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Book question for people
Hey, reader-type people, I have a question for you! In thinking about how to promote my books, I've been thinking about where I actually get book information from: personal blogs, author's twitter, ads, Amazon recommendations, "just saw the book on a shelf", etc. Last night I sat down and made an actual list for all the recent books I've read, but I'm just one person. More data is better!
So, if you think back to the last book or two that you read, or that you bought (either one), and tell me where you found out about that book, that would be very useful! Actually, the more of your recent books you can remember that information for, the more helpful it'd be -- but I know that's difficult, because I can't even remember what I was reading more than a few books ago. And, if it's a book you picked up because you always read that series/author (which came up for me a number of times), can you remember why you started reading them in the first place?
FWIW, my recent "why did I pick up this book?" reading list looks like this:
- I know the author
- book got a glowing recommendation on a non-review (i.e. general interest) blog I read, and sounded interesting
- downloaded this one as a free Kindle promotion, after hearing people on my flist talk about the TV series based on it
- I know the author, again (different author)
- latest book in a series I've been reading for awhile (can't remember when or why I started reading it; all I remember now is that I got the early books from the library)
- local author I started following on Twitter because I'm trying to follow more local authors; he talked about his newest book a bunch on his Twitter & eventually I got interested enough to pick it up
- latest in a series I'm following; started reading because a friend recommended
And that's the point where I started forgetting what I'd actually been reading recently, though I may wander around the house a little later staring at my bookshelves.
There is exactly ONE time I can think of in my whole reading history that I bought a book directly based on an ad -- it was Frances Hardinge's first book, and the ad was just too impossibly intriguing for me not to want to read it. ("Imagine a world where all books are banned!") Usually it seems like the vast majority of my book reading has a lot to do with word of mouth -- people I know lending me books or recommending books to me, people on my various social media talking about books, people I know who write books talking about their books (and one thing making this list really impressed upon me is that the more someone talks about their stuff, the more likely I am to buy it ... which is directly counter-intuitive to me because I actively try not to spam people with this stuff, but, er, at least for me, it seems like I not only don't mind at all when people talk about their various projects -- it's interesting! -- but the more they talk about it, the more likely I am to be eventually intrigued enough to buy it). There's also a fair amount of "looking at the nearby books on the shelf" that goes on when I'm in a bookstore or library; I distinctly remember that I started reading the Vorkosigan books because I'd been spending a lot of time in the book section of the campus bookstore sneakily reading sections of books because I was too poor to buy them, and after I'd snuck in on about four different occasions to read the next couple chapters of "Mirror Dance", I finally had to admit that I really needed to buy that book.
So what about you? Do you remember specifically where you heard about the last couple of books you read or bought, and what made you interested enough to read it?
So, if you think back to the last book or two that you read, or that you bought (either one), and tell me where you found out about that book, that would be very useful! Actually, the more of your recent books you can remember that information for, the more helpful it'd be -- but I know that's difficult, because I can't even remember what I was reading more than a few books ago. And, if it's a book you picked up because you always read that series/author (which came up for me a number of times), can you remember why you started reading them in the first place?
FWIW, my recent "why did I pick up this book?" reading list looks like this:
- I know the author
- book got a glowing recommendation on a non-review (i.e. general interest) blog I read, and sounded interesting
- downloaded this one as a free Kindle promotion, after hearing people on my flist talk about the TV series based on it
- I know the author, again (different author)
- latest book in a series I've been reading for awhile (can't remember when or why I started reading it; all I remember now is that I got the early books from the library)
- local author I started following on Twitter because I'm trying to follow more local authors; he talked about his newest book a bunch on his Twitter & eventually I got interested enough to pick it up
- latest in a series I'm following; started reading because a friend recommended
And that's the point where I started forgetting what I'd actually been reading recently, though I may wander around the house a little later staring at my bookshelves.
There is exactly ONE time I can think of in my whole reading history that I bought a book directly based on an ad -- it was Frances Hardinge's first book, and the ad was just too impossibly intriguing for me not to want to read it. ("Imagine a world where all books are banned!") Usually it seems like the vast majority of my book reading has a lot to do with word of mouth -- people I know lending me books or recommending books to me, people on my various social media talking about books, people I know who write books talking about their books (and one thing making this list really impressed upon me is that the more someone talks about their stuff, the more likely I am to buy it ... which is directly counter-intuitive to me because I actively try not to spam people with this stuff, but, er, at least for me, it seems like I not only don't mind at all when people talk about their various projects -- it's interesting! -- but the more they talk about it, the more likely I am to be eventually intrigued enough to buy it). There's also a fair amount of "looking at the nearby books on the shelf" that goes on when I'm in a bookstore or library; I distinctly remember that I started reading the Vorkosigan books because I'd been spending a lot of time in the book section of the campus bookstore sneakily reading sections of books because I was too poor to buy them, and after I'd snuck in on about four different occasions to read the next couple chapters of "Mirror Dance", I finally had to admit that I really needed to buy that book.
So what about you? Do you remember specifically where you heard about the last couple of books you read or bought, and what made you interested enough to read it?
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- latest in a series that I started because of a friend's recommendation
- book of a webcomic I'm following
- background information relevant to a current fandom of mine
Next few books I'm probably going to buy:
- saw one or two recs on my flist and then a bunch before Yuletide
- several recs on my flist
- someone I follow on Tumblr keeps promoting it
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I tend to buy books from authors I trust. So I buy continuing series, new books from author's I already love, and if I know the author from fandom. To be clear, I only buy ebooks. I'm also slowly but surely replacing my paper collection with ebook versions.
I'll be honest, for first time reads of an author, if I don't already know the author, I download the book illegally and give it a try. If I love the story/writing style of the author I'll purchase future books.
My husband has asked me to purchase ebooks if the illegal copies I've downloaded have serious formatting issues and to support the author, so that's how we bought two books of the Mazalan series by Steven Erikson. He uses Goodreads to find books he'd like to read. I've
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(Sorry to bombard you with questions -- I hope it doesn't come across like a terrible QUESTIONSTORM ... I'm mostly just trying to figure out where I can best concentrate my "marketing" when I have a thing to market! And if you aren't sure about the answers or if it's just "it depends", that's okay too ...)
Also, I think there might be a little missing from the end of your comment ...?
I do the same thing with sampling, though for me it's generally via the library and/or free Kindle copies since a lot of series books have the first one for free or super-cheap. It's not very often that I'll buy a brand-new book from a new author without having read it first.
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I use Goodreads best books of the year list (http://www.goodreads.com/choiceawards/best-books-2014) and then Goodreads recommends books based off what I liked. For the best books list, I look at the summaries for the nominated books.
The main place I find science fiction and fantasy reviews is the website http://io9.com/ Once a month they post a list of most anticipated sci-fi/fantasy books coming out. Some of the books are sequels to previous books, and some are brand new. I read the summaries and pick what looks interesting to me.
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Next is simply going to the library. Even if I only intend to get one book, I'll see at least one other, and, hey, free books!
I probably won't pick up a book just because one person on lj/dw talked about it (unless it's already very relevant to me), but I may if lots of people are talking about.
Authors I already like of course. Some of my favorite authors I discovered through lucky word of mouth, and then I kept buying.
Then of course I buy comic trades based on word of mouth, critical acclaim, or what I'm already reading monthly.
I very rarely order anything just seeing on Amazon or Barnesandnoble.com, but I'm likely to pick up a book in a physical store even without knowing anything about it if the price is right.
I have an e-reader, but I still vastly prefer print books.
Of what I recently picked up, there's a huge stack of library books, and bunch of books bought in a physical bookstore on clearance.
I have no idea if this is helpful.
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When you say you find a lot of books on Goodreads, do you mean from people you follow? (I don't do much on Goodreads, though I have an account, so I'm not entirely sure how it works.) Do you follow mostly people you know from other venues, like people you know from LJ/DW, or do you follow people you don't know who post interesting reviews and/or read a lot of books, or something else ...?
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Almost everyone I follow on Goodreads is someone I know. I have issues with friending people on social media, so I have a very small friends list. But really, just by being on that site as much as I am, I soak up so many books.
It does occur to me that the real limit of my help comes from the fact that I buy so few new books at full price. Library, clearance sales, and used bookstores are what I'm about. (I own thousands of books, and I read even more. I don't want to think about what they'd cost at full price.) Really, all that I can be reliably depended on to buy new at full price are book club books and some mass market paperbacks.
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1. reread of an old favourite - originally read because a friend's relative had given it to her for her birthday as being a very long fantasy book on the new york times bestseller list, and I borrowed it from the friend when I was out of reading material on a camping trip we were on together
2., 3., and 4. continuing to read a series I've been working on for a while - originally read a book from the series when I picked up a copy for cheap at a used bookstore because I vaguely recalled having heard of the series from somewhere, though I couldn't recall if it had been talked about positively or negatively, but I thought it looked worth finding out.
5. Reread of an old favourite - originally read because it's by the same author as #1 on this list.
6. further in the series from #2-4.
7. A coworker had read it for a book club and recommended it to me.
8. reread of an old favourite - originally picked up because it was by the author of other books I'd enjoyed, probably the first book I ever read by the author was given to me by my mom when I was a kid because she'd enjoyed them when she was young.
9. Someone I follow online posted an exuberant review of how awesome this book was.
10. Reread of an old favourite - originally picked up because it was by one of my favourite authors as a teenager. The first book by this author that I was introduced to was read aloud to my class in school.
11. Reread of an old favourite - originally read because it was given to me as a birthday gift by a relative.
12. reread of a book I'd enjoyed previously - originally read because it was by an author I really like. The first book by this author that I was introduced to was a decrepit copy that lived in my grade 4 teacher's classroom and I picked up because it looked exciting.
13. God only knows.
14. I think this was from one of John Scalzi's Big Idea guest posts
15. I'd read and enjoyed books by the author before and this one sounded particularly fun.
16. most famous book by a famous canadian writer/artist, so obviously I had to read it at some point in my life.
17. Enthusiastic post about the book by an online friend/acquaintance
18. It was mentioned in a nonfiction book I'd loved when I was a preteen and somehow managed to remember the name of the book as something I'd enjoy, over a decade later when I stumbled across a copy in a thrift store.
18. Enthusiastic post about the book by multiple online friends/acquaintances
19. Enthusiastic post about an untranslated Japanese adaptation of a musical based on this book, by an online friend/acquaintance
20. reread of an old favourite, same author as #10
21. Stumbled across it in a used bookstore and thought it looked fabulous
22. Recommended by one of my parents
23. stumbled across at a used bookstore's going-out-of-business sale or I probably wouldn't have bothered buying it
24. Reread of an old favourite; I have NO IDEA how I originally came to read the book/author
25. Reread of an old favourite, same author as #24.
26. Stumbled across it in a used bookstore and thought it looked fabulous
27. Someone I followed online a very long time ago said something complimentary about it once, I think.
28. Reread of an old favourite - originally introduced to me by one of my parents
29. Famousish book by famousish 19th century author that I'd always kind of intended to read, aided by the complimentary things that Hark! A Vagrant said about her once
30. Recommended to me by my financial advisor.
31. Reread of an old favourite, same author as #24.
32. Reread of an old favourite - originally introduced to it because it was part of the very small fiction collection at my childhood church library and I eventually read pretty much EVERYTHING that library had to offer
33. Highly recommended by a close friend
34. Had read and enjoyed other things by the author before, and came across this one in a used bookstore.
35. Browsing the library, I think
35. Had read and enjoyed other things by the author before.
36. Had read and had conflicted opinions about other books by the same author and I keep reading her in the hopes that ONE OF HER BOOKS will lack the problematic elements....
37. By same author as #36.
38. Reread of old favourite - I have no idea how I originally began reading the author's works
39. Browsing the library
40. The internet (including some friends) said lots of complimentary things about it, and a friend owned it so I borrowed it.
41. Ditto.
42. Frankly no clue
43. A friend highly recommended it, another friend owned it and lent it to me
44. A parent highly recommended it, a friend owned it and lent it to me
45. Someone I follow online said good things about it
46. Birthday gift from a family member
47. Another book by the same author as #16
48. I'd previously read it online for free (posted freely by the author) and discovered it in print form in the library
49. Browsing the library
50. Browsing the library, plus vague memories of possibly having heard friends speak of it in positive terms
51. Reread of an old favourite - originally read from browsing the library
52. Second book in same series as #51
53. John Green's Crash Course Literature youtube series, plus a friend saying it is one of his favourite books
54. My place of employment had a copy and I thought it looked interesting.
55. Reread of old favourite, by an old favourite author who I have no idea how I first encountered.
56. By an author I really love, who I'd first encountered by browsing the library
57. reread of a book by same author as #36
58. Recommended by XKCD, iirc
59. Highly recommended by a friend
60. Enthusiastic post by an online friend/acquaintance
61. I think I somehow ended up reading an interview by the author (who I'd never heard of before) about this book and really appreciated the things the author had to say
62. Another book by same author as #16
63. What felt like EVERYONE I KNOW online was posting extensive paeans to how good this book is
64. Reread of an old favourite. Originally read because I found it in a library book sale and thought it looked fun, combined with that I was pretty sure I'd heard of the author in positive terms somewhere before
65. Book I purchased new! IS THAT A FIRST FOR THIS LIST. Anyways I bought it because I'd read and adored every single short story the author had put up for free online. I don't remember how I was first introduced to the author, but I'm pretty sure it was an online friend/acquaintance who posted something about one of her stories.
66. Reread of an old favourite. Originally read because it is an extremely famous work of 19th century literature
67. Read because it was free on project gutenberg and I'd enjoyed books by the author before.
68. Next book in same series as #67.
69. Read because it was free on project gutenberg and I vaguely recalled having heard good things about the book
70. Reread of an old favourite (also because it was free on project gutenberg), but have no idea how I was first introduced to it
71. Read because it was free on project gutenberg and is the sequel to an old favourite
72. Read because it was free on project gutenberg and is the prequel to a book I enjoy
73. Read because it was free on project gutenberg and is by an author I like - I think I was first introduced to the author by a parent
74. Read because it was free on project gutenberg, is by an author I like, and came highly recommended by my sister.
75. Next book in same series as #70
76. Next book in same series as #70
77. Read because it was free on project gutenberg and also is extremely famous
78. Read because it's by an author I mostly like and it was cheap at a thrift store
79. Purchased new! Purchased because it's the book form of a blog type thing I've been following and deeply enjoying for years
80. Latest book in a series I've been following for a long time. Originally began the series because the author is a fandom BNF whose works I've generally loved, and because I'd heard very good things about the series from online friends/acquaintances
81. Reread of an old favourite. First read when I was a wee kiddie and it was read to my class in school, which I had mostly forgotten had happened; first read for the second time when a couple fandom friends got really into a new movie adaptation of the book and as a result they got into the book as well.
82. Famous work of 19th century literature that I've always wanted to read; same author as #29
83. The author is an old favourite and I discovered that there's a book of hers I'd never read before.
84. Reread of an old favourite, by same author as #83
85. Reread of an old favourite, originally read because it was highly recommended by a close friend and also I knew I'd heard positive things about the series elsewhere too.
86, 87, and 88. rereads of old favourites, the rest of the series begun at #85.
89. Seems like everywhere I turned online all of a sudden, everyone was discussing this book and how INTERESTING and WELL DONE it was. Including multiple online friends/acquaintances.
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- My friend Joe lent it to me and told me to read it (we have a friendship based on going "here is this book, READ IT")
- Saw it in the sci-fi section of a charity shop and thought it looked interesting (Graceling)
- Book 2 and 3 in the series of the one I bought from a charity shop
- Lent from Joe
- Lent from Joe
- Books 2, 3, 4 of the series of one of the ones lent from Joe (Steerswoman)
- Saw it in childrens' section of charity shop
- Free ebook promo on Amazon, found through Bookbub email list
- Saw it promoted at the science museum and finally got around to buying it in Waterstones (Temple Grandin's new book)
- Newest Seanan McGuire/Mira Grant in Waterstones, which I went in specifically to get - was originally recced her zombie books by my then-gf, since following her on social media started reading her urban fantasy too
- Newest Frances Hardinge - originally started reading her book because mutual friends told me she was awesome and I should read them (haha I'm still boasting about being invited to her house party)
- Saw in charity shop, thought it looked interesting
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I've read a couple books recently that were gifted to me by my brother, who has a really good eye for things people will like (he usually gets books for everyone for Christmas/birthdays), which I guess sort of falls under the recommendations header?
And then there's the books I picked up as a blind date, which a local bookshop does: the workers wrap books in brown paper with vague-ish descriptions and you choose one based on whether the description sounds interesting. That's how I got both Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter and Girls of Atomic City by Denise Kiernan.
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However, the last ten or so books I've read that weren't period research:
-Rivers of London: reread, but originally borrowed from library and then bought after I saw discussion of it on a blog about racist coverart.
-Treason's Harbour: bought after I got into the series after seeing the film adaptation.
-Wicked Gift: Bought because I read everything by that author, but first got into that author after liking her in comments over at Dear Author.
-Rise of the Spider Goddess: bought again because I read many things by that author, and started following him after he did some faminist blog posts that were linked around.
-When We Wake: borrowed from library because it was recced on a blog I read.
-Promised the Moon: borrowed from library because recced in a comic book that used it as a research source.
-Red Moon Rising: bought because daily deal on audible and it looked cool, I get the e-mails, and buy a lot of audiobooks off daily deals.
-The Black Count: borrowed from library after recced by an actor I like.
-Rat Island: borrowed from library after recced by my dad and brother.
-House at Sugar Beach: borrowed from library after recced by someone I follow on goodreads.
This probably doesn't represent that I do buy a lot of romance novels based on the goodreads if you liked this you might like that feature or goodreads recs by people I follow, and to a lesser extent sf/f novels. I get science books based on reviews in Science News magazine.
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Mostly word of mouth -- can be friends, blogs I follow, reviews, recommendations. Sometimes picking up off a shelf. Never ads.
My reading habits have shifted DRASTICALLY in recent years, however. When I was younger, there was a lot of recommendation + a LOT of "pick up off the shelf." Now I not only almost exclusively read by word of mouth -- my to-read list is usually too long to make picking up off the shelf something I need to do -- but my word of mouth is heavily influenced by being active in the SFF author community, meaning I'm often looking up books by people I know. Another thing that's influenced my reading habits in more recent years is that I'm making a conscious effort to diversify the authors / books I read, so that definitely has an impact.
Here are some of the recent ones (and OMG my memory is a sieve so these are either VERY RECENT reads or stuff from the past couple years I really liked so I happen to remember):
* I know the author, AND her book has gotten excellent press (Otherbound -- currently reading)
* Latest book in a series I'm reading (Dresden Files), whiiiiiich I first got addicted to thanks to your recommendations
* Was looking for more SFF in translation, and it was recommended on a list at Tor.com -- also appealed because (1) it was by a woman and the first 3-4 books in translation I picked up to read were horribly misogynistic and I ended up putting them down, and (2) was translated by Ursula K. LeGuin (Kalpa Imperial -- currently reading)
* Latest book in a series, originally picked up the series because I follow the author online (Codex Born)
* Ditto, same author (The Mermaid's Madness -- currently reading)
* I know the author and it was well-reviewed by reviewers I trust (Trading Rosemary -- currently reading)
* I know the author (Nine Goblins)
* Recommendation cited a review (on Dear Author) that sounded like EVERYTHING I'VE EVER WANTED IN A BOOK, **and** I'd read a short story by the author before that is one of my favorites....can't remember where the short story link came from. This book ended up being one of my favorites ever and I recommend it to EVERYONE (The Perilous Life of Jade Yeo)
* Had seen it recommended and picked it up in the bookstore (The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian)
* Book was a gift from a friend (Divine Intervention)
* I realized I had it in my apartment....don't know where it came from! (War of the Rats -- currently reading)
* Read it because was asked to review (The Fault In Our Stars -- NEVER EVER WOULD HAVE READ THIS OTHERWISE)
* Read it because was asked to review & was sent an ARC (Me and Earl and the Dying Girl)
* I know the author AND I know I like her writing (Finding a Man for Sylvia)
* I know the author AND I know I like her writing (Normalish - same author)
* She was doing a blog promotion with me and sent me a review copy -- I read her book and it was amazing (Let Me Get This Off My Chest: A Breast Cancer Survivor Overshares - same author as above two; this is how we met & started corresponding)
* I know the author AND I know I like her writing (Homespun ;) )
* Recommended by someone I know on Twitter, read the excerpt and was totally grabbed (Bleeding Violet)
* Had seen it recommended online, had respect for the author for her online activities, and AW did it as a book club book and I wanted to participate - well, I voted for it for the book club cuz I'd been wanted to read it! (Mechanique) (<-- this is an indication of how much push something often needs to get to get to the top of my TBR pile even if it's something I've been intending to read)
* Book was a gift from a friend (The Night Circus)
* One of the classics I'd been meaning to get to, had enjoyed others by that author (Around the World in Eighty Days)
* Guest blog post had an excerpt -- I don't think the guest blog grabbed me but the excerpt was OMG HELLA GOOD HAVE TO READ THIS NOW (The Rook)
* Have been making an effort to diversify my reading, and had heard great things about this author online in that context...this book happened to be one by her I saw when browsing the shelf so I checked it out. (Brown Girl In the Ring)
* Hugo Award nominee included in the packet
Other books I've made an effort to obtain but ended up putting down because I couldn't get into them (but I think they should still count in the sense that I picked them up):
* Know the author (a LOT of those. Sadness!)
* Follow the author online (many) or read an excerpt after reading a guest post on a blog I follow but wasn't grabbed (many)
* Saw it recommended another way, tried it, either wasn't grabbed or was actively repulsed (many)
* Everyone I know is raving about it (Ancillary Justice, which I've now bounced off TWICE :( )
* Picked up off the shelf at the library and liked it so took it out; wasn't bad but a combination of couldn't get into / didn't grab me fast enough (The Cassini Division)
* Picked it up in a bookstore, looked like it might be good, so googled for reviews of it and decided it probably wouldn't be my cup of tea so didn't buy (Legend)
* The aforementioned 3-4 books in translation that I saw recommended, tried, and juuuuust could nooooot
* Had heard of it and thought it sounded interesting, ebook was available for me to download from the library, ended up royally pissed off at it and didn't finish (Pride & Prejudice & Zombies)
* Hugo Award nominee included in the packet that I couldn't get into ;) (I at least started all of them)
TBR List!
* Everyone and her sister is talking about it, and it's translated by one of my favorite SFF authors, plus it's Chinese SF which makes me kind of excited on a personal level (The Three Body Problem)
* I see everyone talking about how good it is, particularly reviewers I trust (The Goblin Emperor)
* Next book in a series I'm reading (Unbound), first started the series because I follow the author online
* I saw a review of it by a reviewer I trust (Liz Bourke) that made me think I'd really, really like it (Sea Change)
* I know the author AND already know I like her work (Held for Ransom ;) )
* I'm probably going to read it for review (Side Effects May Vary)
* Two books sitting on my shelf that were gifts from a friend
* A book my mom gave me with her recommendation (Girl With the Dragon Tattoo)
* Picked it up in a bookstore when there for a friend's signing (umm...can't remember the title, it's in my car, but it's a book of short stories by African writers)
* Author I know I like a lot (i.e., the books of X I haven't read, where X is any one of quite a few authors I haven't read everything by yet -- many!)
* Seen author recommended in lists of diverse authors to try in SFF (many!)
* I follow the author online but haven't tried their fiction yet (also many)
I think the main takeaway from me is that in order to get a book to the TOP of my TBR pile, I have to see it recommended by multiple people I trust and/or be made aware that there are elements that appeal to me (diversity, tropes I enjoy, etc.), and that the biggest hurdle for me is that these days I read a LOT of beginnings and put down the book if it doesn't grab me. I'm in the "life's too short to read stuff that doesn't grab me right off" place -- if I see a book highly recommended or know I like the author I'll give it a little time, like a chapter or two, but if it's a book I'm not familiar with, like off a guest post or something, I'll often only give it a page or two. Annnnnd, obviously from the above list, I read a lot of books in parallel, so I am very, very likely to just forget to pick a book back up if it's not grabbing me enough in favor of a different one that is.
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<3 <3 <3
And thank you so much for all the fabulous detail! (I have no idea why I can remember so few of the ones I've read lately; my memory is not just a sieve, but a sieve with a bunch of extra holes ...)
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1. saw it on the withdrawn shelf on the library where I work, knew it was on a topic I'm interested in and looked like a quick read
2. somebody placed it on hold at the library and it's full of pictures of ADORABLE BABY SLOTHS so I took my break and looked at all the ADORBALE BABY SLOTHS before I sent it out on the hold.
3. Part of a comic series that came highly recommended by The Internet in general and multiple friends in particular so I'm trying to read it through
4. Picked it up from my industry friend's magic Box of Free Comics, thinking I would give it away as a charity Christmas gift; sister read it before I got a chance to and said it was good and kid-appropriate but it also ended on a cliffhanger, which is too cruel for a kid who may never get the next book, so I read it myself to verify, and ended up keeping it.
5. I was crashing out at an overnight party and it was eye-level on my friend's bookshelf while I was trying to get to sleep and had cute cats on the spine
6. it was donated to the library where I work and I used to read the comic it's based on back when it was in the funny papers, so I read it before putting it out for sale
7. Another one in that comic series from #3
8. Have been reading the author's blog since way back when she was just posting fantasy art to Elfwood, read her books whenever I find them.
9. Different comics series that came highly recommended by the Internet In General And Friends In Particular
10. Was helping industry friend sort Magic Box of Free Comics and she said any comic in this series were really good and she wanted them for herself; also the writer used to post on a message board I was on and he was really nice, so I checked them out from the library.
11-12. See # 10, same series.
13. Patron returned it at the library and said it was good and it looked like something I'd like so I read it.
14. See # 8, same series
15. Saw it on the withdrawn shelf at the library, realised it was by somebody I knew and admired in passing from online fandom, thumbed through it and realized it contained an essay about an online event that we both took part in, could not resist morbid curiosity
16. Came in on the donations cart at work, by a writer/author who is an acknowledged master of comics but I had never gotten around to reading anything by. Also about angsty gay WWII soldiers so could not pass up.
17-18. see #10, same series
19. Came in as a donation at work and looked awesomely bad in an interestingly vintage way
20. On the withdrawn cart at work, drawn/written by an artist whose animation work I really admire and about a character I've been meaning to check in on for about five years.
21-22. See #10, same series.
23-26. Someone on my DW reading list was really enthusiatic about the series and I was intrigued by the titles, and then I got assigned them for Yuletide due to reckless fandom-offering habits. (Not on Goodreads yet for secrecy-related reasons)
27. The author was interviewed on a podcast I really like, and the book sounded relevant to a fanfic I was thinking about writing.
28. It was my lunch break, I didn't have anything else to read, and it's a comic with a young black girl fighting evil on the cover, and pretty much every comic I've tried with a girl or woman of color fighting evil on the cover has been worth picking up.
29-30. More in the comic series from #3
31. Another picture book that had too many cute animals on the cover.
32. I wanted to test out my library's eaudiobook loans, and this one was available in the right format, fairly short, and looked interesting.
33. I bought it at a used book sale because it's part of a series put out by the Brooklyn Botantical Gardens that has always had good stuff, and started reading it in the car on the way home because i'd forgotten to bring a book to read with me; later discovered that one of the authors was a character in a historical novel I'd read earlier in the year, which was cool
34. Tie-in comic to a movie I'd recently seen and enjoyed
35. State Park rangers were giving them out free at the State Fair & on a topic I'm interested in
36. Was on the new display at work for two months and nobody checked it out even though there was an adorable snake on the cover; took pity on the poor snake
37. See #34, same series
38. Ultra-regional field guide I used on a Nature Adventure I went on
39. Book I bought at a used book sale thinking my archeologist sister might want it; she didn't but I ended up needing it for fic research anyway
40. Yet another series of comics recommended to me by The Internet In General And Friends In Particular
41. Bought at a thrift store because it looked cool and was on a topic I'm interested in
42-43. See #40, same series
44. Instruction book for a craft that my ten-year-old cousin got me started on at a boring family event
45. See #40, same series
46. Donation at work, it looked like a quick read and I needed something pretty but brainless
47. Have been trying to teach myself this topic for years, and failing, so when I turned up a kids' book from the 50s (back when kids' science books were actually relatively rigorous) I decided I needed it.
48. Another book that was recommended in the podcast from #27
49. A little girl at work really wants to read this series in order but the library is missing a bunch of them so I've been buying them when I find them used and I thought I'd read one before I passed it on.
50. It had a bare-chested teenage Joe Hardy being nonconsensually tattooed by a burly bearded pirate on the cover, I had to find out WTF was going on (for the record, reading it did not help)
And just for fun, here are the ones from this year that I started, then gave up on (which are on Goodreads under 'to-read' even though I'm probably never going to bother to finish them.)
1. Annotated version of a classic book I love, but the annotations were just... not very interesting or insightful (I keep picking up "The Annotated X" books because I loved Martin Gardner's annotated Lewis Carrolls, but none of the others have ever measured up.)
2. Part of a read-along book club for the library's social media, but SO TEDIOUS that I barely made it through the first couple of chapters before the readalong was over
3. Picked it up thinking it would be about short stories/drabbles etc. but turned out to be by a dude who thinks Twitter is just SO AMAZING; would probably have finished reading as some of the writing advice was pretty good, but got tired of the misogynist microaggressions in his examples
4. A book of drawing exercises that looked like it would help me practice, but really should never been bought by a library since it was designed for you to draw IN the book. (If I owned a copy of this that I could draw in, I'd probably enjoy it a lot)
5. Book that was recommend by my uncle, whose taste is exactly the opposite of mine, but since it's by J. K. Rowling I thought it might be good anyway and that way we could talk about something other than avoiding politics; it was okay but I had a busy couple weeks and had to return it to the library before I was more than a couple chapters in, and didn't care enough to get it back out.
...based on that, if you want me to read your book, you should a) be somebody I know from the internet (you got that one!); b) put adorable animals on the cover; c) donate it to your local library
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Sometimes I'll see a fic rec, read some fic, and go back to the canon source - that's how I ended up reading the Lord John Grey books. Someone wrote a POtC crossover, and I thought the character sounded interesting. I pick up a lot of reading materiel when Yuletide nominations are in discussion.
An author I respect or enjoy recommends it. Someone I know in fandom goes pro - I'll usually give their book a whirl.
I'll tell you where I don't find books anymore, and that's at bookstores. Which makes me sad - they used to be like treasure troves for little me. It might just be that I'm incredibly rural and the stores are small and part of big name franchises, maybe? I miss my independent bookstores of the big cities.
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- fiction: latest (and last) book in a series I've been following (author originally recommended by a friend)
- fiction: latest book in a YA series I've been following by a quirky fantasy author I love (this will do until he gets back to writing "adult" fare)
- autobiography: reviewed on NPR
- non-fiction: got interested in a topic, discovered that an author I love had written about it
- non-fiction: excerpted at length on Slate
- non-fiction: recommended by Amazon based on previous purchases
- fiction: new book by author I used to love reading, who hadn't published in a long time (it was sadly not great, btw)
- fiction: 2 new-to-me books by author I discovered last year (discovered her when hunting for pro fiction to inspire me for atmosphere/setting in a certain ficathon; her older books have actually been going for just ~$2 on Kindle and I don't know why -- she's an award-winner in her genre in her home country, not a self-publisher)
- fiction: author acknowledged by another author in an author's note (when hunting for pro fiction to inspire me in a different ficathon)
- fiction: 2 books: was in the mood for romance; bought some Heyer
- non-fiction: ficathon research, sourced in Wikipedia article
- non-fiction: ficathon research, searched up on Amazon
- fiction: ~5 varied books recommended by a friend after I whined that I couldn't find any stories that suited my preference for romances starring both hero and heroine over age 35 (and ideally over 40)
Separately, there are all the books that I read but don't purchase, whether borrowing from the physical library, or the Kindle owner's lending library, or my sister or friends, etc. I jammed through the first half dozen Dorothy Sayers books and at least a dozen Ed McBain books in part because they were recommended by friends, in part hoping for ficathon inspiration, and in largest part because the Kindle owner's lending library made them so very convenient in this past year. (McBain is painfully erratic quality, eeeek.) A friend pressed the first collection of Kill Shakespeare on me; at first I didn't think it would appeal, but now that I've read it I'm curious to get the next volume.
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Mostly, it's due to the fact I go to the bookstore about every week, and I have a good relationship with my local independent bookseller - who gets in like almost 10/15 authors a month - more on heavy duty months to promote their books and do signings. The bookstore also sends out weekly emails about upcoming events with short reviews and such - as well as I belong to one of the book clubs (Urban Fantasy), which they pick out a book each month - and they've been pretty good picks. I go for a lot of the authors I know, and often, if the book sounds interesting, I go to the talk to see if that sways me into getting the book.
Also.. then there is comic con - where in good years, I can pick up about 40 books free. Often the authors are there and a number of the books are heavily promoted. I've often picked up a book for free - and then continued buying when the author continues the series.
So - what gets me to buy a book - reading the back, seeing the cover, and maybe reading the first page (or the last page if the blurb is a 'gotcha' type blurb) to see. I get 1 to 2 a week. This applies to my urban fantasy/fantasy/sci-fi/romance/paranormal habits.
Last several I bought:
- 2nd in a series, didn't know was out, got author to sign
- recommended in sci-fi bookclub at store, sounded interesting
- tv novelization (Beauty & the Beast).. that sounded interesting
- 4th in a series, know author, looked forward to
- paranormal romance w/ wolves... yea, I'm a sucker
For E-books.... I'm a little more picky - I check out the new releases, especially for authors I like/know, follow a few review sites to mention new releases and check them out. If a book is suggested to me on goodreads and/or amazon, then I check out a few reviews.
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Current read 1: next in a series I've been following, no idea where the rec for it originally came from (C J Samson, Revelation, historical mystery)
Current read 2: everyone was talking about it so I'm finally giving it a whirl (The Cuckoo's Calling, Robert Galbraith/J K Rowling)
And previous reads:
- Next book in a series I discovered due to a podcast about feminist readings of romance (Slightly Wicked, Mary Balogh)
- Recommended on Twitter by an author who's work I love (Romancing the Duke by Tessa Dare)
- Next in a series I'm following, by an author I first read due to her Hugo nomination, although I'd already been considering trying out her books under her own name after listening to her on a the Squeecast podcast regularly (Symbiont by Mira Grant, I've also loved all her Seanan McGuire works but didn't read those until after I started her Grant works)
- Recommended on a podcast episode about feminist readings of romance (And Then He Kissed Her, by Laura Lee Guhrke)
- Book everyone was talking about a while ago that happened to be in the library (Longbourne, Jo Baker)
- Book recced by several people on Twitter due to female characters (Cold Magic, Kate Elliot)
- Rec from a friend (The Rook, Daniel O'Malley)
- Backlist book by an author I discovered through Hugo nominations (Tooth and Claw, Jo Walton)
- Recommended on a podcast about feminist readings of romance (Slightly Married, Mary Balogh)
- Read in preparation for the film (The Maze Runner, James Dashner)
- Novella by an author I already liked, who I started reading after enjoying his blog/Twitter (Unlocked, John Scalzi)
- Book by an author I already liked, who I started reading due to the Hugo packet although I'd already had her on my list due to her podcast presence (Squeecast) and Twitter (Indexing, by Seanan McGuire)
- Cover caught my eye in a bookshop (The Yard, Alex Grecian)
- Next in a series I'm enjoying, originally discovered due to Twitter discussions (The Suffragette Scandal, Courtney Milan)
And there I'll stop :-) I see a lot of books being discussed by authors and fans in the SFF community on Twitter, and after a while they intrigue me enough to read them. I also listen to a couple of different podcasts that discuss books, and each year the Hugos introduces me to new authors. My TBR list is filled with books that I've seen people discussing on Twitter or, to a lesser degree, on blogs. What usually pushes me over the edge to buy things, though, is other authors I enjoy discussing a book positively.
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I think everything I've read in the last few years has been something someone on my flist mentioned.
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But yeah, it's mostly word of mouth for me these days as well.
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- I read almost exclusively fanfic these days. There aren't many origfic books that really grab me any more and I was only ever really into Murder mysteries and Sci-Fi/Fantasy. I miss the layers and clever references to canon in origfic, and a lot of it's, frankly, poorer writing than the best fanfic. I especially hate it when I can only get a book in hard copy - I read virtually only ebooks these days, on my iPhone.
- I'll get a book if I discover a fandom through fanfic and want to check out the canon so as to really get into it.
- I get so many ebooks or audiofic downloads via Amazon that their recs based on what I bought before occasionally turn something up.
- most commonly these days, I get origfic recs from reviews on my flist by people whose opinion I trust ('The Martian', 'Ancilliary' books by Anne Leckie, "Spin State" by Chris Moriarty)
- occasional authors I love and was waiting for the next book in the series (Richard Morgan's "A Land Fit For Heroes" series). Iain Banks 'The Culture' re-read.
- novels by people whose fanfiction I enjoy (natch!) like yourself, and Hth, and Martha Wells' SGA spin-offs and the Raskura books, although I tried the first Temeraire book and couldn't get into it. Or writers who are LJ/DW users I follow, like truepenny's 'The Goblin Emperor', even if they write origfic not fanfic.
- tried Goodreads but I don't read enough novels to get into it. I go there to check out what others thought of a book I read if the book leaves me with ambivalent feelings or confused.
- and I'm a fan of graphic novels and have quite a few, notably, all of 'The Sandman' and 'The Losers', and recently the 'Firefly/Serenity' graphic novels. No good way to get recs for those - it's pretty random what I discover and buy. Those ones are hardcopy. Am just discovering/exploring on-line comics and serials at the moment.
I hate facebook (deleted mine ages ago) or google+, use twitter almost never, and dislike tumblr, so those aren't sources for me.
Happy festive whatnots!