Here at The Verge, we try to help our readers by offering news, reviews, and analyses about tech and its relationship to how we live. But one of the things that can most affect our lives is books. Whether they’re fiction or factual, whether they’re fun or philosophical, whether they offer a story or a recipe, books can impact us in a variety of different — and important — ways.
We asked the staff about a book they’d read that impacted their life or outlook in some significant way. Interestingly, several of the books were read when they were young, and two were cookbooks. What follows are the books that they chose, along with an explanation of what made it important.
(For each entry below, we offer links to where you can purchase a paperback, a hard cover, or an ebook version. However, if your book budget is limited, libraries are great places to go. There are also apps that let you check out ebooks remotely, such as Libby, and there is a Chrome extension called Library that will tell you if a book is available in your local library whenever you visit a bookseller website.) —Barbara Krasnoff, reviews editor
As a young boy, I read this series of graphic novels and marveled at a core concept that defined the elven wolfriders’ way of life: many elves lived in “the now,” never worrying too much about the future, simply living in the moment, until or unless that entire way of life came under threat. I won’t say that I don’t worry — particularly as democracy faces potential collapse — but I learned early on not to fear the inevitability of death, or anything else truly out of my control, and to enjoy what’s right in front of me. It’s a way of thought that’s served me well for decades on end. —Sean Hollister, senior editor
I consider myself privileged to have grown up while Bill Watterson was making Calvin and Hobbes and have fond memories of digging through the newspaper every day to find his latest comic. It’s one of the rare things I’ve experienced in my life that I consider perfect from beginning to end, and while I can distinctly remember the feeling of devastation after reading what I later learned was the last Calvin and Hobbes comic on December 31st, 1995, reading The Calvin and Hobbes Tenth Anniversary Book gave me some much-needed solace and more respect for Watterson and his dedication to his craft.
The book is like a highlight reel of the strip’s 10-year run but includes rare commentary from the reclusive artist and insights into his creative process. What stuck with me most are the stories about Watterson’s battle against licensing his characters and his unwavering devotion to maintaining the integrity of his work. As much as I loved Calvin and Hobbes as a kid, this book made me appreciate it even more as an adult, and to this day, it’s a wonderful reminder that it’s okay to create something just for the sake of creating something. You don’t need to immediately turn around and milk it for every penny it’s worth. —Andrew Liszewski, senior reporter
If I was going to make this blurb about me, then I’d say that A Tale for the Time Being had a profound impact on me. Ruth Ozeki weaves a devastating yet uplifting tale that stretches across seas and through time, illustrating how we’re all connected in unexpected ways. But I want to make this about our 16-month-old son. I’ve been nourished recently by watching him take to reading, and no other book holds his attention as well as Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. Sure, he can’t read the words yet, but he can rotate it to be oriented correctly, touch the images, make noises of approval, and glance with intense concentration before turning each page. He’s got the act down.
He looks at me while I read as if I’m speaking from a holy text. He doesn’t know that “skit skat doodle doot, flip flop flee” aren’t words to live by — perhaps they are, actually. I love reading this book to him. It can lift him (and me) from a bad mood, and it can never be read too many times in one day. I think my memory will prioritize remembering the first book that he can read aloud, but I don’t want to forget the first book that changed his little life. —Cameron Faulkner, commerce editor
When I was about eight years old, I took Little Women out of the library. It was my entryway into a lifelong fandom of 19th-century literature and toward a resolution to become a writer just like Jo March. I also learned how to stand up for myself, not only by reading about Jo’s determination to be her own person, but because of what happened when I tried to buy my own copy through the Scholastic Books program in my school. The copy I got turned out to be an abridged version — and I was absolutely appalled. My mother suggested that I ask the teacher to return the book and include a letter telling the company why. I wrote a highly indignant screed (which unfortunately I have no copy of) about how evil it was to cut down such a wonderful novel and how insulting it was to assume a modern child couldn’t understand the original. It was my first (but not last) act of rebellion.
(Note: because the book is well out of copyright, there are loads of published versions available; I’d recommend looking for one that is illustrated.) —Barbara Krasnoff, reviews editor
This is going to sound morbid, but I think about death a lot. It comes with having lost my entire immediate family in a three-year span. One thing that haunted me about my parents dying was that, at the end, they both said they wanted more time. I want more time. But I really struggled with this notion of spending what time I do have well.
I’ve read a lot of books on this topic, trying to hack my way to greater productivity so as to calm the never-ending fear that I will die without having made the most of my mortal coil. I read this book last month and its thesis — that your time is irrevocably finite and that in and of itself is a gift — is the first thing that’s ever really helped me find peace. It’s more about the philosophy of time, and what we do with the roughly 4,000 weeks any of us has, than a self-help book. Nevertheless, it has fundamentally changed my approach to work, friendships, family, and how I spend my time. I will not get to do everything that I want in my life, and for the first time, I’m okay with that. —Victoria Song, senior reviewer
I tend to get out over my skis when I cook and take on recipes that are way more complicated than my beginner skills can handle. So when I saw this available at the library I thought, “Aha! A book for me!” I liked it so much that I bought my own copy. It has a bunch of great recipes, as America’s Test Kitchen always does, but it also helps you think about cooking differently and break a dish down to its more basic components. “Sauce” covers a lot of ground here, too. This book takes you through everything from salsas and simmering sauces to salad dressings and stir fry. It includes lots of variations and ideas for improvising your own versions, which is exactly the kind of help I was looking for with my own home cooking. The best compliment I can give this book? We sent some dinner guests home with leftovers after a big meal, and they made a point to scoop up some of the chimichurri sauce on their way out. —Allison Johnson, senior reviewer
Cooking has always been one of the main ways I unwind, but I was mostly too nauseous and too sick to cook when I was pregnant with my daughter. After I gave birth, I was jonesing to get back in the kitchen, and a friend recommended I Dream of Dinner, a cookbook by frequent New York Times Cooking recipe developer Ali Slagle. This book was a trusted companion during those tender postpartum days, filled with easy and comforting dishes that brought me back to myself. Since then, it’s completely changed the way I make dinner: Slagle emphasizes quick, simple recipes with well-chosen ingredients, and none of the meals take more than 20 or so minutes of hands-on time. She always offers some alternatives to change up flavor profiles for taste or variety, and she proposes swaps in case you don’t have something on hand. I’ve gifted this book more times than I can count the past few years. –Kristen Radtke, creative director
0 Comments
