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/lit/ - Literature

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2889326 No.2889326 [Reply] [Original]

So what are some ways you c/lit/s discover new books and authors?

I'd like to hear about your methods, techniques, websites you use, etc. Stories about your recent author/book discoveries would be interesting too. Personally, a few of my ways,

>check the translator of a loved book, look up other book s/he has translated
>comb through the entire catalog of small publishers who've published loved books
>check the table of contents of definitive and/or obscure anthologies
>read books that name-drop large amounts of other books and authors

Share yours, /lit/!

>> No.2889332

http://www.listsofbests.com/list/5883-the-100-greatest-books-ever-written

This. Once I finish reading this list, I'll read whateva the fuck I wanna.

>> No.2889337

>>2889332
How far along are you now?

>> No.2889340

Read Yates's 'A Good School' after a recommendation from a friend, notice Fitzgerald epigram at the start, think I ought to read some more F. Scott, go to a book store and pick one I haven't read, reading This Side of Paradise, Amory mentions The Kreutzer Sonata, go out at pick that up, guy at the book store recommends The Golden Notebook while I'm there - read both of those, and now I'm stuck.

>> No.2889344

amazon listmania

no, really

>> No.2889349

>>2889337
>>2889337
I believe 40%-50%. Keep in mind that I also have to do my readings for university.

Most of the books on this list are pretty solid.

I'm irrationally excited for Dr. Jekyll and Mr.Hyde (even though I heard it is a big let down).

>> No.2889352

>>2889349

it's not bad. Suffers from being wildly overhyped

>> No.2889356

>>2889352
As I've heard, but the premise is so alluring....

>> No.2889368

>>2889344
I use those a lot too. I really like these done by this one crazy dude in Prague - here's one of them:

http://amzn.com/lm/R1PYASWHFNVM29

He does publisher ones and themes and then non-book shit, but I love the book lists. Have you found any favorite list-makers there?

>> No.2889377

>>2889368
oh man would you just look at all those names i've never seen before

>> No.2889579

Amazon listmania

>> No.2889598

Goodreads.

>> No.2889607

listmania looks neat, but how do you actually use it to find cool things. I don't get how it works.

>> No.2889630

i like to read about authors i like. see contemporaries they like and who influenced them coming up.

>> No.2889635

Amazon
Wikipedia articles [I learned about Nikos Kazantzakis, for instance, when I looked up "Greek literature" in high school.]
Looking for books I don't recognize in various classics series [This is how I learned about stuff when I first got into literature. Spent time in bookstores and learned about Tolstoy, Turgenev, Maugham, Mann, Ovid, etc.]
Book reviews in magazines like The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and Harper's. [Mostly The New Yorker. I only consult magazines when I want some quality contemporary literature that I haven't heard of... which I do all too rarely.]
Book reviews/recommendations I like. [I learned about Jane Smiley through Jonathan Franzen; I learned about We from George Orwell and Kurt Vonnegut.]

>> No.2889648

>>2889607
bookmark this page
http://www.amazon.com/gp/richpub/listmania/byauthor/A17WPVXRSJO6BK

search for whatever author/book/topic

otherwise when you click on a book, sometimes it'll be featured in a list and if you scroll down to the bottom of the page there'll be a couple links to amazon lists

>> No.2889651

>>2889598
Goodreads is shit-tier pleb stuff.

>> No.2889667

>>2889651
It's reccomendations are pretty good.

You get what you put into it. You must just be reading shitty stuff all the time.

>> No.2889713

>>2889667
> It's reccomendations are pretty good.

Its recommendations are absolute shit.

Case and point: input Simmon's 'Hyperion' and rate it 1/5. (Which it is, it's a pretty mediocre book.)

Watch your recommended list fill up with even shittier space-opera crap that 'Hyperion'.

>> No.2889720

if the title is edgy enought..

>> No.2889754

wikipedia

>> No.2889915

>>2889326
I do the same things you do, OP. I also check the "Other titles by <author>" that some published books have, must-read book lists (like the Western Canon).

Wikipedia is also useful to name-check authors according to their influences and critics.

I also use Goodreads and Amazon to check "related" works (the "users also bought/read...").
In Goodreads, sometimes I dedicate a half hour to check reviews and see what those users read. Lists also come in handy.


I'll start using Listmania now.

>> No.2889929

-reading about authors i like
-googling "[nationality] literature"
-/lit/ of course, and also the fuuka.warosu /lit/ archive.
-i don't ever really pick up books by authors I've never heard about, but if i'm in the library and see a name i have heard before, i sometimes will just pick it up on impulse.
-talking to literate internet friends, and one occasion an irl friend

>> No.2889942

1. Walk into the library
2. Pick books off the shelves
3. Read the first few pages and see what I think
4. ??????
5. Profit!

Am I the only one who does this anymore?

>> No.2889944

>>2889942
i don't know of many people who do that, you must have a very wide ranging taste. the more i read the more limited and specialised i find myself in terms of taste.

>> No.2889950

>>2889942
I do that at the uni library and I usually already have a certain book in mind so I end up browsing a section which has similar material and I find books like that.

ex. Books on Wittgenstein are usually kept with other books on Wittgenstein.

Feels good getting lost in stacks, imo.