If life feels too structured at times — go to work, go to school, do the chores, pay the bills — reading about random things can provide a brief respite from the measured pace of everyday life. One way to add randomness to your reading list is to look at the “New at the Library” section.
For example, if you decide to check out the nonfiction category this week, you’ll be reading about bacteriophages, interior decoration and astronomy. And for added randomness/fun, try the children’s nonfiction title, “Skunk Kits in the Wild.” If you read all four books, you’ll learn about viruses, color, stars and skunks. What a fantastically random group of subjects!
Did you know that the phrase “curiosities and wonders” is a subject heading in the library’s catalog? This is one of my favorite searches to perform because the results are truly filled with curiosities and wonders. Today I am sharing a small sample of the “curious” and “wondrous” books available at the library in hopes that something will delight your reading fancy.
- “Artcurious: Stories of the Unexpected, Slightly Odd, and Strangely Wonderful in Art History” by Jennifer Dasal.
- “Atlas Obscura: An Explorer’s Guide to the World’s Hidden Wonders” by Joshua Foer.
- “Highly Irregular: Why Tough, Through, and Dough Don’t Rhyme — and Other Oddities of the English Language” by Arika Okrent.
- “Improbably Libraries: A Visual Journey to the World’s Most Unusual Libraries” by Alex Johnson.
- “Random Illustrated Facts: A Collection of Curious, Weird, and Totally Not Boring Things to Know” by Mike Lowery.
- “The Ultimate Book of Pub Trivia by the Smartest Guy in the Bar: Over 300 Rounds and More Than 3,000 Questions” by Austin Rogers.
