10 Tips for Choosing Books You'd Love to Read
Or how not to get drowned in a sea of books.
In The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834) famously quipped,
Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink
Everyone recognizes the significance of this, as it is possible to be surrounded by something valuable without receiving any benefit from it.
When the time comes to choose what book to read next, book lovers can connect with Coleridge's rhyme, often misquoted as 'water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink,'
How?
Stumped by an overabundance of choices, even avid readers often need help to choose their next read.
I love books. Good books.
Throughout my pre-teen and early teen years, it seemed like I never could get hold of enough books. If you had come to my hidden town in rural Nigeria during the early 1970s, I would have shown you.
Now, not anymore.
These days, no matter how many books I read every month, I have access to more than enough books to last me several lifetimes. Similarly, many book lovers face this predicament.
These days, not only is carving out time for reading a challenge but picking your next read to align with your interests can be a formidable hurdle.
In our times, bibliophiles are swimming and spoilt for choicesin oceans of books — printed and electronic versions. Readers often find it difficult to decide what to read and struggle to find time for the books they love.
The pitfall of getting the head overstuffed is that reading becomes an end in itself. People who get so carried away may get reduced to passivity and inaction despite the volume of books consumed.
Don’t fall into this snag.
Professor Niel Postman accurately addressed this greater conundrum, stating, "Orwell was concerned with those who would deny us access to information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism.”
Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism.
~ Neil Postman
Postman’s prescient observations have proven more than true in many ways.
Hear him,
We’ll be overwhelmed by “information glut” until what is truly meaningful is lost and we no longer care as long as we’re being amused.
~Neil Postman
How then do you select the books you read in the ever-expanding sea of electronic and print texts, blogs, articles, social media, and the daily menu of stories from online platforms like Medium, Substack, and others?
10 tips for making better book selections
1. Choose books that align with your interests.
Read what you enjoy. Time is too short to waste reading books that bring you no profit or fun.
2. What’s your favorite genre, fiction or non-fiction?
While some enjoy getting lost in fictional worlds of art imitating life, others prefer having their feet solidly planted in real-life non-fiction books. Whatever your choice, none of these genres has to be boring. Both of them add essence and value to life. Above all, just read.
3. Read for pleasure. Read to build your life too.
Also, read for new practical applicable-to-life insights. In George Eliot’s classic, The Mill on the Floss, Mr. Tulliver, rustic advice to our heroine, his daughter Maggie has stuck with me ever since my first reading.
I can’t do wi’ knowin’ so many things besides my work. That’s what brings folks to the gallows, — knowin’ everything but what they’n got to get their bread by.
~ George Eliot
4. Read books that get you into the flow, books you enjoy, that make you temporarily lost in time.
Reading widely can expand your imagination and expose you to realms of greater possibilities.
5. Select books that treat topics you want to explore.
Don’t get trapped in echo chambers of social media groupthink. Make time to explore vital topics or ideas you don’t understand. That way, you won’t get lost or drowned out in half-truths, outright lies, or get hooked by ever-sprouting conspiracy theories.
6. Book reviews can help you discover popular books.
Book reviews, forwards, or back cover snippets often shed enough light so you will know if such titles match your interests.
7. Your current reading will list other titles for you to explore.
Your current reading will often point you to other books that can help you dig deeper into your current subject. Also, authors will usually reference the works they cited in their books. Use these as guides to help you select your next reads.
8. Narrow your choice to critically acclaimed books by highly reputed authors.
If you love reading, you will often come across a list of some all-time favorite book recommendations. You won’t go wrong making your reading selections from such authors or book recommendations.
9. Be part of a book club.
Being a member of book clubs can keep you abreast of current trends in terms of books you ought to know or read at least once. You can ask for book recommendations and also share your reading lists. You learn from others and are further motivated to read, grow, and apply more of what you read.
10. Don’t judge a book by its cover. Only judge it after its first two or three chapters.
If you still can’t get the gist of what a book is about after two or three chapters, you may be better off checking it off your reading list completely.
Not understanding the trajectory of a book after two or three chapters doesn’t necessarily mean that the book is bad for you. It might simply indicate that such a book is either too complex for you or doesn't align with your reading preferences.
There are exemptions to this rule, especially with reading classics.
Source
Copyright by ©Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business (20th Anniversary Edition), Penguin Group, 2005
Thanks for your reading time.
Comment and share your insights on how you select the books in your reading list.
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