It happens often. Someone of a bookish nature asks someone also of a bookish nature what they are reading.
It’s a surefire conversation starter.
Thus, I wasn’t surprised by the variety of answers I received when I asked readers in a recent column to respond to this prompt: “A hapless person comes up to you and says, ‘What book should I be reading?’ What would you say?”
The responses certainly showed there are kindred souls are out there, buying books, borrowing books, sharing books, gathering in book clubs.
Critics sometimes grumble that the novel is dead. My sense is that it’s alive and well, doing the good work that it has always done.
Sometimes readers recommended a book they read a few years ago. Many suggested a recent read.
Kathy Knab let me know that she would recommend “To Kill a Mockingbird,” by Harper Lee, a 1961 Pulitzer Prize winner.
She first read the book in 1965, and she has read it a number of times since. She also treasures the movie version of the book, the one starring Gregory Peck as the small-town lawyer.
Finishing a book and then reading it again (and again) is a tribute to the author and to the story.
Ebets Judson has read “James” by Percival Everett, the retelling of the “Huckleberry Finn” story, four times. “Everett is prolific and has an amazing sense of humor,” she wrote.
“Theo of Golden” by Allen Levi, a book that was originally self-published and then acquired a traditional publisher, received the most reader mentions. “It was a sweet, feel-good book that helped to settle my stomach after reading my share of books I trudged through,” wrote Lin Czop MacRae.
If that doesn’t work for you, try “Foster” by Claire Keegan. “It’s a timeless, haunting and beautiful story,” wrote Tim Hayes of Webster. “If after finishing the last few lines of this story, you’re not in tears, then you have no soul.”
That’s a high test, but the truth is that book endings are important. If a book leaves you crying your eyes out, of course, you would want others to read it, as well.
I ran the book search by two of our granddaughters, and they were quick to respond.
Franny Mokris, who is 9, is a fan of “The Secret Garden” by Frances Hodgson Burnett. “Once you start reading, you can’t put it down,” Franny told me.
Her sister, Margot Mokris, who is 7, recommends, “The One and Only Ivan,” by Katherine Applegate, a story told by a gorilla. “She makes the chapters like you’re speeding through them,” Margot said, adding that Applegate is her favorite author.
Most of the recommended titles were in the fictional category, but Martha McGowen celebrated “The Island at the Center of the World” by Russell Shorto, a look at New York City long before it was New York City.
“It’s an older book (2004) but so well written,” Martha wrote, “and it tells a story that all New Yorkers should know. Before I read this book, I didn’t care a bit about the 1600s, but now I do.”
And so, for the sake of discussion and guidance, here are some good books with their recommenders in parenthesis. Thanks to all:
Book suggestions
From his home in Geneseo, Livingston County, retired senior editor Jim Memmott writes Remarkable Rochester about who we were, who we are. He can be reached at jmemmott@gannett.com or write Box 274, Geneseo, NY 14454.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Readers reveal the books they always recommend to others
Reporting by Jim Memmott, Special to Rochester Democrat and Chronicle / Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
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