I’m currently reading Ali Smith’s There but for the, which is one of those books you can’t put down — mainly because Smith’s writing is such a pleasure. Her writing is creative without defaulting to affectation. For me, there’s nothing so tiresome as a relentless display of creativity with the written word — a creativity that serves no purpose for the reader. It’s the literary equivalent of Celine Dion slamming you against the back door with an impossible, forceful note because she can. What’s to enjoy?
Because I like Smith so much, I thought I’d go online to get comparable recommendations. For those of you who would like to branch out from Goodreads, you may want to try Bookish or Whichbook. More reading sites are described in this Digital Book World article.
So what did Bookish recommend for a Smith lover? Junot Diaz, among others. But the next book in my queue will probably be…another Ali Smith.