How do you decide what book to read?
Thanks to Mom, I have always loved reading. As a kid, I liked to read stories about girls in far away places and times (Little House on the Prairie, Anne of Green Gables, Little Women) and fantasize about living in a far away place and time myself (okay, so nothing has changed much there).
I can really think of two defining episodes in my reading life. First was in eighth grade when I read Wuthering Heights and then Jane Eyre from Mom's "fancy" hardcover collection. I chose these on my own because I liked the fancy, grown-up looks of the books. From reading these I learned two things: I had crossed over into the grown-up realm with my reading and could read any long novel I wanted to, and I loved gothic page-turners. I really LOVED reading both of these books, and learned how exciting it can be to read something you love reading.
My second defining moment I would say was reading Tess of the d'Urbervilles for my senior English class. This really was the book that made me a Victorian literature lover. I loved Thomas Hardy's writing style and became a Hardy devotee. I loved his long, descriptive sentences, the countryside he created, the dark and brooding characters (I guess a link back to my gothic obsession). But it also was the root of my love of the psychological analysis of Victorian literature. I went on to read all of the major Hardy novels, and then discovered George Eliot and mowed through her works. If I got a PhD, I would be seriously tempted to do my dissertation on Victorian novels.
So two things that determine what I read next are a love of the gothic-type thriller and a love of the Victorian-type psychological analysis. However, I'm also obsessed with lists, so I'm constantly choosing books from lists, trying to "check" things off as I go. I have a couple of reading lists from Arlington High School that I still choose books from, a list from Chapman, and a list of the "1,001 books to read before you die" that I got from Shelley's book blog. I also wanted to start reading the Pulitzer winners, but haven't done that yet as most of them look boring to me. That's one way I decide not to read a book...if it looks boring. :)
I had to take that 1001 list off my blog because once I see a list I get a little compulsive about reading them all and this once could have resulted in child endangerment.
ReplyDeleteCindy, I had a laugh with Stephen about the Fancy Hardcover books. Why are those so tantalizing? From mom's fancy collection one that was a changer for me was the Sherlock Holmes anthology. That spurred my love of mysteries that is still a driving force. In fact I've taken that book again and am having Stephen read it. It is a good introduction to a written language other than that of modern American Youth literature.
ReplyDeleteI still have my list of books from Arlington too, but I only rarely stumble across it, so the 1001 list works for me as well. Shelley, I love your comment about this list. Seems we all have an area of overwhelming competitiveness. ;)
When I'm in the library I wander and look for a spine that catches my attention. It might be a font, graphic, color or even book size. But linen or leather cover with embossed gold is frequently a winner in this competition. I am so sensitive to the mood of the book, I have to be careful and most modern books have too much unpleasant imagery. This is one reason I love classics so much.
So I pick the book up and read both covers. Then I sometimes look at chapter titles because these can be descriptive. But a big deciding factor for me is the skim. I randomly pick several pages and read a paragraph. This way I can see language style, word choice and frequently if it is unpleasant, I'll see that quickly. For some reason the font can appeal to me or not. I guess if it is too big, I feel they are covering for a book that is too short. Too much like a childrens easy reader, and I read too many of those anyway.
So I'm not always sure why I pick a book, sometimes it is just my mood. But I do find treasures this way. Two examples the Ella Clah series and the No.1 Ladies Detective Agency series. But several flops as well. But that is one reason I love the library so much.
In the last few months I've been reading geographically. I've only made it to two places though--Hawaii and Afghanistan. I keep telling myself to get the heck out of Afghanistan, but then I see another book I want to read. When I finally move on, I think I'll head over to India.
ReplyDeleteAnother way I choose books is by keeping a list of books I want to read on Goodreads.com, and then I have them listed by rating and try to get to the highest rated ones first. I have a montage of covers on my book blog that I refer to when I'm looking for something. Does that sound too "Type A"-ish?
I do like to be totally random sometimes too. I just got a historical fiction book about Genghis Khan that looked good. But now I'm thinking, he did invade Afghanistan way back when, so maybe that wasn't such a random pick. But there are some, really.