Books I like

Since I dislike so many books, people want to know what books I like.  I must like some of them since I waste so much time reading. 

  First I want to mention why I hate writing review of books I like.  I am not sure why I like them, or what about them I like.  When I re-read a book, I find so much in it that I didn't appreciate more.  There are depths in a good book, layers of meaning.  Every time I re-read anna Karenina, I find something new--re-reading  opens up unending new insights and I appreciate it not better, but differently.

My favorite classic fiction: Anna Karenina, Pride and Prejudice, Middlemarch, Great Expectations, anything by Dickens, practically anything by Trollope.  I have no objections to long books, if they are good.


Books I hate is a much longer list: Anything with a political message, particularly progreesive.  Anything "transgressive," anything by "women" writers, published because the author is a woman.  Anything where the characters have winsome names, like Turtle or Tempest.

I like American history, because I am an American and learned something about American history, albeit reluctantly, because I had to,  in school.  Other countries, not so much, because I know so little about them that I can't fathom the background. I would need to know much more, to know where I am. English hisotry, about the Tudors, particularly Elizabeth I.   British and Irish modern history, because I typed so many papers about them when my husband was getting his PhD in British history, and because the Irish are such greeat writers.  I particularly like Conor Cruise O'Brian. 

  I also like reading about musicians, and musical instruments.  I recently read a biography of Maria Callas,  and an auto-biography of Placido Domingo, and one by Julie Andrews.  I recommend them unreservedly. These people knew who they were at an early age and believed in themselves, a revelation to me, who still don't know what I want to be when I grow up, even in the face of mortalitty.

  Music reveals new depths every time. That's why you can listen to the same pieces over and over and find new things to love and admire.

Good Will University

I'm getting all my reading material from Good Will. So far this year I've gotten "Reinventing Japan" by Ian Buruma, deTocqueville's "Democracy in America", "Benjamin Disraeli" by Adam Kirsch, "The Sea Wolf" by Jack London, a collection of Moliere's comedies, and a lot of books so forgettable I've already forgotten them. The usual sludge.

I love our library. It's hard to find a library that isn't better than nothing, and mine definitely is. But the downstairs near the entrance is given over to DVDs and children's books. The computer software which searches the holdings of all Delaware libraries is clumsy and hard to use. The adult books are upstairs in the back of the building, involving a bit of a hike. Also, nobody reads the shelves to see if any books are out of order, and plenty are.

But the Good Will is a win/win situation. I pay a dollar, sometimes two, per book, and when done pass them on to my daughter if she is interested. She ultimately sells them at her library's book sale.

The ones she doesn't want are donated to the AAUW annual book sale. I get an itemized receipt--usually a dollar per book-- to take off my income tax. Then somebody takes them home and reads them.

The method is perfect for a dabbler like me. I'm not necessarily looking for anything specific but am interested in anything not involving math or economics. I like history and there's a lot of history out there.

Art, artists, readers, writers, books

The first Friday of every month  in Wilmington the Art Loop takes place.  Vans are laid on by the city to take interested viewers from one studio or museum to another, so artists can get recognition and validation  for their work.  There are wine and snacks, and a festive air prevails.  I usually go, and it's a lot of fun.

The work varies greatly in quality.  Some of the works are for sale.  Some are purchased that very night, and for not inconsiderable sums.  Would I, could I, buy any of these paintings?  Not at those prices.  I couldn't because I'd rather spend the money on a new car, or buy more paints and a new easel.  You see, the art that interests me most is my own.  I like to see how others do things, but I am more interested in learning how to paint myself.

I think writers are like that, too.  I've known published poets who never read a line of any other poet's, none of whose works would be published if government and foundations did not subsidize their publication.  I'm okay with that.

Most people who enjoy literature have a hidden or not so hidden desire to write themselves.  Almost everyone has a novel  in a drawer somewhere or in the attic.  Not me.  I sincerely do not want to write anything, unless you count this blog.  What I want to do is read.  And what I want to read is books.

I've already mentioned that I don't want a Kindle.  I like books.  If it looks good to me, I will read any book with joy.  Unless it is moldy, which sets off my asthma.  Nice-looking books on good paper with beautiful bindings interest me, but so do paperbacks from the 1940s found in dusty book stores or at the Good Will. Library books.   I know I like certain authors, but I love discovering new ones.  I like reading about things I am ignorant about and learning new stuff, if well presented..

I don't really know what I want to read until I see it.  So I will continue to prowl through Barnes & Noble and look through piles of yesterday's best sellers at garage sales.  Some of my finds will be duds, of course, but I've discovered a lot of good reading and have hopes of finding more.

Save time

Discuss books you haven't actually read:

"How to Talk About Books You Haven't Read" has become a best seller here [in France], with translation rights snapped up across Europe and under negotiation in Britain and the United States.

"I am surprised because I hadn't imagined how guilty nonreaders feel," Bayard, 52, said in an interview. "With this book, they can shake off their guilt without psychoanalysis, so it's much cheaper."

Here, then, Bayard reassures them that there is no obligation to read. He boasts of getting away with lecturing to students on books that he has either not read or has merely skimmed. And he recalls passionate exchanges with people who also have not read the book under discussion.

.[].

Bayard then offers tips on how to cover up ignorance of a "must read" book.

Courtesy of Donald Sensing.