Like most people, when I find authors whose writing and/or ideas I appreciate, I try to read all their books. The assumption (or hope) is that their other volumes are at least as good as the first. Sometimes this isn’t the case, but as a rule, I am not disappointed.
I take out most of the titles I want to read from my library (ordering all the non-fiction has the decided perk of allowing me to obtain the ones I think look interesting). If I’m blown away by a book, then I’ll go out and buy it afterwards to both support the author and have it in my personal collection. Any book I love gets recommended to as many people as possible starting with my staff, who in turn suggest it to others.
Today’s selections are by writers whose works are tried and true. I already told you about Frank Furedi (see Day Job), whose most recent publication, Politics of Fear
, is just as fabulous and dead-on as his others. I just want to shake this man’s hand. Okay, I want to hug him. He voices everything that has been bubbling in my brain unarticulated for years. In this potent little volume, he discusses how politics today are devoid of ideas; how we as citizens have become apathetic and fearful of change; and how we need to embark on what he terms a ‘second Enlightenment’. I want to send copies of this book to political leaders everywhere, or—even better—to those of the future. Every university poli sci program should make this mandatory reading.
The second pick, Every Book Its Reader: The Power of the Printed Word to Stir the World, is by Nicholas A. Basbanes, bibliophile extraordinaire. In these pages, he talks about the ability of books to impact lives. As usual, he introduces readers to remarkable people, some of whom, in this case, read and publish mind-boggling amounts of books, and others who cherish them deeply. I’ve read his entire oeuvre and recommend it to anyone who calls him or herself a bibliomaniac.
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