Announcing My First Pick for the HuffPost Book Club: In Praise of Slowness

Before I announce my first pick for "Arianna's Reading" (aka the HuffPost Book Club), I want to talk a little bit about how I will -- and will not -- be making my choices. I'm not going to pick a book simply because it's the It Book of the moment that everyone is talking about or because some juicy or controversial excerpt is making news or because it's just been published. Instead, I'm going to pick the books that captivate and excite me, that make me want to run out and buy multiple copies to give to my friends. The books that make me pull out my pen and start underlining and writing in the margins (yes, I'm one of those readers!).

One time it might be a new release by an up-and-coming author, the next it might be a classic, like some of those chosen by our editors as a book that changed their life. It could be a novel, a nonfiction book on politics or spirituality, a biography -- or even the occasional guilty pleasure.

The main question is: does it make me want to start a conversation about it? Because your thoughts, feedback, ideas, reactions, agreements and disagreements are a key part of our HuffPost Book Club. I absolutely want to hear what you think of the books I choose -- and I want to hear your suggestions for other books we should be featuring.

At HuffPost, we passionately embrace the rapid-fire, always-fresh, up-to-the-second, 24/7 nature of online news. But here at HuffPost Books, the pace will be different. A little bit slower, a little more willing to look back as well as ahead. A little more willing to kick back and curl up with a good book.

Which brings me to my first "Arianna's Reading" selection: it not only fits the "book you want to curl up with" bill, its message has influenced the way I'll be making my picks.

Source:
huffingtonpost.com