In Y Is for Yesterday, Kinsey Millhone, Sue Grafton’s star detective in her “alphabet” mystery series, buys her friend and chef, Rosie, a birthday present. Her choice? A book, of course.
“A book has no unwanted calories, and you don’t have to worry about sizes as long as the subject matter appeals to the recipient.”
So, why does a book matter?
Few other gifts have such a personal touch. A book lets the receiver know that you’ve thought and chosen the gift just for him or her.
Learning and being entertained at the same time adds to life’s enjoyment with something meaningful and memorable. When finished, few gifts can be recycled and shared with friends, like giving another gift.
Reading a novel or well-written nonfiction book is like taking a mini-vacation from our busy lives. Escape into a book and come back enriched, maybe even wiser.
According to a Yale University 12-year study, reading is good for your health and statistically adds two years to your life. Think how many more books you could read in those two extra years. The study found that those who read 30 minutes a day were 23 percent less likely to die over the same period of research time as nonreaders.
Reading magazines and newspapers may not, however, provide the same benefit. Books tend to engage us more and deeper. They play into our reasoning and understanding, something that leads to longer and healthier lives.
The tough question is, which book? I asked several local authors who had books published this year to offer suggestions. Consequently, my own list of books to read has gotten longer! May yours do likewise.
» Hattie Beresford: The Way It Was: Santa Barbara Comes of Age (2017) tells about Santa Barbara from 1880 to 1930 as it moved from the Victorian era to a more modern day.
“I’m an avid mystery fan, so I’d have to say anything by Louise Penny. She transcends the genre, and her writing can be breathtaking. She’s always insightful. The other book I read recently by Ivan Doig, The Whistling Season, is about a homesteading family and neighbors in northern Montana at the turn of the 20th century. Hilarious and heartwarming and eye opening as well. The ending falls short and leaves one incredulous, but the ride was worth it nevertheless.”
» T.C. Boyle: The Relive Box and Other Stories (Ecco, 2017) demonstrates Boyle’s mastery of the short story with humor, surprise and emotion.
“I read biographies of Virginia Woolf and Charles Dickens (the superb short bio by Jane Smiley), as well as Jennifer Egan’s new novel, Manhattan Beach. But the revelation of the year for me was Donald Hall’s marvelous book of valedictory essays, Essays After Eighty. These are exquisite ruminations on mortality, history and nature, as good and heartfelt as any of his previous books. Think of snow, New England, the old farmhouse and the creatures that dwell in and around it. The wheel turns. Life goes on.”
» H.A. Drake: A Century of Miracles: Christians, Pagans, Jews and the Supernatural, 312-410 (Oxford University Press, 2017). Drake, a UCSB history professor emeritus, has written a compelling story of an era when Christians, pagans and Jews worked to find their own paths. This history can explain some of our religious situations today.
“Erika Rappaport’s A Thirst for Empire has made a big splash. It’s about the relationship between tea and the growth of the British empire. She’s an enormously engaging teacher and writer, and I would give that as a gift if I didn’t have my own book to give.
“Another recent book that has gotten a lot of press is Tsuyoshi (“Toshi”) Hasegawa’s Crime and Punishment in the Russian Revolution: Mob Justice and Police in Petrograd, just out for the 100th anniversary of the Russian Revolution.”
» Brian Fagan: Fishing: How the Sea Fed Civilization (Yale University, 2017). Fagan, a professor emeritus of anthropology at UCSB with a longtime interest in sailing, looks at fishing’s unique role in history and culture.
“What am I reading at the moment? Walter Isaacson’s Leonardo de Vinci has me totally engrossed. His research is superlative. I’ve also been enjoying Ruth Scurr’s John Aubrey, My Own Life, which is an innovative, beautifully crafted biography of a 17th century English antiquary and gossip, written as if it was written by Aubrey himself. Otherwise, almost all my reading is technical archaeology and history read as research for future books.”
» Sue Grafton: Y Is for Yesterday (Marian Wood Books/Putnam, 2017) tells the story of a group of elite private school teenagers who get caught up in the filming of the boys sexually assaulting one of the girls. The film then becomes a nightmare for the group and friends.
“I’ve read several books this year, but still like better one I read last year, News of the World by Paulette Jiles. It has stayed with me. Good writing, good characters.”
» Betsy Green: Way Back When: Santa Barbara 1917: Tales of Everyday Life in Santa Barbara 100 Years Ago (El Barbareno Publishing, 2017) is full of wacky, fun and enlightening stories from news reports in 1917.
“I recently read a fascinating book that would be a great gift for lovers of history and/or photography on your Christmas list — A History of Photography: From 1839 to the Present (Taschen, 2012). It’s more than 750 pages of high-quality images from photographers around the world throughout the photographic era. (A steal at just under $20.) I couldn’t put it down until I finished it and felt sad when I finally reached the end. I lent it to a good friend the other day, but I want it back! It would be a good book to read when you’re stuck at home with the flu.”
» Pico Iyer: 100 Journeys for the Spirit: Sacred*Inspiring*Mysterious*Enlightening (Watkins Publishing, 2017) is a reprint of a book about places that move us to a profound level and add meaning to our lives.
“I’m always looking to foist my latest enthusiasms on friends! There are too many astonishing new works of fiction in this Golden Age of Writing that I’d love to foist on friends this holiday season. But for anyone who loves novel-writing at its deepest, most sympathetic and most beautifully poised, I’d hand over Elizabeth Strout’s Anything Is Possible, her startling not-quite-sequel to the differently brilliant I Am Lucy Barton. For anyone who wishes to understand the emotional consequences of immigration, even among the privileged, I’d offer A Life of Adventure and Delight by Akhil Sharma, one of the most compassionate and nuanced writers around.
“For those who remember California in the early 1970s, Emma Cline’s shockingly good debut, The Girls, summons an emotional wisdom and an evocative beauty that novelists three times her age might envy. And for those who just feel that the world is racing by too quickly, Monica Furlong’s Contemplating Now, from 1971, is a bracing, no-nonsense look at the stillness that is so much in the air, because so desperately needed, today.”
» Diana Raab: Writing for Bliss: A Seven-Step Plan for Telling Your Story and Transforming Your Life (Loving Healing Press, 2017) offers techniques and prompts on using creativity to write stories and poetry while encouraging life-changing experiences and self-discovery as ways to inspire.
“Choosing book gifts for me is completely individual based on who I’m giving to. If I have no idea what to get, here are some generic ones I’d choose! I’d get The Proust Questionnaire by William Carter or The Essential Rumi by Jalal al-Din Rumi and Coleman Barks.”
Green sent a current bumper sticker quote that sums up why books matter. “You can’t buy happiness, but you CAN buy books.” Go for it!
Hint for next month’s column: Each of the authors above also wrote their takes on whether to read hard-print book or digital. None gave the same answers.
— Noozhawk columnist Susan Miles Gulbransen — a Santa Barbara native, writer and book reviewer — teaches writing at the Santa Barbara Writers Conference and through the Santa Barbara City College Continuing Education Division. Click here to read previous columns. The opinions expressed are her own.
