I’m addicted to books. I am. You’d only have to see how many books I took with me when I arrived in Uni to see that I had a ‘problem’ then and I still have a problem now.
After I got bitten by the bug, that is after I started finishing books and not half reading them and putting them down. I think that’s because I was choosing books that didn’t grab me in the slightest and I thought that you should finish every book you start as it’s you that has the problem and it’s nothing to do with the book.
Which is true if you think that by finishing a book you’ll be a better person. You won’t BTW. You’ll just be a frustrated reader. And it might put you off if you read the next Booker Prize winner or such prize because you think that’s what reading is all about. Not knocking the Booker though it’s rare that my kind of books get put on it.
I’ve been reading long enough to know my own tastes and know how far I can realistically stretch them so no matter how many reviews the next Jane Green gets and how many people say how wonderful it is I’m highly unlikely to want to read it. Chick-Lit just isn’t my thing. Neither is the Twilight-esque death-love-thing that is hitting the YA scene. I have tried those but that’s more because I loved Anne Rice as a teenager.
Anyway, bloggers and selling. There has been an interesting discussion about John Self and his blog and sales of a book he’s been championing – Colony by Hugo Wilcken. Not many copies it seems and I don’t think it matters in the slightest as those that liked the idea of the book would have bought it.
Someone on Twitter, now sure who, said the bloggers are more hand-sellers and are taking over the roll of booksellers in bookshops. That might not be 100% right but I do now buy a lot of my books after reading them on blogs. Not just reviews but mentions of new releases, cover p0rn, people showing off what they’ve had in the mail, what authors signings they been to.. to name but a few things.
Those things can also be a turn off. Mostly reviews can be a turn off and I’m not talking negative reviews. Just being honest and open. Because I want to read things like Joe Abercrombie’s Best Served Cold but then reading the very positive reviews I think that’s not going to be fun – gritty fantasy – it’s just not the fantasy I like. I’ve got The Blade Itself and we’ll see if I like him. I might be wrong 
So what am I saying – yes trust us but challenge us – don’t take our word for it – if it really isn’t your thing no matter how many reviews you read you probably won’t like it. But if it is your thing or at least raises an interest please please give it a go and then tell us if you liked it or not.
Is that just me that gets swayed by my fellow reviewers? What have you read that you wouldn’t if it wasn’t for a blog?
That's a damn fine question. I can't think of anything off the top of my head, but I do keep adding things to my wish list after having read a good review on various blogs.
The point that we are turning into booksellers is an interesting one. Lately, I've begun to wonder if some blogs haven't actually become publicity arms of certain publishing companies. I'm getting sick of seeing prize draws for books that have been supplied by publishers…
Since I started blogging and tweeting in April this year my reading has changed and I've been introduced and seduced into getting and buying and reviewing books that I would not otherwise have done so. So, does blogging make me buy a book? In a round about way – it gives me more information to add to the highly partial publisher blurb. I've always been more enticed by a recommendation than the bestseller listing. And being disappointed by a book isn't a bad thing, I don't think. Reading lots of different styles, genres and voices gives breadth and depth to our own experiences – and in life, we don't always like everything that happens.
Infinite Jest, Perfume, Loitering with Intent, Surfacing, Life of Pi and two further Cormac McCarthy's. These were a direct result of the blogs I follow and I am sure that there are more. I would not like to reveal the extent of my rapidly growing and increasingly impossible reading list!
I have to admit that I am not too swayed by other blogs, on the basis that like you, Gavin, I know my taste and will tend to buy what I fancy anyway. I am more likely to buy something not previously planned for purchase if I hear an author at a lit fest and am impressed.
More recently, I've been receiving lots of unsolicited courtesy copies from publishers or PR firms, proofs or finals, as well as solicited copies where I fancy something. I simply can't get through them fast enough at the moment.
Essentially, if I read MSM reviews or blog reviews, it's to get a feel for general opinion or to see if someone has written about something for which I was previously unaware.
Hmm, an interesting question. I do think I get more books for my "wishlist" by reading reviews or seeing posts on twitter or meeting authors at conventions. But actually when I go and read the synopsis or really delve into the reviews I start to realise that some of those books are not for me. Knowing my own taste and intolerance so very well I can quickly cross things off the list or at least put them farther down the list.
Selling books and blogging, I don't know for sure. I've got one of those Amazon widgets to sell books I think others would like because I liked them or books of my writing acquaintences and friends. Nobody has bought any books from me though and I didn't put it up as a way to make money from my blog. Although I'm not really the proper champion if you want to sell copies of your book, I'm a hard sell and only emit exuberance if I really mean it.
To be honest I've never bought a book from someone's blog or review site. I'm still a shop and Amazon type of girl.
A Book Reviewers Linkup Meme…
My list of fantasy and sf book reviewers is woefully out of date. I need your help to fix that. But rather than go through the hassle of having you send me recommendations or sticking them in comments, what you can do is take the following list and sti…
I think as well as knowing the kind of books you like you need to know the kind of book bloggers you like. I have a loyal handful that I read, and I've come to trust them. Which isn't necessarily to say that I know I will like what they like, but I trust the version of the book they present on their blog. Their response to the book in question is honest and shared. They aren't trying to sell it, just share it.
I've added so many books to my wishlists, mostly my book swap site wishlists, which means I often don't get to read the book till a couple of years down the line, but then I often try to pop back to the original review and say what I thought of the book. Because I only read a few book blogs it's easier to remember who might have reviewed it.
I like your site because it throws in a fair few books that I might not otherwise stumble across. Much of the hardcore genre stuff won't appeal to me, but some of the speculative and the odd strange story jumps out and I add it / read it.
Pretty cool post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say
that I have really liked reading your blog posts. Anyway
I’ll be subscribing to your blog and I hope you post again soon!
Great idea, thanks for this tip!
Let me think – The Devil's Paintbrush, which I'm reading now is one, The Blade Itself is another, as is The Court of Air, The Domino Me, The Steel Remains… there are plenty more
I always wonder why more people don't enter the draws…
I must admit that I don't do that many competitions only because I'd like the copies to go bloggers with a wider audience… or at least I'm always worried about how many people will enter. I don't think it's a problem as such but you have to give the book value – like blogging isn't really about the free books, not for me, it's about trying to bring the widest range of books that I can recommend and comment on.
I became suspicious of one blog a couple of years ago when all the reviewed books seemed to be from one publisher, in the main. It didn't look independent. That's now changed, so I still take a look.
I'm always sad when I don't like a book. But believe or not I do have low tolerance for books that don't work for me. If they do I'm very very forgiving!
But the flip side is that great books make us understand life better
Your amongst friends! I'm sure there are people with longer lists than you! Go on…
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I keep discovering more and more books within my tastes and books that are on the edge enough that I soon fall over into wanting to read more of those – steampunk and European crime in translation being the most recent two. I've hot a Roman-thriller to try as well.
It's always amazing where tastes converge and where they polarise. I guess it comes from what you know – as in life experience, what your expectations are, and that mysterious little ping when you find a voice that you could hear all day.
I wasn't thinking instant gratification – though in the age of ebooks I can't see why there can't be such a system – I have been known to have an ebook loaded within two minutes of a book taking my fancy.
I was thinking more of blogs adding to a mental list than pings when you're looking in bookshops, or adding stuff to Amazon. I probably didn't explain that too well in the post. I'd say that fellow reviewers are my 'book reading friends' so I know which ones I trust and who can sell em stuff.
Thanks Jem,
That's great point. I probably follow too many blogs. That's why my reading pile and wish list could probably reach from here to the moon!
But I'm the same I trust certain people and I'm slowly untrusting a few after reading their thoughts on the same book that I've read. And when their version is completely different they probably are the wrong bloggers for me. I might have to start comparing more and narrowing them down… I like that idea.
I'm glad you find a few titles. I'm torn with content. I like lots of heavy genre books but then I've been reading literary titles and like the the way they explore and expand. So those on the edge really appeal to me like The Devil's Paintbrush.
Hopefully I can come up with a few more like that in the future.
Hi
Thanks for saying hello – hope you find somethings you like. What you reading at the minute?
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