Saturday 29 January 2011

What next? How I find my next read.

My current TBR pile!
I don't, and never have had, any trouble finding the book I want to read next. I seem to be surrounded by a perpetual and ever-increasing pile of books ll vying for my attention. As it is, I'm in a habit of reading about 3-4 different books at the same time, which some people find hard to fathom but I'm sure some of you will understand - I know Sheila from Book Journey will if this post is anything to go by!

In any case, I saw this Guardian article from a couple of years ago about a fun little website called The Book Seer. If you type in the last book you read and enjoyed, it will generate a list of recommendation through Amazon and LibraryThing for you to choose from. As Chris Powers notes, it's unclear on what factors (genre? author?) recommendations are generated but it is a bit of fun and hey - I'm all for reading things I wouldn't necessarily have done otherwise. It's a fact: there are far too many books and not enough time and one person could never know about all of the great books in the world.

Then I started wondering - how do I really find my next book? There's obviously the required reading schedule that comes along with writing a thesis, loads of theoretical articles, literary criticism and what not but a girl needs a bit of 'fun' reading, doesn't she! A bit of elicit "this isn't going to get me credit but I don't care" reading. I came to the conclusion that it was Bookcrossing, book club and blogging that were most responsible for my massive TBR pile. The fact that no one person can know even a fraction of all available good reads out there is one of the key reasons I spend so much time reading other people's blog and listening to podcasts about books. It seems to be my life's mission is to consume as much good literature as I possibly can without becoming a hermit or going blind which so far is going reasonably well (bad eyes notwithstanding!) but I know I could always read more and at the rate at which books are published I have to accept I will never keep up. But it's fun trying!

How do you find your next read? Do you even think about it, or do you (like me) have a constant pile of books waiting for you that just seemed to magically appear? I'd love to hear from you!

6 comments:

  1. We have shelves of books gleaned from used bookstoresin Taipei (i like Whose Books in Gongguan abd shilin) and my choices are from the shelves based on my mood

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  2. Hi Jenna - I haven't been to Whose Books yet. No excuses, really it's five minutes away from my office! What's up next for you? :)

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  3. I have a huge TBR pile, but I still have a hard time picking what to read next. I do try to mix things up a bit. For example, I'll read a classic and then I'll choose literary fiction next. I don't really have a system. :)

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  4. Hi Darlyn!

    Thanks for the comment! My system of choosing the next from the TBR is basically pragmatic, usually deadline based. Especially for bookcrossing and bookclub books! ;) Just found your blog and LOVE it. Look forward to reading more of your stuff in future :)

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  5. I usually have a stack of books from the library and I choose from those. Occasionally I'll plan ahead what I'm going to read (if I'm going to participate in a read-along), but most of the time I just pick up whatever suits my mood. I'm sort of a moody reader. :)

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  6. Kristi - Moody reader! I love it! That's what happens when I have several on the go (like now) - I choose one that suits how I feel. I'm reading Snow by Orhan Pamuk, which I find to be a nice before bed read as the language feels very restful to me (even though the content isn't necessarily!)

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