Three books that made me really feel something.

I’ve been doing lots of thinking about what makes a book “lit” or as “art”(more than a book).  I’m guessing that the answer will be very different depending  on who is asked, but for me the answer is that books that make me really feel something are the books I elevate to the status of art. 

Here is a list of three cooks such books:

1. Everything Matters! by Ron Currie Jr.

This is a book about the end of the world.  The main character is a guy named Junior who has heard a voice from the time he was born.  The voice tells him things, and those things are always true.  One of the things the voice tells him is that the world will be hit by a comet when Junior is 36, and there is nothing that he or anyone else can do to stop this from happening. 

The main point / question of the book is: When faced with an unavoidable end does anything we do matter? 

We are all coming closer and closer to our own end, the same way that Junior and the people in this book are.  Junior happens to know when it will happen. 

When I was reading the book I frequently thought of people who are told they only have a X amount of time to live… Some of them lose hope, some of them don’t. 

This book made me feel happy, sad, confused, angry, introspective, and very grateful.  It is a really good read, and if you have ever wondered “what is the fucking point of this life?” than you should read it. 

2. The Principles of Uncertainty by Maria Kalman

I don’t really know how to describe this book.  The best I can do is to say that is is a collection of writing and pictures that Kalman did over a year of her life.  It is whimsical, honest, and very moving throughout. 

I’ll often reach for this book when I need inspiration, because it is so full of amazing ideas that get my own thoughts going.  I also reach for it when I’m having a bad day because it makes me feel better. 

It is a book that you will need to buy in print, because the text is the authors own hand writing, and the pictures are her paintings.

This book made me feel supercharged, lucky, and inspired. 

3. All Over Coffee by Paul Madonna

All Over Coffee is a collection of single panel “comics” (some would say illustrations) that author Paul Madonna did of things in San Francisco.  I call them “comics” because there is text on most of the drawings.  The content of the text is often little bit of conversation that Madonna heard when he was in the location that he was drawing, other times they are thoughts that Madonna had as had as he drew the location, sometimes I’m not sure what the text.  (Because of the content of the book it can’t be read as an eBook.) 

This book made me feel like I need to slow down and enjoy the beauty of the everyday world around me, it also made me feel an urge too explore.  It often made me more aware of what goes on around me… sort of a reminder that everyone has a story.  (Which I know… but it is good to be reminded.)