Page 6: Yeah! An interview with Joyce Carol Oates, the prolific writer and professor of creative writing at Princeton University. I always enjoy reading about JCO. In this interview, she names the last truly great book she read as being James Joyce’s Ulysses. This kicks off a conversation with my husband in which I admit having never read it, and he admits having read only part before turning to Cliffs Notes for the rest. (Today, I check Cliffs Notes and decide I won’t even go that far.)
Pages 7–19: Here’s how I approach the guts of the Book Review section: I look at the review title and subtitle (different from the titling of the book being reviewed) and decide if I have any interest or should have any interest. If I’m not sure, I skip to the last paragraph in the review for an indication of the reviewer’s takeaway for the book. Since my predilections are for biography, memoir, and fiction, I tend to read the full reviews for those—but as you’ve already seen, I may quit on a review partway through. If the fiction is a book of short stories, I skim quickly and usually take a pass. If a review is science or social science, I often read it. If it’s war or history, I skip with only a tad bit of guilt. If it’s children’s books, I skip with no guilt at all.
I get my history from reading historical novels or biographies. For instance, in this week’s Book Review, I am intrigued by John Guy’s Thomas Becket: Warrior, Priest, Rebel: A Nine-Hundred-Year-Old Story Retold. Another benefit of checking out the NYT Book Review is for gift ideas. Thanks to this week’s review of Daniel Smith’s Monkey Mind: A Memoir of Anxiety I know what I will be giving a certain beloved someone for his birthday this year.
Article comments
1 - Jeanne Farewell
Thank you for this tribute to the New York Times Book Review, which I and my reading friends consult avidly. Sadly, the NY Times Book Review is getting skinnier, and we do feel that we have fewer options in selecting books.
But still, what could be more pleasant on a Sunday morning than the NY Times Book Review, a cup of coffee, and a view of a harbor in Maine? That sounds like just my cup of tea...or coffee, I should say.
2 - Meredith Ann Rutter
Glad you enjoyed the article. Thanks for commenting!