What To Read Next ~ A Chart

[Booknut, Head Moderator]

Found the best chart that - based on your gender/reading preferences/books you've read previously - gives you a 'mind map' of books to read afterwards. Check it out!!

http://seraphblades-demonpox.tumblr.c...

[talltyrion]

Urgh, I've read half of these! I need Prodigy to come the hell out already!! (Excuse my language, I'm upset.)

[Zohal, Co-Moderator]

That's awesome!!!

[Booknut, Head Moderator]

H99 wrote: "I've read 10 of them, and I'm scared of Shatter Me... A review scared me away from the book."

Shatter Me was amazing and I seriously can't wait until the next book in the series :D

[talltyrion]

Well, that particular user happens to be a huge critic, but I thought she made a convincing argument.

[Booknut, Head Moderator]

H99 wrote: "This review... http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/... made me scared of the book.

"Warner thinks Adam is a cardboard cutout of vanilla regurgitations."

That quote amazes and terrifies m..."

Its the kind of book that you have to be open-minded about to appreciate. I mean, if I wanted to, I could find something to poke fun at or exaggeratedly find negative in any book. But Shatter Me is uniquely written, and I especially liked the way it showed the descent into madness (with the girl being obsessed with counting everything, being afraid to touch anyone). It made it alot more real. The way its written makes it seem like the writing is raw, not pre-thought and processed.

I liked it. Some people don't. And that's okay. I've read tonnes of books I've heard bad reviews about and have liked, just as I have read heaps of books that had good reviews which I have hated. You just have to make your own judgements and give it a go. :)

[Booknut, Head Moderator]

H99 wrote: "Hmm...Okay. I'll try it soon. I just don't like books that have too many metaphors such as the vanilla regurgitation. That just gives you the wrong image. Yes, she's a huge critic, but I agree with..."

Metaphors can make a book too monotonous if used excessively. Different readers will react to books differently. I think a review can only do so much - a review for me is when you put down your reading experience, trying your best to let other people with similar tastes to you find this book so they can enjoy it/know not to read it. But you have to be open to differencing opinions.

[Booknut, Head Moderator]

H99 wrote: "It's just that with some books, I trust the reviews, because once I read one horrible book, I can't make myself read another book unless I know it will be good."

So true! I'd take a break from a horrible book by reading a book you KNOW is good, and then when you're ready to take the risk, read one of the more 'iffy' ones that you're unsure about.

[Booknut, Head Moderator]

H99 wrote: "You haven't read this?! The Blue Castle

I think Elevetha recommended this to you, but I'll second it. READ THAT BOOK. It is awesome. Truly. If you get through the first 50-60 pages, you will love it."

I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE L.M. Montgomery. I will definitely read it when I get the chance :)

[Booknut, Head Moderator]

H99 wrote: "I'm ashamed to say that it was my first book by her...I never read Anne of Green Gables. If you LOVE LOVE LOVE her, why haven't you read this yet?"

I never knew it existed! My mother had all the Anne of Green Gables novels - with the most beautiful covers - and I grew up watching the movies. When I was old enough, I read the whole series and fell in love with it even more. I re-read them, as well as reading her other series that I found at my school 'The Story Girl'. But I never saw, at my school, this book you mentioned. I was surprised when Elevetha recommended it to me and I saw the author - I didn't know she'd written another book.

[L]

That is a great chart and one that contains many titles i have not read. However, it does seem to be leaning more towards the YA genre - what about other genres?

[L]

H99 wrote: "Lucinda, at the top, it says "So you loved The Hunger Games... What should you read next?" I think it's for books that fans of The Hunger Games would probably enjoy, based on their taste, and The H..."

I see. (The Hunger Games is still on my 'to-read' list anyway) x

[Melissa]

H99 wrote: "I've read 10 of them, and I'm scared of Shatter Me... A review scared me away from the book."

I loved Shatter Me I thought it was an amazing book, you shouldn't let a bad review scare you away. Of course if you don't like metaphors then you might not like it.

[L]

Reviews are so helpful and without reading other peoples opinions, it can be hard at times to make an informed desision on whether to read a book or not.

[Anna]

Booknut wrote: "Found the best chart that - based on your gender/reading preferences/books you've read previously - gives you a 'mind map' of books to read afterwards. Check it out!!

http://seraphblades-demonpox...."

Wow!! That's probably the best one I've seen yet! It amazes me how many of the books I've already read :)

[Anna]

H99 wrote: "I've read 10 of them, and I'm scared of Shatter Me... A review scared me away from the book."

Don't let a review scare you! I try to read the book before I read reviews just so I can form my own opinions of the book!! But seriously, give Shatter Me a try!! It's an amazing book that has a completely unique writing style that I found beautiful :)

[talltyrion]

All the Shatter Me reviews look negative... I haven't read it, but they all quote the book, and I kinda have to agree with them...

[Booknut, Head Moderator]

Actually, 11527 of the reviews rate it 5 out of 5 stars - if you check the rating/review information on the GR page, you'll see this:


Only 3% of readers gave it 1 star. It also has a 4 star average rating which is pretty high.

[talltyrion]

Okay, okay, but still, the bad reviews were disturbingly convincing.

[Booknut, Head Moderator]

I know - but the good reviews can be scary-good at convincing too! Reviews are meant to be part-convincing others to read/not to read a book, and part truth. You can take the extremist 'oh-my-gosh-this-book-is-the-best!" path, or the extremist 'let-me-point-out-the-100-things-wrong-in-this-book' road.

Or you can be neutral and allow the reader to decide. Bad reviews are fun to write and to read, because they pick apart the book and sometimes make you laugh @ how bad the book seems.

But I've read alot of the bad reviews for Shatter Me, and let me just say you don't notice alot of these 'flaws' when you read the book through and don't over-analyse it.

Which is why when I read books - or I've heard a book is really great - I tend to look at two places:
- The average rating
- The rating details (as seen in the pic above)

I don't look at reviews.

Why? Because, as an independent young bookworm of the 21st century, I like to form my own opinions. Hey; 10000 people could rate a book 2 stars, but if there's hype about it, I'll read it too. Why? Because when I get asked about the book, or there are discussions about it, I want to be able to have my own opinion. Maybe I hated it too! But so what? At least I read it myself and formed my own arguments as to why it was 2/3/4/5 stars.

What I'm getting at is never let bad reviews - or good reviews - or reviews at all, stop you from letting your reading experience expand. I've read tonnes of badly written books, but they've added to my knowledge of what good books are, what makes a bad book, and what writing styles I wouldn't try. Reading a book is never a waste of time. Ever.

It's okay to read a book with a pre-conceived notion of how you're going to enjoy it. And maybe you'll read Shatter Me and hate it. Well you're entitled to your opinion! I have another group - the Throne of Glass fanclub - and we all love throne of glass, but people had love-hate polar opposite opinions on the new cover. Did they stop loving the series because of that?

No. You're allowed to love/hate books. Just don't hinder your own reading experience by letting what others thought of a book shape what you read.

[Zohal, Co-Moderator]

The first book is not horrible. It is a fairly average book depending on your perspective of it. But I have to say if you read Shatter Me and didn't find it that horrible you should read the second book because it has WAY better reviews AND it is SO much better than the first book. I couldn't peel my eyes off the second book and was fangirling the whole way through.

[Zohal, Co-Moderator]

Booknut wrote: "I know - but the good reviews can be scary-good at convincing too! Reviews are meant to be part-convincing others to read/not to read a book, and part truth. You can take the extremist 'oh-my-gosh-..."

That is very true! :)