Reading Lists - Musings From The Bookface

I never remember my shopping lists. I write them, diligently noting down the needs, wants and desperately missing items from the pantry, but upon completion my flowery handwriting sits totally unused on the kitchen side whilst I frantically search my pockets in the freezer aisle.

Now strangely I don’t seem to have the same problem with reading lists, usually because they are stored online somewhere, on my eBook bookshelf, my library catalogue and even on Social Media, I can see these lists anywhere I have wifi access so remembering books I’m hunting for is easy, technology providing. In fact as pointed out in this article where the internet is concerned there is perhaps even a surfeit of reading lists at this time of year, with various celebrities, pop-stars, television shows, websites and newspapers offering their own inventory of this years’ must-read summer sensations.

Bill Gates, Richard and Judy, Goodreads, TED, Mashable, Dolly Parton, Cosmopolitan, VH1, even politicians (like Keith Simpson MP) feel the urge to share with us their recommendations for how to while away the summer hours, although I would only recommend a politico’s list if you fancy something highbrow and usually historical or biographical, although David Cameron has said he will be reading the comic novel ‘Skippy Dies’ alongside the more worthy  ‘Jerusalem: The Biography’ on this year break.

Which all begs the question, are we really that affected by the reading tastes of people we have never met? I myself am often oblivious to these lists, preferring the word of mouth of friends and colleagues to distant strangers, but perhaps I’m missing out on a literary treat? Does knowing that you hold in your hand the same book Bill Gates discussed with his wife over breakfast make the reading experience greater? Or does knowing that a particularly disliked public figure endorsed a book put you off it?

- The Muser