There was a comment on the Barnes and Noble thread about where one would go to find new books:
Where do you folks find out what is new in lit? I’m really curious as I don’t hang with literary types, so my reading is a lonely enterprise.
Also, I agree with Angi, my curiosity about the real world keeps me engrossed in non-fiction so much that my good intentions to dive into the world of lit, new or old is nothing but that; good intentions.
I tend to have too many recommendations on my plate rather than too few. When I need something new, I usually just check out the new acquisitions shelf at the library. I also check out Bookslut occasionally.
Where do you get your suggestions? Friends, family, the paper?
I’m boring — I usually go to the NYTimes or Salon to hear about new fiction, but if I’m bored I’ll surf the “other people also bought” search option in Amazon.
Word of mouth tends to give me the best results.
I get most of my suggestions from librarything.com – I look for people with similar libraries to mine and see what books they rated well. I also use their suggester feature with mixed results.
I usually go to amazon.com and search or pick up good books ideas on a variety of blogs from CA NOW to feministing. :)
Ohhh and NPR usually has good book recommendations too.
Honestly, I have an Amazon wishlist a mile long. And usually I get new things to put on it from either Feministing’s “Not Oprah’s Book Club,” from Bitch’s “Bitch Reads” section or from Feminist Review.
From Oprah.
Duh.
I read threads on different sites where books are sometimes recommended (fanficrants, metaquotes, transgender, etc. on LJ for instance) and I browse a lot.
Some of my favorite books were found just by browsing.
I’ve been getting my reading suggestions from Blogtopia. Just got my copy of The Island at the Center of the World, a book about the Dutch history of Manhattan, which I read about somewhere on-line the other day (can’t remember where).
Yeah, I read history for fun; my dweebdom is complete.
Other great reads last year: Chris Hedges *American Fascists*, *A Clearing in the Distance,* (GREAT biography of Frederick Law Olmsted, my hero), Glenn Greenwald’s *A Tragic Legacy*.
If you want to depress the hell out of yourself, read Rick’s *Fiasco* and Chandrasekaran’s *Inside the Emerald City…* in tandem. Recommended only if you hide all sharp and/or throwable objects first.
Goodreads.com! Also the display tables at independent bookstores.
Mostly from friends (in person) or from those same friends’ write-ups on Goodreads.
Depending on how flexibile your definition of “new” is, I like to read award winning books such as:
Pulitzer Prize for Nonfiction
National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction
National Book Award for Nonfiction
Oregon Book Award for Nonfiction
For whatever reason, the Pulitzer people and I have very similar tastes because I love almost all of the ones I’ve read.
Every year for Christmas for as long as I can remember, my mother has renewed my subscription to the New York Review of Books. I often get ideas for what to read as much from the ads as from the reviews themselves…
Note to self: Don’t try posting on websites while watching “Mythbusters.” Replace “Fiction” for “nonfiction” above. I don’t know what I was thinking. I rarely read nonfiction.
Oh, and if your tastes are more international, there is a Nobel Prize for Literature. But the Nobel folks and I don’t like the same things. It WILL make you sound smarter at a dinner party, however, if that’s your thing.
London Review of Books.
Although finalists for the Booker Prize alone could keep me reading for five or six of the next years.
First, I review Web blogs to see what the scoop is on the newest books. Then I try and find them on Amazon.com.
One that I found on both recently, is called The Power of Yin by 3 inspiring women authors Hazel Henderson, Jean Houston & Barbara Marx-Hubbard This book deals with the vision of three remarkable women on developments and challenges in the world and has inspired me and now shows me that there are still people who have a great vision for the world and live that vision in their personal and professional lives.
It’s one of my favorite reads so far in 2008. I’m sure plenty more to come.
Powells.com has great employee picks. I also use book-cataloging sites to spy on people whose taste I trust.
Another good technique is to buy a literary magazine and see if the folks whose stories you like have books on the market.
I’d like to give another vote for LibraryThing. It’s getting a lot of attention within librarian circles and at least when you use it you’re searching based on your tastes rather than just what’s new.
I get my ideas from all of the above, piny. I am lucky in that all of my family and friends read – a lot. I typically read about three books a week, a mixture of fiction and nonfiction. I also just wander through the bookstores and have been known to hijack great stuff from other professor book lists at the university where I teach. fun stuff. and sorry for the bad typing; I am typing from my phone.