In my previous ‘Choosing books, Changing Habits’ post I’d reached the point where I had accepted the change towards digital books and I had decided this was an opportunity to set about better informing myself about my hobby
1. Of course the most obvious method is to follow Authors you have already read, we all do this but it gets to feel stale pretty quickly, see Ken Follett
2. Written book reviews, such as the example given below for my French reading, I currently pay around 2€50 per edition (paper and e-version), 10 per year, a good beginning for following established writers and literary prizes, sales tables as well as new writers.
In the past year I have chosen Thomas Coppey, Victor del Arbol and Simonetta Gregio through this route
3. On the English side I follow at present the Literary Review for the same reasons as above, this is once again a monthly review
This has been the least successful method of widening my reading choices
4. Getting past the written reviews, there are of course the podcasts which I, despite good intentions, rarely listen to
5. On the French podcast side I listen very occasionally to the less politically correct Le Masque et La Plume where a regular panel give views and are not afraid of negative reviews
6. I am of course open to recommendations from friends and blog followers such as Michael Russel
7. Occasional visits to book festivals throw up new names such as those I’ve picked up at the annual Paris book fair such as Sorj Chalandon, or at the American Festival in Paris (Vincennes) where I came across both Tim Gautreaux and Donald Ray Pollock
8. Major book prize long listed authors from the British ‘Man Booker‘ or the French ‘Goncourt‘ or more recently the German ‘Deutscher Buchpreise‘
9. And of course I still visit book shops but when I do I always buy from the shop I visit.
Am I angry at being trapped into Amazon only for my E-books? Well of course I am and am open to any solutions
All of the above are for my reading habit of somewhere between 30 and 40 books per year, some read and some on audio books in the car on my way to work, the French audio books borrowed from the local lending Library at Palaiseau (a large collection constantly renewed).
These reviews could be used as source information to help choose potential French books or books available in French for translation into English,if you would like a review of this type get in touch!
South of Paris books 