Do you always read the latest book?

[tobee]

I remember (years ago when I was a student and had a long commute) first noticing that certain new books were "the latest thing" and everyone seemed to be reading them. Certain friends and acquaintances would be sure to be holding a copy, tons of people would be sat in the tube with a new release.

I tended not to do this, probably as I was studying English Literature and classics and already had a huge reading list. Then I realised I found the hype influenced me towards or away from a book too much.

So I was wondering if you like the latest read, which ones you purchased and whether you liked them or not. Or whether you stay clear, or whatever. Do they live up to the hype? Do you like to discuss with friends? What's your motivation I guess?

Books that I can think of that are examples of "the latest book",off the top of my head, would be The Secret History, Bonfire of the Vanities, The Silence of the Lambs, Sophie's World, My Brilliant Friend etc.

I agree, it's not so easy to know what the latest book is these days.

I remember commuting to work in the 90s and you could see that every other person was reading Captain Corelli's Mandolin one week, or High Fidelity or The Secret History, and you would go off to find out more about it .

These days it's discussions on internet book groups, and I don't find the book at all appealing, far too many of them are American for a start when I prefer European literature. I would have to be desperate to read the Crawdads book.

@TonTonMacoute - I'm interested by your comment that you'd have to be desperate to read the Crawdads book. I felt exactly the same way until I saw a trailer for the film. Bought the book on the back of the trailer, and loved it! Of course I can't see the film now as adaptations of films never seem to work (apart from Room.)

*misses point of thread altogether

It just doesn't appeal. I'm in the Sunday Times book group and everyone was raving about it but I just thought 'god, that sounds awful'.

I have also really taken against American literature in recent years, I gave up around the time of Gone Girl and We are all beside ourselves (or whatever it was called), I read them but just couldn't see what the fuss was about. Everyone is obsessed by it and never seems to talk about anything else, and to the detriment of British and European literature in my opinion. I was really cross when they opened the Booker to American writers.

Its probably old age

Gone Girl was a 'fling the book across the room' publication.

I read what I enjoy, not whatever the latest 'buzz' is about. If it sounds interesting or the kind of book I like then l'll give it a go.

I'm a bit; if everyone's reading it then I don't want to which is very childish of me I'm sure. I've still not read the Da Vinci code or Gone Girl for this very reason.

The Crawdad book was actually pretty good dare I say!

I don't read the "latest" because often bestsellers are load of old shit being marketed very well. If they are on the go a few years later is usually an indicator of them being worth a read.

I'm quite keen on women's books being reprinted at the moment. Lots of wonderful gems.

I very rarely read the latest book but might occasionally buy one. I enjoyed The Essex Serpent when it came out but I can't think of any others. I like classics and also read a lot of nonfiction.

I like to order a few new titles through my library now and then. I enjoy modern fiction and watch BBCs Between the covers for reviews and I see the top 10 fiction in the Saturday newspaper.

Yes, because my local bookshop mainly stocks new releases. So, if I'm having a browse in there, I'm more likely to come across (and be tempted by) new releases. I don't buy the hardback version because they're so expensive but I usually buy them when they're released in large paperback. Also, my eyesight has declined a bit in recent years and I find it easier to read the large print.

Not usually.

Although I have just started Jennette McCurdy's I'm Glad My Mom Died which is newly published but before that it was Gaudy Night and next it'll be South Riding by Winifred Holtby, both are from the 1930s.

No, but I do watch about a million "best books of 20whenever" videos on YouTube, and if some books are named repeatedly I will look for them. It's not infallible though (Taylor Jenkins Reid...)

No, but I do read book reviews online (curate my newsfeeds to highlight arts/culture), follow publishers and readers on Twitter and watch far too many Booktubers (avoiding teens and genre-based). Like @TonTonMacoute I too tend to avoid US bestsellers and stick to Irish/British and European.

God no. I love reading really weird books , horror , serial killer and zombie. Not sure they make the list of most read 🤣

Well I am 99% a crime reader and most of that is series so when when the latest in my series comes out I read that

I prefer to invest in characters if there is a series

Just catching up on here!

Going against my normal habit I listened to The Girl on the Train because everyone was going on about it - it kept my mind occupied while doing some dull chores but really it was a pile of shite. And I skim read the Wikipedia synopsis of Gone Girl because people were obsessed but I couldn't make head nor tail of it .

I'm just reading and enjoying Dangerous Ages by Rose Macaulay and it has inspired me to buy other books from British Library Women Writers.

Meant to say I think I was originally asking because there was definitely always a latest book read by "the chattering classes" like The Bonfire of the Vanities and The Secret History and then books like The Silence of the Lambs and Gone Girl being more bestsellery genre raised gilt lettering on the cover style that segued into a million and one copies of serial killer or domestic noir copycats.

Repeated myself with book titles there

The library website recommends different books, I assume some of them are "the latest book" so if the blurb sounds good to me I order it, or if someone recommends it to me but otherwise no. I pretty much only read books I can get in the library so I'm limited to what it has (thank fuck for inter-library loans because I exhausted the English language selection in my local library long ago)

I agree. There is this weird idea that if you prefer books from your own country you are somehow insular and small-minded. It's an accusation usually made by smug liberals (the insinuation being that they're not like that; they're sophisticated and cosmopolitan). There is also a lot of inconsistency. It's OK to be proud of your own literature and culture if you are from certain countries – especially ones that were oppressed. But not if you are British, and especially not if you are English.

It's perfectly natural to gravitate towards authors from own culture. I get Wodehouse. He was upper-class, and I'm not, but there is still something in his humour that's just so British. I feel a similar way about Dickens. Reading him is like going home, or visiting an old friend. (That doesn't mean you should only read authors from your own country, of course. It would be idiotic if you did. I love numerous authors from around the world. On my bookshelves right now I have stuff by Vikram Seth, Basho, Thomas Mann, Hermann Hesse, Huysmann, Borges, etc.)

I have nothing against Americans. On the contrary, my favorite lecturers at university were all American and Canadian. But as someone once said, "Americans are the least xenophobic people on Earth, because they regard everyone as an apprentice American." It's so true, and so irritating. I am British. And I have my own literature and culture.

@JoonT

Wholeheartedly agree. I read quite a lot of French authors and quite a few Indian authors, I like Murakami too.

I have been trying to remember the last book I read by an American, and it was Stanley Gucci’s memoir Taste, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

I did also read and enjoy Donna Tart’s The Goldfinch which everyone raved about but which is apparently the most abandoned book on Kindle.
I took a casual glance at Lincoln in the Bardo, and just thought ‘Jeez, life’s too short!’

I have to say I bloody loved Lincoln In The Bardo