India, Jan. 4 -- Dear Reader,

How do you manage your greatest resource - the gift of attention? How do you decide what books to read and which ones to give a pass to?

In this first week of the new year, I am wondering what to do with my 2026 reading.

I could go with the zeitgeist of the times - be culturally current, and read the long lists, shortlists and winners of the Women's Prize, Booker, the Pulitzer, the Nobel, the awards given by bookstores like Waterstones and Crosswords, and those by literary festivals like the Deodar Prize.

Or I could piggyback on recommendations by readers whose bookish tastes align with mine, like Barack Obama. I could do what I did last year - scour the best book lists from the year before and build myse...