Tuesday, December 19, 2017

Holiday Post 2017: Books and Reading

Welcome back to The Itinerant Librarian and my annual series of holiday posts. Today I am looking at books and reading. I always enjoy finding lists of books to read and suggesting an idea or two for what to read next. Also, stay tuned as I will soon be posting my end of year reading report as well as choosing any reading challenges I will be doing in 2018. Meanwhile, let's see what is out there in reading and books.




The big lists

Basically, the usual popular stuff (that I feel obligated to include)

  • The big behemoth online retailer everyone loves to hate has their list of 2017 best books out.
  • The New York Times has their 100 notable books for 2017. I can say I have not read a single book in this list, and I feel fine. I do have some from their nonfiction list in my TBR lists. 
    • Apparently the NYT also asked their readers to pipe in on their favorites over at the NYT Facebook page, and here are the  highlights in case you care. From this list, I have Neil Gaiman's Norse Mythology on my TBR list (my public library has it, but I have  not gotten my hands on it yet. No rush neither as I have plenty of other things to read at the moment).
  • Here is The Guardian's list, which includes hits and misses.

Other lists

These are the not quite major reading lists that I think are still good and/or interesting somehow.


Cookbooks

For some reason, I came across a lot of cookbook lists for the end of the year. Part of me always wonders how many people who buy or get these books as gifts actually use them to cook anything from them. I have often observed that a lot of higher end cookbooks are totally impractical and nearly useless unless you are a professional chef with an industrial well-stocked kitchen. But at least the pictures are often nice to look at. Here then is a sampling of cookbook lists.

 Books on specific topics

These are lists on specific topics. Some of these lists may help you understand better a specific topic or issue. Signature often does that type of list  well, and I link to the ones I find of interest over on my commonplace blog Alchemical Thoughts. So here are some books on specific things.

  • Business. For  some reason, business people love to tell others what to read. If you are into business books, here are some ideas. Inc.'s Leigh Buchanan offers what she deems as 10 brilliant business books
  • Buddhism. Tricycle staff picks out their top Buddhist books for 2017
  • Photography books. The folks at Atlas Obscura offer a list of photography books. This is a genre I have been enjoying more recently, in part because I find just looking at nice photos and pictures to be relaxing. From this list, the book about Hong Kong shop cats sounds interesting. By the way, on a side note, the Atlas Obscura folks have their own book, Atlas Obscura: an Explorer's Guide to the World's Hidden Wonders, out now, which I have added to my TBR list and hope to read soon. 
  • Art books. NYT has a list for those
  • Picture books for children. Shelf Talk has some suggestions
  • Horror. One of my reading challenges for 2017 involved reading horror books. It is a genre I enjoy, but I do not always make the time to read it. So I am always looking for suggestions. Barnes and Noble has a list of best horror for 2017
  • Books about books. Fine Books and Collections has a roundup of books about books
  • Books for the holidays and/or about the holidays.
  • For Progressives. Here is a guide for progressives who wish to give books as gifts to their relatives ranging from the woke niece to your hopeless bigoted elder (they are way more optimistic than I am in thinking that asshole is going to read a book). Via Yes! Magazine
  • For books in Spanish, either in Spanish language or translated into Spanish, El Pais newspaper offers their 20 best (Spanish language source).

A few other bookish things

These are just a few extra things about books and reading I found interesting. 




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