Jaye Marie and Anita Dawes

Because there are too many books. Not only the deluge of new books pouring forth from the Big 5 publishers, small presses, and millions of indies, but all the worthwhile books produced since humans began writing. If I take the time to read a really old book (like Homer’s Iliad, for example) I feel like I’m going to miss a lot of new books. Book FOMO — how silly! Actually, I doubt that anyone can keep up with even a fraction of all the new books, or predict which ones will become classics. So I’m resigned to being spottily well-read. Half-decently read, maybe.

Categories of Books

• Old, even ancient classics, called by some the “literary canon”
• Current literary award winners: Booker, Giller, Pulitzer, etc.
• Books “everyone’s talking about,” many of which have been made into movies
• Obscure trad-pubbed books
• Indie books (many of which are obscure)
• Books that simply must…