As a
reader’s advisory specialist I am constantly asked “what are you reading and recommend”. To me these are loaded
questions.
See, I
love books. Thus My Ideal Bookshelf is overflowing to the point of establishing its own library; build upon my own literary tastes obviously.
As an avid reader, I have been question on the amount of books I own and
how I found time to read them all, why I need to keep them after I've finished them and where I plan on putting any new books I acquire. I have also been
accused of reading too much. Which I
find silly, and often reply that reading is much like a stay-cation to me, you get to virevisit it without the aggravation of packing.
Why do
I love being a Reader’s Advisory Specialist? I've loved books for as long as I can remember. My affection for books began when I was a
small, inquisitive and curious little girl.
Of course loving book didn't necessarily make me into a great reader and
I wasn't that sort of reader who had her nose in a book every second of every
day, although there have been times here and there. I was more of a book aficionado. I loved the feel of a book; the knowing that
a great tale lived between its hard, protective covers. I enjoyed the heft of a book and walking
among them at a bookstore or when I visited the library. The enjoyment I get from books grew as I did
and as I read. At first I treasured being
read too; the words so easily opening a portal to faraway lands. Then I valued knowing I could venture off on
my own and loved the stories that took me to both real and fictionalized places
that introduced me to characters both well-known and new.
There
are hundreds of books on My Ideal
Bookshelf and I cannot promise I'll be able to narrow it down to just a
handful of favorites. I’m not too sure
it is possible to list just a few of the titles which have shaped, inspired and
opened my eyes. Different books at
different points in my life have taught me lessons and have reminded me of old
ones. Picking favorites, whittling them
down to a few bests of the best may be a lost cause and not for lack of trying
on my part.
So here
it goes my attempt at My Ideal Bookshelf,
in no particular order of favoritism and just in case anyone is asking…
...And here are a few other's I'd like to add (I just couldn't find spine images to include them above).
Shutterbabe: Adventures in Love
and War by Deborah Copaken Kogan
Apron Anxiety: My Messy Affairs
in and Out of the Kitchen by Alyssa Shelasky
The Pact by Jodi Picoult
The Book of Lost Things by John
Connolly
The Yellow Wall Paper by
Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Like Life by Lorrie Moore
Kabul Beauty School: An American
Woman Goes Behind the Veil by Deborah Rodriguez
Sold by Patricia McCormick
Page by Paige by Laura Lee
Gulledge
Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse
Anderson (I enjoy everything by this author)
The Overnight Socialite by Bridie
Clark
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi