I don't read a lot of current books. I have a weird aversion to the books that "everybody is talking about" mostly, I think, because so many contemporary books tend to get overhyped, and after 5-10 years pass no one remembers what all the fuss was about. Even my parents, who long ago were vaccinated against hype, have these bestsellers from the 70s and 80s whose titles you only see at the annual library book sale, never on people's laps on the train.

I like, instead, to find books that are lesser known, from smaller presses or foreign countries, and love also discovering books that are lurking just behind the canon, like the ones in this New York Review of Books series. Gosh, there are so many there I want to read. You too?

LINK | 1:24 PM | TB

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