How to choose what you read
So many books, so little time. John Warner, a contributor to , did some thinking earlier this year about how to improve our odds of finding winning reads, given what a small number of books we can finish in a lifetime.
鈥淚 consider myself a pretty avid reader, and I finished 47 books last year, not even one a week. Let鈥檚 imagine a nice 60-year span of productive reading in my adulthood, where I average 40 books a year. That鈥檚 only 2,400 books in a lifetime鈥︹�� he wrote.
鈥淲hen left to my own devices I almost always choose fiction written about contemporary life. These are the stories I鈥檓 drawn to as a reader. They鈥檙e also the stories I鈥檓 drawn to as a writer鈥� The end result, however, can sometimes make for a pretty myopic reading list. It鈥檚 like finding a thing you really like at a restaurant and ordering it every time because you鈥檙e sure you鈥檙e going to like it, but at the same time, you could be missing out on something even better,鈥� he wrote.
His spin on a solution, as befits , was 鈥�,鈥� a service where Warner asked readers to list the last five books they had read, whereupon he would provide a recommendation for a good next read.
It was enough of a hit, topping 1,000 comments between reader requests and Warner鈥檚 answers, that he had to cut it off early, promising to return later in the summer. And commenters seemed happy with the responses they got, some saying they loved the sound of the recommendation, some saying they had already read the book in question, and it had been a good pick.
He suggested Michael Crichton鈥檚 鈥淭he Great Train Robbery鈥� to the commenter who had most recently read Jean Auel鈥檚 鈥淭he Mammoth Hunters,鈥� Stieg Larsson鈥檚 鈥�The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,鈥� Dan Brown鈥檚 鈥淒igital Fortress,鈥� Dave Eggers 鈥淲hat is the What鈥� and Frank McCourt鈥檚 鈥淎ngela鈥檚 Ashes.鈥� A writer whose list included Jodi Picoult鈥檚 鈥淗ouse Rules鈥� and Ann Patchett鈥檚 鈥淭he Magician鈥檚 Assistant鈥� was advised to try 鈥淭he Help by Kathryn Stockett, though he added, 鈥淏ut I bet you鈥檝e read it,鈥� and suggested Anne Tyler鈥檚 鈥淒inner at the Homesick Restaurant鈥� for a second attempt.
For me, nothing beats randomly browsing bookstore shelves, and I鈥檓 willing to take some dud reads along with the serendipitous surprises I find that way. But I still love the idea of a Biblioracle offering advice.
And, as one commenter wrote, 鈥淲hat to do if you don't get your Biblioracle recommendation request in during the designated window? Go talk to a librarian. They've been doing this sort of thing for decades.鈥�
Rebekah Denn blogs at .
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