"HERE, take another one. Why not? One's not enough."
Who was this talking?
When I heard it, I imagined a babushka covered matriarch with a plate of hot cookies. But nope, it was me. I was singing my Readers' Services anthem while helping a patron find a John Grisham read-alike. Why take only one. It's the library. They're free. If you get home and don't like one, there should be another option right there.
I like to encourage going home with multiple books and multiple authors. The patron did take home several books by Steve Martini. I was happy she took more than one book but privately admonished myself for not introducing a more unique choice. Steve Martini is a baby boomer lawyer turned writer just like John.
This experience reminded me of a The New Yorker magazine list of 20 authors under 40. The article highlights these young talents one by one, provides a brief interview with each and a sample of their writing. None of the writers on the list would have been a great match for someone wanting a legal thriller but the library is a great place to take a chance on someone new.
Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi
Adrian, Chris
Alarcon, Daniel
Bezmozigis, David
Bynum, Sarah
Ferris, Joshua
Foer, Jonathan Safran
Freudenberger, Nell
Galchan, Rivka
Krauss,Nicole
Li,Yiyun
Meyer, Philipp
Morgan, C.E
Packer, ZZ
2 comments:
Good idea! Trying out a new author can be well worth it. Madeleine is Sleeping by Sarah Bynum is a wonderful fairy tale of a book, one I never would have encountered if I had stuck to the old standards.
I always like to take out a few books by different authors, especially if they're authors I haven't tried before. Then if I find I don't like one of them, there's always an alternative to read. (Never be without a good read!) "And Then We Came to the End" by Joshua Ferris was one of those "new authors" for me a year or so ago. I found it to be entertaining and right on the mark as far as crazy office politics is concerned.
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