The book you plan to read

 The writer Yiyun Li made a remark in an interview that delighted and intrigued me.

She was asked what she planned to read next, she said the question for her was what she planned to reread next. Her view: There is always something serendipitous about new meetings. You plan for old friends.

My mind doesn’t work that way, and so I was pleased to be shown another way.

I usually come to books through reviews or interviews or casual mentions in other reading. It’s been a couple of years since I mentioned it, but use Good Reading, which started as a pamphlet in 1932. It was compiled by a committee of professors and was to be a “modest guide to supplementary reading” for students. 

• Sources: By the Book: “One Day, Yiyun Li Might Get Around to Reading Roald Dahl,” New York Times, Sept. 10, 2023. It’s online here:

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/07/books/review/yiyun-li-interview.html#:~:text=“They%20are%20meaningful%20books%20for,the%20collection%20“Wednesday%27s%20Child.”

For more on Good Reading, see “The award for most borrowed book goes to ... ,“ Nov. 23, 2021.