At the beginning of the year, I posted that I'd be embarking on a new reading challenge to read at least one NY Times Bestseller each month by an author whose books I hadn't read yet. Since these would all be bestsellers, I thought I'd discover some great new authors. Five months and five books into the challenge, the results aren't encouraging. I've liked only one of the five. Wading through the others reminded me of the books I was required to read in high school English classes, i.e., I wanted to get through them as quickly as possible and not ever think about them again.
My conclusion, however, isn't that all bestsellers are ill-suited for me. The problem is my stipulation that the books in the reading challenge be from authors who are new to me. During the first five months of this year, I also read two bestsellers written by authors I've read before, and they were both very enjoyable. It makes sense. Most of the books that topped the bestseller lists were by authors whose books I've read before. The reason I avoided the ones written by authors new to me were because I didn't think I'd enjoy them. It turns out I was right
What does this mean for the reading challenge? I'm still going to stick to the rules I laid out for myself at the beginning of the year. Who knows, maybe I'll still find a gem or two? However, my expectations won't be as high just because the books are bestsellers.
