I am currently reading around three and a half books:

• Women Who Run with Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes (a reread – but this time I’m taking notes)
• Pilgrimage to Dollywood by Helen Morales
• Women & Power, a Manifesto by Mary Beard
• The Dharma Bums by Jack Keroac (this is another re-read and I’m not feeling that into it, I may put it back on the shelf)

Some books I have read recently that I really enjoyed:

• Dreyer’s English, An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style by Benjamin Dreyer (yes, it is a grammar/English usage book and yes, I laughed out loud many times while reading it)
• Range, Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World by David Epstein (I felt my entire existence was vindicated)
• Circe by Madeline Miller (spoiler – I didn’t love how it ended)
• Antigone Rising by Helen Morales (if you have two X chromosomes, this might get you riled up)
• How to Change Your Mind by Michael Pollan
• Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver (see, sometimes I read fiction; a suggestion from a friend)
• City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert (see, more fiction; another suggestion from another friend)

As much as I love books and I love to read, I don’t love to keep ALL the books in my house. I was really into Larry McMurtry for a while; I had pretty much every book that he had written through 1998 or so and in the course of one move I got rid of all of them. I’ve only read one new Larry McMurtry book since then, but I loved it so much I’m almost feeling like I need to get my paws on a new copy of Lonesome Dove or Terms of Endearment. But I’m also trying to make a point of reading women authors, so revisiting Larry McMurtry may have to wait a little longer.

Much like all the cat holidays, I feel like National Book Lovers Day can be celebrated year-round. Here are some ways to celebrate National Book Lovers Day any day of the year:

• Read a book!
• Pass a book along to a friend.
• Return a book that you borrowed from a friend.
• Buy a book from your local, independent bookstore. Or any independent bookstore (they all ship). Page Against the Machine is my favorite independent bookstore here in Long Beach (I might know the owner). Chris carries an excellently curated selection of new and used books in the political and social justice genres.  However, he also is very happy to custom order any title that you are looking for.
• Order a custom bookstack watercolor for yourself or a friend. Trying to think of what books I would want for my bookstack gives me anxiety, but if you know what you would pick, check out the Etsy shop of my friend Kiersten: ShortstackByKiersten.

Did you or are you going to celebrate National Book Lovers Day? What are you reading now?  Any suggestions of books to check out?

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My first thought was, “Ugh, what a terrible idea!”  I don’t want someone telling me what I should be reading, I can’t even get around to all of what I want to be reading myself. To me, this book is setting you up to feel like a failure.

It gave me an idea.  I thought, “What are the books that I would tell someone that they have to read?”  But you know that I don’t like to be dogmatic, and we all read for different reasons.  That led me to ask myself, “What do I endeavor to get out of my reading?”

For the past few years, I have been very interested in histories and biographies.  Last year, my reading list had a theme: biographies about interesting historical women written by women.  Female authors are certainly not more sympathetic to the women they are writing about, but there is a subtle difference in perspective that, to me, informs their subjects in a more complete way.

Histories and biographies really illuminate the world for me.  Things that are happening today make more sense to me with a historic point of reference.  One book that I’m just finishing now is a collection of scholarly essays about the aerospace industry in Southern California.  It was amazing to read, like someone just said, “Hi, let me tell you why Southern California is the way it is.”  The impact that this industry had on the place where I live is enormous and omnipresent.

I think that is what I’m looking to get out of books that I read: some sort of frame of reference that can illuminate the world that I live in in some way.

Here are four books that I have read recently that you might be interested in (I went for a variety): 

1. The Quartet by Jim Ellis.  A friend who shares my love of history recommended this book.  It is a terrifically insightful read about the political horse-trading that was integral to the creation and adoption of the US Constitution.
2. The Discovery of Witches series by Deborah Harkness.  I really don’t read novels much anymore, but I couldn’t put these books down.  Deb Harkness is a history professor, so her historical fantasy stories are infused with so much rich historical detail, they are delicious.  Just make sure that you don’t need to do anything for a few days if you decide to pick these up; you won’t be able to stop until you’ve finished the last one.
3. Of course, a biography of an interesting historical woman: Cleopatra by Stacy Schiff.  Let’s just say that men have been trying to erase powerful women from history for a long time.  And the fact that despite that, the historical record of Cleopatra’s power is undeniable.  What an interesting time! 
4. And last, but not least, The Psychology of Kundalini Yoga by C.G. Jung.  I didn’t study psychology in college, so I am not familiar with Jung, but I find his concept of the collective unconscious fascinating.  As someone with limited but profound exposure to Kundalini yoga, I was very interested to delve into the deeper meanings of the various chakras, especially from a Western perspective.

This year, I’m just trying to clean up the “to read” pile.  My hope is to eliminate the stockpile and transition to using the public library instead of the “buy it now” button on Amazon.  Keeping the books from piling gets tiresome but I am committed to reading books printed on paper, I love the low-tech-ness of it.  If you’re local and you’re looking for something to read, hit me up, I’d love to pass something along.

Anything that you have read recently that you would suggest I add to my list?

The post 1,000 Books to Read…or Not appeared first on Cynthia Gellis.

I became interested in Ken Kesey when I read Tom Wolfe’s The Electric Kool Aid Acid Test in high school. It was not assigned reading, I think I borrowed it from the cool crunchy girl who lived down the street when I was going through my hippie phase (I had to abandon my goth phase when I got a convertible, it was impossible to stay pale and sullen).

Then in English class senior year, we were asked to pick our favorite writer then the teacher would assign each of us another author based on who we liked.  I picked Ken Kesey.  Then I was assigned Charles Dickens (the guy who loved Kurt Vonnegut was assigned someone comparable to Dickens, the very prim girl was assigned D.H. Lawrence, you get the picture).  So, I read One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Sometimes a Great Notion, then Great Expectations and A Tale of Two Cities. Ok, I really didn’t read very much of the Dickens books, just enough to write the book reports.  Anyways…

Do you like to go back and read books over again?  I don’t tend to re-read books, even books that I really like.  There are just too many books out there and I’m never going to get through all the ones that I want to read anyway.  In spite of that, I have re-read Sometimes a Great Notion several times over the years. It is so richly written, and I get more out of it every time.  The way that the scenes melt into each other is so interesting.

Sometimes a Great Notion would probably still be a good book if it was written in a more linear format, but the structure makes it so fascinating to me. Rick Dodgson talked about the process that Kesey went through when he wrote the book.  It was intense.  He had some sort of notated flowchart pinned up on the walls of the room where he worked. I really can’t imagine writing something with such a complicated structure.  Especially on a typewriter.  I mean, he was literally cutting and pasting sections together.  With scissors and tape, no CTRL X for him.  It’s no wonder that he didn’t write anything after it for a very long time.

As much as I love books, I try very hard to purge my hoard semi-regularly. Every so often I regret that I got rid of something like my collection of Larry McMurtry books, but in general, I try to only hang onto certain books (vintage etiquette books and dance histories are two big categories that get a pass).  For some reason, Sometimes a Great Notion has survived every book purge in the past 25 years.  After reading The Young Ken Kesey, I think that it is probably about time to dig it out and put it back on the “to read”pile.

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