Book recommendations. There are some good things about this, and… not so good things.
The Good
I found a lot of good books through book recommendations from friends and the librarians at my public library. Most of them know what kind of books I like to read and that helps. A lot. When I don’t know what book to read next. Boom, they are there to help. But there is just one tiny problem. Okay, maybe it’s not just one problem. Which brings us to…
The Bad
While I found a lot of good books through book recommendations, I also found quite a few books I never want to think about, see again, and touch again, forget read. (Yes, I’m talking about you, Twilight.) Someone recommended Twilight to me. She kept gushing on and on about it. She just wouldn’t shut up. Now, usually her book recommendations are pretty good and Twilight was really popular. Plus I have nothing against vampires or werewolves. So… I listened and borrowed Twilight. I could barely get through half the book (I’m being nice here, saying half…) before I decided I had to stop for the sake of my sanity and the sanity of those around me. (I tried but that didn’t work out so well. A year after giving up on Twilight, my brother came home from school and begged my mom to buy him the whole series. You heard right. I said brother.) And yes, I do have something against vampires now. Well, at least vampires that sparkle in the sun… Anyways… needless to say, I was more cautious of listening to my friend’s recommendations ever again.
Also, with Twilight being one of the exceptions, I find that sometimes there is a need to like a book because someone recommended it to me. I always start reading a recommended book with high expectations for it. Expectations that aren’t always met. Expectations that leave me disappointed at the end. And then, whenever they ask me “It was good right?” or “Didn’t you just love it!?!” I’m always stuck between pleasing my friend or telling the truth. Usually I’ll just nod politely and pretend to be preoccupied with something else. Unless, of course, I actually liked the book…
Recommending books to others…
I always have mixed feelings about this. Before I would just say “Oh, if you liked that book, then you’ll love this one!” But those days have come to an end. Now, armed with my own experiences with book recommendation problems I’ll go “Oh, if you like that book, you should give this one a try.” And yes, I can be a bit crazy when it comes to book recommendations. Sometimes I’ll hound my friends that recommended a book to -“Did you start it yet!?!” “Did you like it!?!’ Blah blah bah. And then I’ll feel bad when they don’t like the book. I’m always afraid I’m going to end up like my friend who recommended Twilight to me. To try to prevent that, I won’t really gush and go insane praising the book when I recommend it. That doesn’t mean I won’t do it at all through…
What about you?
How do you feel about book recommendations?
If there’s one thing I’ve learned from blogging, it’s that not everyone has the same taste. A plot I consider boring and shallow will be considered thrilling with astonishing depth to someone else. It’s made me more cautious when receiving and giving out rec’s, except for a few books that I can’t help but gush about. In general, I think it’s a good thing. I recommend books based on the plot these days and whether it’s a person’s taste moreso than how much I liked it… unless you ask me which book I’m currently raving about.
Great, thoughtful post btw.
-P.E. The Sirenic Codex