Sharing is Caring

I love when people recommend books to me. I will read pretty much anyone's first recommendation because I think reading is a worthwhile pursuit, but also because I like knowing what people enjoyed. You can lose that privilege if you recommend a bunch of crappy things to me, but at least in the beginning: Bring on the recommendations!

However, recommending books for others I find very intimidating. It's not because I am ashamed or embarrassed by what I read, but it's because I don't want to give someone a story that won't speak to them. Or that they hate. Or that I really love (mostly for fear that they will hate it or dismiss my love of it). Intimidation aside, I love the exchange of ideas and understanding that happens when we discuss and share stories. So I try to overcome my irrational dread and recommend books based on what I know of the other person.

An acquaintance at work recently asked me for a few recommendations, which led to a great discussion about books, belief systems, and then a flurry of loaning. We each brought in three books for the other to borrow, and I am very excited to read her recommendations.

I lent her Margaret Atwood's The Robber Bride, Neil Gaiman's Ocean at the End of the Lane, and John Steinbeck's Cannery Row.

She lent me Ishmael Reed's Mumbo Jumbo, Jeanette Winterson's Written on the Body, and Ian McEwan's Atonement. I'll come back and let you guys know what I thought (and if she lets me know, what she thought).

Do you enjoy lending books, taking recommendations, and/or giving recommendations? Why or why not?

List of 10...

There is a Facebook status that was making the rounds in my group of friends a while ago, and it's one I wish would come back. It's simple. You list 10 books that have stayed with you for whatever reason. You do it quickly...no over-thinking. Then you ask, cajole, and/or order your friends to do it as well. I like it for numerous reasons: 1) I like it anytime we talk books; 2) it interests me because it isn't planned. These are supposed to be snap judgments; 3) writing my list reminded me of many wonderful people who have given me the right book at the right time; and 4) this list could change drastically due to the quick forum that is Facebook--I feel like every time I would think of ten different books. On Facebook, you simply list them, but I wanted to explain why I chose the books I did because they all made me approach reading and the world in a different and new way.

So here is my quick list turned not-so-quick with explanations:
1. The Winter of Our Discontent by John Steinbeck
My sister gave me Cannery Row to read when I was probably a little too young to understand its nuance. But I loved it. It filled me with feelings I had had before but had never articulated. When I was older and read it again, I realized it had helped me learn how to articulate them. After I read Cannery Row, I found The Winter of Our Discontent. I asked to borrow it, and my sister, who always knows best, told me I probably was too little. I read it anyway, or rather I read to within a page and a half of the ending and couldn't go any further. It broke me. It was too sad, too despondent. Years later I read it and loved it, but I needed those years before I could understand the beauty and hope and love that carry you to the end of that story.