Writer's Library: The Authors You Love on the Books That Changed Their Lives | 
pickThis book, a series of interviews with writers about their reading lives, is pure joy. I read it slowly to savor each delightful morsel so it would last as long as possible. I now hope for a volume 2 or, even better, a weekly newsletter with a new interview each time. A reader can dream.
A book about books and this is the first line? Oh yeah, I‘m all in!
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Excellent collection of interviews with celebrated authors, some of which I love, some that were brand new to me. Some common themes: all live surrounded by full bookcases, most grew up reading voraciously but some didn‘t often because of dyslexia. Most said something like “oh they‘re wonderful, I wish I could write that well”. They tend to immerse themselves in similar literature before writing but only on research while writing.
On discussing books with troublesome politics, Vendela Vida: “you don‘t read novels to make friends. ... you read novels to see how other people think.”
When asked about not finding Native American books growing up, Louise Erdrich - “Perhaps that‘s why I was drawn to science fiction. If you don‘t see yourself reflected, you can travel to another world.” This idea of writers not finding themselves in literature is a common theme in this book.
Laila Lalami when asked if writers have the right to write characters from different races - “People talk a lot about the right to tell stories. And I think we really need to shift the conversation to the responsibility that comes with writing these stories. I welcome people writing about characters from different backgrounds, but there‘s so much homework you have to do, and you can‘t be lazy about it.”
“What‘s happened here Homer? You just gave up?” Madeline Miller talking about Circe in The Odyssey. I loved her take on Circe and it was fun to read how the flat female characters in some classics angered and inspired her to write her own versions.
Started with Amor Towles who has a four person reading group that meets monthly and reads in author or theme based projects. One project was 19th century wives under pressure: Anna Karenina, Madame Bovary, Middlemarch, and Portrait of a Lady. They focus on books worth rereading, which is where the above quote comes in. Later he talks about a Nobel Prize project where he notes the Cairo Trilogy by Mahfouz as a revelation.
pickI finished this and then attended a late-night (for me) virtual event via the Seattle Public Library with the authors. They asked Jeff my question about Philip Roth (I noticed he mentioned him a lot.) I will always read a book on books and add books to my list and this one was no different.
Nancy Pearl! The authors are letting me interview them for the @LibraryThing State of the Thing. So I‘m zooming though it now.
pickHad anyone read this yet
