You are what you read... or are you? Your favorite reads? And mine.

It seems odd to start with a book I DID NOT LIKE, Klara and the Sun. It was authored by Kazou Ishiguro, winner of a 2017 Nobel Prize in Literature. He also wrote Remains of the Day and Never Let Me Go. I have read neither but both are soon to be movies. So what have I missed?

       

I'm either not smart enough or just like to be more entertained, and that's harder if there is no popcorn.

I loved this book, Why Fish Don't Exist by former NPR Radio Lab personality Lulu Miller who writes so incredibly well. It is a non-fiction story with incredible art that made it a great read for me. 

Aptly described by Sy Montgomery who wrote NYTimes best seller, The Soul of an Octopus, (another great read): "Riveting. Surprising. Shocking, even! Why Fish Don't Exist begins with a mesmerizing account of the life of distinguished biologist David Starr Jordan--and then, quite unexpectedly, turns into so much more. Narrated in Lulu Miller's intimate, quirky voice, this is a story of science and struggle, of heartbreak and chaos. This book will capture your head, seize your imagination, smash your preconceptions, and rock your world."

Now it must be known that I like to read both fiction and non fiction, and I often have several books going at any one time. And some of my reads are wide-ranging for reasons I can't explain. But it is nice to try to suck everything in.

I've got my eye on the new Steven King book, Billy Summers. It was King who gave me my most favorite, The Stand, in 1978 and almost all of his early books until I tired of the supernatural twist. But he is good and I am ready once again. 

The first book I recall that totally blew my 3rd or 4th grade mind was Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. I could hardly wait to see what happens next and had, for the first time, that bittersweet experience of closing the book when done. I wanted more!

I'm also looking forward to A Libertarian Walks into a Bear: the Utopian Plot to Liberate an American Town (and some bears) by first-time author Mathew Hongolitz-Hetling, a strange but true story of one New Hampshire town that became the nexus of a collision between bears, libertarians, guns, donuts, parasites, firecrackers, taxes and one angry llama. Is that not an intriguing run of words? We'll see.

Raise your hand if you have read any or all of Malcolm Gladwell's books. He is a Canadian writer, lecturer and thought-provoker who's first five books--THE TIPPING POINT: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference, BLINK: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, OUTLIERS: The Story of Success,  WHAT THE DOG SAW: And Other Adventures and DAVID And GOLIATH: Underdogs, Misfits and The Art of Battling Giants--made the NYTimes best seller list. His work has often appeared in The New Yorker.

His 'take' on so many of the things we imagine differently in our minds is often an 'eye-opener.' For example, did you know that Goliath was actually the big underdog to David? Very logically, yes. 

Gladwell is, for me, a good read.

Ok, so who is on my nightstand now? The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell by Robert Dugoni, Lily and the Octopus by Steven Rowley, Fall of Giants by Ken Follett, A Promised Land by Barack Obama, Sailing Alone Around the Room by Billy Collins and Draft No. 4 by John McPhee. More coming and going. That's how to read.

Books are incredible for the places they take us. So what are your reading choices of note? And what is your next book to be? Share at pjsjerry@gmail.com Love to hear.