Debbiesidea.com - What to read first

Debbiesidea.com, grew out of a friendship between Debbie Sankey, a lifelong lover of music and books, and Ellen Pall, a writer.

Long before the Internet was commonly available - and certainly before the concept of a "Wikki" - Debbie had the idea that it would be useful to have a reference work suggesting which book of an unfamiliar author would be best to read first. Start reading an author with a poor or atypical example of his work, she observed, and you would likely never read that writer again—perhaps losing in the process a world of pleasure and knowledge. On the other hand, since there would seldom be one right book to read first, the resource would have to be a compendium of opinions.

Recommendations are based on the collective intelligence (meaning: anyone can add anything to any author page). It needs a lot of care and, obviously, more users, but it could be a useful tool.

Debbie died in 2004, at the age of ninety. The website has been created in loving memory of her and her very good idea.