Feb 7, 2014

How should we select books to read in the future

Some months ago the group decided to select books from a list, going down the categories month by month. There are 10 to 12 books loosely grouped under each category, and ten categories. I have listed below the current categories and the number of books we have read in each going back some 30 months.

  • Local Interest (1)
  • American History (other than local) (8)
  • Native American History (1)
  • History of Religion (1)
  • European History (6)
  • History of Other Regions (6)
  • Ancient History (3)
  • About History (2)
  • Economic History (1)
  • History of Science and Technology (1)

Other (3) March of Folly, 1493, Cold War

Perhaps it is time to rethink our approach. Do we want to use these categories? For example, would we like a category of "marginalized groups" that might include women's history and minority groups, or how about "cultural history". Are we interested enough in Religion or American Indians to read a book a year?

Alternatively, since we seem to have been happy reading quite a bit of American, European and other regional history, should we pick from these groups more often than from some of the other groups?

Please comment below.

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