This may be my favorite of your posts. I resist (detest) one-fit recs and I think of books as vitamins we need in individually specific quantities based on what we are going through in our own lives. (You could die from scurvy without vitamin C; I could be miserable or fail to grow without the right book.)
Possible additions.
1. A book that inspires you to make a huge life change.
2. a book that helps you understand (or love, or forgive), via a fictional character, a real-life person you never understood before.
3. A book that makes you think, “Hey, maybe I can do this, ie write a book.” Not because the book is bad and you could do better but because its structure or language shows you the path in a clear and inspiring way.
Okay, now I have to read Anxious People. I LOVE your Reading Experiences wish list. I would add a book that inspires you to change the course of your life (and you actually do it). That happened to me when I was 22 years old and it changed the entire course of my life. I moved to Africa then met the author of the book in Paris, and maaaaaan the adventures I went on. (I'll tell you the name of the book in person when you come to NYC 😎)
i love that addition. i dont know that i can say a book changed the course of my life i might have to think on this.... OK IM COMING TO NYC!!! hope Petya is ready
My most reread book is Hotel New Hampshire by John Irving. A recent read that challenged my views on race was My Grandmother’s Hands by Resmaa Menakem.
I might add one self-help book that wasn’t full of cheesy platitudes but that actually changed your life. The Way Out by Alan Gordon, on how to deal with chronic pain, was one such book for me, but there have been many.
do you know that EVERY SINGLE TIME i go to the used bookstore I search for Hotel New Hampshire on your rec? I am still waiting for that magical moment it appears, and in fact that should be experience #23: finding a book you've been searching for at the used bookstore.
that is a great addition as well - maybe I haven't found a book like that yet but now need to
I love this. I have been working on a post explaining what my personal canon shelf means to me and how others can create their own. It has a lot of similarities with your list but you have explained it so much better and more clearly compared to this perpetual draft I have going on. ❤️
I do. Push Off From Here by Laura McKowen, as well as her first We Are the Luckiest. Both about sobriety. Life changing for me, as, of course, all the books in your original categories are.
Thank you so much for writing this Natalie! There are so many lists with different book recommendations and I loved how you boiled that down to the experience they give you, since different books will create different things for different people! What a great blog post!!
Reading "experiences" is a much better way of framing this type of question, IMO. As I read your list, I started thinking of books that fit those reading experiences for me. #11, for example, is A Lesson before Dying. First time around, I read it in grad school and my experience of reading it was heavily influenced by the comments of a certain fellow student (whom I disliked) and my own unreasonable snobbishness about books in Oprah's book club. (Eye roll. I was such a literary snob!) Second time around, I was so moved that I cried at the ending.
I have a couple: an engrossing horror/mystery that when someone unexpectedly walks into the room it scares the crap out of you, non-fiction so good it seems like fiction, a book you can say to the world “why did no one tell me this was so funny?!?!”
Yes to reading experiences! I got that email from PRH and immediately thought "click bait" A reading experience I'd add to your list- becoming so immersed in a book that when you look at the time, hours have gone by
I adore your recommendations. For the record, I still have my childhood copy of the phantom tollbooth. Great minds, great taste. What I might add to your list of great reading experiences is the experience of reading to a loved one and being read to by a loved one – not just as a child but as adults. There’s something extremely intimate and beautiful about sharing a book that way.
This may be my favorite of your posts. I resist (detest) one-fit recs and I think of books as vitamins we need in individually specific quantities based on what we are going through in our own lives. (You could die from scurvy without vitamin C; I could be miserable or fail to grow without the right book.)
Possible additions.
1. A book that inspires you to make a huge life change.
2. a book that helps you understand (or love, or forgive), via a fictional character, a real-life person you never understood before.
3. A book that makes you think, “Hey, maybe I can do this, ie write a book.” Not because the book is bad and you could do better but because its structure or language shows you the path in a clear and inspiring way.
WONDERFUL ADDITIONS. and ones that I am not sure i have experienced. so now i can create a list of aspirational experiences
Okay, now I have to read Anxious People. I LOVE your Reading Experiences wish list. I would add a book that inspires you to change the course of your life (and you actually do it). That happened to me when I was 22 years old and it changed the entire course of my life. I moved to Africa then met the author of the book in Paris, and maaaaaan the adventures I went on. (I'll tell you the name of the book in person when you come to NYC 😎)
i love that addition. i dont know that i can say a book changed the course of my life i might have to think on this.... OK IM COMING TO NYC!!! hope Petya is ready
LOVE this! Thank you.
Reading a book that's so good, you stay up half the night to finish it in one sitting.
Reading a book that makes you that makes you think twice about a habit or a practice.
YES all night!!!! great one. and the second one very interesting - I think How to Win Friends and Influence People would be that for me
My most reread book is Hotel New Hampshire by John Irving. A recent read that challenged my views on race was My Grandmother’s Hands by Resmaa Menakem.
I might add one self-help book that wasn’t full of cheesy platitudes but that actually changed your life. The Way Out by Alan Gordon, on how to deal with chronic pain, was one such book for me, but there have been many.
do you know that EVERY SINGLE TIME i go to the used bookstore I search for Hotel New Hampshire on your rec? I am still waiting for that magical moment it appears, and in fact that should be experience #23: finding a book you've been searching for at the used bookstore.
that is a great addition as well - maybe I haven't found a book like that yet but now need to
omg I’m DMing you, stat
P.S. I loved this post ☺️
I love this. I have been working on a post explaining what my personal canon shelf means to me and how others can create their own. It has a lot of similarities with your list but you have explained it so much better and more clearly compared to this perpetual draft I have going on. ❤️
ah not better just different - i love the idea of expanding this to another post with my personal canon!! i would for sure read yours
I think why yours worked so well is that you didn’t start there for the reader. Good job, this should be a breakout post!!
Lovely. I'd add a book that makes you believe it's possible overcome an addiction. Or leave a relationship.
YES. do you have any recs that fit this category?
I do. Push Off From Here by Laura McKowen, as well as her first We Are the Luckiest. Both about sobriety. Life changing for me, as, of course, all the books in your original categories are.
Thank you so much for writing this Natalie! There are so many lists with different book recommendations and I loved how you boiled that down to the experience they give you, since different books will create different things for different people! What a great blog post!!
Thank you Helen I’m so glad!! These came straight from my heart
Reading "experiences" is a much better way of framing this type of question, IMO. As I read your list, I started thinking of books that fit those reading experiences for me. #11, for example, is A Lesson before Dying. First time around, I read it in grad school and my experience of reading it was heavily influenced by the comments of a certain fellow student (whom I disliked) and my own unreasonable snobbishness about books in Oprah's book club. (Eye roll. I was such a literary snob!) Second time around, I was so moved that I cried at the ending.
I can relate to unreasonable snobbishness, I've had a few of those myself! that is a perfect example of #11
I have a couple: an engrossing horror/mystery that when someone unexpectedly walks into the room it scares the crap out of you, non-fiction so good it seems like fiction, a book you can say to the world “why did no one tell me this was so funny?!?!”
These are good 😂
Reading a book that makes you laugh so much it has people wondering what it is.
Thanks so much for this thoughtful list.
love that!!!!!!!
Haha brilliant - the books before you die lists always piss me off because they are rarely ever good. This list is so average, yours is way better xo
they are ALWAYS so average right!!
ALWAYS
I love this!! The experience and the time in your life are crucial reading experiences.
the older i get the more I realize how important all the factors are !
Yes to reading experiences! I got that email from PRH and immediately thought "click bait" A reading experience I'd add to your list- becoming so immersed in a book that when you look at the time, hours have gone by
PERFECT addition!!! its like falling inbetween time and space when that happens
Yes!!
Wonderful list, and a great way to make some choices among all the books to read.
so true!!! a little bit of a selection shortcut
I adore your recommendations. For the record, I still have my childhood copy of the phantom tollbooth. Great minds, great taste. What I might add to your list of great reading experiences is the experience of reading to a loved one and being read to by a loved one – not just as a child but as adults. There’s something extremely intimate and beautiful about sharing a book that way.
I trust anyone who loves TPT 🖤
I can say I haven't experienced the reading aloud to a loved one that does sound very beautiful I will need to get on this perhaps
I love this! I would add “a book that makes you FEEL” but then if a book doesn’t, why read it?
but you are on to something here - a book that makes you feel as deeply as your favorite song maybe.... !