Learning | What Would Be On Your Ideal Bookshelf?

I am a member of an informal online book club, consisting mostly of friends from my high school days.  We are all busy people, and we are literally scattered all over the world. We are unable to meet in a physical location, so we suggest books to read, and start discussing when we are ready--usually whenever each person who has said they will read that title has declared that they are finished reading. 

I can't remember who suggested Carlos Ruiz Zafón's Shadow of the Wind (original Spanish title: La Sombra del Viento.) It was such a hit with our group, that we continued reading some of his other books, The Angel's Game and The Prisoner of Heaven. These gothic novels are set in Barcelona. We were immediately drawn to Shadow of the Wind when we read its intriguing first sentence: "I still remember the day my father took me to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books for the first time."  

The Cemetery of Forgotten Books is in a secret location in Barcelona, in a building Ruiz Zafón describes as "the carcass of a palace, a place of echoes and shadows." In this place, books that are not remembered by anyone are guarded until they reach a new reader's hands. 

The father of the main character, Daniel, runs a bookstore called Sempere and Son. Daniel's father takes him to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, where the young boy chooses a book to protect; it is called The Shadow of the Wind by Julián Carax. His choice changes the course of his life in the coming years.

I would love to visit the Cemetery of Forgotten Books and the Sempere and Son bookstore.  These books make me want to visit Barcelona. If am ever lucky enough to find myself in that city, I imagine I will be looking for that fictitious bookstore and the Cemetery of Forgotten Books.

In recent months, SSJCPL has purchased some new books that made me recall the Cemetery of Forgotten Books.  In each of these non-fiction items, celebrities share their thoughts about favorite books and bookstores.  Just reading their answers to these questions will encourage the thoughtful reader to consider how they would answer them.

My Bookstore: Writers Celebrate Their Favorite Places to Browse, Read, and Shop
The title is self-explanatory.  It does not, however mention that 84 writers have contributed to this book, describing their favorites and including personal anecdotes. There are too many famous writers to mention here, but let's just choose a few:  Isabelle Allende, Ivan Doig, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., John Grisham, Ann Patchett and Lisa See.

My Ideal Bookshelf

This book title made me think of the old "What books would you bring with you, if you knew you were going to be stranded on a desert island?"question.  It really asked the celebrities to imagine a bookshelf full of the books that shaped who they are today, which might not be the same thing as the ones you would would take with you. The contributors include David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, James Patterson, Stephenie Meyer, Dave Eggars and Alice Waters, to name only a few.

I would love to hear your thoughts on the ideal bookstore, or the books that have helped to create the person that you are today--or even which books you would bring with you to a desert island.  If you visited the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, which book would you choose to guard with your life?