Julie Crisp, Editorial Director for publisher Tor in the UK, has written a thoughtful piece called Book Browsing - A Lost Art?
I was immediately intrigued because she described the way I remember finding books to read as a child. My father took me to the public library whenever our books were due so we could choose more. I don't remember anyone ever influencing my choices. My father, a generalist, browsed the entire adult collection and in imitation I browsed the children's. Of course, I had sections I loved best but nothing was overlooked.
Now I have so many books waiting for my attention that the thought of browsing is terrifying. I would undoubtedly find more books to house that would never be read.
Several times recently I've culled books from my shelves. Collecting books has never been my goal. There are books I keep, but there are more that I release back into the world where others can read them.
What are your experiences with finding your next book? Do you ever 'browse'?
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I do like to browse "real" books, but do so much less than I used to, maybe only a few times a year. Most of my browsing is now electronic. In any case, my TBR list still continues to grow.
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