When you love a book, you want other people to read it and love it too.  It’s kind of like meeting two people you think are made for each other and having the pleasure of introducing them.  This is what makes being a bookseller an endless adventure.  And though I no longer sell books for a living, I still get a thrill when I match a person with a book.  Sophie must have inherited this from me because when she reads something that captures her, she wants me to read it too.  She KNOWS I will love it just as well, just as deeply.  And I am delighted, even a little flattered, that she invites me into her book world.

So the other night, I sprawled across Sophie’s bed and interuppted her reading to ask an important question:  If she could pick 2 books for me to read in the near future, what would they be?  I started one of her choices that very night and also jotted down a few other books that I’ve been wanting to read.  Here’s the list:

Sophie’s picks:

Red Pyramid, The Kane Chronicles Book 1, by Rick Riordan–Sophie swears this is an amazing book and she told me that as soon as I’m done with this one, I can read book two and then we can BUY book three for which she is (patiently) waiting.  There is nothing like immersing myself in a fantasy world where magic and creativity rule the day.  I vow to never stop enjoying the thrill of letting myself get sucked into the likes of Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and now, The Kane Chronicles.

 The Invention of Hugo Cabret, by Brian Selznick–I encouraged Sophie to read this book before we watched the movie . . . however, I did not follow my own advice.  So, a year or so later, I’m going to dig into the book.  The good news is that my memory for movies is somewhat compromised so much of the book, I’m sure, will seem completely new.

And the others:

Wildwood, by Colin Meloy–Lead singer for the alternative band, The Decemberists, Colin Meloy is evidently also a talented author.  At least according to the NY Times review which concludes by noting that Meloy “has shaped the real stuff of Portland into a fantastic epic with a rainy, bicycle-riding Northwestern heart.”  I also enjoyed this comment from the review:  “Sometimes things get almost too Portlandy, as though the characters from the brilliant TV satire “Portlandia” have gotten lost in Narnia.”  Love that–makes me want to read it even more.

Help, Thanks, Wow:  The Three Essential Prayers, by Anne Lamott–I’ve written about Anne Lamott before.  She remains one of my favorites, capturing the spiritual world intersecting with the daily and delivering her stories with great comic timing.  For years she has referred to the simplicity of many of her prayers, often captured in a single word (sometimes repeated):  Help . . . Thanks . . . Wow.

4 Hour Chef, by Timothy Ferriss–I’m a bit of a sucker for a great “how to” book . . . I like to read the steps, I enjoy the lists of materials/ingredients and I like imagining what it would be like to try whatever is being described.  Whether I actually will or not has little to do with it.  This book sounds like the ultimate “how to,” the quintessential coffee-table/conversation-starter book.  Taken from the book’s synopsis:

“Featuring tips and tricks from chess prodigies, world-renowned chefs, pro athletes, master sommeliers, supermodels, and everyone in between, this “cookbook for people who don’t buy cookbooks” is a guide to mastering cooking and life.”

Broken Harbor, by Tana French–I’ve read all of French’s thrillers.  She is an enviably sparse writer and knows how to drive plot.  I can’t believe I’m actually writing this sentence about a murder mystery, but I can’t resist:  I am dying to read this novel.

Only Investment Guide You’ll Ever Need, by Andrew Tobias–As I settle firmly into my mid-thirties and study the drop off toward 40 that is more rapidly approaching, I’m realizing that I need to get much more serious in this area.  I’m hoping for some inspiration and, most certainly, guidance.  And I can’t help but be drawn by the title–the only book I’ll ever need on this subject area which is not my first love?  Sold.

Mystery & Manners, by Flannery O’Conner–This is my choice in the “book to read again” category.  I remember this collection of essays as transforming, perspective shifting.  When I look through the pages, I have underlined more sentences than I’ve left alone.  O’Conner writes about education, literature, faith, place.  Here is a lovely example, “I found that another popular way to avoid teaching literature was to be concerned exclusively with the author and his psychology.  Why was Hawthorne melancholy and what made Poe drink liquor . . . a work of art exists without its author from the moment the words are on paper, and the more complete the work, the less important is is who wrote it or why.  If you’re studying literature, the intentions of the writer have to be found in the work itself, and not is his life.”

The Last Book on My List:  whatever YOU would recommend.  What is the book that made you a reader?  That kept you up late into the night?  That made you forget to eat?  That you had to sneak under your desk during class?  Take just a second and leave your chosen title(s) as a comment.  Think of it as setting me up on a book date.

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