Happy Wednesday, folks! And happy birthday to me. Shameless birthday promotion. I can’t help it; I love birthdays!
Now that that’s out of the way, let me say that I realize you can’t judge a book by its cover (pun intended, read on). However, I can’t help but make conclusions when I see someone reading a book in a public place. I make all sorts of mental leaps about who that person is, what their interests are and what they are hoping to gain by reading that particular book. I often have to fight the urge to ask what they think about the book.
Do you do the same? Glance across the aisle on an airplane to see what your fellow passenger is reading or hold your gaze a little too long as you try to make out what book the person across the waiting room is holding?
Because I think book lovers are curious about what others are reading, here is what the Cave Henricks team is currently reading:
Barbara
What I’m Reading: I am the last person alive to be finishing The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
How I Heard About the Book: My family read the book first. I couldn’t violate family policy that forbids anyone from seeing a movie based on a book without FIRST reading the book! I think that’s also called “familiar peer pressure.”
What I’m Loving About It: The escapist nature. Steig Larsson’s work is so driven by description of the environment that it’s very easy to become engrossed in his world. It pushes everything, even the violent scenes in the book, into a world of its own.
Rusty
What I’m Reading: Millionaire Teacher: The Nine Rules of Wealth You Should Have Learned in School
How I Heard About the Book: I read a review of the book in a Scott Burns column in the Statesman.
What I’m Loving About It: It’s an excellent book. I like the against-the-grain approach of the book and the uniqueness of Andrew Hallam’s story. Remarkable stuff. A daily reminder to save and be smarter with money.
Jessica
What I’m Reading: A Clash of Kings, the second book in the George R.R. Martin series A Song of Ice and Fire
How I Heard About the Book: It was recommended to me by Barbara’s husband, Michael. A few friends had told me to give the series a try, but I had never been into fantasy and assumed I wouldn’t get into it. Michael essentially dropped the first three books on my desk and told me to just give it a shot – and I’m obsessed!
What I’m Loving About It: It’s no secret why this series has become so successful – Martin pairs the best of the fantasy genre with supremely-written characters, pleasing both fantasy fans and literary readers alike. He draws you into this amazing world and fills it with complex characters that you come to love (or hate). The kind of book that makes you want to cancel your plans and stay home reading for the day!
Claudia
What I’m Reading: The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work
How I Heard About the Book: I’ve been a fan of this practical philosopher for years and read everything he puts out. Generally, I hear about his next book coming out in The New York Times Book Review, if I haven’t already had it recommended to me on Amazon.
What I’m Loving About It: I think his aim of bringing serious thought to the real-world topics such as work, relationships, travel, and home life is both noble and needed. This book asks what we have the right to expect from work, how we can enjoy our work, and what its real meaning is… hard questions! Good book!
Kaila
What I’m Reading: Crazy Love
How I Heard About the Book: I stumbled across the book when I was searching for a different book on Amazon. Intrigued, I headed over the author’s website to get a little more information about who the author was and why he wrote the book. I was so captivated (and loved the author video – first-hand example of why video is so important!), that I bought the book.
What I’m Loving About It: This book is one of the most spiritually challenging books I have read. It forces you to look inward and examine the life you are living as opposed to the life you are called to live. Deep, insightful and incredibly good.
Kim
What I’m Reading: The Lake
How I Heard About the Book: I came across Banana Yoshimoto’s book, Kitchen, in high school, and since then, have continued reading every English translated work she has ever written. After a five year lull, I was delighted to come across The Lake, her most recent translated book, while browsing the shelves at BookPeople.
What I’m Loving About It: I continue to enjoy Yoshimoto’s writing because it seems so fluid and at ease (a style I wish I possessed), and emotions take the forefront every time. I may not live in Japan or battle with the family struggles that her characters so often do, but on some level, they are always relatable. You can’t help but sympathize.
And because we’re curious book lovers, we want to know: what are you reading?