The *Problem* with New-to-Me Authors

Of course we all have bigger and better things to fret about, but as a reader, the phenomenon of finding and loving a *new* author can be both exhilarating and somewhat distressing. For me, it usually goes something like this:

Before I start reading: "You know I've heard of this author, but I've never tried any of her books. Maybe I'll give this one a shot." Proceed to buy book.

While I'm reading: "Holy crap this book is AWESOME! How have I never read anything by this author before?! I definitely need to read her other books too!

After I'm done reading: Wait, she's written 17 other books? How am I ever going to find time to read 17 other books when my TBR list already has 400+ books on it?!?!

Later, most likely at a used bookstore: Oh gosh, they have all of the 17 other books by this author. They don't cost very much, and I really liked that first book I just read. Proceed to buy books. (Admittedly, I don't always buy all the books, but I do always want to.)

After taking the books home -- two possible scenarios:
#1. I neglect all the other books I was planning to read and plow through my lovely new stash just like I thought I would when I was standing in the bookstore.

#2. My lovely new stash collects dust for quite a while before I eventually start slowly reading them in between other books.

*  *  *  *  *

Far too often, I end up in scenario #2. I have so much enthusiasm -- certainly enough to acquire the books in the first place -- but then I remember all the other things I want to read or should be reading instead and the plan to binge on this new-to-me author's books goes out the window.

Even scarier, this sometimes happens to me without actually having read a single one of an author's books! I'll hear great things about a certain series or author from trusted sources and just know we're a perfect match. Then, I spot them on a bargain rack, Half.com, or at the used bookstore when I have a lot of credit saved up... You'd think I could get just one or two to start with, right? But, nooooooo, it seems all 17 books jumped into my shopping basket! I wonder how that happened...

A few new to-me authors I've run into this dilemma with:

Classics

Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Jane Austen

Mystery/Thriller

Jennifer McMahon

James Rollins

Tess Gerritson's Rizzoli & Isles books

Janet Evanovich
Phil Rickman

General Fiction

Chris Bohjalian

Elizabeth Noble

Sarah Smith

Sarah Waters

Joanne Harris

Katherine Webb

Sarah Addison Allen

Elin Hilderbrand

Susanna Kearsley

Isabel Allende

Lauren Willig

Please tell me some of you can relate! I have been doing very well with my new Golden Rule of Book Buying this year which has really helped curb my impulse shopping, but having credit at used bookstores is definitely still my weakness. Does anyone else have conflicted feelings like this? Which authors have been new-to-you recently? I'd love to know :)

Thoughts on Books that "Count"

Now that we're into the second month of 2014 and I've read countless posts about reading goals and challenges (not to mention the ridiculous number I've joined myself), I've been thinking a lot about the idea of counting books. Not that long ago, quite a few bloggers I follow participated in the latest round of Bout of Books as a jump-start to the new year. I didn't participate myself, but I read quite a few update posts and perused the comments, intrigued by the idea of a week of intensive reading. What surprised me the most were the comments by some people who felt what they read didn't really "count." These people were not criticizing each other -- in fact, every single comment I read was supportive -- they were instead criticizing themselves! They were saying how much better the other person did because they only read: easy books, short books, novellas, graphic novels, audiobooks, etc., etc. -- whatever genre or format they felt to be "less than" worthy. They were putting themselves down because seemingly, they felt like they were "cheating" or not challenging themselves enough.

I understand the temptation to do this kind of thing, but I am also a firm believer that a book is a book, period. It doesn't matter if it's short or long, easy or difficult, if I want to read it, it's a book (and it counts!) Looking at my GoodReads challenge progress, it would be easy to start worrying about people judging my reading choices -- of the nine I've read so far, only three are full-length books in the most traditional sense. The others are a combination of poetry, short stories, and children's books, three of which I listened to on audio. I try not to entertain such silly thoughts, but I will admit those Bout of Books comments allowed some doubt to creep into my mind. But, just as with body image (and just about every area of life), I am convinced we are always harder on ourselves than we are on each other. You know the adage, "don't say anything to yourself that you wouldn't say to a friend?" I think that's might be something for us book bloggers to keep in mind too!

Personally, I never choose a book solely for it's length or ease of reading for the purpose of inflating my yearly number of books read. I doubt there are many people who do, but if that's their prerogative, who am I to judge? I have all different interests and while the majority of books I want to read are "full length" books/novels, I think I may have subconsciously neglected other types, possibly feeling like they don't really "count" without even realizing it! So going forward, I'm making it a point to not limit myself and make sure I don't fall prey to self-criticism for my reading choices. The list of books I want to read is long enough and varied enough that I definitely have options for just about every mood or scenario. There's nothing wrong with choosing a book from that ever-growing list that is lighter/easier/shorter, for any reason and I shouldn't waste time or energy wondering if it should "count" or not. We can't read long, heavy books all the time, (or at least I can't!)

One genre I think often falls into the "it doesn't really count" category in people's minds is children's books. Not YA necessarily, actual kids books -- but there are so many classic ones I haven't read, and if the mood strikes, I'm going to read them! This past weekend, I dove into Shel Silverstein's A Light in the Attic and I couldn't put the thing down! It's one of those books I never read as a kid (not in full, anyway) and I was only more intrigued after learning it made the ALA's most frequently banned & challenged list. Where a book is located in the library should not diminish its value. There are treasures to be found in all sections, including those that happen to be shelved in the area that also hosts Mommy & Me storytime.

There are all kinds of reasons for reading books and I'd much rather focus on those than come up with reasons against reading anything I'm genuinely interested in. We don't all like the same books, and we all have our reasons why certain authors, genres, etc. don't interest us. That's totally fine, but worrying that someone (or yourself) will deem a book not worthy enough to "count" should not be one of them.

So, I'm making 2014 a judgement-free year -- who's with me?