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“Susan’s List” offers good book suggestions
January 2005
By Karen Edwards

Oprah has her book club, the New York Times its bestseller list. But savvy Columbus booklovers know there's another source they can turn to when they're looking for something to read.

It's called Susan's List - and the newest edition is available now at the Northside branch of the Columbus Metropolitan Library, 1423 N. High St., in the Short North.

Susan is Susan Thomas, a customer service associate who has worked at the Northside branch, part time, for 16 years. In 1994, she began tracking all of the books she read that year, and, in 1999, she pulled together her first annual book list for library patrons.

If you're thinking the story of compiling a book list sounds familiar, author Sara Nelson wrote a book entitled So Many Books, So Little Time, A year of passionate reading - in which she describes her efforts to read a book a week, then summarizes what she learned about herself and her reading tastes at the end of the year. Nelson's book, however, was published last year. That means “Susan's List” predates the book by nearly a decade.

For Thomas, the idea of compiling a list of reading recommendations seemed only natural.

“When I saw someone checking out books that were similar to something I had read, or by an author I like, I'd tell them about another book I thought they'd enjoy,” Thomas says.

1.) Most of the books will be new.
Occasionally, well, actually, once, Susan reached back in time for a “classic” - and while she did add the novel to her list, it's not a book she recommends to others. “I found the characters infuriating,” she says. (Check out her 2003 list to see what it was, and if you agree.)

Thomas makes most of her book selections by browsing through the library's copy of Publisher's Weekly, which means, each year, she's reading the newest crop of novels and memoirs (nonfiction doesn't usually make her list) - often before they're recognized with one book award or another.

2.) Most of the books will be written by women.
“Women have a tendency to write more about relationships, and that's what I like to read,” she says. Male authors are too often plot-driven for her tastes - although William Gibson, Tony Earley, Anthony Bourdain, and Jonathan Franzen have all made her list in the past.

3.) Most of the books will be by American authors.
“I do read Canadian authors - Carol Shields is one of my favorites - and I've just started reading some British authors,” she says. But most of her lists are comprised of homegrown American authors.

Susan Thomas Photo by Gus Brunsman III

Finally, don't look at her lists and think she's placed her favorites at the top and worked down the list from there. The books are simply arranged in chronological order - according to when she read them. Although her list doesn't generally reflect it (this year's list may be an exception), she does assign “stars” to the books she reads. Five star books, for example, are standouts. If she doesn't like a book, it won't merit any stars, though if she finishes it, the book will make the list.

“I just won't recommend it,” she says. Nor will the “Susan's List” book display feature any copies of the no-star books. Then, there are some books that never make it onto the list. “I'll give a book fifty pages,” Thomas says. “If it hasn't caught me by then, I move on. Life's too short to spend reading bad books.”

Like Sara Nelson - the author who wrote about her year of books - Thomas also tries to read a book a week, 52 books a year. Some years she makes it, other years she doesn't. But that's the goal she shoots for each January. Thomas does write summaries of the books she reads to help her remember what each book is about. The summaries range from brief synopses to full-blown book reports, depending on what she thought of the book.

“That's one of the reasons I started keeping track of what I've read,” says Thomas. So many books pass through her hands in any given week, month or year, she wanted to record the ones she'd spent time with along the way.

If you're looking for a book to spend time with but want a suggestion or two - then make your way to Northside Library and look for the “Susan's List” book display. It's there every January - along with copies of her most current list. The Information Desk has copies of the list as well - as does the Dublin Library. A friend of Thomas, who works at that branch, makes it available when someone asks her for a book suggestion.

Thomas says Northside patrons do ask for the list, and check out the books. On a personal note, I happen to be one of them. I like the authors Thomas chooses, and the eclectic nature of her list. It has made me pick up books I would probably never have thought of, and I've been quite happy with each of her choices. (Well, O.K. – neither of us liked Tracy Chevalier's Virgin Blue but she didn't really recommend it. It was a no-star on her list.)

In an age where it takes a daytime television host to remind us of the value of books, it's nice to know that you can still walk into your neighborhood library and walk out with a whole new world to explore.
If you haven't read fiction in a while, and think 2005 is a good year to start, why not work your way down “Susan's list”? Don't forget, Oprah's now recommending classics, so if contemporary is more your cup of tea - the best resource may be waiting for you just down the street.

Tell Susan I sent you.

Some Highlights of 2004

Fiction
What Happened to Henry, by Sharon Pywell
Hissy Fit, by Mary Kay Andrews
The Circus in Winter, by Cathy Day
Brick Lane, by Monica Ali
The Jane Austen Book Club, By Karen Joy Fowler
Non-Fiction
Truth and Beauty, by Ann Patchett
The Stuff of Life, by Karen Karbo