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A review by jennifer
Books for Living by Will Schwalbe
5.0
One of the most wonderful things about Books for Living is surely unintentional and something I discovered by chance: each of its chapters is the perfect length for a bath. And so this is how I've read it over the last month or so, a chapter most evenings while I soak. While well-written, this is not a book that dazzles with flashy prose. I don't recall feeling compelled to photograph a passage and post it on Twitter as I sometimes do when writing really grabs me. And yet I couldn't wait to pick it up each evening for our appointed date in the tub. It was a comforting presence, the macaroni and cheese of literature, which I mean as high praise.
There is also one particular thing that stuck with me, even though I had to go and re-look up the book from which it came in order to write this review. It was from a chapter about a book called Wonder, a middle-grade reader for fourth to sixth graders that, as a non-parent, I am unlikely to have otherwise ever come across. Schwalbe quotes from a middle-school commencement speech by a character in the book, a school principal, Mr. Tushman, who quotes J.M. Barrie, "'Shall we make a new rule of life...always try to be a little kinder than is necessary?'"
The phrase "be kinder than is necessary" has surfaced in my thoughts most days since I first read it. I'm not saying it surfaced at the right times or always on-time, but it did show up, and that alone makes Books for Living a worthy read. It's the kind of book I feel grateful to have read, written by the most kindred of spirits, a fellow book lover.
There is also one particular thing that stuck with me, even though I had to go and re-look up the book from which it came in order to write this review. It was from a chapter about a book called Wonder, a middle-grade reader for fourth to sixth graders that, as a non-parent, I am unlikely to have otherwise ever come across. Schwalbe quotes from a middle-school commencement speech by a character in the book, a school principal, Mr. Tushman, who quotes J.M. Barrie, "'Shall we make a new rule of life...always try to be a little kinder than is necessary?'"
The phrase "be kinder than is necessary" has surfaced in my thoughts most days since I first read it. I'm not saying it surfaced at the right times or always on-time, but it did show up, and that alone makes Books for Living a worthy read. It's the kind of book I feel grateful to have read, written by the most kindred of spirits, a fellow book lover.