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New Year. New Author. 

Resolve to discover a new author this year!

 

A sticky note with "New Year's Resolution: Read more books" on a red notebook surrounded by party blowers and confetti.

 

Happy New Year!  2025.  Did you make a list of New Year’s resolutions? Have you broken any of them yet?  (No judgement.  Been there!  Done that!)  What if you had a resolution you could keep and all it involved was a visit to your Yorktown Public Library?  Make a resolution to start reading a new author.

 

 

 

Best ways to seek out a new author:

 

Get out of your comfort zone

Do you like reading westerns?    Check out a biography or other nonfiction book about your favorite gunslinger.  Browse the nonfiction section and select a biography of your favorite fiction author.  Historical fiction novels are a great genre to read if you find yourself sticking to nonfiction history books.

 

Attend your Yorktown Public Library’s Adult Book Club

Two people are lying on the floor, reading a book, while others sit in the background with books.

Adult Book Club meets the last Monday of each month and is a different twist on regular book clubs.  With the Adult Book Club, there is not an assigned book to read, rather there is a recommended theme.  The group gathers to discuss what book each person is reading.  Not sure what book fits the theme?  Just stop by the library and browse the cart full of recommended books pertaining to the monthly theme.  What a great way to learn about new books and authors.  Visit our website and our Facebook page for more information. 

 

Ask friends and family for recommendations

Family, friends and coworkers are always excited to share their opinions on their latest read.  We all have that one friend who is a voracious reader-that friend is your source of new author selections.  Grab a tea and have a chat.  You will have a new perspective and a new TBR (To Be Read) list.

 

Do an online search

Person working on a laptop at a desk with plants, books, and stationery.

Explore new author options by reading reviews, articles and other online posts pertaining to authors new to you or authors who are similar in writing styles you enjoy.  Google the following topics and start exploring:

  • Who to read next
  • Authors who write like each other
  • Authors everyone should read  

 

Browse the Libby App

If you have a valid Yorktown Public Library card, you can access eBooks, audiobooks and magazines on the Libby App simply by downloading the app.  The Libby App has over a million (YES! You read that correctly…over a MILLION!)  titles to browse.  The Libby App works with both Apple and Android devices and is extremely user friendly.  Visit the circulation desk for more information. 

 

Go with what you know

You know you love mysteries, right?! To branch out, simply choose a different author in your favorite genre. 

 

Browse the library

A library aisle with bookshelves full of colorful books, leading to a seating area with people at tables.

Chat with a librarian or library staff member.  The team at your Yorktown Public Library is always ready to assist you on your reading adventure.  And feel free to literally judge a book by its cover.  Several patrons have shared with me that they chose a new book simply because the cover looked interesting.  Feeling daring?  Just walk through the stacks and grab a book from the shelf, check it out and off you go…a new author!  (Now, if you try this technique, you simply must let me know!)

 

Don’t put too much pressure on yourself

If you choose a new author to read and you are not enjoying the book, stop reading it!   Don’t trudge through a book if it is not holding your interest.  Give yourself a break and keep searching.  You are, after all, reading for pleasure.

 

So, how much of a new book will you read before deciding to call it quits? 

A person with glasses stands smiling in a library aisle surrounded by bookshelves.

Nancy Pearl has some advice on that topic.  But first, a bit of background on Nancy Pearl:

  • An American Librarian
  • Named Librarian of the Year on 2011 by Library Journal
  • Best-selling author and literary critic
  • Former Executive Director of the Washington Center for the Book at Seattle Public Library

Pearl’s prolific reading and knowledge of books and literature first made her locally famous in Seattle, Washington, where she regularly appears on public radio recommending books.  She achieved broader fame with Book Lust, her 2003 guide to good reading.

 

Pearl’s Rule of 50: 

“If a reader is under 50 years old, then consume 50 pages before dropping a book.  If a reader is over 50 years old, take the number 100, subtract your age and this is the number of pages to read before switching to the next book.”

To learn more about Nancy Pearl, visit the Libby App and check out the audiobook The Nancy Pearl Interview:  Professional Book Nerds Interview-American’s Librarian, Nancy Pearl, joins the Professional Book Nerds podcast to discuss her book George and Lizzie, libraries as well as book recommendations. 

 

The staff at your Yorktown Public Library has varying strategies when deciding when it is time to move along to a new book. 

The staff members I spoke with have the following recommendations on how much of a book to read:

Stack of books in the foreground, with a blurred person reading in the background.
  • The first page of the book- if those first few words don’t grab you….Next!
  • Read the first 100 pages
  • Read the first chapter
  • Decide after reading the first three chapters of the book-this gives you and the storyline a chance to connect

One fact the library staff I spoke with unanimously agrees on is that there are countless good books to read.  You needn’t waste time on a book that isn’t holding your interest. 

Now you are equipped with numerous helpful suggestions to follow when choosing a new author to read.  Reading a new author reveals a new perspective, a new writing style and whole new cast of characters.   Enjoy the journey. 

Happy New Year and Happy (New Author) Reading!

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