(photo http://www.flickr.com/photos/swanksalot/2715407049/ CC http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en)A few posts ago, I wrote about summer reading. There’s still time! I hope you’ve had a chance to read something really good, the kind of book that makes you read more slowly at the end to make it last, the kind of book you clutch to your chest when you’re done as if hugging an old friend.
(photo http://www.flickr.com/photos/missrogue/457911556/ CC http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en)Next comes the chore of deciding what to read next. Donald Latumahina gives some suggestions in this blog post.
I use Amazon, too, but use other sources more. In my line of work, I see reviews for books in library blogs, magazines, and newsletters. I keep a paper file and a computer file of titles that look promising. My main method of finding good books is one he didn’t mention—recommendations from friends. Why do the books friends suggest sound so much more appealing than those standing at attention on my shelf waiting to be read? I keep track of what I read on Shelfari.com, another place to get suggestions.
(photo http://www.flickr.com/photos/yodelanecdotal/2452348317/ CC http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en)Sometimes I’ll go on a binge and read everything by one author or stay with the same genre title after title. More often, I’ll mix it up—historical fiction, contemporary, mystery, non-fiction—enjoying the variety.
How do you choose what to read next? How do you find (as Latumahina says) "interesting books"? Remember this: Friends don’t let friends read bad books! Thanks to all you friends who share good books and good book titles with me.
I've used something you recommended: http://bookseer.com/
ReplyDeleteJust because it's fun :)
-julie
Bookseer IS fun! Thanks for mentioning it!
ReplyDeleteI love your suggestions for children's books!
ReplyDeleteMy summer surprise has been Gary Paulsen's Hatchet. I had read Dogsong because I love sled dogs, but for tutoring a middle school student this summer we chose to read Hatchet. Gary Paulsen
writes the way he used to run the Iditarod, non-stop which is why he is so prolific and why his stories are so real.
Glad to be helpful. I do hope you will read Paulsen's "Harris & Me," with or without your student. It's a riot!
ReplyDeleteAnd don't forget Will Hobbs and his great adventure stories. You probably know that several are set in Alaska! One, "Go Big or Go Home" is set in SD. :)
My problem is going on a binge and buying the books and never getting time to read them! Could you find a way to carve out a few extra hours in the day just for reading?!!
ReplyDeleteKarin
If I could do that, Karin, I'd sell the secret and be one rich woman! (but I'd tell my friends for free. :) )
ReplyDeleteIf you want to choose something and get recommendations in general, not just books, the best way is to join forums, read blogs or just ask your friends...
ReplyDelete