Review: My Ideal Bookshelf by Thessaly La Force

3 stars for My Ideal Bookshelf by Thessaly La Force.

Books find readers. Yes, you heard me; I believe a book seek its reader. Books always unexpectedly find me instead of the other way around. And when it does, I will reshuffle my Reading List and go with the flow. What I like to say really is, I did not seek this book. Interestingly, this book comes to me at the right time, right after I have read My Bookstore. Any other time and I will likely have dismissed the book.

It is interesting peeking into other people's reading lives, especially people from all walks of life - actors, architects, artists, athletes, cartoonists, chefs, composers, curators, dancers, designers (for book cover, fashion, graphic, interior, jewelry, typeface), doctors, editors, filmmakers, historians, illustrators, journalists, librarians, musicians, photographers, poets, producers, violist, writers - to see what they have read or are reading or are rereading. It feels good to be among people who loves to read. I have an enjoyable time thumbing through the pages of this book, examining the bookshelves of every contributor in there, checking out the hidden gems in their collection, that is, books I never know existed, and it goes without saying, adding them to my ever-growing Reading List.

In some ways this book helps to accentuate the different reasons for reading. Different people see things differently and have different taste in books. They look for different things in books and they look at different things on books. It every much depends on people's upbringing and what they do for a living. The same book can mean different things to different people, or in different stages of life. What I glean from this book is, while most will advise "never judge a book by its cover", those who work in the artistic side of publishing, say an illustrator/artist will tell us to ignore that advice because to them, people judge books by their covers. Literally. Every day. Well, I think they are not wrong either.

My Ideal Bookshelf. The book title in itself is thought-provoking enough. It set me thinking. What does it mean to create my own ideal bookshelf? Hmm.. There is actually no such thing as one ideal bookshelf. Because a lot depends on where I am, physically and emotionally, when I decide to pick up a book and gives it a chance. It also depends on the different seasons of life. What I select today may be completely different from what I will assemble say one year later. What it means is, I may build my ideal bookshelf every year of my life and it will turn out to be completely different each time, though still as satisfying. Ultimately, it is not the building of an ideal bookshelf that matters, but rather, the ongoing search for the ideal book, the one more that I will love to read and hold dear for the rest of my life. That is the reason why my Reading List is growing longer by the day as I am constantly in search of and adding more good reads.

Nevertheless, I will still like to go ahead to put together my ideal bookshelf. It will display books that made me cry, books that I have read and reread, books that changed me, shaped my thinking and made me who I am today, books that I love most, and books that I think is the best I will ever read. These are books that are linked to the different moments of my life. They may be books I want on my ideal bookshelf for now, but who knows what the future has in store for me.

Reading is not simply a hobby or something done to pass time. Reading is a lifestyle, my lifestyle. Books are an essential part of my life and life story. There is nothing that parallels the physical book, nothing like its weight and feel, touch and smell, and the crackle of its spine. I am proud to say that I am the happy owner of physical books 1-6 below.

《My ideal bookshelf》

1. Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder
2. Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell
3. Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
4. Stranger with My Face by Lois Duncan
5. The Lord of the Ring trilogy by J. R. R. Tolkien
6. Magic Strikes by Ilona Andrews
7. Across the Universe trilogy by Beth Revis
8. Red Letter Day by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
9. Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
10. Promise Me by Richard Paul Evans
11. Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt
12. Ways to Live Forever by Sally Nicholls
13. Being Mortal by Atul Gawande
14. The Year of Less by Cait Flanders
15. What I Know for Sure by Oprah Winfrey

So, the big questions is, if you are tasked to share your passion for reading with the world, to select a small shelf of books that represent you, books that have made you the person you are today, your favourite among the favourites, what books will you choose?


Publisher: Little, Brown and Company; First Edition edition
Publication date: 13 Nov 2012

*** Favourite quote 1 ***

We're all still hunting, still hoping to discover one more book that we'll love and treasure for the rest of our lives.

*** Favourite quote 2 ***

Sometimes books can have a tremendously helpful effect on a writer. While reading Tom Drury's The End of Vandalism, for example, I felt something shift in my approach to my own work. Good literature is a collaboration between reader and writer, and that book, in a moment of dialogue, taught me a lesson about allowing the reader to meet me halfway.

— Jo Ann Beard

*** Favourite quote 3 ***

I think books find their way to you when you need them. Whenever I feel like I'm not going to live to read all the books I want to read, I remind myself that the important ones find their way to me.

— Rosanne Cash

***Favourite quote 4 ***

The world becomes more rewarding if you let yourself look beyond what you're searching for.

— Candy Chang

***Favourite quote 5 ***

Books are the very best kind of decoration, really. There are two types of books, the ones you read and the ones you have on your coffee table. Both make a space feel like home - you spend time with them, they have meaning for you, and they actually look good, too.

To me, nothing is more beautiful than a wall of books.

— Tom Delavan

***Favourite quote 6 ***

Most of the books that I have in my library are unread. A lot of them are almost like pieces of art, sort of tactile - I pick them up, touch them and look at them, and get vibrations from them. The fact that I can eventually read them and glean their content is an added bonus.

— Thurston Moore

~ My Ideal Bookshelf
Thessaly La Force

@}--->>--->>-----

The books that we choose to keep --let alone read-- can say a lot about who we are and how we see ourselves.

In MY IDEAL BOOKSHELF, dozens of leading cultural figures share the books that matter to them most; books that define their dreams and ambitions and in many cases helped them find their way in the world. Contributors include Malcolm Gladwell, Thomas Keller, Michael Chabon, Alice Waters, James Patterson, Maira Kalman, Judd Apatow, Chuck Klosterman, Miranda July, Alex Ross, Nancy Pearl, David Chang, Patti Smith, Jennifer Egan, and Dave Eggers, among many others.

With colorful and endearingly hand-rendered images of book spines by Jane Mount, and first-person commentary from all the contributors, this is a perfect gift for avid readers, writers, and all who have known the influence of a great book.

*Blurb from Gooodreads*

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