Start a great friendship
Frank Delaney is the author of the popular new saga, Ireland, a former judge for the Booker Prize, and a true Irishman now living in the United States.
This morning on NPR, during an interview about the book, Delaney remarked that some of his greatest friendships began when someone asked "Have you read...?"
One of our secret aspirations for the store is that it become a place where great friendships begin. That has been true for us and for many of you already.
But isn't Delaney right? Haven't you formed lasting friendships in the sharing of a favorite book or author or genre?
Try it this week. When you meet a new person or run into an acquaintance, why don't you try that question?
"Have you read...?"
And I invite (nay, implore) you to use the comments section below to begin the process. Let us know what your "go-to" book is and let's see who joins us.
I'll start. You've all heard me ramble about the joys of Tim Dorsey and his Serge Storms novels, so let's try something a little different.
In the coming weeks, BookSense will be coming out with its list of book group favorites, and one of my choices has been selected for inclusion in the national list. It's not your usual book group pick, but here's what I offered to the other independent booksellers in America:
Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card, has, in its nearly 30 years of existence, become a story everyone thinks they know, whether they have read the book or not. It is the perfect book for introducing a fascinating genre to those friends who say "I don't read science fiction."
The plot stands on its own, but these years later the enjoyment is heightened by the knowledge that there are many more episodes to come in the lives of these children.
Ender Wiggin is the original Harry Potter - a juvenile protagonist who captures adult hearts and minds. As groups seek alternatives to the Potter phenomenon, Ender's Game offers good fiction while stimulating discussions of three hot-button cultural issues...how our culture treats its children, how society as a whole can support war and empire when it is safely at a remove, and how we as a people respond to the assertion of government infallibility.
This morning on NPR, during an interview about the book, Delaney remarked that some of his greatest friendships began when someone asked "Have you read...?"
One of our secret aspirations for the store is that it become a place where great friendships begin. That has been true for us and for many of you already.
But isn't Delaney right? Haven't you formed lasting friendships in the sharing of a favorite book or author or genre?
Try it this week. When you meet a new person or run into an acquaintance, why don't you try that question?
"Have you read...?"
And I invite (nay, implore) you to use the comments section below to begin the process. Let us know what your "go-to" book is and let's see who joins us.
I'll start. You've all heard me ramble about the joys of Tim Dorsey and his Serge Storms novels, so let's try something a little different.
In the coming weeks, BookSense will be coming out with its list of book group favorites, and one of my choices has been selected for inclusion in the national list. It's not your usual book group pick, but here's what I offered to the other independent booksellers in America:
Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card, has, in its nearly 30 years of existence, become a story everyone thinks they know, whether they have read the book or not. It is the perfect book for introducing a fascinating genre to those friends who say "I don't read science fiction."
The plot stands on its own, but these years later the enjoyment is heightened by the knowledge that there are many more episodes to come in the lives of these children.
Ender Wiggin is the original Harry Potter - a juvenile protagonist who captures adult hearts and minds. As groups seek alternatives to the Potter phenomenon, Ender's Game offers good fiction while stimulating discussions of three hot-button cultural issues...how our culture treats its children, how society as a whole can support war and empire when it is safely at a remove, and how we as a people respond to the assertion of government infallibility.
posted by All4Word at 12:40 PM
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