# 2026-02-16 - On Selecting Books To Read
My to-read list is fairly long. To call it a single to-read list is
a misnomer, because i actually organize it in multiple places. For
example, when something catches my eye, i'll bookmark it. Then it
might make its way into my book database. Then it might make its way
onto my public to-read list.
TEXT to-read.csv
So how do i decide what to read?
If i find something compelling in a little free library then i might
read it right away. The same goes for books that are gifts or
recommendations from friends. But that's unusual for me. Usually i
will let books age for a while in my to-read lists. Why?
Well, i have always enjoyed the process of selecting things. This
process is still an honest one when i walk into the public library
and browse through the physical shelves. I got the same kind of
experience in book stores, music stores, and video rental stores.
This experience was even replicated online on web sites like
cdbaby.com and the original Netflix when it first started.
In contrast, modern Netflix, the library ebook app, and modern music
services do not provide an honest process. They are heavily gamed to
algorithmically influence and manipulate me, inexorably creeping
towards dark patterns and total domination. I see repeated titles in
the list. Sometimes the same title is repeated very many times.
"They" REALLY want me to see THAT particular title. And i feel it is
no longer possible to scan through the entire catalog from beginning
to end. I am seeing an unstable fish-bowl view of the catalog.
So perhaps my to-read list is a reassuring security blanket of a
structure where i can step into a warm, familiar cloud of things i am
authentically interested in and with God-like agency, pluck out my
books of choice.
Some years ago i wrote the following private list.
# Book Reader's Diet
1. A book that you have read before.
2. A classic.
3. A best seller from the previous year.
4. A gift or recommendation from family or friends.
5. A book related to your career.
6. A prize winning book.
7. A book from scholastic reading lists.
8. A fantasy book.
9. A science fiction book.
10. A history book.
11. A nature book.
12. A recommendation from the Internet.
Before going out of town for a while, i might load a batch of books
onto my phone to read. There's no way i will read a dozen books in
one trip, but if any one of those books turns out to be a stinker, i
can easily put it down and pick up another. Also, i WILL eventually
read through all of those books, even though i may finish it long
after i have returned.
This list is just an example. Of course i vary my selection process.
It's February, which is Black History Month in North America. So i
scan through my relevant to-read items and chose...
# Book 1: Reminiscences of My Life In Camp by Susie King Taylor
DIR Reminiscences of My Life In Camp
TEXT Susie King Taylor (Wikipedia)
Great, that's book #1. 9 more to go!
# Book 2: The Junior Classics Vol 2 (Lohngrin)
I recently read an interesting comic:
HTML Eight Pillars of Gay Culture
Panel 6 shows a list of thirteen tragic heroines from literature and
opera, many of whom i had not heard of before! I decided to begin
with Elsa.
DIR The Story of Lohngrin
TEXT Elsa von Brabant (Wikipedia)
# Book 3: Computer Connections by Gary Kildall
I recently saw a post on a web forum that referenced this interesting
computer history book.
HTML Computer Connections by Gary Kildall
TEXT Gary Kildall
# Book 4: Hacking The Future by Arthur Kroker
I found this one quoted in a recent gopher post, and it looks like
something i ought to have read a long time ago.
HTML Hacking The Future by Arthur Kroker
TEXT Arthur Kroker (Wikipedia)
# Book 5: The Story of My Heart by Richard Jeffries
I read that this is an emotionally charged biography, and that the
author loves the outdoors. A biography and nature book in one.
Sign me up!
DIR The Story of My Heart by Richard Jeffries
TEXT The Story of My Heart (Wikipedia)
# Book 6: Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
This is a Gothic fantasy, a vampire book that pre-dates Bram Stoker's
Dracula. A family member recently enjoyed the 2026 Dracula movie, so
why not read this book for my own entertainment?
DIR Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
TEXT Carmilla (Wikipedia)
# Book 7: Lifted Masks by Susan Glaspell
"A collection of short stories that delve into the complex inner
lives of the characters and the masks they wear to conceal their true
selves. Each story is beautifully written and thought-provoking,
exploring themes of identity, self-deception, and the masks we all
wear to navigate through life."
DIR Lifted Masks by Susan Glaspell
TEXT Susan Glaspell (Wikipedia)
# Book 8: The Adventures of Harlequin by Francis Bickley
This may not be a classic book, but it was a classical era and a
classical character.
Recently i read an interesting theory about Harlequin:
In most of the accounts dealing with Diana, her followers usually
seem to have been women. But similar rites existed among all-male
groups with a male god. As with Diana, the leader of the male
troops had many different names, depending on the location in
Europe. Among the most common were Herne the Hunter, Herla the
King, Herlechin, Herlequin, Harlequin, Hellequin, Hillikin,
Berchtold, Berhtolt, Derndietrich, Quatembermann, and Kwaternik
(Russell, 49, note & Ginzburg, 58, n. 2). In my opinion, this
male figure is a survival of the Celtic horned god. As we saw in
chapter 2, the Latinized name for the Celtic horned god was
Cernunnos, which means "The Horned One" (Bober, passim). The
ending -os on this word is the suffix that Greek and Old Latin
added to most masculine nouns borrowed from other languages. So
the original, de-Latinized form was probably Cernunn. Now, the
prefixes Cer- and Her- are interchangeable Indo-European roots
that both mean "horn." Hence a variant spelling of the same name
is Hernunn. This last word, I suspect, was the original Celtic
ancestor of Herne, which is one of the oldest names for the male
figure we're dealing with. A variant spelling of Herne was Herla.
From Herla comes "Herla, the King", and from "Herla, the King"
comes Herlequin and Harlequin (see "Harlequin" in the Random
House Dictionary). Medieval depictions of Harlequin confirm these
speculations based on language. They usually show him wearing a
forked cap having two drooping horn-like appendages.
In the Latin literary tradition, Harlequin was turned into the
figure of the Fool, as, for example, he appears in late Italian
comedy. He is usually shown dressed up in bright clothes, and
this is the traditional appearance of Harlequin on the Italian
stage. His manifestation as the Fool is interesting, because in
the Middle Ages a holiday survived from paganism called the Feast
of Fools. It usually took place around January 1st (the festival
of Janus--the brother of Diana)...
The word "Fool" as applied to Harlequin didn't originally mean
silly or stupid, but rather frenzied or ecstatic or mad, akin to
the French word /folie/, which means madness or lunacy.
DIR The Adventures of Harlequin by Francis Bickley
TEXT Harlequin
# Book 9: The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett
I usually don't read mystery genre novels. Well, once i read through
all of the canonical Sherlock Holmes novels and a few pastiche to
boot. One of my favorite pastiches was Saberhagen's Sherlock Holmes
and Dracula. Anyhow... A friend recommended The Maltese Falcon, and
that's why i added it to this list. He described it as an early
example of the hard-boiled detective genre.
DIR The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett
TEXT The Maltese Falcon (Wikipedia)
# Book 10: An Anarchist Woman by Hutchins Hapgood
I picked this one off my list of vagabond literature. I don't know
much about this book yet, but i'll give it a shot!
DIR An Anarchist Woman by Hutchins Hapgood
TEXT Hutchins Hapgood (Wikipedia)
Whew, that ought to be enough reading material for a while!
tags: bencollver
# Tags
DIR bencollver