Thursday, March 3, 2011

How Do You Choose What To Read?

It feels like half the books on my shelf are ones I borrowed from friends or bought ages ago but haven't gotten around to reading yet. As I sit at my desk typing this, I can feel them glaring at me and going unread. They keep getting pushed aside for library books (due dates!), book club selections (due dates!), research (can't write without it!) or recommendations from people who tell me to "stop everything and read this now."

At the same time, I'm always looking for something new to read. How this is possible, I don't know, because the stack will never diminish if I keep up this way.

I mostly rely on the following to make my endless list:
How do you choose what to read, and how do you choose the order in which to read it?


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6 comments:

  1. Sarvenaz TashMarch 3, 2011 at 8:43 AM

    I'm feeling very overwhelmed at the moment too although - generally - one of my favorite things about books is the thought that as long as I live, I will never run out of things I want to read.

    I go by recommendations a lot and Goodreads. I'm also one of those people those tables at B&N were made for, because I often randomly will be drawn to books on there and pick them up based on their jacket descriptions. I also like to switch it up genre-wise. Read a lighter book, followed by a more literary one, etc.

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  2. Sarah SkiltonMarch 3, 2011 at 3:25 PM

    Thanks, Sarvenaz, I'm the same way (shocker) ;) I like to switch between genres and tones a lot, too. My reading list is completely random.

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  3. KristenMarch 3, 2011 at 5:02 PM

    I often read in binges, and all in one genre or type because I like to compare. Is that odd? Right now I'm in a gothic phase -- which I suppose is better than a "goth" phase, at my age?

    Succumb to one of those steely glares and go with it:-)

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  4. Sarah SkiltonMarch 3, 2011 at 5:58 PM

    Kristen, "gothic" sounds deep and literary so I say go for it :)

    Your reading habits remind me of the way I eat out -- certain weeks I only want sushi, or tacos, or burgers because I want to keep re-experiencing what's working.

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  5. UnknownMarch 5, 2011 at 6:24 PM

    I will admit that I just bought my first book based on twitter. I follow @MeganHart and she's hilarious, so I bought her single title erotic romance called NAKED in December. I absolutely, positively LOVED it! Better than many word of mouth recommendations I've read. She charmed me on twitter, I bought her book - cyber stalking worked for me this time! :)
    Sara

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  6. Sarah SkiltonMarch 5, 2011 at 8:26 PM

    Hey, Sara! Yes, Twitter is great for recs -- if lots of people on my feed are talking about a certain book, it makes me check it out, and if someone who's funny and entertaining on Twitter has a book listed in their bio I'm more likely to grab it, too.

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