Sunday, March 11, 2012

Recommendations

OK, here's a simple question...How much do you rely in friends' recommendations to read?
Do you usually read all the things friends or known/reliable people advice you to? Even after doing some research based on your likes and dislikes, do you find yourself following most of the recommendations?
What makes you follow one? Is it because the friend liked it so much and you're curious or is it something specific about the book plus the recommendation?

I usually read a bit of everything...everything I like, of course, not even a stellar recommendation will make me read a romance book about young Missy and her boyfriend and the way they love each other so much but their parents don't want them to go out after 11pm or even about Sharon and Bill, high school sweethearts that got separated because of the missing necklace but are meeting again after 10 years and suddenly are falling in love again while remembering everything about that tragic day...
As you can see I have a personal hate about YA romances and the Lovers Reunited theme. I might read one book or two with this here and there but it's not what I look for or want to read about.
But when it does seem good I usually look for reviews about it even if a friend recommend it. I have to confess it's very rare for me to jump into a new author without some research. If the author is known to me I might actually do it based only on recommendation.
I have a certain group of people with whom I share most of my tastes. This group of people read things I find myself loving too, even when our tastes don't match 100%.
There was a time when I would be reckless and I'd try anything that caught my eye..I'd be happily surprised or awfully disappointed but these days, with a growing TBR list, I became more selective...Don't you do the same or are you still as adventurous as always?
What about you? How much do you trust other's recommendations?

4 comments:

  1. I think I do it more or less like you do. If a friend recommends a book I'm willing to try it even if it's not something I would choose myself.

    Other than that I try to read as many reviews as I can before grabbing a new book. Especially if it's by a new author.

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  2. Great question!

    It's a bit of both with me. I trust recommendations from certain people whose tastes I share, however there has to be SOMETHING about the book that catches my eye first. Sometimes I even choose to read books that those same people don't like BECAUSE I just know those books are written just for me. :D

    So the answer is yes and no. I read recommendations, but always make my own choices. And, I never go by the grade... I always read the review because grades are subjective and reviews usually give away the information that I'm looking for. :D

    PS: I am also a lot more selective now than I used to be. Reviewing books has helped me with that... Although I still choose to read random picks that are not recommended by anyone, based on the book summaries because I love to find new-to-me authors.

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  3. Thank you for t«your posts ladies.

    Well I asked this because many of the books I read were a recommendation somehow and even when I investigate on my own someone I know about might have read it and there I go...
    I'm just happy to notice that, even "screening" things to my taste, I do tend to enjoy most of them...ha! "great minds think alike" was never so true. :)
    ****

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  4. I'm commenting on this post very late, but it's such a great topic, so I'm adding my two cents anyway!

    I do often pick up books based on the recommendation of some bloggers that I've come to trust over the years. Often the book is one I've already had my eye on and a friend's review just totally sells me. Other times it's a new-to-me book that a friend has convinced me to try. And then there are the books that a friend has reviewed and given it a so-so rating and I think, "I don't care.. I think this might be something I'd really enjoy anyway." In any of those instances, though, there's usually already something about the premise or characters that have intrigued me before I'm even reading the review. I guess it varies a lot.

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