Underrated, Best of: more lists

While I took a break, the blogosphere kept on turning. If you haven’t already checked it out, be sure to visit Mark Thwaite’s collection of the Best Reads of 2006. He’s gathered suggestions from a group of authors, bloggers, and editors (including me). One really nice aspect of his list is that everyone wrote a few sentences explaining why they loved their nominees. Plus, it’s not limited to new books (I wrote about A Hazard of New Fortunes which came out in 1890), so it gives a better flavor of how we read, I think: not only the new, but also the recent, the old, and the ancient. This kind of list, like Jeff and Trevor’s collection of underrated writers, strikes me as the kind that actually might inspire reading.

Still, that said, I’m feeling a bit dizzy with the weight of choice and recommendations these days. I find myself having retreated back to assigned reading. But then, as I said yesterday, there are some looming deadlines…