Authors Share Their Favorite Book in Celebration of National Book Lovers Day
Authors Share Their Favorite Book in Celebration of National Book Lovers Day
National Book Lovers Day is an annual celebration of books and literature that occurs on August 9th. It is a day for book enthusiasts to indulge in their love of reading, explore new genres and authors, and share their passion with others. The origins of National Book Lovers Day are unknown, but the day has been observed for many years as a way to promote the joy of reading and the value of books. Whether you prefer physical books or e-books, fiction or non-fiction, National Book Lovers Day is the perfect opportunity to lose yourself in a good book and celebrate your love of reading.
I want to note that I do not get paid to do these posts, I just love authors and the book industry. However, they do take time and energy to create. If you want to donate a few dollars to my coffee fund, which keeps this blog going, you can do so here: https://venmo.com/AshleyHasty or here: http://paypal.me/hastybooklist.
Ways to Celebrate Book Lovers Day
National Book Lovers Day is an excellent opportunity to celebrate the joys of reading and the magic of books. Here are some ways you can celebrate this special day:
Visit a local bookstore: Spend some time exploring your local bookstore and discover new books to add to your reading list. Many bookstores often have special events and discounts on National Book Lovers Day. (Click here for literary travel guides to different cities.)
Organize a book club: Gather some friends or family members who love to read and start a book club. You can meet regularly to discuss your favorite books, share your thoughts and insights, and enjoy each other's company.
Read a new book: Take the time to read a new book that interests you. Choose a book from your favorite genre or something entirely different that you have always wanted to read. (Scroll down for recommendations from your favorite authors!)
Share your love of books: Share your favorite books with others by recommending them to family, friends, or your social media followers. You can even give a book as a gift to someone who loves to read.
Attend a literary event: Check out local literary events, such as book signings, author readings, or writing workshops. These events are a great opportunity to connect with other book lovers and learn more about the writing process.
Remember, National Book Lovers Day is all about celebrating the joy of reading and the importance of books in our lives. Whatever you choose to do, make sure you take some time to immerse yourself in a good book and enjoy the magic of storytelling.
LaDonna Humphrey
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe written by C. S. Lewis is my favorite book. The book is beautifully written tale of good vs. evil. I find myself captivated by the fantasy, while also inspired and encouraged every time I read this book. The passion, determination and fierce drive that emanates from the characters is a wonderful example of just how fascinating and amazing the human spirit truly is.... I love this book!
Jessica Stilling
My favorite book of all time is The Waves by Virginia Woolf. I remember the first time I read it. I hated it. With a passion. During college class called Modernism to Post Modernism during my sophomore year (this was probably around 2004/2005), our professor assigned The Waves. And the class hated it. Barely anyone read it. No one participated in the discussions (we were, honestly, one of those terrible, hear-a-pin-drop English class all professors dread) and no one wanted to write about the book for their final papers. That is to say, I was not the only one who failed to connect with this book.
I continued to hate The Waves, with a passion, during all of my college career. I would not touch another Virginia Woolf novel. I proclaimed her old and out of touch. The book was just so…hard to understand. There is no protagonist. There is no true plot. The writing is stuffed full of Homeric similes and long-winded monologues. And it was just…too much.
After college I began interning at The Francis Goldin Literary Agency and that is where my political activism and feminism was truly activated. After spending some time reading Barbara Kingsolver and Betty Freidan, I knew I had to go back and give this Virginia Woolf woman another try. Afterall, feminists love her and people who care, truly care, about literature, cannot get enough of Woolf. Every literature professor I respected, just about every writer, creative or academic, I love respects Woolf and holds her work in such high esteem, I had to be missing something, right?
So, I picked up a new copy of The Waves (and why I decided to try that book first, I’ll never know, maybe I just wanted the challenge or I’m a glutton for punishment). I read about thirty-five pages, and I hated it. So much. So, I put the book down and decided to go to the gym, to do something physical before trying to get into this book I was hating. When I got home from the gym, I told myself I was going to read for a little while longer and if I still hated The Waves well, I guess The Waves just wasn’t for me. And I got home, and I sat in a chair bathed in sunlight (at least that’s how I picture it now) and I read. And I hated The Waves. Page 40, I hated The Waves, page 47, still hated it. Then, I read to page 52, and I swear a literal veil was pulled from my eyes and I just got so into this book. It drew me in…so much. It still had no plot, barely any characters and the writing was still…old. But something clicked and I dove headfirst into that book and did not look back.
I learned later that people, all people, share exactly three opinions about The Waves. 1. They have never read it and don’t intend to. 2. They hated it. So much. 3. They believe it is the absolute apex of human thought and creativity, i.e., the best book in the entire world. The Waves is no one’s second favorite book. No one say, “The Waves…eh, it was okay.” You either love it or you despise it.
So, what is it about The Waves that is so great? Like I said, the book has barely any plot, any character, any…anything. And yet….
My answer to why The Waves is so wonderful is incredibly obnoxious (I’ve warned you, now you’re prepared), but it is the only way I can truly get across what is so great about this plotless, characterless novel. Let the obnoxiousness commence:
All people are at 8. Whether that be a wavelength, vibe, spiritual connection to the larger universe (I warned you this explanation was obnoxious). All people everywhere are at 8 and maybe, just maybe, there are a couple of people here or there that reach 9. The Waves is at 10. No one knows how or why The Waves is at 10, but it is. The Waves allows you to peak up over the fence of our puny #8 wavelength (or whatever) and see 10. We get to feel what 10 feels like, we get to almost, almost, get to the heart of the nature of human experience and existence. And no, we do not become 10 simply by reading The Waves, but we get to know it, we see it, we feel it. 10 is beautiful.
What I learned during this experience is that Woolf is hard. She’s really hard. But she’s worth it. This is why lit professors and seasoned writers love her. They put in the work and dive into her, and they see the incredibly amazing world she experienced, the world she saw and gave to us. Woolf allows us to peak over the fence and see 10. It took me many years to get there, but The Waves is a part of my life now. I read it at least once a year.
I guess I just can’t get enough of spying on 10.
Georgie Blalock
My favorite book is Watership Down by Richard Adams. I first read it in junior high and I've read it many times since. People sometimes think this is a children's book because it's about rabbits setting up a new life and community after their old one is destroyed, but it isn't. The book deals with the uncertainties of life, the need for change, perseverance in the face of difficulties, and death. The quote "My heart has joined the Thousand, for my friend stopped running today" might be familiar and it comes from this book. It's a timeless novel I've come back to at many different times in my life and it means something different to me with every new reading.
Laura Whitfield
In The Secret Book of Flora Lea, Patti Callahan Henry weaves a masterful tale that spans two decades and juxtaposes the terrifying world of war-torn London and the idyllic Oxfordshire countryside. As sisters Hazel and Flora are evacuated from Bloomsbury as part of Operation Pied Piper, the two girls find themselves living life along the Thames with a woman named Bridie and her teenaged son, Harry. Without their own mother and longing for home, Hazel creates a fairy tale about a magical kingdom called Whisperwood to calm young Flora’s fears. As best they can, the girls settle into their new life until the unthinkable happens. In this riveting saga of family, friendship, the power of storytelling, and the longing for home, Callahan shows us that what matters most are the ties that time—and a tightly-held secret—can never destroy.
Julie Ryan McGue
The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Olympics by Daniel James Brown While this is book is technically called a novel it is more creative nonfiction. The story is about the men who make up the American rowing team and compete in the Olympics. It is about courage, perserverance, resilience, and the result is thrilling and inspiring. It's been made into a movie.
Carol Van Den Hende
Happy National Book Lovers Day! It's wonderful to have holidays to celebrate our love of storytelling. A difficult question like "what's your favorite book" makes you realize how many wonderful stories exist, seemingly as many as real lives in the world. Since it's also
International Day Of The World’s Indigenous People, I'd love to highlight Louise Erdrich's "The Sentence." The title refers to both main character Tookie's prison sentence, as well as the sentence that she believes killed her irritating (and ultimately lovable) bookstore customer Flora. The novel covers decades, with themes of indigenous people, marital love, mothers who are linked to us by biology and circumstance. I love Erdrich's sweeping story which is full of humor and heart!
Lisa Braxton
A Death in Vienna, by Frank Tallis. It's a murder mystery taking place in turn of the century Vienna. A psychoanalyst and a detective try to solve the murder of a beautiful medium who dies under odd circumstances. That book and the rest of the books in the series by Tallis are the basis of a TV series on PBS, "Vienna Blood."
L.T. Caton
"Harry Potter" series by J.K. Rowling follows the magical journey of Harry Potter and his friends at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Glenda Goodrich
One of my favorite books is a little book by Terry Tempest Williams titled When Women Were Birds: Fifty-four Variations on Voice. The book opens with Terry’s mother announcing on her death bed that she is leaving Terry all her journals. Later, Terry is bewildered to discover that all the journals are blank—all three shelves of them, not one word. The book is a provocative explorative kaleidoscope turning around the question, What does it mean to have a voice?
The designer of this book did something brilliant. After the opening scene of Terry discovering the journals were all blank, the reader turns the page to find a blank page, then another blank page, and another, and another. Four blank pages follow that scene. The series of blank pages brings the reader into the sensory experience of expecting something and finding nothing.
This is my favorite passage from the book:
“Once upon a time, when women were birds, there was the simple understanding that to sing at dawn and to sing at dusk was to heal the world through joy. The birds still remember what we have forgotten, that the world is meant to be celebrated.”
Thank you for the opportunity to pull this book of my shelf. I’m going to read it again. : )
Sherry Sidoti
The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls is a gritty, earthy, laugh-out-loud memoir about surviving and thriving a wildly dysfunctional family. It is a beautifully written and very accessible tale of how the author cultivated resilience, forgiveness, humor, a life of creativity, and self-agency, despite a very unconventional and chaotic childhood. Walls reminds us that when we learn to accept and love all sides of the people we come from— complete with failings and faults— we equally accept and love the light and the dark in ourselves.
