Books for Living

Introduction 

From time to time I have a terrifying dream. I call it the Reader s Nightmare. 

I m in a busy airport, and they ve announced my flight. There is an epic walk to the gate, and I know I have only a few minutes before they will close the door to the jetway and my plane will leave without me. Suddenly, I realize that I don t have a book to read on the flight. Not one single book. I spin around, my eyes searching frantically for a bookstore. I see none. I run through the airport, past the duty-free counters selling liquor and perfume, past the luggage stores and fashion boutiques, past the place that offers neck massage. Still, I can t find an airport bookstore. Now, over the loudspeakers, comes the final call for my flight. Flight ninety-seven to Perth is ready for departure. All passengers must be on board at this time. They even call me by name. Panic sets in as I realize that I am almost certainly going to miss my flight. But the idea of hours on a plane without a book? Intolerable. So I run and run, searching for that bookstore or at least a newsstand with a rack of paperbacks. I can t find a single book anywhere in the airport. I start to scream. 

Then I wake up. 

I don t have this dream about food or television or movies or music. My unconscious is largely untroubled by the idea of spending hours in a metal tube hurtling through the sky without something to eat or a program to watch or tunes in my ears. It s the thought of being bookless for hours that jolts me awake in a cold sweat. 

Throughout my life I ve looked to books for all sorts of reasons: to comfort me, to amuse me, to distract me, and to educate me. But just because you know that you can find anything you need in a book doesn t mean you can easily find your way to the right book at the right time, the one that tells you what you need to know or feel when you need to know or feel it. 

A few years ago, I wrote a book about the books I

WILL SCHWALBE has worked in publishing; digital media, as the founder and CEO of Cookstr.com; and as a journalist, writing for various publications, including The New York Times and the South China Morning Post. He is the author of the New York Times best seller The End of Your Life Book Club and coauthor, with David Shipley, of Send: Why People Email So Badly and How to Do It Better.

Books for Living is [a] gift, and one that keeps giving.
USA Today

  A sweet and utterly restorative series of vignettes about how books the right books, at the right times can not only deepen a life but save it.  
The Christian Science Monitor

"Any season of the year, this book is a gift"
Mary Oliver 

Inspiring and charming.... Books, to Schwalbe, are our last great hope to keep us from spiraling into the abyss.
The New York Times

Moving.... Schwalbe truly shines.... It should convince even reluctant readers to pick up a book.
Boston Globe

First-rate.... Schwalbe s enthusiasm for what he covers is contagious.
San Francisco Chronicle

A love letter to reading, bibliophiles will close the last page with a few more entries on their to-read list.
Real Simple

Witty, warm, [and] insightful.... A field guide to a handful of titles that might entertain, stir up trouble, or yes even save the life a reader already has.
Shelf Awareness

The casual but polished way in which Schwalbe writes about some of his favorite books and smartly peppers in his own life s stories makes for an engaging and easy read. Books for Living quietly reminds readers that books are works of art that carry great import in our lives, and might even leave you wondering what your own list of books for living might look like.
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Very much a work for our age.... Vital. The Anniston Star