How do you know what to read?

I started reading Gilead entirely because of Alice. I've seen it in bookstores but the cover wasn't sufficiently pretty and the premise not terribly attractive. Besides, I am always skeptical of novels, probably because I have read so many terrible fiction. But anyway, Gilead was Alice's discovery. And because I like Alice, I trusted her and read the book. It is an amazing account of existence. That sounds really vague and pretentious. A better way to put it is perhaps that Gilead makes me want to write positive books and live a positive life. But the book is not cheesy. Really. Argh. It's hard to talk about Gilead. You should just read it and remember to thank Alice.

Anyway, I got to thinking about how we choose the book to read. It can be a daunting question especially for people who do not read. Whenever someone asks me how I know what to read, I give a detailed response devoid of an answer...I ramble on and on because I really should know the answer to that question. So sorry about that (esp to my students)! Well, I hope this entry sorta answers your question.

Picking books has become effortless. I have an ongoing list of books I want to read in my mind and on my Amazon wishlist (mostly because I don't trust my memory and neither should you). When I walk into a bookstore, I can identify right away the book I wanted to read, how much I wanted to read it, and whether or not the price is right.

But I guess what people are asking me is how I pick the books to go on the wishlist. Well, reading is addictive, isn't it? Initially, you have no idea what to read. But books pull you in. It's all very dangerous. You read an author you like, and then you read something else by that writer. Then you realized that you like to read a certain genre in general. You start reading the NYT book review every Sunday and drool. Your cool friend Natalie sends you Russian lit, and you are open to another genre. Then you find Alice's favorite book and you read it. Yea, that's what happens. The more you read, the more you know what book you will like before opening the book. Unfortunately, you inevitably do read a lot of bad stuff to get to this point.

And that's particularly discouraging, I know. It happens to kids. They read bad stuff (to them) in school and they think reading is bad. Adults too. They want to read. But there's a lot of bad stuff out there. They keep hearing about some awful fiction so they start reading it, get through the tediousness of it all, and well, by the end, they don't want to pick up another book.

But no, you have to plug on. Sometimes you pick a lemon, but that happens less and less as you become more experienced. I guess that statement can apply to every skill. So I guess my answer to THE question is that you kind of have to go by faith that the more you read, the more you'll enjoy reading.

Anyway, for fun, I am going to try to see how I picked the books I am currently reading and the books I have recently read:


Currently Reading:

"The Lost Art of Walking" by Geoff Nicholson: NYT Book Review + I liked one of his novel a lot + I am into walking now and thought maybe reading the book will inspire me to exercise more.

"The Nicomachean Ethics" by Aristotle: Alice got me in the mood for positive books + reading "Ours" reminded me of Natalie who asked me once if I had read this book + I really want to read Montaigne more but this book was shorter.

"Communicating Science" by Scott L. Montgomery: I like to read about writing than actually writing + book has info about academic publications that interested me.

"Interpretation of Dreams" by Sigmund Freud: I had interesting dreams + I missed reading Freud + I missed reading psychoanalytic literature.

Books I Recently Read:

"Ours: A Russian Family Album" by Sergei Dovlatov: I missed Natalie + I liked his other book + it was short and I wanted to read something that I can finish in one day.

"Gilead" by Marilynne Robinson: Alice Alice Alice.

"The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and other stories" by Robert Louis Stevenson: Reading Poe made me want to read scary stories + the book was small and portable + felt like reading some classics.

"The Raven & Other Poems and Tales" by Edgar Allan Poe: I missed my old gothic lit class + the book had a pretty binding and nice paper.

Okay, I can obviously go on and on and on but I get the feeling that this info is interesting to no one else. My survey seems to say that a mixture of these primary factors dictate my reading choice: past reading, recommendations (friends and reviews), nostalgia, and the aesthetics of the book. Coming up with the precise formula is beyond my math skills.