Let's discuss -- Reading selections

 

Yesterday I watched a 30+ minute Pulitzer Prediction video over at Supposedly Fun. In the video the creator talks about 36 books which might possibly win the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Literature in May. As I listened to his predictions and took notes on the books that interested me, a thought entered my head that I am rarely on the front side of these types of discussions. Of the 36 books he mentioned, I've read three. Of the 33 remaining titles I probably hadn't even heard of half of them. I have next to nothing to add to the conversation. Because the Pulitzer doesn't announce it's finalists for people to read ahead of time, the whole process is one gigantic guessing game. There is not really any way I can catch up and read a bunch of these early to be prepared for the announcement, like watching all the Best Picture nominations before the Academy Awards or making a commitment to read the five finalists for the National Book Award before the winner is announced.

Every year I add and subtract books from my reading list (TBR), like most people do. When the Pulitzer, Booker, or National Book Award winners are announced I quickly add them to my list. In December when the end-of-the-year best books lists are published I read through them like my life depends on it. I add and add more books to my TBR based on these 'recommendations.' Often the titles will languish on my TBR for months/years before I actually get around to reading them or removing the title with the delete key.

I hate this. I want to be one of those people in the know. I want to read the latest and greatest so that I join the conversation in real time. For example back in 2021 Bewilderment by Powers was a National Book Award finalist. A lot of people were talking about the book because the author had recently won the Pulitzer with his fantastic The Overstory. I added Bewilderment to my TBR. Two years later I am finally getting to it. After reading over 50% I happened to peek at the reviews on Goodreads and noticed that a blogging friend, Deb Nance at Reader Buzz read the book in 2021, loved it, and wished for someone to discuss the book over. Sigh. Once again, I'm behind.

That brings me to my discussion questions:

1. How do you make your reading selections?
2. When you add a book to your TBR, how purposeful are you about also reading that book in a timely fashion?
3. How often do you make just random selections at the library or the bookstore, shoving aside your reading plan to get to the latest and greatest?
4. Where do you turn for your book recommendations?
   

I'll start.

1. I am in two book club which meet monthly. I am certain I will read these 23 books. One club uses library kits so the titles are usually at least three of four years old, because kits have paperbacks, if possible. The other club chooses about five titles at a time, sometimes selecting the new books that everyone is talking about, but most often our selections were published about a year ago. That way most of us can find an available copy at the library. Book club selections are always top-of-mind when I am deciding what to read next.

2. I am pretty terrible, as I already confessed, of adding books to my TBR and then making little attempt to attain them. Just this year, I went through my whole TBR list and removed any titles which have been on the list longer than a year if my library doesn't have a copy. I think I cleaned fifty titles off the pile doing that.

3. I often will walk out of the library with a book I had no intention of reading next. It is almost like it jumped into my hands. But I am rarely unhappy with these selections. Oddly, however, I often find myself thinking I "should" be reading something else. Hmm.

4. I used to read School Library Journal and Booklist to assist my selections. Now I will read on-line reviews. I ask people I trust what they are reading, what they have liked in the past. I am pretty leery of making my decision on one recommendation, even from a close friend. So I try to do my homework.

How about you?

-Anne