Books for living

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Summary

"From the author of the best-selling and beloved The End of Your Life Book Club--a wonderfully engaging new book: both a celebration of reading in general and an impassioned recommendation of specific books that can help guide us through our daily lives. "I've always believed that everything you need to know you can find in a book," writes Will Schwalbe in his introduction to this thought-provoking, heart-felt, and often inspiring new book about books. In each chapter he makes clear the ways in which a particular book has helped to shape how he leads his own life and the ways in which it might help to shape ours. He talks about what brought him to each book--or vice versa; the people in his life he associates each book with; how each has led him to other books; how each is part of his understanding of himself in the world. And he relates each book to a question of our daily lives, for example: Melville's Bartelby, the Scrivener speaks to quitting; 1984 to disconnecting from our electronics; James Baldwin's Giovanni's Room to the power of connecting with people face to face; Anne Morrow Lindbergh's Gift from the Sea to taking time to recharge; Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird to being sensitive to the surrounding world; The Little Prince to finding friends; Elie Wiesel's Night to choosing to do something in the face of injustice; Paula Hawkins's The Girl on the Train to trusting. Here, too, are books by Dickens, Daphne Du Maurier, Murakami, Edna Lewis, E.B. White, and Hanya Yanagihara, among many others. A treasure of a book for everyone who loves books, loves reading, and loves to hear the answer to the question: "What have you been reading lately?""--

Contents

The importance of living ; Slowing down
Stuart Little ; Searching
The girl on the train ; Trusting
The odyssey ; Embracing mediocrity
What I talk about when I talk about running ; Napping
Giovanni's room ; Connecting
David Copperfield ; Remembering
Wonder ; Choosing kindness
Lateral thinking ; Solving problems
Gift from the sea ; Recharging
The taste of country cooking ; Nourishing
"Bartleby, the scrivener" ; Quitting
The gifts of the body ; Losing
The little prince ; Finding friends
1984 ; Disconnecting
Epitaph of a small winner ; Overcoming boredom
Zen in the art of archery ; Mastering the art of reading
Song of Solomon ; Admiring greatness
A little life ; Hugging
Bird by bird ; Feeling sensitive
Rebecca ; Betraying
Reading Lolita in Tehran ; Choosing your life
"More, more, more," said the baby ; Staying satisfied
A journey around my room ; Traveling
Death be not proud ; Praying
What the living do ; Living
A final word

Published Reviews

Booklist Review: "*Starred Review* Reading, Schwalbe writes, is one of the few things you do alone that makes you feel less alone. This publishing executive and author of the best-selling memoir The End of Your Life Book Club (2012) also states, I've always believed that everything you need to know you can find in a book. Crime fiction, he suggests, can teach us a lot about trust. Orwell's 1984 prompts Schwalbe to observe that books offer shelter from the tyranny of digital bombardment and endless connectivity, coaxing us to slow down, savor, and ponder. This is the theme of The Importance of Living (1937) by Lin Yutang, a long-forgotten philosophical work that serves as the touchstone for Schwalbe's tribute to the endless bounty of reading. Each chapter about a beloved book Stuart Little, David Copperfield, Song of Solomon, Bird by Bird is a finely crafted, generously candid, and affecting personal essay, none more moving than the homage to his boarding-school librarian, who subtly steered him to James Baldwin's Giovanni's Room, having realized that I was gay at just about the same time I did. In this warmly engaging, enlightening, and stirring memoir-in-books and literary celebration, Schwalbe reminds us that reading isn't just a strike against narrowness, mind control, and domination; it's one of the world's greatest joys. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: So popular was Schwalbe's previous ode to reading, his new book will be accorded a substantial print run and strong promotion.--Seaman, Donna Copyright 2016 Booklist"
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Publisher's Weekly Review: "The right book at the right time can change your life, Schwalbe (The End of Your Life Book Club) argues as he distills a lifetime of reading recommendations down to this personal list of books for many moods and occasions. The first book that Schwalbe recommends is Lin Yutang's The Importance of Living, an interesting work of practical philosophy that Schwalbe returns to over and over. Schwalbe also includes essays on children's books, YA, classics, and recent book such as A Little Life, Hanya Yanagihara's 2015 novel. He uses these brief essays as springboards into other topics, such as worry over our Orwellian addiction to smartphones, the AIDS crisis of the 1980s, and why napping should be deemed a human right. His experience taking a class in ancient Greek and reading The Odyssey turns into a memoir about a teacher who inspired him. When he reflects on Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin, he thinks of the high school librarian who subtly provided him with books by gay writers. Schwalbe's tremendous experience with reading and his stellar taste make for a fine guide to the varied and idiosyncratic list of books for which he advocates. By the end of the book, all serious readers will have added some titles to their to-read lists. Agent: John Brockman, Brockman Inc. (Dec.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved."
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Additional Information

Subjects	Schwalbe, Will Books and reading Books and reading Psychological aspects Books and reading United States Biography & Autobiography Family & Relationships Literary Criticism Nonfiction Electronic books.
Publisher	New York :Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group2016 2016
Edition	First edition.
Contributors	OverDrive, Inc.
Audience	Adult. Adult.
Language	English
System Details	Mode of access: World Wide Web. Format: Adobe EPUB eBook Format: Kindle Book Format: OverDrive Read Requires Adobe Digital Editions or Amazon Kindle
Description	1 online resource
ISBN	9780385353557 9780385353557
Other	Classic View