30 Day Book Challenge: Day Three
So Many Books, So Little Time is hosting the 30 Day Book Challenge. Each day for 30 days I'll be answering one question about books.
Day Three: Your favorite book to recommend to friends
I blather on about books all the time to people. I'm pretty sure most of them don't listen but the ones that do, oddly enough, tend not to like the books that I recommend to them. Maybe I'm just not a very good judge of people's likes and dislikes. It's not like I'm suggesting books that suck. Neil Gaiman, Derek Landy, Jane Austen, Terry Pratchett, Margaret Atwood: these are some serious great writers. So what's the problem here, people?
Anyway, the number one book that I recommend to people is:
Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. This is actually one of the only books that I've recommended that most people who read it liked. I've had people dislike American Gods, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Lolita, etc., but I can't seem to go wrong with Good Omens. My friend Becca read it and then made her mother read it and now they both sing it's praises. The funny thing is that this was a book that was recommended to me. I feel like I'm sort of carrying on a tradition.
-Gabe
I like the idea that you are carrying on a tradition. I loved that book too although sadly I know only one or two people who I think would enjoy it.
ReplyDeleteI have found it hard to recommend Atwood. Most people I know who like her discovered her books for themselves. Every time I pass her books on to others I've failed in finding her new fans.
My bookr recommendations change depending on what I currently am obsessing about. Have successfully passed on Alone in Berlin, One Day, The Lacuna and The Poisonwood Bible recently.
Thanks for the follow! I've read Coraline by Neil Gaiman (and I just started The Graveyard Book) and I loved it. I'll try Good Omens next. Thanks for the suggestion!
ReplyDeleteKaren: It actually took me several years to read Good Omens after it was recommended to me in high school. The idea of it didn't appeal to me at the time, but the title stayed in my head until one day during college someone else recommended it to me and I decided to give it a go. Start planting the seed of interest with people and someday they may come around. :)
ReplyDeleteI think Atwood is intimidating for some people. It seems as if only one or two people in a person's circle has read her books and that they rarely talk about them. To those who haven't read her, she seems like a little member's only club, kind of like Vonnegut, when really both of those authors are easily accessible. She's such a talented and subtly funny writer though and it's sad that people feel nervous about reading her books.
I am ignoring the last paragraph of your comment because I CANNOT add anymore books to my TBR pile.
Catherine: You're welcome! I haven't read Coraline yet and my current project for class has prevented me from reading The Graveyard Book, but I'll hopefully be back on track after tonight.
Hrm I think I have a knack for recommendations. My normal (aka not book obsessed) friends always come to me when they want something new to read and they haven't been let down yet. I don't recommend to people who I have no idea what their reading habits are. I like to fit the book to the person!
ReplyDeleteI think my issue is that a lot of my friends are book-obsessed and they're very set in their reading habits. I need to find friends who don't read that much, I guess. :)
ReplyDeleteGood Omens should be required reading--true fact.
ReplyDeleteI am very shy of recommendations to friends unless it's one of those "oh well, if you liked such and so book, there's this other one in the same style or on the same topic." Then again, most of my friends are already hardcore book freaks so I don't have to do too much recommendation
It should be the national book of every country. Ever. Okay, maybe not, but it's still really good. :)
ReplyDeleteOne of the things I love most about my friends is that they're always recommending books to me. I don't always get around to reading them, but I appreciate the thought.
I have the same issue as pwb. My friends don't have a reading addiction, and so they come to me for book suggestions.
ReplyDelete