Special Post - Sources for Books

Situation: 

I was asked by friends recently where I find my eclectic assortment of interesting books. They, too, want to identify not just something popular from the list of New York Times Bestsellers. They would like ongoing resources to consistently dangle titles in front of them, books which are quality reads with interesting characters and challenging, funny, or transporting plots. They want something out of the ordinary, something they actually will look forward to picking up and reading. 

 
My Solution:
 

Four years ago I wrote a Special Post - Resources for Finding Great Books, but now need to update the electronic newsletters portion. Below are some free email newsletters chock full of brilliant, quirky, and certainly tempting books that I use to learn about new and old titles. 

 

These free book review lists below may appear daunting in number, but don't worry. You can just skim their postings and book lists as you wish, usually a very quick process for me. 

 

Just give them your email address and sit back to watch your In-box fill up with titles and quality reviews of books soon to be published, currently under the radar, classics from the past, and loads of other book-related articles. It's exciting to have emails come into you life almost daily with enticing books to pursue. I read the first sentences of books that interest me using library copies or through the Amazon "Look Inside" link to the book's first pages. Easy to judge quickly and winnow down to the ones that really interest me by my quirky standards. You can do it too.

 

Happy reading.

Fred 

Click here to browse over 465 more book recommendations by subject or title

(and read the introduction to The First Sentence Reader).

 

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Free Book Review Newsletters
(Click on any title to read more and sign up for email postings)

BookBrowse

This newsletter from librarians also provides a longer list of titles with reviews than other book sites, but these books all seem deliciously enticing due to the quality of synopsis and praise they receive. 

 

Booklist

My most-used go-to list to discover top notch list of book recommendations from librarians, often before they are available to the public. Often organized by themes (Thrillers, Non-Fiction, Book Clubs, Romance, etc.). 

Book Marks

Literary Hub's site for book excellent book reviews on a huge variety of topics.

 

BookPage 

Extensive list and reviews from readers as well as some libraries of books they are currently reading. Print copies are usually available in public libraries.

 

The Cottage Bookshop

Probably the newsletter I most look forward to, this monthly posting covers books I usually haven't heard of, yet are always intriguing.

First Look Book Club

Brief excerpts for about-to-be-published books from Random House.

 

Gramercy Books

Have to put in a plug for my local indie bookstore here in Columbus, Ohio, Gramercy Books. Always something interesting to suggest in the way of book titles, gifts, author events, and an overall general good feeling about reading and books.

 

The Guardian Bookmarks

Great reviews of newer books, plus lots of general book-related commentary, articles, links, and discussion. Very good site to stimulate loads of ideas and thoughts.

 

LibraryReads Newsletter

Top ten books of the week that "library staff across the country love." What could be better?

LitHub Weekly 

Very extensive, eclectic, and sophisticated newsletter chock full of articles, essays, book recommendations, and other book-related items. 

 

New York Times Newsletter

Still a great resource for new books, but the newsletter contains many more articles, interviews with authors, and general book-related items.

NPR Books Newsletter  

Fewer book recommendations but great reviews, articles, and comments from NPR readers.

 

Penguin Books Newsletter

From the UK is this unique newsletter reviewing books, offering author interviews, and links to fascinating articles of literary and unusual book-themed nature.

 

RJ Julia Just the Right Book

This tiny but completely well-stocked bookshop in Connecticut is world famous for having a great selection of books. Of course, their newsletter introduces readers to wonderful books and gifts from their store.

Shelf Awareness 

The top twenty-five books of the week as selected by book dealers, publishers, and librarians. Also includes author interviews, games, and links to reviews for unusual books, book-related articles and events of the week. (Sent twice weekly, but isn't overwhelming).

 

Simon & Schuster Books

Extensive list of books from the publisher with high-quality reviews. Also, you get a free e-book when you sign up for this newsletter.  Woo-Hoo!

Vintage Books

A offshoot of Penguin Books, this newsletter offers more obscure books that have proved to be delightful reads for me.

 

The Washington Post Book Club

Lengthy, but not overpowering, list of book recommendations for highly interesting titles, articles, and author interviews. Very well-written in all aspects. Need a subscription to the WP, but I use the newsletter to get ideas of up-and-coming, high-quality books

 

Browsings

Dirda, Michael. Browsings: A Year of Reading, Collecting, and Living with Books. New York: Pegasus 2015. Print

First Sentences:

As readers of Browsings will discover in the weeks to come, I'm pretty much what used to be called a "bookman." 

 

This means, essentially, that I read a lot and enjoy writing about the books and authors that interest me....But my tone aims to remain easygoing and conversational, just me sharing some of my discoveries and enthusiasms.


Description:

OK, I admit it. I'm a hopeless sucker for books about books. Anything that covers ground about reading experiences and interesting titles, I'm all in. Whether the topic is about reading the encyclopedia (The Know-It-All: One Man's Quest to be the Smartest Man in the World), perusing every book on one shelf in the library (The Shelf: From LEQ to LES), thoughtful recommendations from someone who reads 6,000 books a year (One For the Books), or just a personal list of wonderful books organized by subject and complete with witty descriptions (Book Lust), I gobble up these books, copying enticing titles into my pocket notebook of "Books To Be Read" for later consumption.

My latest treasure in this "Books on Books" topic is Michael Dirda Browsings: A Year of Reading, Collecting, and Living with Books. Dirda was a columnist for The American Scholar between 2012-13, taking the column over from the great William K. Zinsser, the author of On Writing Well, which to me is the definitive grammar and writing style advice guidebook. Quite large shoes to fill.

But Dirda can really write, and write he does on any book-related topic that strikes his fancy for his column, "Browsings." In this book, Dirda collects one year's worth of his short columns on a wide variety of topics, including:

Thrift store book shopping -

One thing never does change: the books you really covet always cost more that you want to pay for them. But, to borrow a phrase that women use of childbirth, the pain quickly vanishes when you finally hold that longed-for baby, or book, and know that it is your forever.

Book Collecting - 

Three important points for buying a collectable book : condition, condition, condition....Now you can easily acquire almost anything with a keystroke, if you have the funds. But where's the fun of that? Where's the serendipity? The thrill of the hunt?...that's not collecting, that's shopping.

Anthologies - 

Anthologies resemble dating. You enjoy some swell times and suffer through some awful ones, until one happy hour you encounter a story you really, really like and decide to settle down for a while with its author. Of course, this doesn't lead to strict fidelity.

His own life - 

I had graduated from Oberlin College and failed to win a Rhodes Scholarship -- a long shot, at best, given that I played no sports, earned mediocre grades as a freshman and sophomore, and had participated in absolutely nothing extracurricular. It turned out that zeal for learning and boyish charm weren't quite enough for the Rhodes committee... 

He introduces or refamiliarizes us readers with his favorite writers, such as:

• Everett F. Bleiler - author of The Guide to Supernatural Fiction, with summaries for 1,775 books written between 1750-1960;

• Irvin Leigh Matus - author of Shakespeare, In Fact, the definitive scholarly work about the life of the Bard, despite Matus having no formal education beyond a high school diploma, and incredibly had 20 years earlier been living on a heating grate behind the Library of Congress

• Charles Wager - Oberlin College professor who wrote essays on his college in To Whom It May Concern. Wager was the teacher whom Robert Maynard Hutching, renown president of the University of Chicago, said was the only truly great teacher he experienced during his years of education at Yale, Princeton, and many other universities

Dirda mentions his love of classic novels, especially those long-forgotten but are still captivating and worth re-exploring. He even developed and taught a course at the Univerisity of Maryland entitled, "The Classic Adventure Novel: 1885-1915" where students read King Solomon's Mines. Kidnapped, The Time Machine, The Scarlet Pimpernel, The Man Who Was Thursday, Kim, The Thirty-Nine Steps, and Tarzan of the Apes (my favorite hero as a boy. I read all 24 Tarzan books three times before my parents made me move on). This wildly popular class led to his follow-up course "The Modern Adventure Novel: 1917-1973" which covered Captain Blood, Red Harvest, The Real Cool Killers, True Grit, and The Princess Bride. Who wouldn't want to take those courses with him and dive into these gripping novels?

Here's just a peak at a smattering of some of the other unusual titles Dirda mentions that caught my eye:

• Fully Dressed and in His Right Mind 
• The Moon Is Feminine
• The Man With the Magic Eardrums
• The Skull of the Waltzing Clown
• The Lost Continent
• When I Was a Child I Read Books 
• I Am Thinking of My Darling
• The Fangs of Suet Pudding
• The Bible Repairman and Other Stories
• The Venetian Glass Nephew
• The Man Who Understood Women 

I could go on and on about the treasures uncovered in Browsings, but I'll leave that pleasure to you readers curious about discovering new titles to explore, reading about the author's incurable scrounging through used book stores, encounters with famous and not-so-famous writers, and his pursuit of quality reads and reading experiences.

I've lived slow, dithered and dallied, taken my own sweet time, and done pretty much what I've repeatedly done ever since my mother first taught me to read so long ago: Found a quiet spot and opened a book. 

Happy reading. 

Fred

Other book recommendations
About The First Sentence Reader blog

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If this book interests you, be sure to check out:

Miller, Andy. A Year of Reading Dangerously: How Fifty Great Books (and Two Not-So-Great Ones) Saved My Life  

Author Andy Miller decides to read fifty book in one year. Along the way, he writes an essay on each book about what the book means to him, his feelings for the author and background, and anything else delightful he can think of. He avoided Dan Brown's books. (previously reviewed here)

Queenen, Joe. One for the Books  

Here's a gifted reader, writer, and commentator on books (he reads up to 32 at a time!), guaranteed to fill up your To Be Read file with countless interesting titles you simply cannot live without reading. Wonderful writing and a goldmine of book ideas (previously reviewed here)

 

 

 

Special Post - 100 Best Books of All Time

Beabout, Leandra. 100 Best Books of All Time. Reader's Digest, (November 15, 2023): (https://www.rd.com/list/books-read-before-die/). Online.

The 100 Best Books of All time - 

 

Go to:   https://www.rd.com/list/books-read-before-die/

Description - 

I stumbled across this interesting list of "100 Best Books of All Time" as selected by Leandra Beabout, who "covers all things books and words for Reader's Digest." Whatever you may think of this magazine, it's interesting to think about what books were chosen as "The Best" by any publication, and how these titles compare to your own reading preferences. Beabout's criteria for including a book?

We believe the best books open our minds to new characters, points of view, and worlds. They stay with us long after the last page is read. They make us want to share them with everyone.

So just for fun, I checked every title and put them into four categories to chart my own reading experience: "Read," "Heard of, But Haven't Read," "Never Heard of," "Embarrassed Not to Have Read." My results for your entertainment are below. 

 

Try it for yourself and, if you feel so inclined, send me your results (fredroecker@gmail.com) and I will compile them (anonymously, of course) and share them next month with other First Sentence Readers. Or just enjoy this list and think about what you would include or take off your very own list of "Best Books."

 

Happy reading. 

 

Fred

More book recommendations

About The First Sentence Reader blog

____________________

 

How I fared with the 100 Best Books list:

• Read - 40

• Heard of, But Haven't Read - 28

• Never Heard of - 19

• Embarrassed Not to Have Read - 13

• Alice in Wonderland
• Atonement
• Beloved
• Diary of a Young Girl
• Great Expectations
• The Kite Runner
• Long Way Gone
• Middlesex
• Omnivore's Dilemma
• Portnoy's Complaint
• Pride and Prejudice
• Silent Spring
• The Things They Carried

The Librarianist

DeWitt, Patrick. The Librarianist. New York: HarperCollins. 2023. Print.

First Sentences:

The morning of the day Bob Comet first came to the Gambell-Reed Senior Center, he awoke in his mint-colored house in Portland, Oregon, in a state of disappointment at the face of a dream interrupted.


Description:

For fans of books about slightly crusty, interesting, but lonely men such as found in A Man Called Ove, here's a much better story (in my opinion): Patrick deWitt's The Librarianist. Of course, I might feel that way simply because the protagonist, Bob Comet, is a former librarian and also because I did not really enjoy reading Ove.

But The Librarianst is a very compelling story with likeable, quirky, unpredictable characters. And this book made me gasp out loud with two words at the end of one section. That's a real rarity for me. You'll have to read it yourself to get those words, but believe me, you won't miss them or fail to be caught completely unprepared for their revelation and implications.

 

Comet, a retired librarian, lives alone after his wife ran off with his best friend decades ago. He enjoys walking aimlessly around his hometown until one day, in a convenience store, he notices an elderly woman staring into a stand-up freezer window, motionless for many minutes. He talks to her without any response before noticing a tag she is wearing around her neck. Her name is Chip and she is a resident of a nearby eldercare home.

 

When Comet walks her back to her home, he is met by a small group of residents and staff who intrigue him right from the start. He wants to know them more and begins volunteering to work in the center, reading and interacting with the people there, however they will let him. 

The book then jumps back to provide a narrative of Comet's early life, why he became a librarian, his marriage, future plans, and disappointments, before returning to his present day life with the senior center's inhabitants.

To be hurt so graphically by the only two people he loved was such a perfect cruelty, and he couldn't comprehend it as a reality. He learned that if one's heart is truly broken he will find himself living in the densest and truest confusion.

One cannot help but like Bob, feel a bit sorry for him, praise his attempts to reach out to the residents and staff, and begin a new life that fills the void he has been feeling since his wife left. He is good guy, a caring person. 

But what the future has in store for him and the residents of the senior center is completely unforeseen, at least to me, especially after those rwo unexpected words. The unknown is what drives the book's narrative and my consuming interest in Bob Comet and company.

 

I really liked it and the characters, odd as they might be, and feel many other readers might respond to Bob Comet and company in a like manner. Hope you enjoy this gem.

Part of aging, at least for many of us, was to see how misshapen and imperfect our stories had to be. The passage of time bends us, and eventually, it tucks us right into the ground.

Happy reading. 

 

Fred

More book recommendations

About The First Sentence Reader blog

____________________

If this book interests you, be sure to check out:

Jonasson, Jonas. The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared.   

An old man decides, on the spur of the moment, to escape his senior living home and take to the road. Within minutes, he mistakenly grabs a gangster's suitcase full of money. Chased by the mob and helped by various quirky friends, he has the adventure of a lifetime ... until he slowly reveals his previous adventures experienced in his century of living. (previously reviewed here)

 

The Diary of a Bookseller

Bythell, Shaun. The Diary of a Bookseller. New York: Knopf 2021. Print

First Sentences:

[George] Orwell's reluctance to commit to bookselling is understandable. There is the stereotype of the impatient, intolerant, antisocial proprietor...and it seems (on the whole) to be true.


Description:

What lover of books, bookstores, and quirky bookdealers can resist reading about the ins and outs involved with the actually running of a bookstore? Certainly not I. Therefore, it is with great joy that I stumbled on and now recommend to you, Shaun Bythell's The Diary of a Bookseller.

 

Bythell, is the owner of The Bookshop in Wigtown, Scotland. He is either 1) the typical quirky book dealer; or 2) simply an ordinary man facing a world of odd-ball customers who wander into his world with their own idiosyncrasies and who daily drive him almost to despair. After several years of observing his customers and reflecting on his other book operations (buying collection, pursuring book fairs, inspecting a family's inherited collections, etc.), Bythell decides to record his book life in a daily account over the period of one year to share his odd world. 

 

In this notebook, Bytgell jots descriptions of the daily actions in his store, the town and his book-buying expeditions. He records his cranky thoughts on these activities and people, plus notes each day on the number of customers, money in the till, online orders (with the number of books that were actually found on their shelves to fulfill these online orders). 

 

While this bean-counting info may seem boring, it is quite interesting over the days, especially the shop's number of unfulfilled online orders. These failures most often occur due to Bythell's worker Nicky's unique convoluted system to shelve titles. She had once filed British Trees: A Guide for Everyman, in the section "Scottish poetry." Of course, many of these books now cannot be located. This is the same bookshop worker who, every Friday ("Free Food Friday" to her), brings in food to share which she had salvaged from dumpsters.

Here are a few of Bythell's other observations:

• Any bookseller will tell you that, even with 100,000 books neatly sorted and shelved in a well-lit, warm shop, if you put an unopened box of books in a dark, cold, dimly lit corner, customers will be rifling through it in a matter of moments. The appeal of a box of unsorted, unpriced stock is extraordinary.

•  [A customer asked] "Do you remember me? I bought a book about bowling from you five years ago."

• Flo [an employee] was in today. She seems to have mastered her pout, and spent most of the day demonstrating it.
  

•  I noticed that the staple gun didn't appear to be working, so I tested it on my hand, at which point it decided to work.

•  At 10:00 a.m. the first customer came through the door. "I'm not really interested in books," followed by "Let me tell you what I think about nuclear power." By 10:30 a.m. my will to live was but a distant memory.

•  [Observing a customer reading in the poetry section] I noticed that he had removed his false teeth and put them on top of a copy of Tony Blair's autobiography which had been left on the table.
  

To me, it is a dryly humorous book through Bythell's use of deadpan observation of odd characters and situations. You feel you are perched on his shoulder as he slowly works through each day's obstacles, many caused by his own indifference to planning, avoidance of confrontation with annoying people, and general lack of seriousness about the organization and decisions faced regularly in his book business.

A thoroughly absorbing immersion into the world and people in a bookseller's world. I loved it as I knew I would. Hope you will, too.

Happy reading. 

Fred

Other book recommendations
About The First Sentence Reader blog

____________________

If this book interests you, be sure to check out:

Morley, Christopher. Parnassus on Wheels.   

Fictional account of a woman's perspective on operating traveling library housed in a small horse-drawn cart. Delightful, with several sequels leading her to finally open a bricks and mortar bookstore described in The Haunted Bookshop.

 

Special Post - Free Email Newletters to Find Great Books

 

Situation: 

I get asked by friends where they can find interesting books, not just not just something popular from the list of New York Times Bestsellers. They need an ongoing resource to consistently dangle titles in front of them, books which are quality reads with interesting characters and challenging, funny, or transporting plots. They want something out of the ordinary, something they will enjoy reading. 

 
My Solution:
 

Six years ago I wrote a Special Post - Resources for Finding Great Books, but now need to update the electronic newsletters portion. Below are some free email newsletters chock full of brilliant, quirky, and certainly tempting books that I use to learn about new and old titles. Just give them your email address and sit back to watch your In-box fill up with tempting titles of books soon to be published, currently under the radar, classics from the past, and loads of other book-related articles. 

Happy reading.

Fred

www.firstsentencereader.blogspot.com

_______________________________________________

Free Email Book Newsletters
(Click on any title to read more and sign up)

BookBrowse

This newsletter from librarians also provides a longer list of titles with reviews than other book sites, but these books all seem deliciously enticing due to the quality of synopsis and praise they receive.

_______________________________________

The Booklist Corner Shelf

Another librarian-run newsletter, this one is a bit lower key and a lot of fun to read, both for the books they select to review and the writing itself.

_______________________________________

The Cottage Bookshop

Probably the newsletter I most look forward to, this monthly posting covers books I usually haven't heard of, yet are always intriguing.

_______________________________________

 

Gramercy Books

Have to put in a plug for my local indie bookstore here in Columbus, Ohio, Gramercy Books. Always something interesting to suggest in the way of book titles, gifts, author events, and an overall general good feeling about reading and books.

_______________________________________

 

The Guardian Bookmarks

Great reviews of newer books, plus lots of general book-related commentary, articles, links, and discussion. Very good site to stimulate loads of ideas and thoughts

_______________________________________

Libraryreads Newsletter

Top ten books of the week that :library staff across the country love." What could be better?

_______________________________________

LitHub Weekly 

Very extensive, eclectic, and sophisticated newsletter chock full of articles, essays, book recommendations, and other book-related items.

_______________________________________

 

Penguin Books Newsletter
From the UK is this unique newsletter reviewing books, offering author interviews, and links to fascinating articles of literary and unusual book-themed nature.

_______________________________________

RJ Julia Just the Right Book

This tiny but completely well-stocked bookshop in Connecticut is world famous for having a great selection of books. Of course, their newsletter introduces readers to wonderful books and gifts from their store.

_______________________________________

Shelf Awareness

The top twenty-five books of the week as selected by book dealers, publishers, and librarians. Also includes author interviews, games, and links to reviews for unusual books, book-related articles and events of the week. (Sent twice weekly, but isn't overwhelming).

_______________________________________

Vintage Books

A offshoot of Penguin Books, this newsletter offers more obscure books that have proved to be delightful reads for me.

_______________________________________

The Washington Post Bookclub

Lengthy, but not overpowering, list of book recommendations for highly interesting titles, articles, and author interviews. Very well-written in all aspects.