Yes, I said I was on vacation this week, but I forgot that it was time for the book club suggestions. So here I am, live from Kansas City, for a single post.
Because nothing boosts happiness more than a great book, each month, I suggest:
- one outstanding book about happiness or habits
- one outstanding work of children’s or young-adult literature–I have a crazy passion for kidlit
- one eccentric pick–a widely admired and excellent book that I love, yes, but one that may not appeal to everyone
An outstanding book about happiness or habits:
Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein
An outstanding children’s book:
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
An eccentric pick:
Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us) by Tom Vanderbilt
Some readers have said that they wished that I’d describe and make the case for my book choices, instead of just providing links. I’m considering whether to change this, but I haven’t so far, for two reasons:
I’ve noticed that many times, when someone describes a book to me, I want to read it less. And often, weirdly, the better a book is, the worse it sounds. I assure you: when I choose these books, I love them; I’ve read them at least twice if not many times; and they’re widely admired.
Also, one of the secrets of reading lots of books is making time to read. It would take me a lot of time and mental energy to do justice to the terrific books I choose, yet at the same time, with a single click, there’s a huge amount of information available about the book choices. So I’ve figured that I could let readers avail themselves of that option. But I’m pondering whether I should do it differently.
If you read last month’s recommendations…what did you think? Crossing to Safety; Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH; and Fight Club. All so good.
