The books they ignore…
…I often don’t. Of course, because the NY Times is part of the NYC publishing elites, dominated by the Big Five publishing conglomerates, the newspaper coddles and caters to those publishers and ignores most everything and everyone else. I sometimes peruse the NY Times Book Review to see which books to ignore (because they generally don’t entertain or enlighten me—that’s what you get from companies who are arrogant and too big); I rarely read it, though (if we still had birds as pets, a better use would be found at the bottom of the bird cage).
But it’s not only the Times editors and reviewers or Big Five conglomerate that irk me. I don’t like to be told what to read. Period. I ignore that hyped phrase “Everyone’s reading X,” or use it as a guide to what I should not read. I “discover” my own reading material. I’m also a smart consumer and value my time and money. I want to make sure my reading time isn’t wasted. I’ve learned it too often is with books from the Big Five, especially those lauded by the NY Times’s editors and reviewers associated with the Review.
So…what do I read? Books just about in every fiction genre, with the exception of bodice rippers and cozies (those are subgenres of the romance and mystery genres, although the first could also be erotica too). Lots of non-fiction books too, ones I personally choose because they interest me, not because they have a lot of hype (the latter makes me choosier—I ignore any and all ad campaigns). I recognize that reading choices are subjective; all appreciation of art is. You can make your choices; I’ll make mine. And I assure you, what you choose won’t influence me one bit (although I might say it does just to be nice).
I’m a weird chap, so our choices probably wouldn’t overlap much. I prefer books that stretch my mind with important themes or unusual plots (even better, make that “or” an “and” and I might be hooked). I find that in some recently published books (including my own, of course); I “discover” that more in “evergreen books,” ones that are as fresh and current as the day they were published (like most of mine) and happened to miss. Even as a speed-reader, I can only read so many books, so I know the number of good evergreen books is always increasing even if the number of quality current books is decreasing. I’ll always have plenty of reading material that the NY Times mostly ignores; those books won’t waste my time.
Is this attitude arrogant? Possibly. As a writer, I’m qualified to determine whether a book is worth my time, so I don’t need much help from anyone else. While I sometimes change my mind about a book’s worth after starting it, the book’s blurb and a “peek inside” are indicators that usually work well enough for me, i.e. my own browsing in either an online or brick-and-mortar bookstore or in a public library works just fine. I’m not in the habit of consulting third-party opinions, including reviewers and editors associated with the Times’s Review.
And isn’t it the epitome of arrogance, exhibited by the Times’s reviewers and many others, to tell people what they should read? I learned ago that doesn’t work for me (even before I became a full-time writer). I don’t write reviews with that in mind. I’m only providing an information service because nearly every book I read and review is one that the NY Times has ignored. And the Times’s reviews don’t provide useful information. Their reviewers are as egotistical as their restaurant reviewers.
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Comments are always welcome.
Rogue Planet. A murdered king’s son fights to free his people from an oppressive religious tyranny. An epic military and romantic sci-fi novel with Game-of-Thrones and Star Wars fantasy elements awaits you. Set in the same universe as The Chaos Chronicles Trilogy Collection and A. B. Carolan’s sci-fi mysteries for young adults, this book is available at Amazon in print and ebook versions, and at Smashwords and its affiliated retailers (iBooks, B&N, Kobo, etc.) and lending and library services (Scribd, Overdrive, Baker&Taylor, Gardners, etc.).
Around the world and to the stars! In libris libertas!
