A recent trend circulating around Facebook asked people to list ten books that have had a significant impact in their lives and then tag ten friends to do the same. While I don’t often take part in this type of social media activity, this one naturally piqued my interest as a librarian and book lover. At first I assumed the task of listing just ten books would be impossible but upon trying it I found it was extremely simple. The most (or best) books of all my years of reading bubbled right up to the surface. This was likely the case for many of you who took part in this same exercise.
Facebook, not unexpectedly, observed this trend and decided to take advantage of the reams of data to which it has access. It compiled a list based on the approximate 130,000 status updates about “10 books” or “ten books” and released the top 100 books on September 8, 2014. The first and most striking point to notice (in my opinion) is the wide variety of books listed there; everything from children’s and picture books to religious texts, “classic” literature, and modern bestsellers. The second thing to notice is that for the most part the top 100 books are fiction, with only a smattering of non-fiction material. From a search of the top 20 and a quick scan through the rest of the top 100 confirm the best part of all, most (if not all) of the top 100 books in the Facebook study are available at your public library!
We also really love to talk about books and share new finds and old favourites. The next time you find yourself looking for something to read, try browsing our shelves, chatting with staff, or checking out the Library Detective and Off the Shelf blogs for inspiration. Many of my favourite books have come as recommendations from colleagues here at TBPL.
In case you missed a chance to see the entire list, here is a recap of the top ten:
1. Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling (1997-2007)
2. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (1960)
3. The Lord of The Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien (1954)
4. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien (1937)
5. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (1813)
6. The Holy Bible
7. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams (1979)
8. The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins (2008-2010)
9. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger (1951)
10. The Chronicles of Narnia series by C.S. Lewis (1950-1956)
The process of listing your top ten books, favourite books, or another list based on some sort of reading criteria can and likely will change over time. Might be worth thinking back to what your answers would have been ten or twenty years ago and thinking ahead to how your preferences and influences might change in future years. Another point that comes to mind in the form of a question - how does the Facebook list of top books connect to results of recent studies that reveal readers (and particularly readers of fiction) to be, on average, more empathetic individuals? Perhaps there is no connection but I would be very interested to see some corresponding research or debate on the topic.
Jesse Roberts
No comments:
Post a Comment