I know, I know that this is going to sound strange. I’m a book blogger. I love books. I love for you readers to ask me what I’m reading. To read my thoughts when I gush happily or get rant-y about a book. But the question that has become like nails on a chalkboard for me is “Do you think I would like this book?”
I know how it sounds. It sounds like I’m being mean. I’m not. You are thinking “T, as a book blogger, I thought you loved recommending books!” I do. I do. So hear me out on this:
A book speaks to different people in different ways. Take Gone Girl for example. Lots of people enjoyed the book, but even more people hated the book. Hated the ending. Hated Amy. Or Nick. Or cheered for Amy and hated Nick. Back and forth, forth and back. Full disclosure: I FREAKING LOVED GONE GIRL. And I freaking loved Amy. And I liked the ending. And I have much more to say about that in another post. So, maybe you ask me about the next book that is being compared to Gone Girl- and I know, from conversations or maybe seeing you tweet about it, that you loved/hated Gone Girl- BUT, think about this: How would I know if you would like it? Because maybe the book is like Gone Girl and you would hate it. Or love it. But maybe it’s not. Maybe it’s just a book that is being compared to a buzz worthy title and you should just check the book out to see if it sounds good!
Maybe you like mysteries. Or psych thrillers. Or women’s fiction. And I like those books as well. So, you ask the question. Again, I don’t know. I mean look at Goodreads on any given book and you will see a mix of reviews. Some loved. Some hated. Some were “meh”.
What can I answer?
Let’s say you enjoyed a certain author’s previous books- for example, Mary Kubica (her new book, Don’t You Cry, is coming out May 2016!) If you enjoyed her previous books, it’s likely that Don’t You Cry will be enjoyed by you (it’s very good!)
What should you ask a blogger?
- Ask them what books they loved recently.
- Ask them what books they were “meh” about (they may or may not have posted about them.)
- Ask them for a link to their blog so you can check out reviews.
- Ask for them books they are excited to read.
Just don’t ask them if you will love a book. Because everybody is different and even if you liked all the books it’s being compared to, even if you like the genre, even if you’ve liked the previous books by that author- you still may not like that book.
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Has a book blogger ever recommended a book to you that you just LOVED?
Happy Reading and Bookishly Yours,
T @ Traveling With T
Traveling With T 
Great post today. Some times I’m not even sure if I am going to like a book until I read it so how do I know if some one else will like it!
Thank you! And exactly!
I enjoyed The Passenger by Lisa Lutz.
Oh I’m intrigued by the summary of that!
Lots of book bloggers have recommended various books to me that I loved. At the same time there have been a few that were raved about that just didn’t do much for me. In other words, I totally get the point of this post 🙂
YES!!!! Sometimes I know a person’s taste pretty well and I can make some recommendations. But, a lot of the time- I don’t know if you will like it- b/c I know how the same book can speak to each person ( OR NOT!!!) in a thousand different ways 🙂 🙂
*fist bump* I’m totally glad you understood the point! 🙂
Oooh – such a good question! I could never tell a random person whether they’d like a book or not. But, if I’ve known someone (and their reading taste in particular) for awhile, then I’m much more likely to be able to take a stab at it. But, I think it takes knowing someone’s general tastes, but also their particular quirks and/or non-negotiables. One friend of mine likes psych thrillers, but it took me awhile to figure out she also has to like at least one main character. That’s kind of hard to find in psych thrillers!
If I know someone REALLY well I can sometimes do it- but it’s hard for me! And yes! Finding a psych thriller with at least 1 likeable character! Ugh, so hard!
This is such a great question! I still love recommending books to people. I usually do some pretty thorough questioning before I made a recommendation, but even then I’ve been wrong before. You’ve got me thinking, though, about how I can give more accurate recommendations. HMM… 🙂
I know some people who ask me about certain books because they want to read the latest, greatest buzzzzzzzzzz books. Here’s the thing: You can’t like all the buzzzzzz books. It’s just too much. I think that those people really need to decide what they like in books and go from there- instead of always searching for the buzzzzzzzz books. However, I like your idea- I would love to be able to give more accurate recommendations one day!