Gift of books will be remembered

It’s difficult to imagine a more delightful gift.
Back in July I received an email from Jay County Public Library. Someone, it seemed, had made a donation to the library with two stipulations: The funds were to be used to purchase new books and other materials, and I got to decide what those books would be.
For a reader, for someone who loves books, for someone who is always more comfortable in the middle of a book than between books, you couldn’t have asked for anything better.
First, a confession: While I’m a big fan of public libraries, I tend to buy books rather than borrow them. Even downloading a book to my Nook seems less substantial and less satisfying than actually purchasing the thing and holding it in my hands and keeping it on our bookshelves. That’s just the way I’m wired.
So one of the first things I needed to be clear on — as I started drafting a list of books — was what the library already had.
And that information impressed me.
A significant number of the books I was going to recommend for purchase were already on the shelves and being checked out. The library was already on the job and doing it well.
Still, there were plenty of titles to be added.
The same day that I received the email I started on the list.
What was on it?
I started with the new translations of “War and Peace” and “Anna Karinina.” The library already had both books, but there’s been a huge leap in translation. Most libraries have a translation that’s in public domain and was done about 1915. The new translations are vastly superior. I’d read “War and Peace” in the new translation, and I’d read “Anna Karinina” in the old one. I wanted to make sure the library had the best available.
The fiction list continued:
•“Ali and Nino” by Kurban Said, a lovely, romantic novel about a young couple (he’s Muslim, she’s Christian) in the Caucasus as the Russian Empire collapses. I bought my first copy in Tbilisi, Georgia, and have probably given away another half a dozen to friends and acquaintances.
•“The Collected Stories of William Trevor.” He’s an Anglo-Irish author who combines the best of both of those cultures. His real last name is Cox, and his son Patrick reports for public radio. Patrick was a friend of ours in Moldova.
•“Life and Fate” by Vasily Grossman. Probably the best novel to come out of World War II, it’s been overlooked by Western audiences.
•“The Light and the Dark” by Mikhail Shishkin, a new Russian novel that echoes both “War and Peace” and “Life and Fate.”
•Two books by Ha Jin, a favorite Chinese novelist; “Waiting” and “The Bridegroom.”
I was thrilled to see that the library already had the books by Jhumpa Lahiri, Salman Rushdie and Vikram Seth that I was going to recommend. So I added Rushdie’s new book coming out this month to the list.
As to non-fiction:
•A pair by Peter Hopkirk — “The Great Game” and “Like Hidden Fire” — which provide great background to understanding Central Asia and Afghanistan. Both are fun to read, with cliff-hanger endings in every chapter.
•“The Orientalist” by Tom Reiss, which is a biography of the unusual fellow who wrote “Ali and Nino.” He published under the name Kurban Said, which sounds Muslim, but his real name was Lev Nussimbaum and he was Jewish.
•“Lincoln and the Power of the Press,” which I received for Christmas from my wife and devoured. The audio version was also purchased.
•A couple of histories — “Russia” by Peter Longworth and “Iron Curtain” by Anne Applebaum — that I have found invaluable.
•“The Quartet” by Joseph Ellis, another of his great books about the Founding Fathers. The library already had the book, so I added the audio version.
And more.
It’s a cliché to say that it was like being a kid in a candy store, but it’s also true.
My mission now is to pay it forward and pass the idea on to others. Know someone who doesn’t need anymore “stuff” in their lives but has a birthday coming up? How about a gift to your library with the stipulation that the honoree gets to choose?
Trust me, it will be a gift that will be remembered.