Recommended Reading

I like book recommendations, particularly when the person doing the recommending feels strongly about the book. I also think that knowing a few books that mean a lot to someone is a good way to get a sense of who they are.

To that end, I've recently discovered two new sources of such recommendations. Over at the Penguin UK blog they've started a nice series called "Five in Mind" that seeks to let readers get to know the staff at Penguin UK by having them each give a list of five books. I've been enjoying that quite a lot.

Then there's also NPR's series "You Must Read This". I feel terribly guilty that I've fallen behind on almost all of my regular NPR podcasts, because I'm such a big fan of their programing. This is a great example. Authors are asked to tell us why we must read a certain book. I particularly liked Michael Chabon's, which I found very convincing. I also loved Charles Baxter's recommendation of Flann O'Brien's The Third Policeman, which is one of my favorite books. You must read it.