By The Book

Anyone ever ask you to recommend a good book?  I find those kinds of questions fraught with peril. 

Some people feel like they will be judged by the answer they give.  Should I recommend a classic?  What if my tastes are more low brow than that?  I can’t just recommend some trashy pulp crime book, can I?  And what if my tastes were more along the lines of romance novels or romantic comedies?  Some people like those.  What if those were my thing?  Would the person seeking a book recommendation think I was a sap?

Taste in books is a personal thing.  Unlike a movie or a TV show that could be over in a couple of hours or less, a book requires more of a commitment.  To start a book and see it through to completion, you generally need to be ready to spend hours.

            Personally, I don’t get to read many books.  Maybe 4-5 per year.  Like I said, a book is a serious time commitment.  I have a handful of favorite authors who churn out enough new books that they generally fulfill my reading needs each year.  They are Stephen King, John Grisham, Michael Crichton (unfortunately he doesn’t produce any new books), Dean Koontz and Michael Chambon.  Only read the first Harry Potter book (but saw the movies).  I’ve also read the occasional Elmore Leonard and a handful of others.  The rest of my annual reading is generally comprised of non-fiction stuff like biographies, autobiographies or fact-based/history-based retellings.

            Since you have hung in this far, I guess you’ve earned a few recommendations.  Some of my favorites from the past few years are “11/22/63” by Stephen King and the Steve Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson.  Now it’s your turn.  Lay yours on me.