| Jonathan Franzen's How to Be Alone Don't believe the hype. That's my motto when choosing authors to read. If a book made Oprah's book club, don't read it. If it's featured on the Today Show, don't read it. I don't care about authors being backed by a big-money marketing campaign. Is this a good policy? Most of the time. Am I missing out on some brilliant writers? Maybe. Usually it's a let-down to read writers who are over-hyped in the literary world. It's like dating someone who's too good to be true, and then finding out they're a child molester or they sacrifice kittens to Satan.More | 
