49. How to Read a Novel by John Sutherland

With tens of thousands of books being published each year, how do readers know what books are the best ones they should read? Sutherland, a professor of Modern English Literature at University College London and the committee chairman for the 2005 Man Booker Prize, attempts to answer this question. He looks at what it means to be well read, how novels are determined to be good or bad, and how to talk about books. With clever title chapters such as “Famous First Words”, “Hardback or Paperback?”, and “Can Reviews Help?”, this book on how to get the most out of novels has something for all lovers of fiction.

Sutherland’s book is a great asset to book discussion groups, as well as to people who like to explore fiction in their leisure reading. Readers learn you can judge a book by its cover, what genres might be for them to read, and why certain books are bestsellers. Also helpful to serious fiction readers is the ten page bibliography at the back of the book that lists in alphabetical order all the books Sutherland mentions throughout this book.