Choosing What to Read

The most common questions people ask me are what am I reading and how do I pick what I read.  It is always a difficult decision because my "To Be Read" (TBR) list is longer than a lifetime could accommodate. How, then, does someone choose what to read? 

For me there are a few ground rules.

1. My free time is just that, my free time. When it comes to my reading for enjoyment I jealously guard that time.

2. I typically read only fiction.  My life is nonfiction enough. When it comes to reading for fun, I almost always pick fiction. 

3.  3 chapters. That's how long I give a book to grab me. I don't waste my time on books I don't enjoy; if, by the end of chapter 3 I am not into it, I set it aside with no guilt.

That being said, I typically choose books from a variety of sources. Some are the usuals:

• Books that my students or children love
• Books that lots of students are requesting
• Books by authors I love

I also greatly respect some award lists. Not all, but some. These include the following:

• The Longlist for the Man Booker Prize
• The Longlist for the National Book Award for Fiction
• The Longlist for the National Book Award for YA
• The Newberry winners and finalists
• The Printz Awards
• The Pulitzer for Fiction

(Caveat: any list brings its own hit-and-miss nature.  All the Light We Cannot See was the most beautiful book I have read in a long time and won the Pulitzer, among other awards. Just the year before, that same award went to The Goldfinch, which was tedious, pompous, and preachy.)  

As a show of solidarity, and because I am passionate about intellectual freedom, I try to stay on top of any books that are currently in the news because of challenges but also to check out the following:

• The ALA Frequently Challenged Books list

There is also the factor of serendipity.  I was recently looking for The Chimes by Anna Small. I was looking on Overdrive and it instead brought me Chime  by Franny Billingsly; it looked interesting so I read it and was pleased I had done so.

All of that being said, I sift through all of these lists and recommendations. I know that there are some issues I just can't really stomach.  I know my limitations, and I respect them. I read, and honestly loved, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series, but it was a challenge, with the graphic violence against women. 

Sometimes, I read things that push my limits because I think that at times my heart needs to be broken. I read The Kite Runner when it first came out, and I had to repeatedly stop because it was hard to see through the tears.  Then again, I own Behind the Beautiful Forevers, but haven't yet read it because I am not sure I can handle it. One day, perhaps. I think there is some give in any of these decisions.  Wanting to know about an issue, but needing to respect my own boundaries.