> Room and The Road — two novels about single parents in difficult circumstances... Early contender for understatement of the year. One experiment I've been t

> Room and The Road — two novels about single parents in difficult circumstances... Early contender for understatement of the year. One experiment I've been trying out for the past year or so is only reading "old" novels (first published more than 25 years ago). That comes from the recognition that I only have so much time for reading, and 0-5 years after first publication is generally not enough time to determine if a book is a true classic, or just part of a passing fad. Talking to other people about critically acclaimed contemporary novels is not really something I do, so I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything by only reading old books.