“What book(s) do you find yourself going back to? Beloved children’s classics? Favorites from college? Something that touched you and just makes you long to visit?”

So, what books do I go back to?

I will start with One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez. I think I have been through the book four or five times at least, and I never lose my sense of wonder for it. Every other year or so, I just know that it is time to go back to Macondo. For me, this is one of the best books of all time, period. There are so many stories, so much imagery, magic, and history that you can’t catch it all by reading it just once. This is a novel that is truly immersive. By the way, I read this in original Spanish, but for our English language friends, there are good translations available.

Next, I will add Mario Puzo’s The Godfather. This is kind of comfort food for me. While I do like the films, especially the first one, as is often the case the book is better than the film. In addition, the film leaves out quite a few things from the novel. I don’t reread this as often, but when I get in the mood, I go spend some time with the Corleones and their family values.

Around Halloween, I return to Gotham City with the graphic novel Batman: The Long Halloween. The first time I read it was during the month of October. Though it can be read any time of the year, the ambiance and the story just seem like a good fit for October and Halloween. In this story, Batman has to deal with Holiday, a killer who commits murders during holidays, starting on Halloween.

A nonfiction book I return to is A Passion for Books. I very much enjoy reading books on books, reading, the book trade, and bibliophilia. This particular book is a collection of quotes, essays, vignettes, and other short pieces on books, reading, and collecting. When I want something for comfort, something light, on a topic I enjoy, I reach for this book. I have read it cover to cover, but now I usually browse and pick out favorite pieces to reread here and there.

There are a few others that I have read that I would like to reread. However, life and new books usually keep me from those other books I would like to read again. Maybe if I do get to them, I could share them in a future post. Overall, the books I’ve listed now are the ones I always return to at some point.

Books:

• Neon Genesis Evangelion (link to first omnibus) is one of those series I keep meaning to read. Apparently, new omnibus editions are coming out, and this may be the excuse I need to start. A Case for Suitable Treatment recently reviewed the omnibus with volumes 7-9.
• George Mann has edited yet another collection of Sherlock Holmes tales (i.e. written by people not Conan Doyle). Knowing me, I will probably go looking for it; I like Holmes too much not to take a chance at least. The book is Encounters of Sherlock Holmes: Brand-new Tales of the Great Detective. It was reviewed here at City Book Review.
• It’s Neil Gaiman. That is usually good enough reason for me to take a look. However, these are stories selected by him, but I think I would still take a chance. The book is Unnatural Creatures: Stories Selected by Neil Gaiman. It was also reviewed at City Book Review.
• Another one reviewed at City Book Review. This is on a serious topic, food security and hunger in the U.S. The book is a companion to the documentary of the same title. Sadly I had to say that there was a screening of the documentary here in town, but I missed it because I was out of town at the time, so hoping to read the book (and maybe order the documentary and book for our library later). The book is A Place at the Table by Peter Pringle.
• Via Lambda Literary, interview with Luis Negron, author of the short story anthology Mundo Cruel.  They write that “Luis Negrón’s striking debut short story collection, Mundo Cruel (Seven Stories Press [this link to their review of the book]), mines the emotional lives of ‘a small community in Puerto Rico joined together by its transgressive sexuality.’”
• Via City Book Review, this sounds like a book more people in the U.S. need to read now. Contrary to the milquetoast review of “some people believe this, others that,” let’s face facts. The U.S. was not founded as a Christian nation no matter how much the Right Wingers and fundamentalists wish it to be so. This book addresses that. The book is In Freedom We Trust: An Atheist’s Guide to Religious Liberty.
• I used to be pretty good at drawing in my younger days. I have not done it in a while. Maybe this book will help me try it out again. Reviewed at City Book Review, the book is Just Draw It! The Dynamic Drawing Course for Anyone with a Pencil & Paper.
• This time I am getting a good number of book reviews from City Book Review. Here are two comic book compilations of classics. First, a review of Tarzan Archives: The Russ Manning Years, Vol. 1 (Link to publisher. For some reason, I could not find it in WorldCat. Wait, I did find it, but apparently a few librarians gave it a whole different title in cataloging it. Accurate? Probably. Searchable? Not so much. Anyhow,  link to WorldCat now). Next, a review of Flash Gordon: The Tyrant of Mongo: The Complete Flash Gordon Library 1937-1941.
• Via Blogging for a Good Book, they review Mark Kurlansky’s The Food of a Younger Land. This book seems awfully similar to America Eats!, which I read. So I may or not pick it up and compare.
• This book has trivia, something I like. Also, it may remind us of those things our parents or other elders told us when we were young. So, let’s take a trip down memory lane and see how much truth our parents imparted or not in Because I Said So! the Truth Behind the Myths, Tales and Warnings Every Generation Passes Down to Its Kids. Reviewed at City Book Review here.

Lists and bibliographies:

• The 2013 Independent Book Awards have been announced. They have a lot of categories, and this year they totaled 382 medals. Worth a look. Odds are good you can find something to read from this big list.
• Want some science fiction and fantasy? The 2012 Nebulas have been announced. The announcement includes winners and nominees.
• Via the blog Papeles Perdidos, a list of “Once novelas para descubrir el corazón del mundo” (11 novels to discover the heart of the world). Article is in Spanish. A few of the titles are basically translations of international works into Spanish, which may be useful for Spanish readers.
• Not quite sure what to make of this news item, but since I am curious reader, who knows. I may seek some of this out down the road. BetaBeat (being a bit alarmist if you ask me) reports on Luna Loupe, an author on Amazon who writes erotica a bit off the beaten path. Basically mermaids, tentacles, etc. I don’t think it is that big a deal, but then again, being a bit alarmist does get the eyeballs to a website I suppose. Anyhow, the story does include links if interested. Here is her Amazon page.
• A few authors and scholars come together to give their lists of “5 Arabic Books to Read Before You Die.” Via Arabic Literature (in English).
• Bobbie Newman, at Librarian By Day, has a list of “Recommended Reading for New and Not-So-New Librarians.” From the list, I do recommend Sutton’s Book, The No Asshole Rule (link to my review) though maybe not for the reasons she suggests. That is a book every library manager does need to read, but also every librarian so they know when to leave Dodge City.

The curious thing, if you can call it that, is that not many people in my life read, and that does include librarians in and out of my workplace. Contrary to popular belief, not all librarians read, or, I should say, they do not read more than the absolute minimum required by their jobs–memos, an article now and then, a paper on occasion. I’ve written on that before, as I think it diminishes our profession when librarians admit, some with pride, that they do not read. But that’s them. I read because I enjoy it. I read because I am curious, inquisitive, and I enjoy learning. I often get many solutions to problems from reading books. In addition, I get pleasure and entertainment from reading. So I make it a point to always have a book or two nearby.

As for my relationship with others, it depends on who it is. For the most part, my family, with one or two exceptions, are not readers. They know that I read a lot, and some may acknowledge I am a bit more knowledgeable about a few things because of my reading, but we really don’t talk about my reading or about books. I can talk books with a friend or two and with a librarian or two now and then. However, I will admit that most of my book talking and discussion happens online via my blogs or my social sites online. There are a lot of people online who read books and enjoy sharing their reading experiences. I enjoy meeting them, even if many have different reading tastes than me. It’s interesting to me learning what others like to read. Granted, sometimes I do wonder about some reading choices people make, but as a librarian, I try to abide by the old laws of every book its reader and every reader its book. Besides, who knows what they think about some of the things I read.

The author of the article provides some explanations such as cookbooks being objects of art and for some people the cookbooks are status symbols. But she goes on to make the argument that culture of cooking from cookbooks and recipes is moving online. To her, very often, cookbooks are given as gifts. Let me then look at why we buy cookbooks.

At home, The Better Half is a cookbook collector. We don’t really buy big, sumptuous, oversized cookbooks. We do buy a variety of cookbooks from practical ones to a few on various ethnic cuisines. I will add that I do collect, in a small capacity, some cocktail recipe books. Anyhow, part of the reason we get them is aspirational: we hope to make some recipes from the books. The Better Half and I do make some recipes out of them though probably not as many as we could in order to get the full potential. She particularly enjoys buying small and local cookbooks, the ones put together by local groups, churches, or community organizations. You probably won’t see those on Amazon or the bookstores, but they are part of her collection. Cookbooks are one of the areas she enjoys collecting and reading. Plus it makes me happy to make her happy when I can add another one to her collection. And while we do go online, we cook out of books when making a recipe. Having a laptop in the kitchen is not really an option for us, and we are not into tablets at this point in time. So, at least in our household, we still buy cookbooks.

Besides, cookbooks do not require power, a battery, an Internet connection, and unlike e-books, we actually own then and can do with them as we wish.

* * * *

I keep lists of books I want to read in a few places. I have a large folder of clippings and handwritten lists. I started it as a reader’s advisory tool, and I still review it and add items to it now and then. In addition, now and then I jot down titles in the personal journal or in my small pocket notebook (one I carry to use for when I can’t get my hands on my personal journal). Those then I move to the folder, or I put them in GoodReads.

Once I discovered GoodReads, it became a great tool for me. I use it quite a bit to track books I want to read. I also use it to keep a record of books I have read. I even went back through old journals to find notes on books I’ve read and added them to GoodReads as well. I still make notes on books I’ve read in my personal journal, but this has always been for books I really want to remember. Now with GoodReads, I record every book I read, then I expand any brief review I think is worth noting into a larger review and note for one of my blogs or for my personal journal.

Finally, I keep another running tally of books I want to read here in Alchemical Thoughts. I basically make the lists from reviews that come in on my RSS feeds. I do include links to the reviews on the blog posts here.

Now, this may seem fragmented, but it gives me different places to browse for ideas when I need to find the next book to read.