Do you ever find yourself reading a book and they mention something in that book that makes you want to read a book on that subject, and then that book recommends further reading and you get sucked into a literary rabbit hole? If so, keep an eye out for me because I am somewhere in there with you.

Interestingly, the term ‘falling down a rabbit hole’ originated with Lewis Caroll’s Alice in Wonderland, so it’s a fitting phrase for what seems to have happened to me over the past month. It started with doing some research into what books to recommend in the newsletter back in April. The anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic happened to fall during the week I was planning, so I pulled a few books related to the subject. One of them sparked my interest: Sinkable: Obsession, the Deep Sea and the Shipwreck of the Titanic, so I borrowed the audiobook through Libby (my preferred method of reading non-fiction). It was absolutely fascinating. I had no idea how many shipwrecks there were over the course of history, how many people make a living searching for them, and how difficult finding a lost ship can be. I needed to know more. 

Well, luckily for me, I had placed a hold on the audiobook for The Wager, by David Grann back in December, a book about the shipwreck of the HMS Wager in 1742, and it just happened to become available a week or so after I finished Sinkable. The Wager was another incredible story (with an amazing narrator for anyone who enjoys audiobooks). I was fascinated and horrified at some of the conditions sailors had to endure in those days, but enjoyed learning about life at sea and of course, the central story of the book, the harrowing experience of being shipwrecked on a deserted island and figuring out how to survive.

I wasn’t aware that this book was going to be so popular, and was happy to talk to several patrons asking at the circulation desk about it. Of course, that prompted someone to ask me if I had ever read The Perfect Storm. I had heard of a movie by that name but I didn’t know that it was based, not only on a true story, but on a book, and an event local to the area. So, guess what book will be dropping into my phone in about a week or so? Yeah.

What literary rabbit holes have you gone down? Do you ever select your next book based on the recommendation of the one you’re reading? 

Let us know!