I’ve been a reader for nearly 30 years and I’ve worked in publishing and followed the book industry as part of my career for the last 10 years. I’ve reported on, reviewed, critiqued, blogged about, and even dabbled at writing books over the years. I’ve read Publisher’s Lunch and Publisher’s Weekly, been to all-business Book Expo and the anything-goes RT Convention. I’ve read both printed and electronic books and listened to audiobooks. I’ve scoured countless blogs about books and reading as well.

Combining something you’re passionate for and the drudgery of daily deadlines is not always the recipe for a happy marriage. And being immersed in an industry sometimes makes it much harder to keep hold of the wonder. With so many ARCs crossing my radar, I admit that I do get jaded. It often seems as though there is nothing new to discover. I wonder where the breakthrough books are, the big memorable reads that, if not classics, at least stay with you over the years. I think that publishing, like many industries, has become a more disposable one. The amount of manuscripts published seems larger each year and the number of fresh voices smaller.

But when you discover a gem, a new writer who promises of great things to come, or an old hand who is simply new to you, you rediscover the magic of reading. For a long time, as a magazine writer and occasional blogger, I’ve had a lot to say about books and authors and industry trends. Recently I’ve switched to the other side of the fence, taking an acquisitions position at a publisher. Now that I’m responsible a bit more directly for finding the wonderful novels out there and bringing them to an appreciative audience, I find myself wanting to be more contemplative. To take the time to find the wonderfully written, beautifully crafted, surprisingly original stories that are out there, and for a change, perhaps not comment on them.

Talking or writing about books is a somewhat curious endeavor. The experience of reading a book is so complete and so insular and private that it can be a challenge to parse it in a public forum. I often feel after I’ve read a really great novel that I don’t instinctively have a lot to say about it. It’s difficult to really capture the enjoyment of reading in a way that would sway non-readers to pick up a book. (Of course, maybe that’s because non-readers baffle me completely. Even my husband, who reads a book every 10 days or so, is an enigma to me because he thinks reading is “OK,” but doesn’t quite understand the level of fanatic that I am.)

I admit that from time to time I get sick of analyzing whether the characterization was good, or the plot read just like a retread of the author’s last novel, or whether paranormals are truly over and historicals are making a comeback (eternally) or whether the new price increase that Publisher X is mulling over is really as dumb a move as it seems to be. I get tired of logging online and seeing reader and authors getting catty with each other over message board posts and blog wars initiating over exceptionally candid reviews.

So, for 2008, my New Year’s Resolution is Read More, Talk Less. I’m cutting back on the blogging (completely) and reviewing (as much as I can). I’m simply looking forward to more pleasure reading, less pen clutching (mental or otherwise), and anticipating, with new fervor, the golden moment of finding a great new novel that just blows me away.