Commencement speeches contain reminders to live life well. Here are some of my favorites. I hope they will help you find the answers, or at least ask better questions.

Unless you parent or caregive small children, you may have missed these brilliant picture books. More's the pity, for as A.J. Fikry opined, some picture books are as well-crafted as short stories. These deserve to be read by as many as possible.

I love a new book as much as the next compulsive reader, but, sometimes, nothing will do like an old favorite. These books have stood the test of multiple rereadings. If I landed on a desert island, I'd want these in my Luggage. Sapient pearwood can handle it.

When you don't know what to read next and the staff at your local library have suggested everything they can think of, there remains one place to turn. No, not the internet. Reader's advisory books. Used by librarians and other book nerds, these collections of suggestions may give you a nudge in the right direction, introduce you to a new "old" author or series, or at least give you…

Every idea starts with other ideas. When we create something new, it's from the pieces of something old, whether clay or ink and paper, or a life on the road less traveled. Each of these books pointed me in new directions, new ways of thinking, and gave me different ways of looking at life and art. Whether you paint or mold clay, write music or ice skate, work in medicine or the clergy…

Biography and autobiography read easier when heavily illustrated. Even when the life stories are anything but easy, these quick reads move fast but stick with you long after the last page is turned.

These historical novels don't tell the story the way you heard it in school. Some tell stories with magic alongside muskets. Others venture back from now into times not so different from our own; they're grim, hopeful, and complex. Yet others wander to places so gently rendered you'll wish they'd stuck around until you remember why you're glad to live now.

Many adults only read kids books when their children are too young to read on their own. This is a mistake. No less a writer than C. S. Lewis wrote, "A children's story that can only be enjoyed by children is not a good children's story in the slightest." While that may be taking it a bit too far, he had a point. Look at "Harry Potter" or "Charlotte's Web." Quality writing for kids…

Death remains an inevitable reality. But, fear of death and lack of understanding surrounding it or not facing it when it comes can make it worse. These books, both fiction and non-fiction, touch on facing it from places of wellness and illness, from places of youth and age, and from a place of dealing with the aftermath.

When you love books, you want to talk about them with whomever will listen. When you're all talked out but still want the experience of connecting with another mind over reading and loving books, libraries, bookshops, librarians, and shelves, here's where you can turn.