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This is a space where we can talk about other book and literary items (Not for author self-promotions).

On May 14, 1925: Virginia Woolf’s novel Mrs. Dalloway was published in both England and America.

Do you prefer to read series or standalone novels?

I tend to read more series, but read the occasional standalone novel. With series, I seem to make a deeper connection to the characters and their lives.

I like reading series because you get to know the characters and their world better. I also like a bit of variety, so I try to read series with a gap between each book, which means I sometimes forget names and details... 🐇

I used to have a rule for myself to not jump into a long-running series midstream. But now with NetGalley, that has fallen by the wayside and I enjoy discovering new authors and their series. Often I'll then go back and read the series from the beginning. As you both have mentioned, you then get the benefit of seeing the character development. Two that come to mind are the Cork O'Connor books by William Kent Krueger and the Mac McKenzie series by David Housewright.

I agree with you both. I like to read a series from the beginning, but with NetGalley, I have been jumping into series mid-stream. Most of the time, it works out. I have several series that I want to go back and read the earlier books.

Do you have go-to authors that are auto-buys/reads?

PamG wrote: "Do you have go-to authors that are auto-buys/reads?"
I do, but it seems to change quite a bit, as authors change their style, etc. I now have a "two strikes in a row & you're out" rule for disappointments. They're "auto-reads" too, as I either get from library or elsewhere. (I pay taxes for my libraries & volunteer at two)

PamG wrote: "Do you have go-to authors that are auto-buys/reads?"

Auto-read, absolutely. Auto-buy is much more selective, I like to use Libby and then buy my absolute favorites after the fact. However, Ilona Andrews is an auto-buy for me, on or close to release day.

Dee (in the Desert) wrote: "PamG wrote: "Do you have go-to authors that are auto-buys/reads?"
I do, but it seems to change quite a bit, as authors change their style, etc. I now have a "two strikes in a row & you're out" rule..."

I just keep adding more to my list and rarely remove any. Thanks for volunteering at two libraries.

AJ wrote: "PamG wrote: "Do you have go-to authors that are auto-buys/reads?"

Auto-read, absolutely. Auto-buy is much more selective, I like to use Libby and then buy my absolute favorites after the fact. How..."

Ilona Andrews is another great author.

Most of my auto-buys/auto-reads are thriller and police procedural authors, but a few are urban fantasy, romantic suspense, paranormal romantic suspense, historical mystery, and cozy mystery authors.

How do you choose which book you want to read next?

Intriguing question!
I usually look for a book that’s a bit different from the one I’ve just finished. Sometimes I choose a completely different book.
I scroll through the list of e-books I haven’t read yet, have a look at what they’re about and try to work out which story I fancy reading. I also ask myself whether I want to read a new author, or one I already know. Am I more drawn to a book I’ve just bought, or one that’s been sitting there waiting?
This process is also part of the pleasure of reading. Which ocean do I want to dive into? Which world do I want to explore? What sort of characters will I meet?

Alessandra wrote: "Intriguing question!
I usually look for a book that’s a bit different from the one I’ve just finished. Sometimes I choose a completely different book.
I scroll through the list of e-books I haven’t..."

Great response, Alessandra!

I have a Commitments and Opportunities spreadsheet. From that, I create a monthly TBR. There's always more than I can read on it to give me flexibility.

Priorities:
ARC Commitments - downloaded (pub. date order)
Commitments to Authors / Publishers - non-NetGalley
ARCs I want to read but haven't accepted the widget yet or could get as AA or RN.
BOTMs for two groups
Books for Challenges
Booktrovert Giveaways / Sweepstakes winners
Goodreads Giveaways
Kindle TBRs
Physical TBRs

Historical literary related/adjacent events that occurred on 5/19:

1864 - Author Nathaniel Hawthorne died.

1934 - The Saturday Review of Literature published a difficult Sherlock Holmes crossword puzzle. Those who solved it become members of the "Baker Street Irregulars".

1966: Author Jodi Picoult was born.

PamG wrote: "Do you prefer to read series or standalone novels?"

I don't really have a preference between them; I read both, though standalone fiction makes up a larger part of my reading. (But that's simply because there are just a lot more standalone fiction reads out there than there are series books!) For me, the important thing in a fiction read is whether or not I like the story and characters, not whether or not it's a series book. In most cases, I like to read a series in order, if I'm going to try to read the whole thing. But sometimes I just sample the first (or a later) book, and am not invested enough to continue, even if I liked it.

PamG wrote: "Do you have go-to authors that are auto-buys/reads?"

Several of my friends who are Goodreads authors are auto-reads for me (not necessarily auto-buys --that depends on finances :-) ). The main ones I can think of are Andrew M. Seddon, Krisi Keley (though she hasn't been well enough to write for several years), Liane Zane, and Heather Day Gilbert. (Heather actually has a couple of series out that I haven't tried yet, but I'm hoping to sample one of them soon!)

PamG wrote: "How do you choose which book you want to read next?"

It's more of an art than a science with me; with hundreds of books on my to-read/maybe shelves, there's no lack of possibilities. I generally have some kind of plan in mind for my year's reading, but circumstance plays a role, too. There are some regular annual group reads I try to take part in; I prioritize review copies out of courtesy to the authors, and sometimes gifts out of courtesy to the giver. How a particular read will fit into my schedule, and whether it's ready to hand in my TBR or at the BU library, or is something I'll have to request by interlibrary loan, is also a factor.

Thanks for sharing, Werner.

I agree with your statement: "the important thing in a fiction read is whether or not I like the story and characters".

I don't believe I've read anything by Seddon or Keley. However, I enjoy books by both Liane Zone and Heather Day Gilbert.

Your method for choosing which book to read next makes sense to me. I often have to not accept widgets due to them not fitting into my schedule. I usually end up buying those at some point and hopefully working them in at a later date.

PamG wrote: "Historical literary related/adjacent events that occurred on 5/19:

1864 - Author Nathaniel Hawthorne died.

1934 - The Saturday Review of Literature published a difficult Sherlock Holmes crossword..."

wow!

I think I had heard about the Sherlock Holmes crossword puzzle some time ago, but I'd forgotten about it. It was created by Frank V. Morley who used the pseudonym 'Mycroft Holmes'.

This puzzle was used as an entrance exam for Christopher Morley's new literary society, The Baker Street Irregulars. The organization still exists today.

Here are a few historical literary events that occurred on May 20th:

1609: Shakespeare's sonnets were first published in London. It was an unauthorized release that included many classics.

2022: The Santa Fe Literary Festival launched its inaugural weekend with Margaret Atwood and Colson Whitehead in attendance for a four-day celebration of the written word.

That would have been an excellent literary festival to attend--two of my favorite authors.

Bam cooks the books wrote: "That would have been an excellent literary festival to attend--two of my favorite authors."

It would have been great even though I haven't read anything by either author. However, at least one book for each of them is on my TBR.

Do you put pressure on yourself with challenges? I found the way to alleviate this entirely for me is to just look at the books I read during the month and see if any of them fit a challenge. That makes it easy.

For example, I plan on reading books 2-4 by Linda Castillo in the Kate Burkholder series in June. This will qualify for the 1..2..3..Read challenge.

I know that I will be reading a couple of BOTMs in June for various groups that will be by "New to Me" authors. That works for one of our annual challenges. I also found that having multiple achievement levels on challenges helps alleviate the "pressure".

Do you tailor your reading to challenges or do you let what you read fall where it may on challenges?

Hmmm! I mostly read what I want to, and if it fits into a Goodreads challenge, that's great; so I don't really feel pressured as such. But I don't take part in many challenges, and usually only join in those that interest me.

Some of them are annual challenges; for instance, I belong to a group set up by the library where I work, that asks members to keep track of how many books the library owns that they read each year. But that's not a very challenging challenge, because a lot of my reading has always tended to be library check-outs. :-) In two groups, we annually keep track of how many classics we read, and in one we count how many books we read that have an action-heroine protagonist. But I like reading classics; and although unlike the other challenges, the latter one calls for a numerical goal, we set it for ourselves. So neither of them create any real pressure.

The others are ongoing challenges that I join in or set for myself, with no time limit (so again, no real pressure). I'm hoping to eventually read a book set in every U.S. state; I identify countries of the world in which books I've read are set; and I keep track of books I've read by authors who aren't from the U.S. or U.K., and challenge myself to read more of them. (My series completion "challenge" is really just more of a record-keeping device.) I know these challenges are there, but I've never made any concerted push to complete or add to them, and I don't read books that I'm not interested in just because they would fit into a particular one.

This year I have been enjoying 'literary' jigsaw puzzles published by Laurence King and purchased through Thrift Books. Titles all begin with the phrase 'The World of'... So far I've done puzzles about Shakespeare, Sherlock Holmes, Charles Dickens, Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple, The Brontes, and Oscar Wilde. All include a guide to the life and work of the various authors/subjects. So much fun!

Bam cooks the books wrote: "This year I have been enjoying 'literary' jigsaw puzzles published by Laurence King and purchased through Thrift Books. Titles all begin with the phrase 'The World of'... So far I've done puzzles a..."

That sounds like great fun!

Werner wrote: "Hmmm! I mostly read what I want to, and if it fits into a Goodreads challenge, that's great; so I don't really feel pressured as such. But I don't take part in many challenges, and usually only joi..."

I also identify countries of the world in which books I've read are set. I tend to add a few each year. No pressure. It's an on-going challenge.

What is a book that everyone seems to love but you absolutely did not like?

One book for me is Fleishman Is in Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akner. It was a nominee for Readers' Favorite Fiction and a Nominee for Readers' Favorit Dubut Novel in 2019 on Goodreads. It was a weak 1 star for me.

I don’t have a preference of series or stand alone. I sort of go by the list of ARCs I have and sometimes I discover a book is part of a series! I will immediately go to library and scan for the beginning books of the series. I will read them before the latest one and then I’m usually following the series. It seems I’ve been getting cozy mystery series which is a rather new genre for me.
I did read Steve Cavanagh’s Eddie Flynn series out of order because they are popular at the library! They can be standalone but happy to have the background!

PamG wrote: "What is a book that everyone seems to love but you absolutely did not like?

One book for me is Fleishman Is in Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akner. I was a nominee fo..."


For me it's
Asylum by McGrath, Patrick published by Vintage


And another that I interrupted reading is
Trilogia della città di K.

Kelly wrote: "II did read Steve Cavanagh’s Eddie Flynn series out of order because they are popular at the library! They can be standalone but happy to have the background!..."

I have read some of the Eddie Flynn series and need to go back and read the rest.

Alessandra wrote: "PamG wrote: "What is a book that everyone seems to love but you absolutely did not like?

One book for me is Fleishman Is in Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akner. I was..."

Thanks for sharing!

Do you think reading a book a month that's been gifted to someone could get them out of a reading slump or get them started reading if they don't read?

Do you have any books that you've read that you still think about long after you've finished reading them?

For me, The Incredible Winston Browne by Sean Dietrich is one of those books.

It begins with a stark realization: Winston discovers he is dying of an illness. Instead of giving up, he chooses to keep his diagnosis a secret and live his remaining days helping others. I read this one over 5 years ago and still think about it today.

Back in 2011, a lady on Goodreads, who was concerned about the need to support physical bookstores in order to keep them open and preserve all the benefits they provide, challenged the rest of us to buy at least two books (new ones, not used) per year from a brick-and-mortar store. I've met that challenge every year from 2011 through 2025, and I'm one book along towards meeting it for 2026, having already bought one book to donate to the library where I work. Maybe some others would be interested in taking up this challenge as well?

Thanks for the suggestion, Werner. Let's see if there's any interest.

I like that idea, Werner!!

Werner and Deanna, I've set up an annual challenge for this.

Here is the link.

Great! Thanks, Pam.

Do you judge a book by its cover?

Does the cover ever cause you to pass on a book?

Do you ever feel that the book cover was misleading and doesn't match the tone and plot of the story?

Sometimes I judge a book by its cover, but I'm not sure how to describe that judging with any specificity. I know what I like or dislike in the artwork immediately. I will typically pass on a book if I dislike the cover, unless I need to read it for a challenge or it has MANY fantastic reviews.

More often than not, I choose books to read based on things I've heard or read about them, or about the authors, regardless of what the cover looks like. (And of course, anyone who's browsed older books, in libraries or used bookstores, knows that in many cases the covers are just solid-colored book cloth stretched over the cover boards, which either never had a book jacket or had the jacket removed and thrown away by the librarians, just because through most of the 20th century that's typically what they did.)

That said, there have been times that I've been drawn to pick a book in large measure because it had appealing cover art. ( Love Finds You in Calico, California and All the Tea in China are good examples --I can be a sucker for action-heroine iconography. :-) ) And at the other end of the spectrum, I've seen covers so disgusting I couldn't be paid to read the books (though I won't share any examples!).

Lisa, I agree with you that I may immediately like or dislike a cover. However, that will not affect whether I read a book (usually).

Werner, I also choose books based on reviews and authors as well as the synopsis. Werner, I agree that historically, many books had plain covers and that doesn't turn me away from them.

I've also been known to try a book I needed for a challenge.

When you read historical fiction, do you enjoy having real people brought into the story along with the fictional characters or do you want them all to be fictional?

On the whole, I'm more inclined to read historical fiction about entirely fictional characters, though real persons might appear in the plot at times. But on the other hand, some of the historical fiction novels I've rated very highly, such as the Vikings of the New World duology by Heather Day Gilbert and Crown of Aloes by Norah Lofts, have real-life protagonists; so that's not a hard and fast rule. (And when I was a kid, I read more historical fiction about real people than I do now.)

I am absolutely on the other side. I appreciate when historical fiction novels are based on real people.

Recently I read Sadeqa Johnson's and most recent The Keeper of Lost Children. When reading her afterward I was quite surprised to find out how many incredible individuals had inspired and were worked into the novel.

Another novel I really appreciated was based on the diaries of just one strong and resilient woman,from the 1700s Martha Ballard who was a midwife. It was a mixture of two of my favorite genres...
Historical Fiction and Murder Mystery
The book of course is The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon.

Another book based on a real woman you just should not miss is
Lady Tan's Circle of Women by Lisa See.

Tan Yunxian was a female physician in Ancient China taught by her grandmother who was also a physician.

I learned so much and felt so much reading this fascinating novel.

I enjoy historical novels whether they have entirely fictional characters, or mix in fictional characters and real people.

One series that I enjoyed used a young Emily Dickinson as an amateur sleuth. Mixing real-life individuals like the Dickinson Family, head maid Margaret O’Brien, and Lucy Stone with fictional characters such as Willa (a fictional maid) made this an engaging historical mystery story. In one of the books, Ralph Waldo Emerson showed up too. It starts with Because I Could Not Stop for Death by Amanda Flower.

Having recognizable figures tends to establish the era's stakes, culture, and social atmosphere. I also then tend to do more research on the actual history.

A historical fiction novel that is based on true events and real people, but has plenty of fictional characters is The Winter Orphans by Kristin Beck This one got 5 stars from me.