The Books That Mattered: A Reader’s Memoir - Inspiring Literary Journey for Book Lovers & Gift Ideas for Bibliophiles

Gaillard chronicles books that he finds important for anyone to read. His organization makes it easy to see his thinking as he groups the books by regional writers or thematic importance. The usual greats are included such as Huck Finn and Anne Frank, but he adds more modern titles that are excellent choices. My favorite is Pat Conroy’s All Over but the Shoutin’. The personal-choice aspect is obvious with some inclusions that reflect his own taste rather than universality of the take-aways for readers. As a high school teacher, primarily of seniors and AP students, I found those types of choices similar to what many of my well-read students selected; they found what mattered to them rather than to mankind in general. That is an important kind of choice to make for anyone who loves literature, but Gaillard didn’t sway me to read any of those kinds of choices. This is an excellent resource to discover new titles and to be reminded of old ones that are worth re-reading.