Bogel - Id Rather Be Reading: the Delights and Dilemmas of the Reading Life

The Pages of Our Lives

C an you recommend a great book?

Because Im a writer, certified book nerd, and all-around bookish enthusiast, people ask me this question all the time. I talk about books like its my joband in a sense, it is. I make book recommendations every day.

When a reader tells me theyre looking for a great book to read, it doesnt seem like a complicated question, or like theyre asking for too much. I can imagine where theyre coming from because Ive been there myself. Maybe theyve read through a string of mediocre titles, or maybe its been a while since theyve read anything at all. Maybe theyre in a slump, reading-wise, and its killed the confidence they once had in choosing good titles for themselves. Theyre not in the mood to take a chance; theyre looking for a sure thinga book theyre guaranteed to love.

But no library or bookstore has a dedicated shelf for great books, at least not the kind were talking about here. Maybe they have a section of impressive-looking hardbacks, those hundred or so titles some consider to be the foundation of Western literaturePlato, Cicero, Dante. Those Great Books are easy enough to find, but theyre not what youre looking for when you want a great book.

Youre looking for a book that reminds you why you read in the first place. One written well and that will feel like it was written just for youone that will make you think about things in a new way, or feel things you didnt expect a book to make you feel, or see things in a new light. A book you wont want to put down, whose characters you dont want to tell good-bye. A book you will close feeling satisfied and grateful, thinking, Now, that was a good one .

If I could read only great books for the rest of my days, I would be happy. But finding those booksfor myself or any other readerisnt so easy. A great book means different things to different people.

When we talk about reading, we often focus on the books themselves, but so much of the reading life is about the reader as an active participant. To put a great book in your hands, heres what I need to know: When you turn to the written word, what are you looking for? What themes speak to you? What sorts of places do you want to vicariously visit? What types of characters do you enjoy meeting on the page? What was the last story you wished would never end? Which was the last volume you hurled across the room?

Without the details of what great means to you, and without knowing what kind of reader you are, the question might be simple, but its impossible to answer. To hand you a great book, I dont just need to know about books; I need to know you .

A book is just printed words on a page: you can shelve it, shred it, ship it around the world. Its a commodity you can buy and sell, highly prize, or box up in your basement and leave to mildew. We both loan them and discard them.

But avid readers know a great book doesnt exist only in the realm of the material. The words between those covers bring whole worlds to life. When I think of the characters and stories and ideas contained on a single shelf of my personal library, it boggles my mind. To readers, those booksthe ones we buy and borrow and trade and sellare more than objects. They are opportunities beckoning us. When we read, we connect with them (or dont) in a personal way.