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I Know You Read

Riding the New York Subway used to provide me with many occasions to glimpse into other people's reading choices. In the seven years I spent there, I mastered the art of bending just enough to read the title without awakening the suspicions of the reader. I used to scribble the author or novel name in my palm and put it in my list to check out from the New York Public Library. I found many interesting, thought-provoking and varied writers using that method.

Even though it's not as extensive as NYPL, the San Diego Public Library isn't that bad. The problem is that, with the exception of New York Times Book Review, all my resources of finding new books have disappeared. I don't usually have any problem hearing about the popular books, but without the bookstore people, the subway, and the prolific readers I was surrounded by, I am starving for some good recommendations.

I've recently finished and posted an except of The Secret Life of Bees and Mystic River. I have just started Amateur Marriage by Anne Tyler and I am looking for more fiction (and nonfiction) writers or books. To be fair, I'll give you a list of what's still on my shelf to be read in the next few months: NonZero, Bringing the House Down, Moneyball, A Thousand Years of Nonlinear History, QED, The Blind Watchmaker, The Meaning of Everything, The Awakening, The Creative Habit, How to Dunk a Doughnut and for ideas: So Many Books, So Little Time and BookLust. I can't recommend them since I haven't read them yet but they were recommended by people I trust or publications I trust. If you want more books, here is a list of and excepts from 75% of the books I've read in the last three years.

It may seem like I have many books on my list, but I read a lot and quickly so this list isn't long enough for me. It also contains too few fiction titles. As much as I enjoy nonfiction, my true to love is fiction. I read anything besides horror and fantasy. So, please share with me. Tell me your favorite author. Your favorite book. Even a favorite site about books. Pretty please?

March 05, 2004 | previous | literature | share[]
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