My
wife and I just closed on a house. After
14 years in one house, we upgraded to another one in the neighborhood. In the process of choosing lighting, paints,
carpeting, flooring, and other cosmetic changes to the 70-year-old house, she
decided to hire a decorating consultant.
My
fear was this woman would be like Nancy Reagan’s astrologer, Jeanne Dixon, who
would be consulted on every move the First Lady contemplated taking. I didn’t want us to feel crippled, as, if we
couldn’t make a decision without her input or blessing, but I did recognize the
need for a trained eye and a sounding board when it came to things I gave very
little thought to.
She
turned out to be helpful with ideas but it ended up clouding us with too many
options and choices. In the end, I’m not
sure that we followed much of what she said.
But the idea is a good one and it made me think about having reading or
book consultants.
What
if someone spoke to you about your reading habits and preferences – and about
your life, needs, desires, hobbies, abilities, and lifestyle – and came up with
suggestions on books to read?
Think
about it.
When
you are younger teachers, librarians, and parents will suggest certain books to
read. Many are classics or part of a
recommended curriculum, but there was some guidance provided. Once you are out of school, you are on your
own.
Some
may look at reviews, others what’s on a bestseller list, and others just go by
what a friend recommends. Many browse
and stumble upon the books they read.
But wouldn’t it be great to have a home decorator-type professional who
can customize book picks for you?
The
hardest thing about recommending anything – whether a paint color, clothing
design, or a book – is it becomes a deeply personal thing. How can you avoid –
as a consultant – injecting your own bias, preferences, and psychological flaws
into whatever you offer another? How do
you support the decisions of others when you’d never be caught dead making such
choices for yourself?
On
the other hand, there’s no one way to do anything. You can wear striped pants and a ripped
t-shirt, and funny-looking glasses if you want to. You can paint your home
exterior black or purple and you can read any book that you desire, no matter
the genre or the quality of the book. So
who’s to say what’s right or wrong or even better/worse than something else? Sometimes bucking trends may look ridiculous
or have you feeling isolated but you may be onto something, sparking a new
trend that someone can then buck in a few years.
A
book consultant can be found in a good indie bookstore, library, or quality,
book review outlet. You can be your best book consultant by researching, exploring,
and experimenting. Read a wide variety
of books – various genres from a variety of eras by a diverse group of
authors. What you thought you wouldn’t
like, you may end up loving, and what you think you want more of may just leave
you feeling tired and bored.
My
house may not make it into a magazine shoot for I’m sure we broke certain rules
or patterns of decorating behavior, but it’ll be our very own canvas from which
to keep painting. No expert can really tell me what I want unless I tell them.
Book
consultants could be helpful to new readers and those who haven’t yet developed
a permanent pattern that they want to oblige themselves to. But even the best-intentioned book
consultant, like the home decorator, will need to allow the client or reader to
make his or her own decisions.
Do
you know what you’d like to read next?
Don’t ask me!
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