LitMinds Blog and Interviews

Creator of The Millions (A Blog About Books), C. Max Magee, has covered a lot of ground in the world of reading and writing.  He’s conducted a study of online journalists as a part of the new media Masters program at Medill, Northwestern University's highly-ranked School of Journalism.  Through The Millions blog, Max writes book reviews and industry news, supplies an eclectic reading list called the reading queue, and involves many friends and his wife, Mrs. Millions, in his world of literary blog-ness.  And Max's "other job" is writing about the stock market for indieresearch.com.  

LitMinds asked Max to tell us us more about his varied reading and writing life. 

Back in 2002 or 2003 in Los Angeles, my roommate at the time had begun blogging. He tried to get me into but I didn’t really get the point.  However, I’d been trying for about the hundredth time to keep a journal, and eventually it occurred to me that keeping a blog might help me write more regularly.  So I took a half-hearted stab at it and was starting to lose interest when I realized that the site could be a venue for discussing books, rather than an eclectic catch-all for nothing much. 

At the time I was working at an independent bookstore in Los Angeles and so was immersed in books every day, giving me endless material.  The little bits of feedback I got early on from people who were excited about what I was doing were enough to keep me going.

The blog’s name is a play on my own, Maximilian, but it is also meant to represent the uncountable things that are out there waiting to be discovered: books, people, nuggets of knowledge.

I continue to be surprised by the blog almost daily.  I think perhaps the most important development for The Millions was becoming a part of a larger community of bloggers and readers that discusses books online.  It’s been remarkable to watch the development of this amorphous and vibrant venue for literary discourse.  It has given me great faith in the health of the art of literature.

2. There are seven contributors including you on The Millions.  As the creator and most active writer on the site, you have set the blog’s literary tone and direction.  How have you gone about adding the other contributors?  How does having a blog with multiple writers compare to the single-author literary blog?

With one exception, who I met through the blog, my contributors are old friends of mine from high school, college, and afterwards.  I’ve talked books with many of these guys for years, so bringing that discussion “public” was an easy step.

I love having multiple writers for the blog.  Aside from taking a bit of the burden off of me, it keeps the blog from getting monotonous.  I used to worry that readers would get tired of hearing from me day after day.  Now we’ve got an array of voices bringing unique points of view to the table.  It makes for a much fuller, richer site.  To that end, I’ve been looking for a female contributor for the site for a while now, since we’re lacking that angle, but I haven’t found anyone yet.

3. You have developed a fairly sophisticated process for selecting your next book to read.  Can you explain how The Reading Queue works and why you have opted to use this tool to determine what you read?  Personally, I like your process, but I also think I might miss the experience of searching for and finding that next book based on my urge or interest of the moment.  How has The Reading Queue influenced your browsing habits?

It’s funny, after working in a bookstore and maintaining the blog, I don’t really shop for books like a normal person any more.  Books are passed along to me by people, or I’ll happen to spot a tattered copy in a thrift store of a book I’ve been meaning to read.  I’m constantly surrounded by books I haven’t read, and if I had to pick what to read next, I wouldn’t even know where to begin.

The Reading Queue takes what was once an agonizing decision and makes it a nice little surprise.  And it also forces me to read more challenging books that I might otherwise put off.  Here’s how it works: I alphabetize my “to be read” pile by author and then assign each book a number.  When the time comes to pick my next book to read, I use a random number generator to decide for me.  It’s quite compulsive, I know, but it works for me.

The only time I read a book out of order is if a publisher or author has sent me an advance copy and I want to make sure I read and review it when it comes out. Those I bump right to the top of the list. But if I go buy a book or get one as a gift, it goes into the queue. Maybe I'll read it next week, maybe I'll read it in five years; the reading queue will decide.

4. You are also a writer about the stock market for indieresearch.com.  How does this work contrast to and compliment the literary leanings of your contributions on The Millions?

There’s really no overlap at all.  They are just very different.  However, my going to journalism school a couple of years ago certainly impacted all of the writing I do, helping me to write more quickly and get the point across better.  At the same time, I really enjoy the freedom the blog gives me to write in the first person and to be creative in ways that I can’t with the other writing I do.

5. You spend a lot of your time reading and reviewing books for a large audience of readers.  What is a recent book recommendation you have made enthusiastically to a friend, colleague, or family member?  To whom and why did you recommend it?

Again going back to my days as a bookseller, I’m a compulsive recommender of books, and I have several that I frequently suggest to people.  One of the best books I’ve read in recent months is Sacco and Vanzetti Must Die! by Mark Binelli. It’s a post-modern madcap tale that conflates the lives of a pair of accused and executed anarchist with those of a slapstick comedy duo from the early days of cinema.  It’s a challenging book that also manages to be incredibly entertaining. 

A longtime favorite of mine that I have recommended to many people is The Adventures and Misadventures of Maqroll by Alvaro Mutis.  For those who have read all of Garcia Marquez and Borges, this book is another, and as yet relatively undiscovered, masterpiece of Latin American literature to delve into.

6. LitMinds is just getting started in building a community that connects readers, authors, and indie booksellers.  What do you like about the LitMinds community so far?

I applaud you on your efforts thus far.  The site looks great and is certainly inviting to the new user.  I think that going with a discussion-focused site is a great move.  Over the past few years literary discourse has blossomed online, and I think there’s plenty of room to tap into that.

You can find Max's LitMinds profile here.