Maurine Talks Books | Books About Books

— from Maurine Barnett, MaurineTalksBooks.com —

If there is a favorite avocation of mine, it is discovering titles that I have not yet read, have forgotten about, or never heard of:  that is the reason I hang out in bookstores and libraries so much. The fabulous (and my former SPL co-worker) Nancy Pearl has done all readers a great favor by publishing her three Book Lust volumes, and there are more of my favorite “books about books” below. I recommend not trying all these at once, lest you become so overwhelmed with suggestions you cannot ever decide what to read.

Howards End is on the Landing: a Year of Reading from Home, by Susan Hill

Charming and meandering (in the best sense of both words), is this 2010 memoir about reading, by well-known British author (the Simon Serrailler crime series) and blogger Susan Hill. While looking for a book she had”misplaced” one day, Hill realized that she had enough books at home she had not yet read (who canimagine!?) to last at least a year. “I wanted to repossess my books,” she wrote, “to explore what I had accumulated over a lifetime of reading.” Her choices were varied and eclectic, if decidedly British:  books by Barbara Pym, Elizabeth Jane Howard, Elizabeth Bowen, George Orwell and many others.  Her comments about Iris Murdoch not being read very much anymore are ones I agree with, yet lots of people giving her feedback on her book blog disagreed. Yes, the book was very satisfying, as it reminds me there are many others who also can’t possibly read all the books they buy and stack around the house.

Read This! Handpicked Favorites from America’s Indie Bookstores, Hans Weyandt, editor

Many of the greatest indie bookstores in the US are featured in this compact and valuableguidebook to reading, compiled in 2012 and published by Coffee House press. You could not ask for a better list when looking for a great read in a library, bookstore, or online.  Small and compact, it will fit in a back pocket or purse, and covers booksellers from 25 top independent bookstores. Each bookstore owner is briefly interviewed, the bookstore described, and lists of 20-50 of their favorite recommendations. Just last week, I was inspired to pick up two titles I had not yet read: James Agee’s A Death in the Family, and J. M. Coetzee’s Disgrace. What amazing reads! What eclectic picks!

The World Between Two Covers, by Ann Morgan

Morgan, a book blogger and author, decided in 2012 that she would read one book from every country during the course of a year (196+ books!) because she felt she was too limited in her reading. But unlike many books about books, this explores the ideas around thinking about what you read, and why you read it, rather than recapping each book she chose. One of the unique aspects of this book is how difficult it was for her to find publishers and examples from each country, which reinforces how Anglo-centric the publishing world remains. A few examples are rather unimaginative (James Joyce representing Ireland, for example). But most were unfamiliar to me, and will open up a “whole new world” for any adventurous reader. There is a list in the back of the book with the titles and countries they represent, and I counted over 180 authors and titles I have yet to explore. Such potential riches!

By the Book; Writers on Literature and the Literary Life from the NYT Book Review, Pamela Paul, editor

I slavishly read the column “By the Book” in the New York Times Book Review every Sunday, and am seldom disappointed.  Of course, reading the columns only prompts me to add to my bulging list of “books I have not read but must do so soon”.  On the plus side, I find out more about favorite authors and am never bored reading the answers to questions such as “what books are overrated, disappointing or just not good”.  Some 65 of these columns have been collected in book form, complete with the articulate drawings of authors by Jillian Tamaki.  I can pretty much guarantee you will find these articles fascinating, enlightening, and you will come away with your own list of books you will want to (or not want to) read.  Great book for  book groups, too.

84, Charing Cross Road, by Helene Hanff

I would have felt ashamed to leave this title off the list. There must be a few of you readers out there who have not read it; it is short and lovely. And those of us who have read it should re-read it every few years.  A true story, the book consists of letters between Hanff, a rather flamboyant American writer searching for cheap books, and Frank Doel, and rather staid and buttoned-up antiquarian English bookstore (Marks & Company) employee. The correspondence between them lasted from 1949 through the mid-1960s, and beautifully illuminates their different personalities, tastes in literature, and growing friendship.  Hanff ultimately became friends with Doel’s wife and other bookstore employees. Another enlightening aspect of the book are the discussions about politics and cultural changes happening in both England and the United States after WWII. A beloved classic!

When Books Went to War, by Molly Guptill Manning

Because my own father was in WWII, and often wrote to my Mom about what he was reading, I sometimes wondered if he had access to a library while in the Army. So this book caught my eye when published a couple of years ago. What an eye-opener!  I knew that the Nazi had burned 100 million books starting in the early 1930s as a way to exert their own agenda. But I had no idea that librarians, in an uproar over the book burnings, collected 20 million hardback books to send to U.S. troops. Then in 1943 the War Department and the publishing industry enlarged the program by producing 120 million lightweight paperbacks to distribute to troops. Called Armed Services Editions, the list of authors and titles (in the back of this book) is amazing. And just as amazing is the list of authors “banned” by the government for printing and distribution. A fascinating read, for anyone interested in history.