Infrequently
I've been digging through my Harlan Ellison, in particular, Mind Fields, a book I've long wanted to own and which my darling wonder of a wife gave me for Father's Day. Ellison is a knife in my chest on the best of days. Ellison reminds me how spectacular my writing isn't.
On my shelf: Microserfs, which I read periodically when my life, particularly my work life, goes into chaos mode. You'd think I'd reach for something more apparently profound at such times, but inevitably, I go to Coupland.
That reminds me of Po Bronson whose work I first ran into whilst reading Wired Magazine (same as with Coupland); brilliant, honest writing utterly out of place in the brothel atmosphere of wired.
A plug for Plato and Nietzsche now, the only philosopher's I've found who are worth reading for pleasure.
Books I read infrequently: Dune, The Lord of the Rings, Stranger in a Strange Land, The Dark Knight Returns.
Understanding Poetry, as edited by Cleanth Brooks and Robert Penn Warren: there's no single collection that so nearly happens to approximate the poems I want and need at any given time.
What was my point again? These are all books I read to reconnect myself and remind me who I am and what I'm up to in this world. Not, pointedly, the books that I think I ought to read, but the ones I actually do.
Are there any books you read regularly, occasional, infrequently? What books connect you to your past.

