Need Some Book Suggestions!

I was just on PaperBackSwap.com (I love that site - if you haven't sign up yet, you should, it is a great way to turn the books you have read into new (at least new to you) books to read) and I realized that I have 12 credits - yes TWELVE!!! I spent a little while browsing but only came up with a few titles. So  I ma putting it to you all - WHAT BOOKS SHOULD I READ??? I really do read just about every genre - so I want to know what your all-time favorite titles are, or maybe just books you think I will like, or books you think every avid reader needs to read. I am like a kid with a quarter burning a whole in my pocket right now and I want to order some books!!! And before you call for the intervention - yes I know I have a serious addiction to books - I love the bookstore, I love a full book shelf, I love having a long list of books to read. But from the conversations I have had with many of you all, I think we could get a group discount, LOL!  

Passport to Summer Reading and Free Book Program from B&N

I was just hopping around the blogs that I follow, there are so many great ones and I love my google reader! But my eye was caught by some info passed on my A Bittersweet Existence (thanks for sharing!): Barnes and Noble is giving out free books to kids! All you do is download the Passport to Summer Reading, have the kids complete the tasks and bring it in to your local B&N! How cool is that. It is for kids in 1st - 6th grades.

Judging a Book by It's Cover

You know that old cliche - "Don't Judge a Book by it's Cover". It started out rather literally, back when books just had a title on the outside. So you really couldn't glean much about the contents by the cover, and so people felt the need to instruct others to look past the cover. However, nowadays with all the rather extravagant book covers, it is hard not to judge a book based on it's cover. I mean really isn't that what first draws you in. Imagine this scenario - you are walking down the aisles of the book store and an end cap is covered with several books that are "suggested" if you like that genre. Don't you pick up the one that appeals to your eyes the most? I am so totally guilty of this! Or how about this scenario - you are browsing on Amazon or PaperbackSwap and all you can see is book cover after book cover. What makes you click the third one over the thirty-third one? If I am way off base on this one, please someone enlighten me. I guess my real question is "How much does Cover Art influence your interest in a title?" Personally, I think it can have positive and negative effects. I used to be categorically against any book that showed a man and woman in a "lover's embrace" on the cover, but since I started reading JR Ward and Larissa Ione, I had to get over it. I also used to avoid any books with "cartoon" like covers - but hello - Sookie Stackhouse series!? So although I do still get drawn to a book based on the appeal of the cover art, I have broadened my horizons, so to speak, and do not just pass over a book that doesn't grab me right off, especially if it was suggested to me.

Another topic when it comes to cover art is, re-releases. With so many books becoming movies and television shows, there has been a huge insurgence of re-releases. And almost all of them will have "movie stills" as the cover art. How do you feel about this? For example, I have heard of lost of "hardcore" twilight fans buying second copies of the series so they can have the originals and the new movie poster ones. I can't seem to understand this at all but do you? Explain it to me, please!

Multiple Books at the Same Time

I obviously don't mean this literally. I am talking about reading more than one book, before completing any one of them. Some people think it is too confusing to read more than one book at a time. But really, isn't it like watching more than one series on television. I mean, you can keep track of Lost and CSI. So why can't you keep track of The Mysterious Benedict Society and The Demonica Series at once?
I have had some people tell me that it must be that one book just isn't all that interesting. While, occasionally, this might be true, I think it is more that I am just looking for some variety. Additionally, it is also because I might have books that need to get read on a time line. For example I am currently reading - The Mysterious Benedict Society, The Glass Castle, and This One is Mine. The first is on loan from a friend, and someone else is waiting for it. The second is for my Mommy Book Club this month and the third is a book review for this blog. All three are drastically different books and therefore serve a very different purpose but I assure you that they are all quite interesting. In fact, if I am going to read more than one book at a time (and NO, I do not always read more than one book at a time), I like for them to be very different. It helps me to avoid confusing the story-lines. And as get I closer to the end of one of them, I will probably focus on that tome until it is finished. I also find that I can read more books in a shorter period of time because feel a bit of that crunch. It is probably an unnecessary stress I put on myself, but it makes me commit to reading a little every day.
So how do you feel about reading more than one book at time?

Venturing Outside Your Comfort Genre

Every so often there comes a time when you feel like you have read all of the books that truly interest you within your favorite subgenre. And then you get this sort of "Well what now?" mentality. In general, people go through phases where they only want to read one specific subgenre, like only Paranormal Romantic Comedies, but once you have exhausted that subgenre it still might seem difficult to venture out. Another scenario would be if you just started to read for leisure and you are nervous to venture out from your starting point. There are literally millions of titles out there, but where do you start?



There is always the old standby of browsing the bookstore. It really works for some people; however I have never been able to "browse" the bookstore. It is so overwhelming to me just wonder through stacks and stacks of books (essentially judging each one by it’s cover – which is whole other post entirely), and I have three small children that make it pretty much impossible to browse any store let alone bookstores.


Well a good place to start is to ask your friends and family what they are reading. This might be hard, if you and all your friends generally read the same books (like me and my friends) but you never know. You can specifically ask people what their favorite all-time books are, and you are sure to find a couple of winners.


Another good place to look is within the books that you already have. Most books will have some sort of review comments proclaiming how wonderful the book and/or author are. And a good amount of these quotes come from other authors. If you have never read a book by that author, give them a go. To take this idea a step further you can also go to some of your favorite authors’ websites (most all have one, or at least a blurb on their publishers website) and check for a few things. What are they reading right now? Who influenced them? And who are their favorite authors.


Many of the larger book retailers have matching services on their websites. This is that little box to the side of book description that says “If you like this book, you may like these others” or “Other people who selected this book, also searched these”. You will be surprised what you find in these little automated boxes.


And last but certainly not least, you can jog through the blogosphere and see what other people are reading.


What are you tips? How do you go about finding new books and authors?

Check out this great Website

I will admit it I am a bit of a book snob. I would much rather prefer to purchase Hardback copies of every book that I want to read. But then I snap back to reality and realize that its just not plausible. That's when you start to turn to your fellow book readers close to you. You start to borrow and lend and hope that things work out. But then there is always that period of time when you hesitate because you worry that they wont take the sort of care you want them to of your book. Or if you are the borrower, you may feel like you have rush through the book and get it back to the lender as soon as possible. And then there is the unfortunate time when something awful happens to the lent book. It gets lost, washed, spilled on, or torn up. There are any number of fates that books meet. Then you have to go about the process of replacing the book, which takes you full circle to concept that you should have just purchased the book in the first place!
I found this great website that meets you in the middle. It's called PaperBack Swap. It works pretty simply. You post books that you are willing to part with. You make a wish list of books that you would like to get. When someone request one of your posted books you ship it to them, via media mail (on average $3 or less) and then you receive a credit on your account. With that credit you can request a book of your choosing to be mailed to you (at the expense of the the poster). Basically, you get a "new to you" book for around $3. So, yes these books are used but they are in fairly good condition and they are yours to keep or re-post on the site. And it's not just paperbacks, they have hardbacks, and audio books. I have so far sent off two books and received two books and I am pretty pleased with the process. Check it out: