Literature Map

It's Saturday night and after a long day at work, we are settled in, relaxing and watching old Tim Burton movies. Glad to have Nate back home after several days in the field. Amazingly, some of the humidity let up and the air is actually really nice tonight! I've just passed the halfway point in Catch-22 and I'm having very mixed feelings. I keep reading that the second half is pretty extraordinary, so we'll see how it pans out. Stay tuned for a review in a couple of days.
In my last post, I talked about my reasons for reading. I asked you why you read, as well! I thought that a next logical topic would be "what do you read?" And how do you decide? I think I addressed the first question in the previous post... I will read just about anything, including a Chinese food menu. Deciding what to read is not always that simple.

May I present to you... the Literature Map! If you can think of at least one author whose work you have enjoyed, this site can get you on track to some new reading suggestions. The site is based on a self-adaptive computer system which "learns" relationships and patterns and then generates suggestions for similar authors. It's a simple website, and can get a bit addictive.
When you go to the Literature Map homepage, it will open up a window and ask for you to type the name of an author. Hit the "continue" button, and in a few seconds, you'll see a screen like the following example. I chose to start with John Steinbeck.

Somewhere near the middle of the "map" you should see the original author's name you entered. The names surrounding the original are other authors related to Steinbeck's writing in one way or another; the closer the relationship, the closer the names will lie on the map. Some will probably be authors you've already read; some will be familiar; some will be new. Now, pick an author from the map. Any author will do.  Jack London you say? Ok, let's see what happens...

A new map! Note that Jack London is now the central author. Some of the surrounding authors will be common threads from the previous map (Ray Bradbury and Cormac McCarthy, for example.) But there are also a whole new assortment of authors to explore. Click on a new one, and you'll get a new map! I don't know about you but I could do this all day.

When you're trying to decide on your next book, do yourself a favor and visit the Literature Map. Play around with some names, follow the trail of suggestions, and I bet you'll find some summer reading ideas!