How to Choose?

I am nearing the end of a book at the moment and so am presented with one of life's great quandaries; what should I read next?



This question has, I'm sure, plagued many of the great minds. I know that it is a particularly laborious process for my fiancee, and one that is often met with disappointment when she chooses something out of desperation later to find that she is not enjoying the book at all. For me it is not quite so difficult but it still requires a bit of thought to ensure that whatever I read next will be emotionally and intellectually satisfying for my current mood. Let me outline the decision making process of my 3 most recent choices, since they are the only ones that I can remember in chronological order.



Mark Twain - Roughing It

I can't remember exactly what possessed me to choose this book after it's mystery predecessor, but clearly I was interested in some wild west, outdoors writing, and of course, that classic dry humor which is strangely still hilarious almost 150 years later.



Richard Russo - Straight Man

I chose this book because I wanted to continue in the vein of humor that I had set previously with Mr. Clemens. But I wanted something contemporary, and as Russo is one of Meghan's favorite authors I had been meaning to read him. I was tremendously satisfied with this one and can't wait to read some more of his books.



Robert Pirsig - Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

Okay, maybe this one doesn't seem to follow up on it's predecessor. But Straight Man deals with the life of a protagonist caught in the life of academia. And so I wanted to follow that up with another book that dealt with that sort of environment. and I remembered that Zen... in it's actual plot (which is only somewhat important to the book) follows up on a college professor gone insane. So that it really holds a connection, however tenuous, to Straight Man. And I had been toying with re-reading it for a few months anyway.



But what to read next. Zen... is essentially a philosophy book, and I definitely don't want any more of that. So fiction. But what? Well I think I want to take a totally new direction. I'm thinking something with top hats and emotionally distant spouses and lovers. Maybe some unrequited romance and gilded age exotic locales. We'll see.