How to Create Your Own Reading List

So little time, so much to read. Making a list of books to read for pleasure is a lifelong process.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Journals
• Palm Handheld Organizers
• Magazine Subscriptions
• Newspaper Subscriptions
• Spiral Notebooks

1. Buy a journal, notebook or electronic assistant and use it for your list.
2. Join the public library, even if you go there just to browse.
3. Subscribe to book-review magazines or newsletters. Scan them for books and authors that interest you.
4. Read the best-seller lists to gain even more suggestions.
5. Investigate award-winning authors and books. Prestigious awards such as the Nobel Prize in Literature, the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award and the Booker Prize signify worthy literary accomplishments.
6. Read up on favorite topics and peruse the books' bibliographies (usually found in nonfiction works), adding titles to your list.
7. Discover your favorite authors and note their other works.
8. Join a book group and get referrals from other readers.
9. Audit or take a class at the local college or adult education program, or visit an Internet chat room or newsgroup. All can offer good pointers to worthwhile reading.

Tips & Warnings

• You will find out about more books than you can possibly read in one lifetime, so focus your list from time to time, according to your interests.
• Going to France? Read guidebooks, historical novels, cookbooks or whatever interests you most about the country: gardening in Provence, winemaking in Burgundy, etc.
• Don't get overloaded. Take suggestions from people whose opinions and taste you trust.