How do you find recommendations for new books? For better or worse, I am a really passive seeker-outer of new books: I wait until the title of a book has caught my attention in two or three different ways: blogs, People Magazine the New York Times Book Review, recommendations of friends. After that, I wait and wait until I have some sort of lull of time before picking up anything new. My reading has slowed tremendously between using my free sitting-time for mindless knitting, in lieu of reading for self-betterment; the emergence of the Harry Potter series as my daily commute soundtrack (and the end is hardly nigh, as after several months, I'm presently in the middle of the fifth one); and my inability to control myself once I start a good book.
But in an effort to be a better grown-up (and a better reader), three books that I've been hearing a lot of buzz about lately:
Where'd You Go, Bernadette?, by Maria Semple. I downloaded this last night. It's odd: instead of narrative prose, the story is sketched out in a series of emails, bills, reports, and other forms of communications. I thought it would be annoying, but it's fascinating.
Beautiful Ruins, by Jess Walter. I downloaded the sample for this and got too caught up in Bernadette (and its weird storytelling antics) to skim it.
The Newlyweds, by Nell Freudenberger.
What are you reading? Any recommendations?
(Image via The Way We Live, original credit unknown.)
1 comment:
I too have heard good things about "Where'd You Go, Bernadette?".
I get a lot of my book suggestions from Goodreads. Amazon just purchased Goodreads so I am interested to see if it changes or improves. Based on Goodreads reviews, I dececided to read Zeitoun by Dave Eggers, and really enjoyed it. I highly recommend.
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