarything.com). Although there are many bibliographies and reconstructions of the libraries of authors, this is the first general consideration of these libraries and serves as an introduction to best practices for academic libraries in their acquisition, cataloging and issues of access. This collection begins with principal editor Richard Oram’s historical overview of writers’ libraries and institutional collecting, focusing primarily on English-language authors. The co-editor, Joseph Nicholson, has provided a definitive review of best cataloging and arrangement practices that facilitate scholarly access. The bookseller Kevin Mac Donnell discusses the marketing of these collections and obstacles to placing intact author libraries in institutions. Also included are case studies by Amanda Golden and David Faulds relating to the personal libraries of the poets Anne Sexton and Ted Hughes, indicating how these collections have the potential to enhance archival research. Fiction writers Iain Sinclair, Russell Banks, Jim Crace, poet Ted Kooser, and biographer Ron Powers describe their (sometimes passionate) relationship with books and their own personal libraries. The concluding chapter, a location guide to over 500 individual libraries, will be invaluable to scholars and librarians who want to know where writers’ libraries are currently located, what happened to them (if they are known to have been sold or dispersed), and what has been written about them.
“This Is a Great Book!” champions the belief that having a wide range of “great” books to read is essential to students’ becoming readers — both inside the classroom, and beyond. Based on extensive research, this highly readable book explores a range of recommended titles that cover a spectrum of developmental stages, from early chapter books to young adult novels. The 101 literacy events outlined within include a wealth of practical strategies: more than fifty reproducible activities, assessment profiles, and inventories for easy classroom use. Committed to nurturing the love of reading, this passionate book invites readers to dig deeper by responding through writing, discussion, the arts, media, and more. Special attention is given to the world of leisure reading, where readers make choices based on their preferences and tastes as they build a lifelong interest in fiction that will enrich their lives.
Based on years of ground-breaking research, this book supplies a look at the unique relationship between each text and the individual reader that results in a satisfying, pleasurable, and even life-changing reading experience. Following up on her critically acclaimed Reading Matters: What the Research Reveals about Reading, Libraries, and Community, Catherine Sheldrick Ross takes a new look at pleasure reading through 30 thought-provoking essays based on themes arranged from A to Z. In short lively chapters, she discusses topics ranging from "Alexia," "Bad Reading," and "Changing Lives" to "Romance Fiction," "Self-help," "Titles," "Vampires," and "Year of Reading." Drawing on her own research as well as other published sources, Ross comments on the significance of each theme, provides examples of the phenomenon, and develops the topic chronologically, through further examples, or through reversals. The essays are unified by an underlying theory of reading that views readers as sense-makers, actively engaged in reading themselves into the text and reading the texts back into their own lives. It gives educators and librarians insights into their roles with readers and offers a message about the importance of pleasure reading. A short list of resources for further reading is supplied with each topic.