It is the time of year that I make my lists of my favorite fiction and non-fiction books. These are forth-coming. But I'd like to share my thoughts on making these lists.
1. Selecting the entries on the list.
This idea hit me when I was asked by my friend Tod Moses to show photos of my ten favorite athletes. I started by writing down the names of my favorite athletes, with a list of what I believe was 72. I then compared them to whittle it down to the top ten. The interesting thing? The top nine were no problem. The hardest decision was which athlete was my 10th favorite and which was my 11th.
Since then, I've worked on a couple of lists, with set numbers in mind. The same thing happened. The biggest decision was between the last one to make the list and the first one that will be omitted. To me, this is an indicator I did a good job of thinking through that list.
When I listened to ESPN-radio, the hosts often share someone's top 10 lists, and then ask the audience who should be on the list, with one condition - they have to also name who to take off the list to make room for the addition. After all, there may be 25 people worthy to be considered for the top 10 list, but if there's even eleven on the list, it's no longer top 10.
2. The purpose of the list.
This brings me to my fiction lists. My goal usually is to have a top ten list of my favorite novels read that year. It rarely ends up being a top ten, for two related reasons.
First, the authors of the books often see the list. I'm sure that the author of the book I enjoyed the most would love to know their book was on the top of my list. But do they need to know they wrote my tenth favorite and that they almost didn't make my list? I doubt it. One author often writes my second favorite book of the year but never the top one. Does that person need to know they're always the bridesmaid and never the bride? I don't think so.
Second is that most years, I've read more than ten novels that I really enjoyed and want people to be aware of. So I never leave it at ten. I'll have lists of twelve (this year will be one of those) or lists of fifteen. (And in another point, I'll be pointing out that those numbers are not as literal as you'd expect.)
These items relate to the purpose of my favorite books list, which actually is two. One is to point my reading friends to good books. The other is to encourage the authors. It lets them know their books are read and enjoyed.
3. Avoiding over-working myself in deciding what's on the list.
Two years ago, I read the first five installments of a six part series which is currently my favorite series. While there was a definite ending point at each of the parts (as opposed to cliff-hangers), it still was one over-arching story. How do I decide in most cases which part I liked best? And should I have 1/3 of my list if I went to 15 be five different books in the same series?
Previously, I'd wrestle over where different books in a series fit. Two years earlier, I had read the first four of another six part series, and in the latter three it was clear the story wasn't over. I wrestled on how to fit them on the list.
This year I've read books in five different series. One of them is the 37 book Hercule Poirot collection by Agatha Christie. (For those who think, "I know who wrote Hercule Poirot," a modern author has been authorized to write new Poirot novels.) Those are easy - even though you have the same main character and often other regulars showing up, they basically are stand-alone stories. Another series was eight stories long (I read six of them last year). There is an over arching story, but basically these novels, written by different authors are practically stand-alone stories as well. So those novels I'll count separately.
But then there are the other three series. I read the final two books in two of the series, and in each case it was a cliff hanger. I'm counting that series as one entry rather than decide which part I enjoyed better. The third series was more stand alone, but the novels were pretty similar to each other. So again I'm counting the series as a single entry.
What kinds of lists have you compiled? Do you approach them as I do? Are you disappointed I don't number my favorite fiction list, or does it matter?
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