A great way to discover new titles is to check out the favourite books of authors that you like. For example, Ta-Nehisi Coates‘ book, Between the World and Me, is a bestseller in the United States. In this book, written in a direct address style to his son, Coates talks about what it was like to grow up as an African American in Baltimore. It’s a very revealing look at problems of racism and discrimination. The New York Public Library posted Ta-Nehisi Coates’s Reading List which contains a variety of fascinating titles on African American history in the United States.
The New York Times Sunday Book Review did an entertaining interview on reading with Gloria Steinem, Gloria Steinem By the Book. She answers such questions as which book is currently on her nightstand, which books are her favourite novels, what are the best feminist books and best contemporary feminist authors, right down to her favourite heroes and villains. Some of the answers m
ay surprise you. Steinem’s new book is entitled My Life on the Road.
Finally, Patti Smith is considered by some to be the “godmother of punk,” but she is also the author of Just Kids, which won the 2010 National book award for nonfiction. Her new book M Train, contains a section on her favourite books, which is chock full of classics and books from around the world. This list is summarized in Patti Smith in Two Kinds of Masterpieces and Her Fifty Favorite Books which is published by the social media site, Brain Pickings.
Finally, and not to leave out Canadian authors, if you didn’t see the Globe and Mail’s, Our Favourite Authors Choose Their Favourite Books of the Year, a number of Canadian authors weigh in on their favourite books of 2014. This gives us something to look forward to again in December.
Perhaps, schools can make similar lists and publish them in a school newsletter comprised of principal, teachers, and students!
