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
Taylor Napolsky says
I have so many on my reading list, and I don't know where I hear about them. Most of them are popular as it is. Anyway, currently reading Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis.
JeffO says
I just finished 'Sharp Objects' by Gillian Flynn, which I heard about through the blog of Lisa L. Regan, soon-to-be-published author. It was quite good.
Steve Masover says
Currently reading
==> The Selected Letters of Allen Ginsberg and Gary Snyder because I saw it in a local, independent bookstore
==> Silent Spring (Rachel Carson) because I have meant to since I was a wee teenager
==> The Sea, The Sea (Iris Murdoch) because it's what my reading group has selected (i.e., recommended by a fellow reading group member)
And I had that same, weird un-deja-vu with A Wrinkle In Time — thought I'd read it but when I picked it up "again" it turned out I hadn't. A wrinkle in reading…..?
Alex Villasante says
Just started reading Ashes by Ilsa Bick. At the end of April, my last A-Z Blogfest post was (of course) Z is for Zombies. Through twitter, friends and I discussed best Zombie books. I posited The Reapers are The Angels. Ashes was one recommendation I got over and over. I get most of my recommendations from people I haven't met in person 😉
Ida says
I love that at least two of the books listed–The White Mountains and A Wrinkle in Time– are at least 50 years old. It's great to see the longevity that books can have. John Christopher recently died at age 89 but his books live on.
Sommer Leigh says
99.9% of the books I read I read because someone blogs or Tweets about it. I read a lot of book blogs, which is where most of my recs come from. Anyone who says book blogs aren't useful hasn't seen the part of my household budget my husband calls "Sommer needs to get a second job" fund.
M. G. King says
The three books I'm in the middle of: HOW LAMAR'S BAD PRANK WON A BUBBA-SIZED TROPHY — writer friend's recommendation.
THE LITTLE WORLD OF DON CAMILLO — found it in our library's used book sale.
PLATFORM by Michael Hyatt — ebook, advertised through his own blog.
jenna123 says
I saw Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman in the new arrivals section of my local libraries ebook webpage.
Two Flights Down says
I'm in the same boat as you, Nathan. I am reading The Giver, which I swore I already read.
Melissa says
I'm reading "Pretty Amy," a YA by Lisa Burnstein. 🙂
I get a lot of book recs from my Twitter feed. But I also have specific publishers that I tend to follow because they release the kind of books that I like. I know that I can't go wrong with Entangled Publishing!
Brent Peterson says
I'm reading "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" which I heard about though rather old- fashioned means… there's a very knowledgeable salesperson in Indigo bookstore who has never steered me wrong.
Naja Tau says
I usually find my books because they're mentioned in one of my college classes or someone I respect is reading a book and talking about it on Facebook or Goodreads.
wendy blake pottinger says
My writing group always comes up with new and interesting books. My son gave me Patrick Rothfuss – Name of the Wind….Love his writing…Mostly get my books from friends and family referrals, but there are certain authors I buy each time their new book comes out. (And I mean hard cover book)
Dracula says
I'm reading TAFT 2012 because I feel a moral obligation to read everything affiliated with Quirk Books.
Stephsco says
Was looking for a writing conference last year, noticed local author Erica O'Rourke won an RWA Golden Heart for "Torn." I read that, then met author at the conference, bought her second book in the YA series called "Tangled." 🙂
Ted says
NOBODY MOVE by Denis Johnson.
Queued up is A CONSPIRACY OF PAPER by David Liss.
Magdalena Munro says
I like to read "unknown" (to me) books by author's that are revered by author's I personally revere. WOW…that was a ridiculous sentence. Did it even make sense?
Susan Kaye Quinn says
I'm reading A Spy Like Me by Laura Pauling – a friend's (and fellow Indelible's) self-published book.
Beth Barany says
The novel I just finished: from the author herself.
The nonfiction: amazon searches.
Laura W. says
I almost always go with word-of-mouth. If enough people I know/am friends with/trust their reading tastes like it and recommend it, I figure there must be something to it. Also, I don't really trust internet and Amazon reviews — you never know whether they're honest or not.
Actually, I hardly ever read reviews, because people react to books in such different ways. If it catches my eye or ear, I'll read the jacket flap, and pick it up if it sounds interesting.
An exception: I'm reading A Clash of Kings right now. I first heard of the series when I saw the TV show poster, and picked it up b/c Sean Bean is my favorite actor. 🙂
Nan says
From Jenny Cruisie–I'm reading Skinny Dip by Carl Hiaasen. Fun read!!
I get a lot of new authors from Amazon Kindle Free Bestsellers…great place to discover new writers.
Annie says
I just finished Wild by Cheryl Strayed and Let's Pretend This Didn't Happen by Jenny Lawson. Now I've just picked up Cures For Hunger, a wonderful memoir by Deni Y. Bechard, and The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes. All wonderful books, but these last two are amazing. I usually take suggestions from friends, Twitter, GoodReads, etc.
Caroline Starr Rose says
I just finished ALL OVER BUT THE SHOUTIN' by Rick Bragg, who spoke at a conference I attended in March.
Right now I'm reading THE MAPMAKER AND THE GHOST with my boys, by fellow Class of 2k12 debut, Sarvenz Tash.
TeresaR says
Was at a SCBWI conference last weekend and Andrew Harwell of HarperCollins recommended "Okay for Now" so that's what I started reading today.
Kristin Laughtin says
I'm reading BLACKOUT by Mira Grant, which was just released. I got a copy of the first book, FEED, as a freebie at Comic-Con and got hooked on the series.
Danielle La Paglia says
I'm reading three books right now:
The Writer's Journey by Christopher Vogler which was recommended by a crit partner
You Are Here by Jennifer E. Smith I found at the book store the old fashioned way
Ghost Story by Peter Straub is this month's book club choice.
Katie says
I'm currently reading Demon's Surrender by Sarah Rees Brennan…it's the third book in the series, and I can't remember exactly how I ended up reading the first one, but it was probably due to social media/seeing it online. Nobody I know has read it or talked about it, so it wasn't a rec from a friend or anything. Anyway, I loved the book and I'm a huge fan of Sarah's, and I finally remembered the 3rd book was out and picked it up when I saw something about it again online.
I get most of my book recommendations through book blogs, Twitter, Goodreads, or Amazon, as I am very immersed in book stuff online. A lot of people tend to go with recommendations from friends, but very few of my IRL friends share my reading taste, so I rarely rely on that. And if they are reading something I like, it's either something probably something popular and tied to a movie or TV show, like The Hunger Games or Game of Thrones (nothing wrong with either of these, but I read them both like 5 years ago).
https://ericksongypsycaravan.wordpress.com/2011/11/09/friedrichshafen/ says
I still depend on the old way of choosing books, reviews in NYT, WSJ, or those that have won awards.
Dennis Lehane's "A Drink Before the War" because I wanted to read one of his earlier works. Not disappointed.
Philip Kerr's "Field Grey" because I like the WW II genre when it's done well.
Julian Barne's "A Sense of the Ending" because I overheard someone at a writer's event mention it.
William Boyd's "Waiting for Sunrise." He's one of the best living British writers. Every one of his previous books I've read was a revelation. I think about his "Any Human Heart" years after I read it.
Laurie Boris says
I'm reading Rasana Atreya's Tell a Thousand Lies. She's an independent author and friend in one of my Facebook Groups. I've been enjoying a lot of indie books lately.
Nancy Kelley says
Artemis Rising: The author, Cheri Lasota, is a friend of mine and a very active local author.
Insurgent: I read Divergent last summer and I've been dying to read the sequel ever since.
Behind Jane Austen's Door: A review book for the Jane Austen website I co-own, Indiejane.org
About half the books on my TBR were written by authors I know. The other half I found at the library or from book blogs.
Adam Heine says
I'm reading QUIET: THE POWER OF INTROVERTS IN A WORLD THAT WON'T STOP TALKING. My Mom told me about it through Facebook and then gifted it to my Kindle (which, really? Best feature ever).
Anonymous says
I tend to receive book recommendations at work and more often than not I receive recommendations for non-fiction books from men and fiction books from women. Weird.
Angela Brown says
I'm reading Katana by Cole Gibsen which I found out about from checking out a blog review.
CRCohen says
Just read Choke by Chuck Paluniuk. Read Fight Club and loved it. Had to have more.
Mary Horner says
I'm finally reading The Help. My daughter (and everyone else on the planet!) recommended it to me.
Heidi says
I'm not much of a bandwagon-jumper, but I just got 50 Shades of Gray. I'm a book merchandiser, and I first heard about the book when one of my customers asked for it before it had even been released.
We finally got them in stock at the store, and I swear I can't keep them on the shelves, they sell as soon as I put them out.
So I had to see what the fuss was all about.
But I also bought a YA fantasy from Kristen Cashore, FIRE.
treeoflife says
Recommended by the guy sitting in the seat next to me on a recent flight…
He was an intelligent and interesting person to talk to, so I figured I'd like his recommendation. And I do.
Layla says
I'm reading The Haj by Leon Uris. It's a popular crossword answer so I was eventually tempted to read it 🙂
Anonymous says
I didn't hear about it: I saw it in a bookstore, and I bought it. Just like the last 75+ books I've purchased since the beginning of the year …
J.C. Martin says
I'm currently reading THE EXECUTIONER by Chris Carter, and it was good old-fashioned recommendation from my Mom.
Michael Pickett says
I'm reading Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand, which was recommended to me by my wife and loaned to me by my in-laws. No technology here.
Sarah Nicolas says
I found out about mine from my brother-in-law's 16 year old sister.
Helen W. Mallon says
ALWAYS listen to the teenagers…
Kim Batchelor says
Reading for a book club a book I read before, but like your Wrinkle in Time Experience, seems like a completely different book: Bless Me, Ultima. The book is currently banned in schools in Arizona for ridiculous motives, which is one reason the book club took it up. I'm finding it to be a beautiful story of a Latino family in New Mexico in the 1940s/50s.
I'm also reading "Shades" to see what the fuss is about–the writer in me wants to criticize the 21 references to his/her "breath hitches" and the main character's annoying asides ("Holy crap!"), but I have to hand it to her for the success of the book and a female main character who so far is pretty assertive despite what I'd assume from the subject matter.
Diane T says
I'm old-fashioned and newfangled: I found my current read browsing my library e-book catalog. Not sure I had heard of "Pretty Monsters" or Kelly Link, but my intuition was spot-on, it's a great read!
No Fun Mum says
I'm reading 'Cloud Atlas' by David Mitchell and head about it on The TV Book Club here in the UK. It was likened to another book 'Girl Reading' which I picked up at the library yesterday. Cloud Atlas looked like it was going to lose me early on, but has turned out to be stunningly spectacular. I'm in awe of Mitchell and his incredible grasp on the English language; to invent believable patois is something truly admirable
Meredith Towbin says
I'm reading Death Comes to Pemberley, which was recommended to me by my mother-in-law. But before I dove in, I had to reread Pride and Prejudice. I could have sworn I read it at least two times but for some reason it's blocked from my memory. So I think that one was recommended to me by my high school English teacher.
Neurotic Workaholic says
Most of the books I read are ones that I come across when browsing in a bookstore. Either that or I'll read something by an author I really like, and then I'll seek out other stuff by that author. For example, I read Nora Ephron's collections of essays, including I Remember Nothing; I liked them so much that I went out and bought a copy of her novel, Heartburn. I was not disappointed. I wish she had written more novels.
Deniz Bevan says
I love A Wrinkle in Time.
I'm reading Kristen Callihan's Firelight – Kristen's a friend from the Compuserve Books and Writers Community!
janesadek says
I searched Lewis and Clark expedition in my Kindle, because I'm going on a vacation to Oregon. I found the novel Sacajawea by Anna Lee Waldo.