Power Of Book Recommendations - Post

It’s kinda like “I’ve seen it on someone, and now I want it” syndrome, that hits book readers when they see someone else with a book they’ve been debating on coveting themselves – yet seeing someone else in possession of it, kinda clinches the deal for you. THAT is the power of book recommendation, whether directly or indirectly.  

When it comes to picking the next book to read, I will admit that 99.9% of the time, I’ll browse around on GoodReads or my new favourite haunt, I’ve Read That, to find what people are reading, reviewing and raving about. But on the off chance that I ask for a book recommendation, I’m always blown away by the amount of people who are ecstatic to share their latest amazeballs read and want someone else to experience the same.  

I’m the go-to person for family and friends when it comes to anything remotely bookish, with so many people asking me to recommend a book to them, which I’m so happy to oblige and almost always pass off my latest favourite read to them when they say, “you pick” rather than quoting a specific genre they want. Even better, is when they come back to me and tell me about how much they loved the book I told them about – as a book lover, could there BE anything greater and more fulfilling? *you are advised to read that in Chandler’s voice, with an emphasis on be*.  

The point is, you should never underestimate the actual power of book recommendations, whether through word of mouth, or indirect like when you walk into Waterstones and are surrounded by shelves of wonder and spy a “staff favourite pick” book, just angling itself at you. Those ones will always catch your eye, because behind it there is someone (a Waterstones staff in this case) who are recommending a book to you, out of all others, because they deem it worthy of sharing.  

GoodReads and I’ve Read That have become my favourite sites to browse when picking a new book, and again it’s all down to recommendations from others. I always always always have a look at reviews over star rating, to get the gist of how someone felt about the book, rather than the statistical star rating overall. It's such a star studded site that is so easy to use, so user friendly, full of fun stuff and the main thing - ability to read and share your collective thoughts on your favourite (or not so favourite) books. It's surprising at times to me, how my humble words on my reviews are read by people and in turn actually influences them on whether or not they'll go out and buy a certain book. Crazy, but powerful. The added advantage being, that the people I follow on GoodReads and I’ve Read That, share similar tastes in books to me – and when they rave about a book that I may have been cynical about before – I will not hesitate to pick it up despite my misgivings – why? Because *like a broken record* the power of recommendations.

So on this very short and sweet post, I just want to keep encouraging you all to continue to serve this lovely world with your lovely opinions when it comes to book and though the power may be slightly heady at time, never stop recommending. That, my dear book friends, is all.