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What's the "book recommendation" contract?
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Just because I would recommend a book does not mean the person has to read it. I liked the book, and thought maybe they would also. The same goes for books recommended to me, I appreciate the fact that they liked the book, and are willing to share their joy by recommending it, but if it is not interesting to me, I will not read it, or may put it on a list to read at a later date, it my mood or tastes change.
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No. I am not likely to read a recommended book. I've only had about 5-6 books recommended to me, and none of them are the type of book I'm going to rush out and get. But if someone recommends a book to me that does sound extremely interesting, I'll add it to my to-read shelf. (That's happened maybe once...)
I have refrained from recommending books to people because I don't want them to feel pressured to read something. Actually, merely shelving a book as to-read, or rating a book highly, seems to serve as a recommendation to some of my friends. I notice them occasionally shelving books I've just shelved, which is nice.
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Depends on who's doing the recommending, but no, I don't read all the books recommended to me. I don't even read all the books I WANT to read. And I don't expect anyone to read a book just because I recommend it. Everyone's tastes are different.
Yeah, what Jackie said. I'm terrible at recommending books if I have to describe them at all so I never expect anyone to actually read a book just because I tell them to.
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i really haven't read too many recommended books. i impulse shop at the library. skimming through interesting books. i have read a couple that were recommended to me by some of you guys as i think we are beginning to know a bit about each other and our tastes and interest. plus i don't read some of the important stuff, mostly just hobby reading
I add books to my list all the time that people recommend, but the things that will get me to actually read them are:a)They physically put THEIR copy in my hands - a copy of my own won't do it - and say read it.
b)Somebody whose taste I trust implicitly recommends a book and then I discover it is easily available at the library.
If either of my sisters or either of my parents raves about a book I will probably read it. Ditto my tenants, who have some excellent taste in books. Ditto a handful of you. But it tends to be a really good personal review that does it for me, not a random "____ recommends" notification.
I try to avoid giving unsolicited recommendations. But if a friend is considering reading a particular book and asks me if I've read it, or have an opinion about it, then I'd be happy to put my two cents in. With regard to recommendations that I receive, I seldom act on the suggestion immediately, but it may stick in the back of my mind and influence my later decision to read or purchase a given book.
As others have said, it really depends on the person doing the recommending. A close friend's opinion carries a lot of weight. A book publicist's thinly-disguised avatar lurking around the internet and telling me about a book that he or she "just couldn't put down" (adding multiple exclamation points or emoticons), not so much.
I sometimes wonder, what does that really mean, "I couldn't put it down"? Did someone smear epoxy on the cover?
I don't have a lot of readers around me, so I always read different reviews in magazines or newspapers (there are so many!), several of my customers are readers and one free lance writer so they are always good for discussion, and I religiously scan my library's review/recommended web site for something that may interest me. Also I go on binges...last summer it was Margaret Atwood, John Krakauer, Ernest Hemingway. As I said before I listen to books while working because it passes the time and makes me feel like my brain is not turning into jello. I have had the political nonfiction and memoir binges as well. Just depends on my frame of mind at the time. Basically I will give anything a listen. To actually invest the time in sitting down and reading it has to be something that really grabs me.
I want people to recommend books to me. I had been stuck for things to read prior to joining GR (ridiculous I know, but true). Since joining, I have a had a plethora of choice. I have read things I would not have chosen for myself in a million years. I love love love it. I have had to ask people to recommend books though, my friends have been a bit shy.
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the Rocky used to have a really good book section on Fridays. I miss the News so much.
right there with you Sally. I usually peruse the Sunday Post A&E.
I once read a book about a British woman who spent a year in the Outback of Australia living with Aborigines that a co-worker told me I had to read. I would have never ever read it otherwise. I didn't care for it at all. But the same woman was the one to convince me that the Harry Potter books were not just kids books and I am forever grateful for that recommendation.I have one really close friend that knows my taste so well, and I her taste, that we'll know if we've read something they'd love.
Sarah Pi wrote: "a)They physically put THEIR copy in my hands - a copy of my own won't do it ."I had a coworker do this to me even though I told her several times as nicely as I could that that sort of book wasn't my cup of tea. So I wasted a weekend reading the book, to be polite, and gave it back to her with the words "Don't ever do that to me again."
You girls are just plan scary. I would never dare recommend a book to any of you.
Fortunately that is not why I am here. :)
Fortunately that is not why I am here. :)
Like Sarah, I have a pushy book colleague. And he asks over and over again if I've read the books. I keep putting him off. He's the same guy who sends me forwarded emails and asks me if I've read them.
BunWat wrote: "Jackie is an excellent book recommender btw. She doesn't just recommend books based on what she likes, she asks you what you like and tries to find a match. Must be that librarian training. I've..."Yay! Thanks, Bun! Yes, I've had "Readers' Advisory" training. Some people like books with strong plots, some with beautiful writing, some are into character development.
I have a friend who likes to dip into books and just read passages, and can take months to read a whole book, if she even bothers to finish it, which would drive me crazy. Do NOT ask her to describe a book to you! She doesn't know how to boil things down. She loves Bolano.
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I've had people pretty much stalk me about books they've recommended/lent me. But investing that much time into a book in which I'm not that interested...nah, I'm not doing it. Sorry. So I generally say I have a slew of other books to which I want to get first, which technically is true, and is often true even for books I want to read.
Conversely, I don't expect people to read books I've recommended. I know the score, esp. if they're like me. Gr is good for this, by the way, because the sheer volume of book recommendations means you could never get to them all, anyway.
What do you think?