jbnj451

jbnj451 t1_j18buo6 wrote

Three things I want in a novel:

  • A good voice /prose (i.e. I want to enjoy the reading experience)
  • Characters that are compelling (i.e. I want to care about them. Whether I love them, hate them, am creeped out or sad, I want to care, please)
  • A plot that I get pulled into (i.e. Do interesting things happen? Am I surprised or engaged? Or do I feel like my time is being wasted?)

Apart from these three things, I’m open to different genres, styles, even works that feel a bit experimental. There are many ways to form a narrative, but the books I love have all three of these things.

18

jbnj451 t1_ivylhui wrote

I have a long term goal of reading through several lists of books:

  • Time Magazine’s Top 100 English language Novels 1923 - 2005 (78/100 read)
  • Modern Library’s Top 100 novels (43/100 read)
  • All Pulitzer Prize Winners in fiction (17 read so far)
  • All Booker Prize winners (5 read)
  • BBC’s 100 Most Inspiring Novels (23/100 read)
  • 2022 Big Jubilee Read (8/70 completed)

But, I mix that with short term goals:

  • Read 24 books a year
  • Read for an hour a day, 6 days per week.

I'd say most books I read aren't on any of my bucket reading lists, and I tend to mix long books with shorter ones to reach annual goals.

1

jbnj451 t1_isc4rnx wrote

I started with some lists (Time Magazine’s Top 100 English language novels 1923 - 2005, Modern Library’s Top 100), which I started reading through some of those. It helped me to find authors that I enjoyed, and I checked out more of their works. I’ve expanded to several other lists… That gave me a good base of likes/dislikes/genres.

Eventually, I found some bookstagram friends who have read a number of novels I’ve also enjoyed. So, I see what they are reading.

Other times, I’ll pick a country and look up some novels of note from that country. That can be interesting.

Between the lists, and recommendations from my bookstagram friends, and just a general sense of curiosity… I have a never ending to-read list.

2