I do need to do more of the “me” reading. That’s what I did with The Song of Achilles last weekend and it felt wonderful. (Though I loved the book and my end up reviewing it anyway!)

Wow! Madeline, as usual, you give me a lot to think about. Similar to you, before blogging I had three main new book sources: the Sunday NY Times, Goodreads Best Books of the Month and Amazon Best Books of the Month and I was very successful. Sometimes I think too much info is a bad thing and that may be the case for me with all the “book lists” out there now. I’m not sure books were better 20 years ago, but they were certainly different. Good luck with the art history books!

I’ve always been pretty impatient when a book doesn’t grab me from the start. That’s okay, but with ARC’s I’ve tended to slog on and I really need to stop doing that. It’s great that you’re operating without any ARC’s. Impressive! I will probably stick with the ratings for now, but it’s something I’ll still be thinking about.

Thanks for your thoughts, Lindsey. Comments on this post have given me even more to consider.

Thanks Susan. I think I need to start being a little more selective, especially with the books I decide to request.

Thanks, Katherine. Book blogging is definitely a double-edged sword. You have to take the good with the bad.

Sarah, you are so right about selecting books too far in advance. Before I started reading, my list might go out a month or two, but I didn’t actually decided which book i was going to read next until I finished the last one. That style catered much more to my moods and also let me find out more about a book before deciding on it. That’s why I think I want to cut back on requests, though I know that will be really difficult for me.

I don’t think I’m influenced by how others rate books, except in wanting to read books that those of you whom I trust highly recommend. (Like Circe recently and Only Child right now.) Still, I’m going to try to pay more attention to potential influences

I think I’ll be sticking with the ratings. I like seeing them on other blogs.

I think you have a good point in needing to read more books just for me! I know when I do that it always feels good.

Thanks, Cori. I appreciate your thoughts especially on rating books. I know I like it when others rate, so I’ll probably stay with it.