Friday, September 16, 2011

BBAW Day 4: Readers

Book bloggers blog because we love reading. Has book blogging changed the way you read? Have you discovered books you never would have apart from book blogging? How has book blogging affected your book acquisition habits? Have you made new connections with other readers because of book blogging?

My very first post, and my blog title, Wandering in the Stacks, describe how I usually pick a book. This can be hit or miss. I love when I find a hidden gem, some book I’ve never heard of that turns out to be one of my favorites. I also like getting recommendations from friends. It helps when I know my friends have tastes similar to mine. Blogging has just expanded my circle of recommenders (is that really a word? Spell check isn’t yelling at me).

Blogs are great, because I can search someone’s reviews for books I’ve read, and see how our tastes compare. Then I can see what else they’re reading, and what they think of it. I’ve found this is a great was to find new titles or authors.

Another way that bloggers influence my reading is by reminding me of certain titles I’ve been wanting to read. Sometimes it’s as simple as helping me pick my next book from the TBR pile. For example, my neighbor had lent me a copy of Assata, by Assata Shakur. One of my twitter friends was tweeting up a storm about radical 60s politics, and recommended this book. She gushed so much about it that I promised to pick it up asap. I did, and I loved it. I’ve yet to write my review, but it’s coming, promise!

6 comments:

Jen said...

I agree about what you said about book bloggers reminding me about a book I wanted to read. I sometimes see something that looks good, and mean to make a note of it, and then wind up forgetting about it completely. When I come across it on someone's blog, it's always one of those "aha" moments.

Kailana said...

I used to be a lot for searching for hidden gems in bookstores. Nowadays I tend to always wind up getting something I have heard of from other blogs. I really need to remember to brose a bit more because you never know what you will find!

Mel u said...

I never look in book stores much any more from reading ideas since I started blogging two years ago

I am stopping by from the Philippines to see how book blogging has changed your reading life

How Book Blogging Transformed My Reading Life

Erin said...

Ha, spell check. It yells at me for silly things, like blogosphere, which, come on, is totally a word. I love comparing my tastes with others and find Goodreads especially useful for that! I find I consult others a lot more before I decide to read a new, unknown book, which I suppose is both good and bad. I love the collaborative, community aspect, though!

MJ said...

@Jo: I know! I finally broke down and decided to start formally keeping track of things. I started a Goodreads account so I can remember what I want to read. I love the app on my phone, so I have it when I'm in the bookstore or library.

@Kailana: I know! You start getting great recommendations, and browsing goes by the wayside. I like having recommendations at the library though, because I have a harder time just browsing around there for some reason.

@mel u: Thanks for stopping by from the other side of the world! Your blog is so pretty!

@Erin: I agree, it's both good and bad. I've just stared using Goodreads, but I haven't used it for much more than keeping track of my books, so far.

Sheila (Bookjourney) said...

I love your post! Friends stopped giving me books as gifts because of how many I have but really... they are my favorite gift.. it is like they just gave me an adventure!