26 June 2017
As a book critic, I am no stranger to listicles. The quickest way to condense and transmit recommendations, the listicle has been around almost as long as publications have, but the internet is a particularly potent vehicle for randomly numbered collections of items around a theme. At one of the places I've written for, I was told that odd numbers in headlines play better, traffic-wise, but more important is the topic-whether it's the month's favorites, a state of mind for which the books are especially recommended, or the season in which to read them.