**QUESTIONS for the Avid Reader IV (June, July, August)

This is a continuation of the previous thread that can be read HERE

QUESTION 23:

What percentage of books you read represents books that you felt you should read (for one reason or another). And not to be your therapist but, where does that "should" come from?

Note: I will be in NYC most of next week and may not be able to post another question until I return.

I read very few books that I "should read". i would say about 3%- that represents books that my book club selects and I have to read. This year the choices were those that I wanted to read except for one. ( it was not well written)
Before I retired I read a number of books that related to my teaching-but since I taught art- they were books that I liked.

I also read very few books that I "should," but sometimes I read a book even if another is calling to me because of some LT challenge or group. For example, this year I've read 4 books (or about 10% of my total so far) by Japanese authors because of the Author Theme Reads Japanese them for the year and I read two books from the TBR for the first Reading Globally theme read. In some way I felt I "should" read these books at the time that I read them, but I wouldn't read anything I didn't want to read at all. Looking at the books I read last year, I don't think I read a single book because I thought I "should."

Another category is books I want to read but never seem to get around to; they weigh on me to a certain extent and in a sense I feel I "should" read them, but nonetheless they are books I want to read.

Most of the books I am reading at the moment are those that I feel I should read. I have set myself a reading project that started with Chaucer and the 14th century. To find out just what to read from that time has meant taking notice of literary critics. This does not stop me from going off on tangents from my self prescribed reading lists, but these must be kept in check or I would never have got beyond the 14th century. I am into the renaissance and the 15th century at the moment.

I also read books that are chosen by members of my book club and I will also join in group reads on LT. I am also intent on reading all of Patrick White's novels this year.

If all this is categorised as "should" reads then I suppose it will be 8o% or more of my reading.

I think there is a lot to be said for "should" reads. They help to steer well away from the schlock.

This is a hard question because to me "should read" has the connotation of being unenjoyable or something you don't want to do. I do set goals for myself of books that I think would broaden my reading. For instance, I decided I "should" read Don Quixote this year, but it doesn't feel like a chore and if I really disliked it I would stop reading. I'm also considering, thanks to a lot of your threads!, that I "should" be reading more authors outside of the US and Britain. Again, I don't want to read anything that feels like a chore, but I often end up really enjoying books that stretch my horizons a bit. I also try to balance my fiction and non-fiction reading in about a 2:1 ratio. I guess I could say that I feel I "should" do that, but it's mainly for my own enjoyment. I often am not initially as drawn to reading non-fiction, but I usually really like it in the end.

I guess I'd say about 50% of the books I read I come to from the recommendation of someone or something (like a book list) that make me feel that I "should" give it a try. But if I try a book that I feel is not worth my time, I will abandon it.

My flippant but slightly-too-true answer is all of them, because there is something in the back of my mind that seems to truly believe that I "should" read every book ever written. Or at least all of the ones that look even mildly interesting. And, of course, anything already on my TBR Pile is a book I should get off the TBR Pile ASAP. 445 books, at current count, and I could probably give you a reason for every single one of them why it should be high priority.

And thus book-addicted brain slowly drives me crazy.

>5 japaul22: I agree that oftentimes "should" can have a negative connotation, but I think with regards to books, it has less so. I think most readers using the word are attempting to broaden their education (of one kind or another)—as baswood notes. Although, if the word comes with accompanying guilt...

I think I have come to a place in my life where I'm no longer using the word 'should.' I have certainly used it in the past to shift my reading in one direction or another. However, I now read what I want, whatever that may be. I think my innate literary desires are reasonably well-balanced, and that, along with my natural sense of curiosity, are pretty good guides. I consider myself a free-range reader.

Perhaps those of us who have been literature majors are less likely to feel we "should "read this or that? (at least when it comes to classic literature).

So, I'd say maybe a few books a year could fall under "I should read" - but I no longer allow that to become an obligation or a chore. Life is too short. Under 5%.

Hmm, I'm not sure I could assign a percentage. My ''should reads" are just generally an effort to read a bit outside of my comfort zone. Like thinking that maybe it's time to reread Middlemarch, or to eyeball an upcoming group read with interest. Maybe half, if I define "should" liberally, otherwise, if I only count books like Moby Dick or The Gormenghast Trilogy, then 10%.

Hmmm..... what about books you should not read:

"For this reason, the gossip was humiliating. And for the same reason, most novels, especially popular ones, are humiliating too. The public responds now only to an appeal to its vices"
D H Lawrence from Lady Chatterley's Lover 1928

>9 baswood: How ironic of Lawrence to include that in that particular novel...

Just found the thread...

I find that whenever I apply "should" to a book, it spoils the reading experience. I try to avoid it, but I do feel pressure to read Early Reviewers and books by authors who I have some kind of personal relationship or communication with.

I'm reading the Bible, a book I feel I "should have" read. But, I found a way to take the pressure away so I rarely feel that "should" part of the reading. I actually enjoy it. But, if I start to feel that "should" then I know the enjoyment will evaporate.

Can't put a percentage on all that.

To define books I should read, here is what comes to mind:

► Books I already own but have not yet read but must have wanted to read at some point, so I really ought to get around to reading them sooner rather than later.

► Books on subjects I want to know more about and cause me to say to myself enthusiastically, "I really ought to read that!"

► Books that are classics that I have always wanted to read and therefore think I should read.

► Books that are part of a group read that sound more or less interesting but I will feel like I am still part of the human race if I participate, therefore I should read it "now" rather than later.

► Books recommended to me by a friend that I probably would not have read but because I like the friend and want to please him/her I dutifully read it.

► Similarly, books recommended by fellow LTers whose reviews make them sound interesting enough to read.

► Books that further my pursuit of some autodidactic project or other that I am engaged in, such as books in French or books about pagan influences, my current craze.

Most of the books I have read this year fall into one or more of these categories.

>12 Poquette: well said!

Several on Poquette's list ring true, esp. 1, 3, & 4. I'd add to it that the combination of being an aunt to pre-/teens and having taught middle school meant that there were books I felt I should read - not just to connect and have things to talk about, or see the types of things they were reading, but also to come across books to recommend to them. Though not teaching anymore, I still find myself reading YA lit and passing along the occasional recommendation.

I'm a bit discombobulated after my Book Expo/NYC trip but will try to get back here with another question in the next week or so.

>12 Poquette: Great categories for "should read" books. I could supply titles for each one from my own current reading list. The only other category would be books received as presents, which I always feel I should read promptly, though I must admit I have been lucky with this category.

For me "should" and "want" are fairly similar as I've taken to reading only in the last few years. I feel l like I have a lot of catch up on. I always hated reading in school because I was being forced to read what the curriculum felt was good/important for me. Now that my reading is of my own free will I'm noticing that i'm returning to some of those books from childhood, but also tackling other tombs I never thought I would care about.

I apologize for my absence and lack of posting, but I have been completely preoccupied with a family crisis and its aftermath. It may keep me away some weeks longer. Anyone with interesting questions should feel free to step in my absence.

I mostly read what I want to read. The exception would be books on history or education. As a history teacher, I feel like I should read these more than I want to. Oddly enough, I majored in history because I loved it, but I feel burnt out on it since teaching has become my profession. I would much rather read fiction.

#18 Doesn't sound good, Lois. Wish you well.

I am stepping in and asking a question since Lois is so busy and encouraged us to keep on asking questions.

QUESTION 24

It's summer here in the northern hemisphere (and it's certainly been hot, hot, hot), and winter in the southern. Some people like to read lighter books over the summer; some feel they have time for longer books; others may read the same way all year round. Do you find the type of books you read varies seasonally, and if so, how, and has this changed for you over time?

Summer = beach reads (thrillers, romances and tat) for me.

In Vienna most of June was ridiculously hot- lots of 30+ (C) so that counted enough for me. (I do have a dreck-filled current reading list with no literary merit!)

I expect the reason lies behind school year Sept-June having to include the worthy tomes and learning. Summer was always the time-off for the brain.

I find that my reading reflects my stress levels at work and home rather than the weather seasons. If I'm very busy, stressed, and tired, I need to read fiction that grabs me right away. It doesn't necessarily have to be "easy" reads (like mysteries, best-sellers, etc.) but just engaging to me from the start. On the other hand, I also like to read comfort books which to me is Austen, the Brontes, Elizabeth Gaskell, etc. Others might find those too slow or tedious, but I always connect with them.

No matter how my personal life is going, though, I always read a variety of books - they just skew one way or the other.

Thanks for posting a question, Rebecca!

I don't think so. The only thing that clearly affects my reading is time and structure, which comes from work and kids. Work doesn't change year around. The kids schedules do, but it seems like their schedules have been different almost every year.

ETA - yes, thanks Rebecca!

I have more days off from work in the summer, as we don't need as many doctors to round on patients in the hospital, and my work days are usually lighter than they are in the winter months, so I have far more time to read then. I generally do read longer and more substantial books in the summer months, as I can focus my attention on them much better.

I've never really noticed a pattern to my reading. With several books going at the same time of varying length it makes it hard to really schedule out my reading or finish anything for that matter.

I don't think my reading changes from season to season. I'm retired and there's very little variation in my daily routine throughout the year.

For the past few years I've been the one to make up the yearly reading schedule for a reading group, and I've had fun matching reading selections to the seasons. For example, we read Red Harvest and Farewell, My Lovely this month because thrillers are traditional summer reading. We're reading The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet in the the Fall, for obvious reasons. We read a Dickens novel on the month of his 200th birthday. In other cases I've just scanned the first pages of the book and if the story begins in April, we read it in April, etc. I don't think this makes any difference in our enjoyment of the books, but it's at least a way of deciding when to read what.

The seasons don't usually affect my reading, but this summer seems to be something of an exception for some reason. Ever since my vacation last month, I find myself craving a lot of lighter reading (although I haven't been indulging that craving constantly). I remember at one point thinking, "Oh, this is what people mean by summer reading!"

I don't tend to have a pattern to my reading especially considering the fact that, even though I enjoy reading, I don't actually do it that often. Summer though, does see me reading more as I want to go outside and read by the pool or the lake. I also want to stay up in bed and read more instead of the winter where I just want to go to sleep once the covers have gotten me warm. But the weather doesn't really dictate what books I go for.

However, I've found that I love reading a French classic over the summer. Maybe it's because I'm usually in France over the summer and this is my way of feeding that memory. Last year I read Hugo, this year I'm reading Dumas. They year before that I read Don Quixote (not French, but yes, a classic) and another Hugo. But that's the only "pattern" I can see as of now.

Whenever I'm away from home, no matter the time of year, I usually have lighter reading, like the various Scandinavian detectives, moving into Italian ones now, as well as David Downing and Phillip Kerr. I suspect this is because I am likely to leap up at any minute and do something else and these books can be put down and picked up again easily.

When I'm home in the summer, I like to read longer serious books, maybe because it's too hot to get up and do anything else, so I can really devote myself to the book. I also like to read or reread one Dickens each summer as well as other Victorians for comfort reading.

In winter I like to read history, maybe because it reminds me of being in school. It's also the time for Russian novels.

Travel reading is great year around.

I always have several books on the go.

My choice of reading is not affected by the seasons. It is about the only thing in my life that is not affected by them.

Just thought of something else that is not affected - librarything.

I guess I should answer this since I asked the question!

For a long time, I've looked at the summer as a time to read longer books and books requiring more attention because I am less busy workwise and so can read more at home. When I'm busy, I do most of my reading on the subway, and that requires books that are portable and that don't suffer from being read in relatively small increments. I also take longer books with me on trips when I'll have more reading time.

However, in general I'm an impulsive reader, and read whatever calls out to me. When I'm stressed, I go for lighter, shorter, easier to read books -- with exceptions. Sometimes I need a long but readable book that takes me to a completely different time and place, as when I read War and Peace when my father was hospitalized.

So I guess the answer for me is that the type and length of the book I read relates more to how much time I have for reading and how relaxed I am.

For a long while I tended to read larger tomes during the summer mostly because I was out of school and had more time to concentrate on it. Now that I'm no longer in school I don't find that there are any seasonal trends, more mood based what I decide to pick up.

It's less seasonal for me than just following the pattern of my life. When I'm really busy, then I read less involved books and non-fiction; ones that don't suffer for being put down in the middle of a sentence. I'll tackle a more involved book when things are calmer.

During the summer, I like to read books that are set in summer or warm places (for example, The Prodigal Summer) and in winter, I like to read chilly, cozy books. Our weather here in Vancouver is usually very rainy and dark in January, so that's a perfect time for me to read Dickens. I also like to read books that are relevant to my vacation--The Enchanted April when we went to England and Italy, Cannery Row in California, and this year The Age of Innocence and Falling Man for New York.

QUESTION 25.

Every now and then we all need comfort reads, or a break from the books we usually read. This question has two parts.

A. What type of books do you go to for comfort reads?

B. Are there particular books that you reread regularly when you do feel the need for a comfort read?

25. I haven't really felt the need for comfort reads in the last few years as such. As a kid, I reread Heidi every year for about 10 years and regularly revisited Louisa May Alcott, Anne of Green Gables and The Secret Garden. Maybe my comfort reads now are familiar authors -- Margaret Drabble, Louise Erdrich, Margaret Atwood -- who speak directly to my sensibility -- and local mysteries -- especially those by Randy Wayne White, set in SW Florida.

25: That depends on my mood and what I had been reading lately. Usually old SF does the trick (Foundation, Dune, this kind of things) unless if I had been deep into SF/Fantasy lately. Agatha Christie is always a comfort read if I need to clean my palate. Or almost any Victorian novel.

And there is all another dimension of that question. When I lost my father, it was the long epic fantasy series that got me through - as much as I love standalones and short series, I needed the constancy of the same world for a week or more at that point. I still like long series but I usually would space them out these days.

24 (better late then never):
Back in High School, we had something called "Summer reading list" which were the books we were going to work on the next year (which unlike the States were usually more than 20 per year) and other books which were appropriate for the age. Needless to say, the number of people reading even half of the list was very small. And even after I finished HS, I was looking for a list for the summer (awards nominees for example).

I had mostly broken out of that habit and now I read whatever catches my eye whenever it catches it...

23:

And here comes the "it depends" answer.
- I feel that I should read the winners of (at least) the major awards in the genres I like. The problem is that my favorite award is "First Novel" and in the SF/Fantasy/Mystery there are a few of those. And that adds to my "Authors to read" list very fast

- Classics that I had read way back when and in a different language (Bulgarian and/or Russian). I don't have issues with the French classics - reading in English or in Bulgarian or in Russian is not that different. The English language ones though. I appreciated Hardy (beyond Tess which was one of my favorite books) only after I read him in English. Same for Trollope and Dickens (although it might also have been the age and the years that passed since my first meetings with them).

- Books that everyone is talking about - not because I expect them to be something very special but most of my friends rarely read so if I want to talk about books, I need to read what they read. I do draw a line somewhere though - the first Twilight was more than enough and I am not touching the 50 Shades book at all.

- Books I had bought for some reason I cannot even remember - if it is on my shelf, I wanted it. So... I should read it.

But then I am a very moody reader so I can feel like Les Miserables today and a paranormal romance tomorrow. At the end of the day I try to read some "quality" books but...

I usually revert to fantasy when I'm stressed or feeling a reading slump. It's somehow a palate cleanser for me. Jane Eyre, however I reread regularly (for a time it was once a year) when I'm in need of a reboot.

To answer my own question, I find mysteries very helpful when I'm stressed. This year, I was able to zip through Camilleri's Inspector Montalbano series, and they really helped. I'm also rereading, off and on, Sherlock Holmes.

And there are several books that I come back to, maybe not every year, but frequently, including Cold Comfort Farm, The Straight and Narrow Path, and We Have Always Lived in the Castle, that I find soothing.

On the other hand, and to repeat what I'm sure I've said before, sometimes I find something long and foreign (but readable is just the thing: for example, I read War and Peace while my father was hospitalized.

I don't suppose I have any category I'd call comfort reading. If I can't focus on what I have in progress I'll often start something fresh, but it's likely to be just anything that represents a change of pace from what I'm stuck in.

I rarely re-read a book. I'm occasionally tempted to go back to some old favorites, but I haven't done so unless I was reading them with a group.

My go-to comfort reads are books by Jane Austen. I reread all of her books frequently. they always put me in the mood to read in general. I also like to reread favorites like Jane Eyre, Middlemarch, and Anna Karenina. I also enjoy mysteries when I need something that's more mindless like Agatha Christie or Josephine Tey (a recent discovery for me). Basically though, reading in general is a comfort to me.

I tend to fall back on one of the many Terry Pratchett books I haven't gotten to yet, or read one of the sci-fi classics that still haven't been read. But toherwise i don't think i have much in the way of comforting reading. Just try to get through what I have in front me.

I don't have traditional comfort reads as I don't re-read books. But, Amelie Nothomb tends to write about a book a year and they are nice and fun and easy to read. So, when a new one comes out, I don't read it right away but instead save it for when I'm a little puzzled as to what I want to read next or if I need something to ease me back into reading. She's really good for that. Stefan Zweig is also an author I like to turn to when I'm in a rut.

I have not needed any comfort reads since I joined LT, but occasionally I am tempted by a detective story or a mystery, but I haven't succumbed yet.

Officially my comfort reading is Pogo, but I haven't actually done much of that for thirty or forty years. I would start chuckling and be happy with myself for getting beyond my blues.

Robert

I turn to The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series when I'm stressed (or anything written by Alexander McCall Smith) and return to any of the books in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy trilogy.

For me comfort reads mean a return to books that I loved as a kid: the Anne of Green Gables series and the Harry Potter series.

Besides those two series, I also love to reread Pride and Prejudice, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Wuthering Heights, all of which are among my favourite novels.

24 & 25: For go-to comfort reads, I'd go with crime/mystery, or more recently YA fiction. I also like SF/fantasy - but more in the Pratchett/Moers/Stephenson vein. Something fun or quick, not too taxing on the brain.

These are also shaping up to be my summer reading, which I usually try to vary more than this year. Normally, I'd try to tackle at least one 'classic' or more challenging piece of literature, but this summer is turning into a fair amount of crime and Hunger Games-type books.

Q25
My comfort reads tend to be quiet books, they can’t have much drama. Can be fiction, personal essays or light nonfiction (e.g. nature). They don’t have to be happy but they need to be hopeful.

Q25 - Like others, my comfort reads are usually detective novels. They don't have to be re-reads but the most reliable comfort reads are from authors I know I will like. Just recently I turned to Reginald Hill to get me out of a two-week reading slump. But the 'comfort read' I have read most often is Kolymsky Heights by Lionel Davidson, a spy novel with a multilingual hero who I recently realised was inspired by Kim (eg he can pass as several different races).

Q25 - I don't allow myself much rereading (too many unread books in my house), but for comfort reads I go for things like Jane Austen, Edith Wharton ....those sorts. When my mum died, I read Anna Karenina, and it was perfect.

Q26 - I do this when I have time. It's fun and enriching. Recently I finished The Age of Innocence and became fascinated with the world of 1870 New York aristocrats. It made me pick up When the Astors Owned New York, and now Old Masters, New World. From this I'll go on to something by Henry James, because his name keeps popping up.

Question 26. This is a real problem for me. If I am not careful I get stuck reading everything an author, whom I like, wrote. I am currently reading The Prince, Niccolo Machiavelli, which has led me to want to read his Discourse and his plays. He was also a great letter writer. Then of course I find myself wanting to read a good biography of him. Anyone know of a good biography of Machiavelli? (no, don't answer that question)

Q26 - In my early 20s I read The King Must Die by Mary Renault, and for several years I read everything I could find on ancient history, including Herodotus, Thucydides, etc.

About a decade later I read Lee's Lieutenants by Douglas Southall Freeman, and for the next dozen years my passion for the Civil War was so extensive that I even did my own research and published several articles.

More recently, however, I haven't been prone to such reading binges. When I focus on an area it's usually because of a group reading project or forthcoming travel, and not because of something I happened to read.

26. That question could not be better timed...

I tend to go on reading binges - I will read something and next thing you see, I am reading a few books on the same topic. Or all books written from an author (plus a biography, critical essays on their work and whatever else you can think of).

This weekend I needed some old style writing so picked up The Daughter of Time. I guess it was the time for a new reading spree because next thing I knew, I have 4 different biographies of Richard III coming in, a few novels and a few additional books. And the mood I am in, I suspect that I will be reading pretty much only them for the next few months.

Interesting that you are thinking of it as reading binges. I've been known to get excited about something (polar exploration, after reading The Coldest March by Susan Solomon, for example) and then over a period of time acquire books on the same subject, but not necessarily read them all at once. Are any of you like me on that?

My route into a subject I had not previously read much about is usually through fiction. Recently I read both The Monk and The Italian, wildly inaccurate pictures of the world of seventeenth century Italy. Needing some balance on the real world end, I read Nuns Behaving Badly and am currently reading The Tigress of Forli, about Caterina Sforza(an earlier period but close enough in spirit). I had both these books in my TBR pile, but if I hadn't, I still would have sought out some books for balance. I tend to accumulate more than I will actually read for that particular binge, but like Rebecca, will accumulate more over time on that subject and delve into them periodically.

Q26

Funny you mention zombies. It isn't anything at all that I normally would have read. I'm more of a vampires and ghost stories gal. I like my monsters more brainy, not brain-eating. Zombies just always seemed gory and raw.

While not sure of my timeline, I think it was Pride and Prejudice and Zombies for a book club that started it; I happily got World War Z through the LT secret santa exchange; somewhere in there was the Swedish Handling the undead; and finally - because I pleaded 'no more zombies!' - it was Colson Whitehead's Zone One.

Even though I'm still not particularly besotted, it was interesting to read such incredibly different takes on the genre.

Oh - and I did buy a book on the strength of a footnote once - What a Life was mentioned and sounded fun. I'm sure I must have other examples, but those come immediately to mind.

re: #57 - sometimes it feels like a binge, but I do try to spread them out. Other times, I know I *want* to acquire books on a subject or a certain genre but get sidetracked. Sigh.

#57 When I acquire books on an interesting subject, I tend to read them as I get them, until I finally feel I can move on. I can be a bit obsessive.

I realize I never answered this question myself! Two of my examples were based on my own experience.

As I noted above, Susan Solomon's The Coldest March led me to acquire a variety of polar exploration books; unfortunately the only one I've actually read, The Gates of Hell by Andrew Lambert, about the quest for the northwest passage, turned out to be quite a slog. But I do have a shelf-full, and hope to get to some of them eventually.

Also, reading Matterhorn led me to read Parzifal as part of a group read, but before that, as preparation, I read Arthurian Romances by Chrétien de Troyes, which I actually liked a whole lot better. Enthused by this medieval reading, I bought a variety of other titles, and they too sit on my TBR.

I used the zombie example because I was pleasantly surprised by World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks, which I read because of an LT recommendation. However, what I liked about it was that the zombie-ness wasn't emphasized, so I haven't gone on to read other zombie books.

Now, having read, Germinal, I'm going to be on a Zola kick, but that's another question.

Question 27

At this point it's hard for me to separate personal reading decisions from those influenced by LT. I participate in the 12 in 12 category challenge where you choose categories of books to read from throughout the year. Almost all of my reading fits into my chosen categories. I never read like that before LT, and I think it has made my reading more varied than in the past. I mainly get ideas for reading from LT reviews posted in personal threads.

To get specific, the last 3 books definitely influenced by LT were

A Mind of Winter, an ER book that I never would have heard of otherwise.

Alias Grace, an example of an author I had never heard of til LT and is now a favorite.

The Long Ships, an example of a book I found in the historical fiction thread and then saw Rebecca's glowing review. It ended up being another favorite.

LT has become a very signifcant source for new book ideas especially in Fiction. I don't remeber how I found books to read before LT. I was never big on book blogs, or even Newspaper lists until I started venturing in the talk side of LT, now I can't make an decision without consulting the various resources I've been exposed to thanks to various LT members. I mostly stick to the personal threads of members here in club read, and venture out to other more specific groups like Asian fiction and nonfiction or sci-fiction when I want ideas for those genres.

Radioactive: Marie & Pierre Curie, would have never read a graphic novel without LT, and certainly not a biorgraphical art book it weren't for all the positive reviews from LT members

In the Miso Soup, part of the Author Themes read group, could easily see him becoming one of my favorite authors

The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating, no way I would have read a book about a snail and sick woman without LT, this is the kind of book I would have passed on in a bookstore that are now feeling my shelves

Q27: If you exclude random finds at used book sales and clearances, well more than half of my acquisitions in recent months have been inspired by LT reviews or group selections. The most recent examples:

Hypnerotomachia Poliphili: The Strife of Love in a Dream -- inspired by a baswood review.
Popular Hits of the Showa Era -- for Author Theme Reads and inspired by kidzdoc's review.
Matterhorn -- inspired by rebeccanyc's review
Fires on the Plain -- inspired by lilisin's review

While my book buying has often come directly from reviews, most of my actual reading has been directly related to group selections and themes. I just did a count of my reading so far this year to see where the ideas came from:

46 - LT group reads and themes (6 different groups)
3 - LT Early Reviewer books
15 - From my other online reading group
4 - Summer reading selections for children I know
15 - Personal choices

Now here's the irony of all this: Just two days ago I came to the conclusion that my reading had been overly directed by group reads and themes and that as a result I was reading a disproportionate amount of contemporary fiction. So I decided to curtail somewhat my LT-inspired reading, finish some of the collections of stories and plays I've left half-read over the years, read the sequels to novels I've recently read while I can still remember them, and then try to make my reading both more diverse and more systematic. (Of course that resolution will probably last until the next great review or exciting group theme sends me off in yet another direction.)

I think I'm an oddity here ..... LT doesn't actually inspire my reading selections all that much, or if it does, it's very subtle. Of the 46 books I've read this year, I can only connect 5 to LT in any meaningful way. The last one, for example, was The Age of Innocence, which I knew about, but I thought it was something I didn't need to read. All the glowing comments on LT over the years suggested otherwise, and I'm so glad I read it.

It is very hard to pick out exactly where my book-buying decisions come from, but I can pinpoint three books I've acquired in the just last month that were at least heavily influenced by LT:

The New Dead edited by Christopher Golden came to my attention because the follow-up volume to it was recently offered as an ER book. I checked out some reviews of both books and thought they sounded pretty good. I like zombie stories, but would have avoided an anthology if it looked like it were a cheap attempt to cash in on their popularity with second-rate stories by second-rate authors, so the reviews were important. And when I saw this one on sale, well...

The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker. I'd been seeing this book around, and the premise sounded vaguely interesting, but it was definitely reviews on LT that made me decide I wanted to read it.

And Me, Who Dove Into the Heart of the World by Sabina Berman, which was an ER book, and which I probably would never have picked up on my own (even though I thought it sounded interesting enough to request), but which I am in the middle of now and am definitely enjoying.

As for the most recently read examples, excluding said in-progress ER book:

White Queen by Gwyneth Jones was actually sent to me by a fellow LTer. (Thank you, fellow LTer!)

The Night Circus is one I likely would have taken an interest in, anyway, but it was definitely the buzz about it here on LT that spurred me to buy it and to read it when I did.

And Giving Up the Ghost was another ER book.

I'm probably leaving some things out. For instance, I can't remember whether I first heard about Joe Hill's Locke & Key series here or elsewhere. Suffice it to say that LT has been extremely dangerous for both my wishlist and my shelves.

In retrospect, I think I read about Alone in Berlin here on LT, but don't think LT was my main influence for getting it.

Three that come immediately to mind that I know were a direct result of LT are:

In the House of the Seven Librarians: because I loved the idea of a short story about the magic of a library. It's availability as a free podcast sealed the deal.

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie: I enjoy different kinds of mystery/crime series, and liked the descriptions of the fiesty, intelligent pre-teen 'detective' in 1950s post-war village England.

Ella Minnow Pea: I love books that play with language. Despite the drawbacks discussed widely, I still was intrigued by how the author would handle the increasing restrictions as the book progressed. Without having read about it on LT, I would have gone right by it on the shelves.

I'm sure I'm omitting others. I tend to read threads and if something sounds interesting will keep it in mind. That doesn't drive what I read, but can influence what I pick up in 2nd hand shops or at the library.

As much as I love LT and all the different groups I'm in, it doesn't actually influence my reading that much. The only thing it does is help me decide which mood I'm in so then which book (that I already own) will I choose next.

Furthermore, I actually find that I influence LT more than it influences me. I pretty much created the Author Theme Reads group so that I could manipulate others into reading the authors I love introduce authors I'm already in love with to others. And now that that secret is out...

The last three I have acquired based on seeing them on LibraryThing are:

The Perpetual Orgy by Mario Vargas Llosa
Modern Movements in European Philosophy by Richard Kearney
The Dictator's Handbook by Bruce Bueno de Mesquita and Alastair Smith, probably

Scanning back over the list for this year I see very many selections that were at least influenced by LibraryThing, that I might have heard about elsewhere but had the focus turned on them here, and so forth.

I don't read very many reviews on LibraryThing, at least until after my attention is already on the book. I see recommendations only in passing; they are low down on my home page and not something I pore over on work pages. But a lot of times I will see a book mentioned in a thread and put it on my wishlist. Many more of the books I get are from the wishlist than from some other notion like spontaneity. It happens that sometimes an interest I am already developing is addressed by a thread, and so I find a very appropriate book; the Llosa above showed up right after our book group decided to read Madame Bovary, and so I ordered it when I ordered the novel.

Robert

Q25. I reread a lot less since joining LT, but will return to a few books I loved as a teenager if I happen to be ill. I do have some authors whose newest books I buy as soon as they are released, but hold on to until I require an escape. These range from anyone from crime novelists (Kate Atkinson, Tana French, Karin Alvtegen) to "literary" authors like Hilary Mantel and David Mitchell.

Q27. I would say that the majority of my reading is due to my influences at LT. I read a review here, add it to my wish list and eventually run into a copy and read it. Latest books -- reviews and raves about Hilary Mantel led me to Wolf Hall. Most recently I read Bring Up the Bodies. Kidzdoc gave a thoughtful and favorable review to The Sense of an Ending and I am grateful for it. What a book! and Nothing to Envy was brought to my attention on Club Read. I just passed my copy along to my father, so those recommendations have legs.

The last three books I have acquired are:

The Survival of the Pagan Gods
The Unknown Matisse
Lost in Translation, Eva Hoffman

The first purchase was after reading a review by poquette and the second was a recommendation from tomcat Murr both LTers of course. The third book was a selection by my book club.

I have five books on order (so far) this month and three of them were directly the result of reading about them on LT:

Nuns Behaving Badly
Death of King Arthur, Simon Armitage
The Solid Mandala Patrick White.

Q 27 My reading has been very influenced by LT, although it continues to be influenced by my serendipitous finds in bookstores and my pursuit of authors and topics that interest me. Mostly I find books on LT because I read about them on people's threads and they intrigue me, but my reading has also been expanded by, as I noted in the question, the Reading Globally and Author Theme Reads group (thanks, Lilisin, #69!).

As for the last three books I've read that were directly influenced by LT:

Germinal by Émile Zola recommended by arubabookwoman and others. As I will now read more Zola, these books will become indirect LT recommendations.

Almost Transparent Blue by Ryu Murakami part of the Author Theme Reads year-long focus on Japanese authors. I probably wouldn't have read any of the Japanese literature I'm reading if it were not for this group.

Distant View of a Minaret by Alifa Rifaat recommended by steven03tx

Last three books I've read indirectly influenced by LT

Escape from Camp 14 by Blaine Harden I probably wouldn't have been intrigued enough to pick up this book in a bookstore if I hadn't already become interested in North Korea by reading Nothing to Envy by Barbara Demick which I read as a result of an LT recommendation (maybe by Lisa, can't remember).

The Cornish Trilogy by Robertson Davies I wouldn't have read this if I hadn't previously read The Deptford Trilogy, which I read because of a group read of Fifth Business.

The Age of Doubt by Andrea Camilleri I wouldn't have read this most recent Inspector Montalbano if Paul Cranswick hadn't recommended the first.

So, out of my last 14 reads, 6 are either direct or indirect results of LT recommendations.

As for books I've bought, the most recent three that were directly influenced by LT are:

The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival by John Vaillant recommended by Linda92007

Love and Exile by Isaac Bashevis Singer mentioned by Lisa and then not recommended, but I'd already bought it!

The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander recommended by DieFledermaus

And the most recent three books bought indirectly influenced by LT:

Two books by Zola (see above)

The Salterton Trilogy by Robertson Davies (see above)

Requiem: A Hallucination by Antonio Tabucci I wouldn't have bought this book if I hadn't read Pereira Declares, which was recommended here on LT some time ago, but I forget by whom

QUESTION 27.

Club Read, and LT in general, have led me to read a lot of books I would never have read otherwise (or often even known about), largely because of reviews on people's threads but also through groups like Reading Globally and Author Theme reads.

Name the last three books you have acquired and/or the last three books you have read based on learning about them on LT and tell us why you picked them.

The last three books I've acquired as a direct result of LT/LTers are:

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander (recommended by DieFledermaus): I had heard about this book, but this recommendation was essential in my decision to buy it.

Divorce Islamic Style by Amara Lakhous (recommended by TadAD): I had read and enjoyed Lakhous' earlier novel Clash of Civilizations Over an Elevator in Piazza Vittorio, and I probably would have bought this book anyway, but Tad's comment that this book was better than the previous one encouraged me to buy it ASAP.

The Earth in the Attic by Fady Joudah, and Like a Straw Bird It Follows Me by Ghassan Zaqtan (recommended by Linda92007): I had not heard of these poetry collections, which I've read for the Middle Eastern literature theme in the Reading Globally group, and I wouldn't have purchased them if Linda had not mentioned them to me.

The last three novels I've read that were acquired as a direct result of LT/LTers (not counting gift books) all came from lilisin, LT's evil genius ("I pretty much created the Author Theme Reads group so that I could manipulate others into reading the authors I love introduce authors I'm already in love with to others."): Popular Hits of the Showa Era by Ryu Murakami, and The Golden Country and Stained Glass Elegies by Shusaku Endo. I chose all three for her diabolical Author Theme Reads group.

Has LT become a significant source of new book ideas for you?

Definitely. There are several books which I'll probably purchase next month, based on LT recommendations, particularly Voss and The Tree of Man by Patrick White (recommended by steven03tx and baswood), The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli (recommended by baswood), and In the Heart of the Country by J.M. Coetzee (recommended by DorsVenabili), and at least two or three dozen more have been added to my wish list.

What part of LT leads to the most book acquisitions for you: reviews, threads, the various kinds of recommendations, etc?

Many of the books I've purchased this year and at the end of last year were for LT groups, particularly Reading Globally, Author Theme Reads, Orange January/July and Booker Prize. I bought roughly 15-20 books for the Author Theme Reads group, probably 8-10 from this year's Orange Prize longlist, eight books from this year's Booker Prize longlist (and I'll get the remaining four next month), and 6-8 for the four quarterly Reading Globally themes (many of the books I'll read or have already read for RG are already in my LT library).

think about something which you didn't study in college but which you would like to learn more about.

That's too easy for me. I've always wanted to learn Spanish because I think it's such a beautiful language. We only had one foreign language, German, offered to us in the mid-western high school I went to and then when I went to community college (with intent to transfer to a University, but a full time job and a family interfered with those plans!) there was always a scheduling conflict. Qué lástima! My ex-husband's first language is Spanish. One night after we were married he began talking in his sleep - in Spanish, of course. I really wish I would have known Spanish then! Some of the books I've read lately were originally written in Spanish, it would have been nice to read them in their original language.

Q28

Great question! (And one that's likely to keep those TBR piles growing healthily.) Several subjects came to mind, but the where my education seems to be most deficient is the study of world religions. I took a one semester course in college on the New Testament, but what little I know about Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, etc. is derived entirely from incidental sources and modern literature.

As to the reading plan, it isn't hard to identify the key primary texts for the major faiths: The Upanishads, The Ramayana, The Quran, The Platform Sutra, etc. But I would probably need to read secondary sources first to get the appropriate historical and cultural background and context. I suppose I should start with The Golden Bough by James Frazer, which deals with the primitive origins of myths and religion. Beyond that, I'm open to recommendations. I'm sure there are good introductory texts on each major religion, and I'll go that route if necessary, but what I would prefer is a broader approach with a single large work that gives essential information about the beliefs of the various faiths but focuses more on their historical origins and interactions and doesn't overlook the minor and extinct religions.

This is an easy one for me. I'm having a friend teach me about music. I know almost nothing about it, though I do enjoy it a good deal. I don't feel like I have the ability to talk about it much because of this lack of understanding. I'm only 2 lessons in so still know very little, but it's been fun! He gave me Music: A Very Short Introduction for my birthday so I've read that. And I think we're going to try to go see David Byrne speak about his new book How Music Works when he comes to NY. Nothing else on the reading list yet though.

I was trying to think of something that I would find difficult to teach myself, as much is now possible through research on the internet and a good book list. I then saw Jane's post above and it made me realise that I would like to learn more about reading music with some practical experience.

Well, Jane, I'm trying to put David Byrne's book on my waiting-for-the-paperback wishlist. It'll get there, but my Time Warner Roadrunner brand internet connection is testing my will and my patience.

Robert

As I'm reading your posts, I'm nodding in agreement. Yes, I'd like to learn other languages (or refresh my French); yes, I'd like to learn about world religions; yes, I 'd like to learn about music! I'll have to think about what else I'd like to learn.

There are two subjects that I'm interested in that I didn't get to at university. The first was archaeology, which I actually read a lot about before starting school. My schedule and the archaeology courses never clicked, and I never got a chance to explore that area. For now archaeology is on the back burner.

The other topic is Women's Studies. I expected to take at least one 100-level class, but there were too many other things going on at the time. Now I feel that that's an area I really need to catch up on, and I'm amassing quite the TBR of suitable books.

I've always felt that my understanding and appreciation of art is more than a little lacking. I've always struggled getting past the that's pretty cool factor to the actual meaning and precieved meaning of the work. Sometimes it's all a bit much for me to take seriously, but I think if I had the chance to take a art history or art for dummies class that would be of benefit.

I've always been interested in geology. I love to hike, though I don't get to do it much right now, and that kind of sparked my interested in how the earth was formed. The only book I've read about this is Earth, by Richard Fortey, but I've had Annals of the Former World on my TBR pile.

I would also like to join Nickelini in her Women's Studies course!

I have never taken a course on philosophy and have learned bits and pieces from novels or random nonfiction and classes on history or culture/literature. I'd like to read a good survey but maybe not a huge textbook. Also, I'd like to know which influential books would be worth reading and which would be better to maybe read about?

>78 janemarieprice: - The David Byrne book sounds interesting so I've added it to the list. For books on music (only classical music though) I can recommend -

Aaron Copland's What to Listen For in Music - clearly describes technical terms, musical forms, different eras and recommendations

The Rest is Noise - Alex Ross' history of classical music in the 20th c. and his Listen to This - essays on different topics, including some pop music

On the pile but haven't read -

This is Your Brain on Music - Daniel Levitin - a scientific approach, but still covers technical aspects

Musicophilia - Oliver Sacks, similar

The Lives of the Great Composers - Harold Schonberg - this is supposed to be a good survey but hard to find

On the list -

Donald Grout's History of Western Music

>82 Nickelini: - Nickelini - I did take a Women's Studies class but I think the books were more of the textbook kind. The discussions and presentations were very informative though. What is on your TBR pile?

Nickelini - I did take a Women's Studies class but I think the books were more of the textbook kind. The discussions and presentations were very informative though. What is on your TBR pile?

Here is a list of some of my non-fiction, just waiting for me: the Female Eunuch, Germaine Greer; The Beauty Myth, Naoimi Wolf; Half the Sky, Nicholas Kristof; Silences, Tillie Olsen; Flux, Peggy Orenstein; Wisdom of Whores, Elizabeth Pisani, and How to Suppress Women's Writing, Joanna Russ.

85 - Thanks! I'll be on the lookout for some of those.

I've spent the week thinking about the question I posed, because there are many things I'd like to know more about, and some I feel qualified to read about on my own.

I guess the subjects I most wish I had taken in college but didn't are a course in Shakespeare and a really good introduction to philosophy course. I have read and seen some Shakespearean plays, and I feel I could read Shakespeare on my own, with a very good annotated edition, but I'm somewhat at a loss as to where to start for a good overview to philosophy.

Also, in high school I read a lot of poetry, but the poetry course I took in college completely turned me off. I would like to get back to reading poetry.

#82, 86 Back in the 70s , I read a lot of feminist literature, including The Female Eunuch, Sexual Politics by Kate Millett, Women and Madness by Phyllis Chesler, The Dialectic of Sex by Shulamith Firestone, and The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir, as well as fiction like Fear of Flying and novels and short stories by Tillie Olsen and Grace Paley. I imagine some of this is somewhat dated, and that there's a lot of more recent useful writing on women's issues.

#84 Annals of the Former World would be a great place to start reading about geology, because John McPhee is a great writer!

>82 Nickelini:, 86 The classics Rebecca listed still have something to say, even though the rhetoric may be somewhat dated, and I would highly recommend them too. In addition to those books and the ones you have, you might add Against Our Will: Men, Women and Rape by Susan Brownmiller, Toward a Feminist Theory of the State by Catherine MacKinnon and anything by Marina Warner or Angela Carter. A classic fiction reference is The Madwoman in the Attic. It might be worth looking at some books on Victorian studies, as this field often uses a feminist perspective. Given the upcoming US election, it would be worth reading Andrea Dworkin's Right Wing Women, another classic that still holds up. (Just made a note to myself to find a copy of this and reread it.)

ETA >84 japaul22:

Oh yes, I forgot Against Our Will; that was another one I read back in the 70s. Thanks, Sassy.

This is a fabulous question... where to begin?! While I loved everything I studied (except calculus), there just wasn't enough time to study everything that I found interesting.

I would like to study Chinese language and literature and as an ancillary, I would like to know more about translation. Lots of good books have been mentioned on other threads lately.

The intersection of agriculture and social history is a very difficult one to find books on. I would appreciate any recommendations here.

Domestic history in all its many facets is another area and someday I will read all of Philippe Aries.

Thanks Dief for all the recommendations on music. I have a reasonable classical music collection and should learn some background.

Totally scattered areas, but then so are my books.

I majored in art history.

I sometimes wish I'd studied something more practical. I think economics is something that interests me and that I wish I knew more about.

If anyone can recommend some really good overviews of economics, I'd be interested.

Thanks Dief I will get hold of the Aaron Copland book

Well, I was a music major for both my undergrad and Masters (in French horn performance). DieF already listed many great books about music, so I will only add to her list. The music theory books are very technical and about the rules of music and analyzing/composing. The music history books are mainly self-explanatory by the title. The source readings are just that, contemporary sources and writings on music and I find them very interesting. All are books that I liked enough to keep on my shelves for the past 8 years or so since a graduated. I also have several books specific to brass playing that I won't list unless there's interest. I have about 8 biographies, but none were memorable enough to recommend and I'm not sure if they reflect the current research anymore.

Music Theory:
Harmony by Walter Piston
Note Grouping by Thurmond
The Study of Counterpoint by Fux

Music History:
The symphony by Michael Steinbeck
Classic Music by Ratner
The Classical Style By Charles Rosen
Music in the Western World by Weiss and Taruskin(source readings from antiquity to the 20th century)
Source Readings in Music History, vol. 7 the twentieth century by Strunk

Misc:
The Infinite Variety of Music by Leonard Bernstein
Emotion and Meaning in Music by Meyer

I'm not sure that I got all the correct touchstones. If anyone wants more specific info about a book, I'm happy to fill in the holes.

I was a biology major and worked in science publishing for years, but my class is going to be an introduction to Soviet, especially Stalinist era, literature, with a sidetrip into history. I've been reading a lot is this area for the past several years, so I feel that I have a good overview, but there's lots that I haven't read and/or hope to read. This list is based only on books I've read. I am listing the fiction somewhat in chronological order of when it takes place, not when it was written or published.

Fiction
White Guard by Mikhail Bulgakov - A look at the early days of the Revolution in the Ukraine. My review is here.
Conquered City by Victor Serge - Leningrad in 1919-1920. My review is here
Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak - A sweeping portrayal of a world falling apart and people struggling to survive from before the revolution up until the second world war (and not what you think from the movie). My review is here.
Everything Flows by Vasily Grossman - An attempt to document the breadth of Stalinist horrors; not entirely fiction. My review is here.
The Foundation Pit by Andrey Platonov - Platonov thrusts the reader into the chaos and horror of forced collectivization and the terror famine. My review is here.
The Case of Comrade Tulayev by Victor Serge - A look at how Stalinist persecution worked. Read before I posted reviews.
The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov - Uncategoraizable, but on some level a satire of Stalinist show trials. My review is here.
Life and Fate by Vassily Grossman - A masterpiece, mostly about the siege of Stalingrad, but oh so much more. Read before I posted reviews.
Unforgiving Years by Victor Serge - A look at Soviet agents, mostly disillusioned. Read before I posted reviews.
The Queue by Vladimir Sorokin - For something lighter, an experimental look at the queuing phenomenon. My review is here.

What Is Missing from This List? Most prominently, Solzhenitzn, because I haven't (yet) read anything by him.

A Sidetrip into History
Gulag by Anne Applebaum - Brilliant combination of excerpts from prisoners' writings with documentary evidence unearthed from the Soviet archives. My review is here.
Bloodlands: Europe between Hitler and Stalin by Timothy Snyder - Stunning, chilling, and important documentation of the mass murders of 14 million civilians (not soldiers, and not only by Staiin) in the years 1933-1945 in the countries from Poland in the west to western Russia in the east, much of it invisible to those of us in the west. My review is here.
Hitler and Stalin by Alan Bullock - I do plan to read a biography of Stalin that includes material released from the Soviet archives, but this is a great dual biography; I learned a lot from it, especially about the impact of World War II on the Soviet Union and other eastern countries. My review is here.
To the Finland Station by Edmund Wilson - A fascinating, if flawed, study of the ideas that led to the Bolshevik revolution, at once intellectual history, biography, literary criticism, and economic. My review is here.
Memoirs of a Revolutionary by Victor Serge - Serge was present at many of the seminal events of the Russian revolution and its aftermath, and never lost his clear perception when the vision of others was clouded by wishful thinking or worse. My review is here.

Great list, Rebecca. I must be subconsciously building up for another Russian binge as most of these are in my TBR pile. I have read some already, but they can always doe with another read. I'm all ready for 2013.

What sent you on this side trip?

Sassy, several years ago I read The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, which had been on shelves for nearly 40 years, and that led me to Hitler and Stalin, where I found Stalin more interesting because I knew more about Hitler and Nazism. I had read some of Timothy Snyder's pieces in The New York Review of Books and was eager for Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin to come out. At the same time, I had read Life and Fate and The Case of Comrade Tulayev, so I was reading about Stalinist Russia in fiction. It all sort of came together as what I called my "evils of the 20th century" project, although it was really a limited view of all the evils of the 20th century. I continue to read more about this period, which for some reason fascinates me. Adding two books to the list.

I can see how that path works. My initial reading about Stalinist Russia was mostly nonfiction. Although not Russians, have you read Martin Amis The Meeting House about the camps and James's Meek's The People's Act of Love about a slightly earlier period? I think I will start my re entry into the world of Russia with Natasha's Dance and then follow with some of your suggestions.

I haven't read either of those, Sassy, but I'll look for them.

Anyone else have any "courses" or reading lists -- even just a book or two to start us off?

Some time ago I found this "Master Book List" online which has suggested readings in more than 50 major subject areas with many sub-listings. It appears to be extracted from a book published in the 1990s, but the source isn't identified. There may be some interesting ideas here--there are over 600 pages of book lists and descriptions.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/15258834/04Master-Book-List

Edited to add: Here's another link that doesn't charge you to download it:

http://www.dankunlimited.com/uno_pound_sharing/Know_files/Books%20of%20the%20dec...

Lots of food for the TBRs in those lists, Steven. Thanks.

And still hoping others will chime in from their own areas of expertise!

>101 StevenTX: Yes, thanks a lot Steven, those are great.

Well, I am particularly fond of British Romantic poetry, so I'll put up the books that I found the most useful:

Poetry

Easily accessible editions of the major British Romantic poets (Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Shelley, Keats) are the Oxford World's Classics editions. The exception is William Blake, for whom I'd recommend The Complete Poetry and Prose of William Blake, New and Revised Edition, as edited by David V. Erdman with notes by Harold Bloom. (Note: This edition is very complete, and Bloom's notes can be daunting if you don't know your terminology.)

I would also recommend getting an edition of John Clare's poetry; the Oxford World's Classics and Penguin editions are about the same. For the more obscure poets (the better ones are Thomas Lovell Beddoes, Thomas Hood, and George Darley) I relied on old library books, or anthologies.

Theory

There is a preponderance of theory books on British Romantic poetry, so I'm only going to mention a few. Of the contemporary writers, I like William Hazlitt, so I'd recommend his Selected Writings, as well as Thomas de Quincey (I believe a new edition of his Confessions of an English Opium-Eater is coming out next year in the Oxford World's Classics stable).

Of more recent books, I would recommend The Visionary Company by Bloom for its wonderful insights, but it may also be a bit difficult for an introduction. Duncan Wu is the editor of A Companion to Romanticism, a more wide-ranging introduction, which is also very good.

Great list Dewald. It seems you can't go wrong with most of the World's classics editions

I am at the moment reading up on The Italian Renaissance and I have created my own reading list

As an introduction I would recommend the three classics of the early renaissance/medieval period:

The Divine Comedy, translated by Mark Musa
The Decameron Giovanni Boccaccio penguin classic edition
The Poetry of Petrarch translated by David Young

For a historical overview then
The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy Jacob Burckhardt
The Rennaissance in Italy, John Addington Symonds; This is in 6 volumes but like the Burkhardt above it is free from Project Gutenburg.

For a broader view there is The Civilization of Europe in the Renaissance John Hale

Then texts from the Rennaissance itself could include:
On Painting Leon battista Alberti
The Novellino of Masuccio
Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, The strife of love in a dream translated by Joscelyn Godwin
The autobiogaphy of Benvenuto Cellini
Baiae Giovanni Pontano
The Prince, Machiavelli
The comedies of Machiavelli
Lives of the Artists Giorgio Vasari
Orlando Furioso Ariosto

Lucrezia Borgia, Maria Bellonci is an excellent biography.

That should do for starters.

Love these back to school questions!

Q28 - I was an English major, and am now a high school English teacher, but American Literature never really figured in my degree. I've tried, over the past few years, to dive into American Classics, but I feel like a need a "professor" to guide me through them. For example, I seem to be the only person in the world who just cannot get through a Steinbeck novel, and I'd love to learn more about why he is so highly regarded. Same with Hemingway and Faulkner. And Toni Morrison. And, and, and...

Q29 - Now, what I do know a lot about is the literature of my own country, so here is a book list for Canadian Literature 101:

Early Lit - Pre-Confederation
- various letters and journals by Jesuit missionaries
- Native Canadian writers such as Joseph Brant and Catherine Sutton
- Susanna Moodie, Roughing it in the Bush

Confederation Era Poets
- Isabella Valancy Crawford
- Charles G. D. Roberts
- Archibald Lampman
- D. C. Scott
- Pauline Johnson

Early Novels
- Lucy Maud Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables series
- Stephen Leacock, Sunshine Sketches of a Small Town

Modernist Poets
- Earle Birney
- Margaret Atwood - particularly her poems based on Susanna Moodie
- Irving Layton
- P. K. Page
- A. M. Klein
- Al Purdy
- Gwendolyn MacEwan

The Modern Novel
- Sheila Watson, The Double Hook

Other Great Novelists
- Margaret Laurence
- Margaret Atwood
- Michael Ondaatje
- Alistair MacLeod

I think this would be a year-long course! LOL

Great lists, Cait, Barry, and Dewald. I for one am ready to sign up for all your "courses"!

Please feel free to continue to discuss these questions, but the new September thread is up too.

25. Comfort read - Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series

26. want to read more about a subject - happens with every single book I read

27A. LT-inspired - I have a tag, but it's not updated. If you're painfully curious go here.

Last three read:
The David Story: A Translation with Commentary of 1 and 2 Samuel by Robert Alter - for an le Salon group read
People on the Street : A Writer's View of Israel by Linda Grant - mentioned on Middle East group read in Reading Globally. I read it as prep for my Israel trip.
Just Kids by Patti Smith - mentioned in Club Read by Rebeccanyc et al. Read it because it sounded great.

27B. Yes, LT in my main source

27C. What part of LT leads to more books - Personal threads and group reads. I probably buy more from personal threads, but read more that I buy for the group reads...

28. Something which you didn't study in college but which you would like to learn more about - History and Literature.

29. have to think on that.

...now going back and reading everyone's answers.

A lot of helpful lists upthread.

This one isn't mine but Poquette posted some books about "pagan influences" on my thread

Poquette's list

#84 - japaul22 - for geology, I usually recommend looking for something local, if you can find it, and then go out and see that stuff. If you are hiking, try to find a geology guide book that covers the region you are hiking. In the LT search, type in your state (or local states) and "geology" and might get some other interesting titles. For example, you might be interested in Roadside Geology of Maryland, Delaware, and Washington, D.C..

Also, I highly recommend McPhee's Annals of the former world for an intro. Note that it's four books in one...so you may want to read it in parts. It follows I-80 and iirc, the second book covers the east cost and Appalachian mountains. McPhee is far more readable than Richard Fortey. I thought Earth was a tough read.

To piggy back off of Daniel's recommendations there is also a list of Geology books here.

Also a book like an Illustrated Encyclopedia of Minerals Rocks & Fossils of the World can be handy. There are several very good identification encyclopedias out there. But this one teaches to identify rocks and minerals from their properties rather than ideal pictures and isn't written as a textbook.

84, 112, 113-- I didn't realize we were talking about geology. I'm currently reading a relevant book--The Planet in a Pebble, by Jan Zalasiewicz. It's not academic at all--he has a rather conversational tone and even makes jokes, but it's still not the easiest read because he's speaking geologist-speak. I hope that makes sense. Anyway, the parts I understand are very interesting.

112, 113, 114 Thanks for all of the geology recommendations! They are all going on my TBR list and I hadn't heard of or thought of most of them.

Dan - good to know that McPhee is more readable than Fortey. I had a hard time with Earth, though I did enjoy one of his other books, I think it was called Life.

#114 - Joyce, I'm intrigued.

#115 japaul - I compare McPhee and Fortey in my review of Earth: An Intimate History. If you're interested, go here.

Dan - that's a great review. As a person who only took one basic geology gen ed in college, I'll say that while I found Fortey's book interesting and kept it to read again in the future, I really was confused by quite a bit of it. It was interesting enough to keep me reading though. I've had Annals of the Former World on my shelf for years and am hoping to get to it next year or maybe towards the end of this year.

Stretch - I looked through that entire thread you linked to and there are some fantastic ideas there.

You guys have me excited about this!

Joyce, I'm intrigued.

I hope to finish The Planet in a Pebble by the weekend. Still not sure how I'm going to review it--is it a difficult read, or not, or am I just dumb? And then I think that I'd understand it a bit better if it was an episode of PBS Nova, and then I think, it probably was an episode.