geekyBecause every group is essentially a sociological tide pool, shifting slightly whenever the tide comes in but still cross-contaminating itself at a remarkable rate, we also tend to have a somewhat distorted view of "everybody." I bet if you polled a sample size of, say, the readership of this journal, you'd discover that Rosemary and Rue was one of the best-known books of 2009. Why? Because I wrote it, and talk about it constantly, and you read this journal, hence exposing you to it on a constant basis. I'm a literary pathogen!
On a more localized scale, we loan books to our friends, talk books up to our friends, and constantly infect each other with our literary passions. In the last year, I have caused my friends to read I Am Not a Serial Killer, Mr. Shivers, A Madness of Angels, the complete works of Kelley Armstrong, The Mermaid's Madness, The Enchantment Emporium, and Your Hate Mail Will Be Graded. These aren't the only good books I've read in the last year; they're just the ones new enough to still be available, and to have excited me with their sudden existence.
So here is today's challenge: Infect us with books we may not have heard of, but which are so damn AWESOME that it verges on a crime that more people don't know about them. Go for out-of-print things (that's why libraries and used bookstores exist), or the first books in series that started eight years ago. Bring enlightenment to the heathen, in the form of literary smallpox.
I'll start with five of my favorites, books I honestly think everyone should read (whether you enjoy them is up to you):
Hellspark, by Janet Kagen.
Mermaid's Song, by Alida Van Gorres.
Emergence, by David Palmer.
The Strange Adventures of Rangergirl, by Tim Pratt.
Paper Moon, by Joe David Brown.
Authors, feel free to pimp your own work here; just get the word out, and let's see what we're not reading!
May 24 2010, 18:13:36 UTC 7 years ago
Here's what been lighting up my life, thank you LA Times Festival of books:
Afterbirth: Stories You Won't Read in a Parenting Magazine edited by Dani Klein Modisett
- A collection of essays on becoming a parent that are short, hit the mark every time, provide invaluable POV and can be read within five minutes - yes, this is important if you're in this specific statistical grouping.
Wanderlust: A History of Walking by Rebeccca Solnit
- Walking. Nothing but. As a cultural statement, a personal discipline, a political expression...name it. Best of all, while you read the book once through? You can read it again through the footnotes that are nothing but quotations on walking by everybody, across the ages. Every page. So incredibly unique.
What the Bible Really Says About Homosexuality by Daniel A. Helminiak
- Small, pithy and fast reading. I keep this with my copy of the American Constitution (why yes, yes I do know what's in the constitution, here - want to see?). What does it actually say? Not much, to be blunt...and here's the evidence. Go forth and chop the legs out from under some people, here's the axe.
Video Night in Kathmandu: And Other Reports from the Not-So-Far East - Pico Iyer
- One of my most favorite people in the whole wide world is Pico Iyer. You want to see the world through the eyes of a cultural neighborhood contained in a single body, read his books. This is the first one of his I read - Indian by ethnicity, raised in Santa Barbara, educated at Oxford, lives in Japan with his Japanese wife, writes voluminously on middle east life...and having met him, the adoration continues. Most favored author, by far.
Buy a cookbook if the local Rotary, Church Group or other fund-raiser has one. Particularly if you're traveling. This has been a fantastic way to get a look at the communities hosting you - and makes the best souvenir ever. Really really.
May 24 2010, 18:23:04 UTC 7 years ago