THE BOOK THAT CHANGED MY LIFE
With the sub-title “ 71 remarkable writers celebrate the books that matter most to them” it was impossible for me not to buy this book when Gillian at the UBS bookstore in Christchurch brought it to my attention.
What a little gem. A smallish hardback with deckle-edged pages, American publishers love deckled edges, (I must say they appeal to me too), and a bargain at NZ $28.00. It is $17.50 in the US and $22 in Canada.
The publisher is Gotham Books which is a Penguin Books US imprint founded by William
Shinker in 2001.
Shinker has had a long and distinguished publishing career most latterly at Random House and Harper Collins and this newish imprint of his seeks to publish “ tightly focused, high quality, commercial non-fiction.”
Well he has achieved that with The Book That Changed My Life. Edited by bookseller Roxanne Coady and editor Joy Johannessen. Coady is the energetic founder/owner of R.J.Julia Booksellers in Madison, Connecticut, a store famous for holding over 200 author events each year and was the winner of the Publishers Weekly Bookseller of the Year in 1995. She is also one of the founders of the Read to Grow Foundation which provides books and literacy information to tens of thousands of newborns and their families each year.
As a fund raiser for that charity she came up with the bright idea of inviting a selection of the many author/speakers who had appeared in her bookstore to write about the book or books that had changed their lives with royalties to go to the Read to Grow Foundation.
Among the authors whose writing is known to me are Kate Atkinson, Graeme Base, Harold Bloom, Tomie De Paola, Frank McCourt, Anne Perry, Ian Rankin and Dominick Dunne.
More interesting though are the books that have been selected and written about. They include some that are perhaps obvious and expected – the Bible, Lord of the Rings, The Catcher in the Rye, various works of Shakespeare, Hiroshima, Jane Eyre and Atlas Shrugged – but also there are many that you might not have ever expected – the Sears catalogue, Ed McBain’s 87th Precinct series, (I’ve read and enjoyed them all but I can’t say they affected me in the slightest!), the Nancy Drew Mysteries, the Dr.Doolittle series, The Little Engine that Could.
However what is most interesting are the number of different ways that people have been changed or affected by particular books.Some when only children but most as adults.
I found it absolutely fascinating.
It is a great book to have beside the bed because each author occupies a couple of pages so you can dip into it easily and spend two minutes or two hours depending on your interest or need for sleep.
Here is a brief example from Claire Cook whose writing I do not know but is described as a bestselling author of three novels including “Must Love Dogs”.
She writes:
I remembered my own daughter’s obsession with The Babysitters Club, my son’s addiction to Goosebumps. They just couldn’t get enough of them. They picked up reading speed. They eventually moved on to other books and became lifelong readers. The truth, as I came to see it, is that once you fall in love, really in love, with that first book, you’ll never be able to stop. There will still be plenty of time to introduce the classics.
I give Nancy Drew full credit for that teaching epihinay.
Another writer, Caroline B.Cooney decided when she turned 50 that she wanted to read Julius Ceasar’s “Gallic Wars” in the original Latin so went back to school to learn the language and did just that.
A great little book, quite inspiring in places, but interesting throughout.
Books certainly can change lives.
Warmly recommended
With the sub-title “ 71 remarkable writers celebrate the books that matter most to them” it was impossible for me not to buy this book when Gillian at the UBS bookstore in Christchurch brought it to my attention.
What a little gem. A smallish hardback with deckle-edged pages, American publishers love deckled edges, (I must say they appeal to me too), and a bargain at NZ $28.00. It is $17.50 in the US and $22 in Canada.
The publisher is Gotham Books which is a Penguin Books US imprint founded by William
Shinker in 2001.Shinker has had a long and distinguished publishing career most latterly at Random House and Harper Collins and this newish imprint of his seeks to publish “ tightly focused, high quality, commercial non-fiction.”
Well he has achieved that with The Book That Changed My Life. Edited by bookseller Roxanne Coady and editor Joy Johannessen. Coady is the energetic founder/owner of R.J.Julia Booksellers in Madison, Connecticut, a store famous for holding over 200 author events each year and was the winner of the Publishers Weekly Bookseller of the Year in 1995. She is also one of the founders of the Read to Grow Foundation which provides books and literacy information to tens of thousands of newborns and their families each year.
As a fund raiser for that charity she came up with the bright idea of inviting a selection of the many author/speakers who had appeared in her bookstore to write about the book or books that had changed their lives with royalties to go to the Read to Grow Foundation.
Among the authors whose writing is known to me are Kate Atkinson, Graeme Base, Harold Bloom, Tomie De Paola, Frank McCourt, Anne Perry, Ian Rankin and Dominick Dunne.
More interesting though are the books that have been selected and written about. They include some that are perhaps obvious and expected – the Bible, Lord of the Rings, The Catcher in the Rye, various works of Shakespeare, Hiroshima, Jane Eyre and Atlas Shrugged – but also there are many that you might not have ever expected – the Sears catalogue, Ed McBain’s 87th Precinct series, (I’ve read and enjoyed them all but I can’t say they affected me in the slightest!), the Nancy Drew Mysteries, the Dr.Doolittle series, The Little Engine that Could.
However what is most interesting are the number of different ways that people have been changed or affected by particular books.Some when only children but most as adults.
I found it absolutely fascinating.
It is a great book to have beside the bed because each author occupies a couple of pages so you can dip into it easily and spend two minutes or two hours depending on your interest or need for sleep.
Here is a brief example from Claire Cook whose writing I do not know but is described as a bestselling author of three novels including “Must Love Dogs”.
She writes:
I remembered my own daughter’s obsession with The Babysitters Club, my son’s addiction to Goosebumps. They just couldn’t get enough of them. They picked up reading speed. They eventually moved on to other books and became lifelong readers. The truth, as I came to see it, is that once you fall in love, really in love, with that first book, you’ll never be able to stop. There will still be plenty of time to introduce the classics.
I give Nancy Drew full credit for that teaching epihinay.
Another writer, Caroline B.Cooney decided when she turned 50 that she wanted to read Julius Ceasar’s “Gallic Wars” in the original Latin so went back to school to learn the language and did just that.
A great little book, quite inspiring in places, but interesting throughout.
Books certainly can change lives.
Warmly recommended
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