When I was a kid growing up on a farm in Saskatchewan (think North Dakota, only less cutting-edge) it seemed I couldn’t get my hands on enough books. Our one-room school house (think Little House on the Prairie meets Lord of the Flies) received a rotating number of books every month from the local school library system. But I always plowed through those before the month was over. As a results I re-read my favorites many times over.
Those days are long over. Now it seems I am flooded with books. Every time I go on Facebook or Twitter, or visit Amazon, Kobo or Audible, I see dozens of books I’d love to read. And don’t get me started about Goodreads! Or bookstores!
The most amazing thing of all, is that having identified a book that interests me, I can have it purchased and downloaded to my Kobo, Kindle or iPad within five minutes (or less)!
Buying books is easy, fun…and addictive. But time to read them is increasingly scarce.
So…how to decide what to read next? For me I usually circulate among the following:
- The monthly reads chosen by the “Happy Bookers” my Calgary reading group
- New releases from my favorite authors
- New releases getting a lot of “buzz” on Goodreads, Publisher’s Weekly, or the Globe & Mail (think New York Times, Canadian style)
- Older books I always meant to read…sometime
- Classic titles I haven’t yet gotten around to
What about you? How do you decide which book you’re going to read next? Do you, for instance, pick up titles you see discussed on Facebook or Twitter? Do you receive author newsletters and buy a lot of books from those? Or do you subscribe to discount newsletters like Book Bub or ENT? And hey, does anyone browse actual book stores anymore?!? I do. Witness this photo taken in Portland this summer…
(Originally published on Tote Bags ‘n’ Blogs in February 2016)
