The way we discover books is ever-changing. It sure seems like we’re far more likely to discover books through a tweet, Goodreads recommendation, Facebook post, or online search than we are through methods that existed before the Internet.
Where did you hear about the book you’re reading?
I’m reading A Wrinkle in Time at the moment, which I could have sworn I read growing up, but now realize I picked up and put down a million times when I was a kid. So, uh, I heard about it when I was a kid.
What about you?
Art: Conversation – Camille Pissarro
February Grace says
I read an interview with the author on CNN.com. It's a nonfiction book.
Matthew MacNish says
I'm reading The White Mountains, by John Christopher right now. It was loaned to me by a colleague at work, which is an extremely rare source for me, considering this is the first time it's ever happened.
The vast majority of the books I read are recommended by friends I know mostly on the internet.
Anonymous says
I'm reading The Pearl Wars, by Nick James. My little sister brought it home from the library just before I came home from college. I found it lying around the house and picked it up.
Dana Britt says
The book I just finished reading I bought via Kindle on my phone after reading a free Kindle book by the same author. Times are a'changin'!
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Jennifer McAndrews says
I have three books going right now – one is third in a series (Blackout by Mira Grant) I heard about through word of mouth. The other two (Code Name Verity by E. Wein and Contested Will – I can't recall the author's name) I heard about on twitter. Twitter is pretty much the #1 place I hear about a book, then I poke into it and decide if I'm interested.
historywriter says
I find out about some books from my book club, but often it's Shelf Awareness which I subscribe to or just going through my favorite indie store and talking to book sellers.
crow productions says
I have a hard time deciding what I want to read. The internet has not made any difference for me. Often I just don't know what I want to read. I like funny, but it's hard to find. There's so much to choose from. I'm afraid of being let down by my purchase which has happened to me more than a few times.
tonipicker says
Whether I like to admit it or not, Goodreads has become my go to place for finding new books.
Mr. D says
The last book I read, which was a couple months ago, was for research on the book I was writing at the time. So I learned about it from research. It's about John Dunn, the White Chief of Zululand.
minawitteman says
The Hare With Amber Eyes by Edmund de Waal. Heard about it from my indie bookseller in Amsterdam. Excellent recommendation, excellent book.
Mary Jo Tate says
I'm reading the Fairacre series by Miss Read. I heard about her work because it was an inspiration for Jan Karon's Mitford series, which I heard about from a friend (and which I reread at least once every 2 years).
My reading choices come from suggestions from friends or references in other books, magazines, or blogs. Another great way to choose something good to read is to read another book by an author you already enjoy.
Victoria says
Currently reading Storm Front, the first Harry Dresden file. The series has been mentioned to me by too many friends to ignore!
Andrea says
I'm reading Artemis Fowl for the first time, and I found out about it through a friend. I'm still old school when it comes to finding out about books. Don't really pay attention to Goodreads. Sad, I know. 🙂
Kai Strand says
American Gods by Neil Gaiman. After years of gushy tweets and status updates about it, I realized it was time to give it a try.
Anonymous says
"Hold me Closer, Necromancer" by Lish McBride. It was recommended to me by Amazon and it's REALLY, REALLY good. I can't wait for the second one to come out now.
After you read "Wrinkle in Time" are you going to read the others in the series? I think there's five total, though "Wrinkle in Time" is the best one.
Bryan Russell says
I'm reading Borkmann's Point, by Hakan Nesser. I stumbled upon it in a bookstore. Which, I must say, is still my favourite way to go about the whole process, preferably with a coffee in my hand.
I'm also reading String Bridge, by Jessica Bell. She's a friend of mine, so that's how I know about that one.
Chudney Thomas says
Getting ready to read Colin Powell's new book. Saw an article in Parade magazine from him on kindness.
Laura Marcella says
I'm reading A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. I heard about this book in high school but never got around to reading it. Then a couple months ago a blogger reviewed it and so I added it to my to-read list. It's a terrific novel and I'm really enjoying it!
Bailish says
Every book I've read this year has been recommended through a blog I follow or a newspaper review, usually the NY Times.
Jenny Maloney says
Reading Alice Walker's The Color Purple – so I've always known about it and now's the moment to read it. I haven't seen the movie either, so I feel like I'm in catch up mode.
Anonymous says
From your blog! Story Engineering by Larry Brooks
Debbie says
One, Moral Disorder, was given to me by a friend who knows I love Margaret Atwood.
Last Call is research for a WIP that I found searching Amazon.
Pick Your Poison was a book club recommendation.
Sing Them Home (yes I have a lot of books going at once) is Stephanie Kallos' second book, and I loved Broken for You. Heard about that one at a conference.
The Goodreads and Amazon recommendations I get are rarely anything I'm interested in. I tend to rely on friends, author blogs and NPR. And, of course, wandering around the bookstore and spotting something that looks interesting.
Lauren says
I'm reading "Howl's Moving Castle." It is one of the top 100 on the Goodreads list of "Best YA Books." I have been trying to read the entire list for almost a year now and I only have a few more to finish.
Linds says
Respectively, from my bookclub, Patricia Cornwell's Blowfly, and the bookstore, Julianna Baggott's Pure. Which are outliers to be honest, I find most from sci-fi fantasy blogs recommendations and reviews.
brian yansky says
Currently reading THE SCORPIO RACES. Good reviews and praise from friends
… I think it is different and it isn't. It seems to me it's still word-of-mouth that generates the most interest. That word-of-mouth now just isn't words coming out of mouths anymore. It's facebook, twitter, blogs..But it's sort of the same. We hear praise, from several sources, for a certain book and we begin to take notice. I think reviews matter about as much as ever, but online reviews have a bigger share of attention.
D.G. Hudson says
Currently reading Alex J. Cavanaugh's books, CassaStar and CassaFire. I had my interest whetted on Alex's site.
I'm getting some of my ideas from bloggers (not necessarily Book Bloggers either). I don't look at Goodreads or any other book review sites for my choices. I prefer blogger friends suggestions and my own interests.
I've recently discovered my love of Diana Gabaldon's books, and I got that from researching a writing conference.
Maybe it depends on WHAT you read.
Charlene says
I'm reading Dexter by Design by Jeff Lindsay. I discovered the first in the series because I stumbled across an episode of the TV series.
"Victoria said…
Currently reading Storm Front, the first Harry Dresden file. The series has been mentioned to me by too many friends to ignore!"
Wonderful series. I was driven by uncontrollable need to buy all of them, and reread until the next came out.
Emily Hill says
I'm reading 'All About Lulu' by Jonathan Evison. Evison keynoted the Field's Writing Conference on Whidbey Island last month and no one in the audience was in their chair at the end of his remarks. They were either (a) participating in a standing ovation (b) still rolling in the aisles over his comedic schtick (c) charging the podium to be the first in line to chat him up as he descended to take his seat.
I only get to see/hear one author of the one hundred that I read; so the 'Where?" is USUALLY from the sweet murmurs of someone's lips.
Shakier Anthem says
Currently reading And Yet They Were Happy by Helen Phillips. Pretty sure I heard about it through an article about her on SheWrites. I'd say I tend to come to the books I read because: A. I already like the author, B. I hear/read an interview, review, or section of the book on NPR, in Poets & Writers, or elsewhere, or C. a friend recommends it. And even though it's superficial, I'll admit that a cool cover in a bookstore will at least get me to pick a book up and read the back cover description.
Anonymous says
I'm finding most of my books from sites like Pixel of Ink or Ereader News Today. They try to find the best free books every day and post them along with the description and ratings. They are good filters. I just finished "The Only Witness". Sorry, can't recall the author at the moment and I'm on my work computer, but it was free on Friday. Very good read. I had a houseful of people coming over Sunday evening, but the book kept me reading all that morning. I couldn't stop until I finished it. I just closed off doors of rooms I didn't get to clean. 😉
collectonian says
I have quite a few in my reading queue at the moment.
* Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend by Susan Orlean – heard about on TV and by coincidence so did my boyfriend and he bought it for me for my birthday 🙂
* Evil: Inside Human Violence and Cruelty – found while browsing the shelves of Half Price Books
* The Great Earthquake and Firestorms of 1906: How San Francisco Nearly Destroyed Itself by Philip Fradkin – ditto
* The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl by Timothy Egan – ditto
* A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Future: Twists and Turns and Lessons Learned by Michael J. Fox – read his first book, loved it, happen to discover he'd written more while on Amazon
* Always Looking Up: The Adventures of an Incurable Optimist by Michael J. Fox – ditto
Of other recent reads, they were all the next volumes of series I'm reading. I heard about the Book Girl series while browsing the publisher's site to see when the next volume of the Kieli series was coming out. Kieli I heard about while looking for info on the next Spice & Wolf volume LOL. Spice & Wolf I learn about from the anime.
I can't think of a single book I've learned and actually considered reading from a Facebook post, and I don't twit or use GoodReads.
therealjasonb says
Finally reading Bonfire of the Vanities. I was reminded of it because it was mentioned (oddly enough) in Liar's Poker by Michael Lewis, which reminded me that I'd been meaning to read it forever ….
thewwaitingroom says
The book I'm reading (and loving!) right now was a free book from the NYU Summer Publishing Institute last summer; I guess it was a gift from a publisher to us wanna-be professionals. The book I just finished reading I picked up based upon a recommendation on goodreads and on loan from that same friend.
I'm finding that Goodreads and Shelf Awareness are my increasingly main source of book recommendations. Also, I'm starting to plow through the collection of books I own but have never read. Being on a book budget is helping me work through my backlogged to-read list!
Nathan Bransford says
anon@7:30-
I usually only read the first book in a series, so no. I'm weird like that.
Lauren Monahan says
Interesting post question. I heard about The Psychopath Test on NPR and am reading it now. Fascinating.
abc says
Currently reading A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness. I heard good things about it on both GoodReads and Facebook. Social media works!
Incy Black says
I get notification of free books for Kindle and those I enjoy I follow up with further 'real' purchases.
Amy says
From three sources. One, it's by a favorite author and I had been vaguely aware it was coming out soon. Two, a review blog just posted a very positive review of it. Three, a friend just mentioned to me that it was out.
Anonymous says
I'm reading Elements of the Novel: A Primer for Beginners by Eileen Charbonneau. (It's great, by the way.)
Eileen's a novelist who also teaches writing, and she ran my writing group.
Ava Jae says
I'm unfortunately not reading anything at the moment, but the last book I read was Insurgent by Veronica Roth, which I heard about at the end of the first book Divergent, which, interestingly enough, was the first book I bought after seeing an ad about it on the internet (and on Facebook, no less).
Anonymous says
Reading stuff I heard about in my childhood but never got the chance to read, too! ;D IRONY
L. Shanna says
I never thought I'd say this, but I love the recommended books feature on my nook. It's not always the greatest, but sometimes it reminds me that a favorite author has a new book out (such as Drop Dead Healthy, by AJ Jacobs, which I started last night.)
Anonymous says
I'm reading an ARC right now, but I've heard good things about the author through social media.
Mieke Zamora-Mackay/@MZMackay says
I'm reading Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier and The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.
I first heard of Cold Mountain because of the movie, and of course THG was from all the media attached to the film.
I picked up Cold Mountain because it's on my list of award winning books. While I picked up THG because my daughter is reading it now, and I wanted to read-along with her.
mamacarriemakes says
I just finished A Wrinkle in Time. I find my books through recommendations from others. My GoodReads friends, bloggers I read a lot, references in books I'm currently reading.
I'm also a library frequenter. I roam the aisle with my topic of choice and see what catches my eye. This works best for craft books though.
Peter Dudley says
Currently reading two books:
"At Home" by Bill Bryson. Got it as a gift because I told my wife I loved his other books I'd read. (familiarity with work)
"The Feedstore Chronicles" by Travis Erwin. He's an online friend I met through writing circles a few years ago. (personal connection/reference)
verification word: ourchive
I love this nonword as a way of describing a family's historical records.
Anonymous says
The Retrieval Artist series by Kristine Kathryn Rusch, which I found by reading her Spade/Paladin short stories in either Hitchcock or Ellery Queen Magazine.
Molly Murphy series by Rhys Bowen, which my children's school librarian recommended.
Jim Schmidt says
I just finished The Solitary House which I first saw on Goodreads but on the same day Lyndsay Faye recommended it at her book signing …I get many of my recommendations from Goodreads or the "customers also bought …" on amazon
Danelle Miller says
I get a lot of book recommendations from FB/Twitter posts. I download a lot of samples to my Nook and then buy the ones I'm hooked by. And I'll download the sample for any author that I've read before and liked.
Sheila Cull says
Bransford,
So it had paper pages and you literally picked it from amongst your book collection, or, you "picked it up" virtually with a computer device?
I'm still reading "A Palestine Affair" by Jonothan Wilson, fiction. I usually stick with NY Times best's but/and, this book won, "National Jewish Book Award Finalist", reflecting its popularity. And I literally picked it up from a tree lined, first floor, low rise at 3251 North Broadway in Chicago. This address is, "Unabridged Bookstore". It's been there some time, successful, adequately staffed and the owner can be found.
At "Unabridged Bookstore," the space between reading shelves is wide, not too much traveling to do either, from bookshelf to bookshelf. This is the catcher: they only sell the best in, of, literature, in almost every single genre.
That's the short version of my answer to this question Bransford.
This morning I spent too long attempting to delete yesterday's typo-s. Sorry though.
Lucky