June 2024
Do you keep a list of books to read? Are you the spontaneous type, preferring to land on a book while browsing a bookstore? Maybe you rely on a friend, book club, website, podcast, literary journal, newspaper or other source for recommendations? Is #BookTok or #bookstagrammer on your radar? What about book lists touted as “most anticipated” or “best so far this year”?
I seem to make my choices in scattershot, unpredictable ways. What appeals to me may not appeal to you, but in case something might, I’ll tell you what’s on my list and how it got there. And just to be clear, these are books I’m planning to read for pleasure, separate from research for my book-in-process.
Right now I’m finishing Deep River by Karl Marlantes, recommended by my husband Andrew. I really liked Matterhorn, one of Karl’s earlier books, so was happy for the suggestion. It’s about Finnish immigrants to the Pacific Northwest who work in the logging industry. Labor struggles of the early 20th century, a period I’ve been looking into for my second book, are part of the story, as well as northwestern forests and the Columbia River, very impressive natural features that we encountered on our trip 3 years ago.
After Deep River I’ll start The Beauty of Choice by Wendy Steiner. The book isn’t out yet, but the editor of Arts Fuse, who knows I’m interested in art and feminism, asked me to review it. The book offers a feminist view of aesthetics in art and literature and it’s due to be released July 9. My review will be out around the same time.
This Strange Eventful History, Claire Messud’s new novel, came out a few weeks ago, but I heard about it last June when Claire was the featured author at Booklab, a literary salon I co-founded with a friend 10 years earlier. Although we have suspended Booklab for now, on that last, wonderful evening, Claire sat in my living room and talked about the novel she was wrapping up, about a French family living in Algeria who loses their home when independence comes to the colony. Although it’s fiction, Claire based it on her own family’s stories, letters and photographs. I found her description of the book fascinating and so, apparently, did Oprah, The Guardian, New York magazine, Time magazine, Lit Hub, Book Riot, Globe & Mail and BookPage, all of which listed it as one of 2024’s most anticipated books.
I loved the movie American Fiction which introduced me to Percival Everett, the writer on whose book the movie is based. Now he’s written James, a story told from the point of view of Jim, Huck Finn’s traveling companion who is escaping slavery. It’s been more than 50 years since I read Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, but I aim to read it again before I start James, to fully appreciate what Percival has wrought. In an interview he said he read Twain’s book 15 times, until it was all a blur, in order to transcend Twain.
Two recent nonfiction titles also have my attention. A New York Times review of Master Slave Husband Wife caught my eye more than a year ago. It’s the story of a married couple who disguised themselves and traveled north to escape slavery. A few weeks ago, I attended the annual conference of Biographers International Organization and heard the author, Ilyon Woo, speak about her research methods and approach to storytelling. That reminded me that this was a book I want to read.
At the same conference, I heard someone mention the Marfield Prize. I knew nothing about the prize but looked it up and saw that this year it was awarded to All the Beauty in the World by Patrick Bringley. For 10 years Patrick was a guard at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and he writes about being surrounded by colleagues and beautiful things from cultures around the world. Sounds like it’s right up my alley.
So, as you see, I find books all kinds of ways. I do read reviews, mostly in the New York Times and Washington Post, but sometimes don’t get around to putting a book on my list, even if it sounds interesting. For reviews, I also like what Lorraine has to say at enchantedprose.com. Opinions from Andrew and friends are valuable, but mostly I take my own path, dictated by personal interest. More often than not, I seem to catch hold of titles randomly, from whatever source crosses my path.
How about you? How do you find the books you want to read? Do you rely on a particular website or podcast? What other source do you use? Really, I am curious about how books get selected and would love to hear from you. (You can use the contact form on this website.) In the meantime, happy reading.
