Will Schwalbe tells us he’s on a search (and always has been) “to find books to help me make sense of the world, to help me become a better person, to help me get my head around the big questions I have and answer some of the small ones while I’m at it”.
He believes most of us are on this search also and in an age of constant connectivity, noise and distraction, reading provides the answer to our search. So he offers us some of his favourite books and tells how they've helped him. Pride of place goes to The Importance of Living by Lin Yutang, which stresses the importance of occasional idleness.
From Homer's Odyssey, he learned the importance of accepting mediocrity and humility. Giovanni's Room and a much-loved high-school librarian helped him to realise and accept he was gay. David Copperfield reminds him of a David who was very special in his life. "Good books often answer questions you didn't even know you wanted to ask" is a sentiment with which all avid readers will agree.
