I Hereby Proclaim July 14th Read What You Love Day

bkpatrick — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 12:45:10 +0000

For my 25,000th tweet, I asked the Twitterverse what I should proclaim. One waggish tweep said “A national holiday?”

Why not? I may not be able to issue a federal edict, but I’ll just declare today — known as le jour de la Bastille in more Gallic quarters — National Read What You Love Day.

Read What You Love Day is all about its self-explanatory title. Stop reading what you think you should read and pick up a book you can’t wait to start.

I want to help, of course. I’ve put together a set of five 2010 books I simply love, and will give them away to a random reader who tells me here which book she’ll choose for this inaugural holiday celebration.

Here are the five books you could receive:

A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
The Passage by Justin Cronin
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes
The Possessed by Elif Batuman

Ready, set…GO!

UPDATE: 5:07 Eastern time — Random.org selected April Hawkins (Comment #30) as The Winner! April, please email your address to me: thebookmaven at gmail dot com. Congrats! Thanks to everyone who entered…READ WHAT YOU LOVE!

Summertime, and the Reading Should Be Easy

bkpatrick — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 11:04:52 +0000

Yesterday I started a Twitter meme called #palatecleansingbooks. I read three new-ish novels in one weekend — “The Pregnant Widow” by Martin Amis, “Day for Night” by Frederick Reiken, and “The Imperfectionists” by Tom Rachman. I needed to clear my head, and for me that head-clearing after a heavy bout of reading usually involves one or more of M.F.K. Fisher’s essay collections. In this case, the first title on my kitchen bookcase (um, yes, I have books in every room of the house, dining room and bathrooms included) was “With Bold Knife and Fork,” Mary Frances Kennedy Fisher’s late-life reflections on which foods are best in every category from nibbles to preserves.

My own “palate-cleansing books” happen to be books about food, so the tag was an easy one for me to append. However, turns out that everyone’s definition of a book that refreshes is different. (As the French say of the gender divide, Vive la difference!) I thought I’d share a few of the responses I received here:

sherlock holmes. the end. #palatecleansingbooksless than a minute ago via webLia Horton
LibraryLia

I turn to the under-appreciated category of chick-lit after a peticularly hard read. #palatecleansingbooksless than a minute ago via UberTwitterjenna rostek
auntie_jenn

#palatecleansingbooks A little anthology ENGLISH COUNTRY HOUSE MYSTERIES Among inclusion parameters: Absolutely no character named Leftyless than a minute ago via webJoanne Lessner
joannelessner

#palatecleansingbooks Jane Austen: cool, clean, melon light, notes of cucumber.less than a minute ago via webDiana Abu Jaber
dabujaber

Laurie Colwin, Laurie Colwin, and then some more Laurie Colwin. #palatecleansingbooks. (My summer ritual, along w/GREAT GATSBY)less than a minute ago via webReagan Arthur
reaganart

@joe_hill Anything without spectroscopy, the words ‘included hardware’, or egg-like caricatures falling off a wall. #palatecleansingbooksless than a minute ago via webRebeccaV
notesbyamom

For me it’s Larry Block, Walter Mosley, John D. MacDonald & @elmoreleonard. They’re my reset button. #palatecleansingbooksless than a minute ago via webJoe Hill
joe_hill

Book Maven Media » summer reads

I Hereby Proclaim July 14th Read What You Love Day

Summertime, and the Reading Should Be Easy