Tuesday, May 11, 2004

Book Lust

Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment, and Reason

"When I get a little money, I buy books. And if there is any left over, I buy food." — Desiderius Erasmus

This pretty much sums up my approach to books. I love them with a passion. I can't wait to read good ones I've heard about. So I was interested to take a look at Book Lust. Librarian Nancy Pearl has turned a lifetime love of books into lists of recommendations in over 175 categories. There is something for everyone: Dinosaur Hunting, Academia: The Joke, Road Novels, Kitchen-Sink Poetry. Each of her suggestions is accompanied by a few of her thoughts on it and a succinct plot summary. She also has highlighted a few authors that are relatively unknown and "Too Good to Miss". I was pleased to see two of my favorite "unknown" authors, Connie Willis and Ross Thomas, were included.

I usually don't wind up with many recommendations from this sort of book because I'm a fairly low brow reader, sticking to mysteries, science fiction, and memoirs ... and none of them had better be too sad or serious. I was surprised to find myself with a list of over 60 books to try. Eventually, I'd put the book down to do something and when I came back it had disappeared. Hannah now has a large list of books to try also. Thank heavens for the public library!