Imagine with me, for a moment, if you will: It is late on a Tuesday afternoon. The weather doesn’t matter much, but it does change the setting a little. This Tuesday, we will be thinking of a rainy day; late autumn. I have the entire afternoon to myself. The husband and kids are elsewhere for the moment. Or maybe they’re in another room and I have been given a free pass. Regardless, I am alone. I start a cup of tea and peruse my bookshelves for a good book. Tonight I will be reading The Time-Travelers Wife, but I could just as easily have chosen Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, or Drood. All new books sitting crisp and unread on my bookshelf. The prelude reads: “I hate to be where she is not, when she is not. And yet, I am always going, and she cannot follow,” and I am lost.
I am lost in a love-story that spans a lifetime, all at once. A man who is past, present, and future, and the woman who is the center of his galaxy. I read for hours straight, only finishing at 1:30 in the morning. I have lived a thousand lives this afternoon and I am spent. I luxuriate in the residue of the story – though the novel is finished, the feelings remain , my tears remain. I am in limbo as I process the emotions the book evoked within me. Eventually, I place the book aside and make some notes – jot down my thoughts and feelings for future reference. Bookmark my favorite quotes to write down, so I can revisit them later and feel the same emotions or enjoy the musicality of the words. I claim the book and integrate it into myself: These emotions are mine, and these characters, a mirror. This is the promise and release of a good book. A book is intensely personal – colored by our experiences and history.
If a book is so personal, how, then, can we possibly figure out what to read next? Book recommendations are only as good as the giver – so be sure to verify the source. When I am out of books and don’t have a clue what to read next, the absolute first place that I go to are the bestseller lists: The New York Times list, Amazon’s list, Amazon’s kindle top sellers, Barnes and Noble. If, however, I have exhausted the best seller lists (or, conversely, nothing seems appetizing) I head to Google.
Google is a great place to start and all too easy to get lost as well. From the basic start page, I usually start by typing in a statement about the type of book for which I am in the mood. For instance: the search query “best (fill-in-the-blank) books” will bring up millions of book recommendation lists for whichever genre you desire. That is the easy part. The difficulty comes in wading through the mire of book recommendations and reviews. And which reviewer should you trust, “Joe from Poughkeepsie” or “Mr. MLitt”? The answer, again, depends on your mood and what kind of books you enjoy.
I, personally, enjoy lyrical books. I even enjoy books where nothing much really happens (plot-wise) and there is no clear ending. But the sheer musicality of the words is manna to my soul. So I often enjoy reading the Mann Booker forum where literary people alk about literary books. I find that I would fit right in and I usually love every book I glean from there. I also search for my favorite author and see if they have a blog or journal. Neil Gaiman (my current favorite) is a prolific blogger and churns out regular and always new and surprising book recommendations. Next, there are book recommendation websites specific to recommending books. Some use social networking, some use straight algorithms, and some use a blend of both. All of these sites are based on (what I call) the Reading Rainbow model. You know the time where Levar Burton (after reading a book) says, “and if you liked this book, then you’ll love ….”
All of the above are some of the easiest and best places to get book recommendations. Some of my absolute favorite books, however, have usually come quite unlooked-for: A passing conversation at work in the break room, an advertisement on the side of a city bus, a local book signing, or an NPR program. Those are the wonderful times of frantic scrambling to (if I’m driving) pull over or (if I’m not driving) to find a pen and WRITE IT DOWN!! And then keep it. And then add to it. And then cross some out. And make notes. Your very own, personal, book recommendation list (maybe even annotated!) will become your best friend and bosom bedtime buddy.
If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!
