One of my favorite aspects of working in a bookstore was recommending stock to customers. Since I’ve kept a tight grip on my “to read” list my entire literate life, I was always puzzled and delighted by these strangers in need of book advice. What great power a bookseller has! It’s incredibly gratifying to watch a customer purchase a novel or biography because you convinced them to do so; it’s even better when they return to thank you for the recommendation.
I’ve recently become obsessed with the book choosing rituals of those around me. Are you the type to buy a book recommended by the cashier at your local bookstore? Or maybe you’re like my friend Lisa, who falls down the Amazon rabbit hole, one recommendation begetting another. My friend Allison decides on books based on their last word. Seriously. Trusted Millions leader Max has an intense book choosing system known as The Reading Queue. Max’s process is impressive, but the lack of choice would feel burdensome to me. I only buy one book at a time because I can’t handle the expectation and pressure of so many unread books in my apartment, crying out: Pick me! Pick me! When I purchase something, I read it soon after – I scratch that reading itch.
Three years ago, Patrick wrote two posts (here and here) about his gender equalizing reading experiment, in which he alternated between reading books by men and books by women. The results were positive: the project broadened his reading habits, and he now reads authors of both genders pretty evenly. I haven’t done anything so regimented, but his experiment did encourage me to shake up my own reading practices. I now keep statistics of what I’ve read, so that I can keep an eye on my tendencies, and go against them if I need to.
For instance, I’ve read 12 books since January 1st, 5 by women and 5 by men, the remaining two being anthologies. On the male-to-female ratio, I’d say things are looking good. So far, I’ve only read 2 books of nonfiction, but for me, that’s an improvement. Last year, my 3 books of nonfiction were all about food or food production, so this year I’m branching out to other topics; in 2008 I’ve read Bill Buford’s Heat (food, again), and Adrian Nicole LeBlanc’s Random Family (not food), and was incredibly moved by the latter. I always read a large number of short story collections, but this year those numbers will decrease because I want to read more novels (to help with writing one). Four months into the year, I’ve failed on my dead authors quota. So far, I’ve read only half of Jude the Obscure. Patrick has offered to assassinate Joshua Ferris for me, whose novel Then We Came to the End I’m currently reading, but I think that’s a little extreme. I hope to dip into Flaubert and Wharton this summer to make up for this deficiency.
My latest 2008 reading goal is to read more books in translation, something I rarely do. Good thing The Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolano is waiting in the wings.
What are you reading this year, and why?
