The Reading Challenge Group discussion

How often do you read books that have been recommended to you? How often do you enjoy books that have been recommended to you?

Recommend one to us! :)

I'm very particular about what books I read, and it's rare that I read a book I'm recommended. I always check them out, but they rarely appeal to me. Sometimes I come around to a book I was recommended years after the fact, and I'll most likely have forgotten it was ever recommended to me.

My rec is: (The Complete Maus), which won the Pulitzer Prize. So I'll call it a book, despite the fact that it's a graphic novel. An exceptional one!

I hardly read recommended books...I read what I feel like reading:))

pre-goodreads - all the time. post-goodreads - there is just not enough time to read all the books I want to read and now I don't forget what the name of that book was that I saw somewhere and wanted to read so even though I add it to my tbr list I don't get to reading them so fast.

I always consider the source when getting recommendations. Some of my friends have recommended things that I have almost always hated but then I have one or two friends that have recommended real gems. I usually give a two strike policy before I start ignoring the recommendations. Having said that, my TBR pile is so huge that it sometimes takes me months/years to read something that has been recommended to me.

I'm going to recommend something a little lighter today and go with The Gods of Guilt. I've been reading a lot of great authors lately that I have been posting about but this one hasn't gotten much attention from me post-read.

Hardly ever, really. I have so many books that I know I want to read that I don't really need recommendations. Besides that, I like to look for what to read by myself.

Occasionally, and it depends on whom is making the recommendation.


I would recommend anything by Robert James Weller if you enjoy romances and really fine poetic writing.

Yes, I read and enjoy recommendations. My whole family reads, so I'm constantly getting recommendations.

I will recommend an older author, A.J. Cronin: Hatter's Castle (one of my favorites), The Citadel, plus more. I'd say the genre would drama and historical fictions. Another, if you would love delightful characters and very well written, The Mitford Series by Jan Karon; the first book would be -- At Home in Mitford.

I agree with Melissa. I usually will always read a recommended book or series. However, due to my selection system by random draw, it may take months to actually read it.

I'm particular about who I receive recommendations from, because I think that most people are willing to recommend books, but only a few are actually interested in recommending books that actually fall in line with your interests. I have a wonderful officemate who reads a lot, and we exchange information on we are reading and recommendations every few days.

That being said, I definitely recommend The Night Circus if you haven't read it and are into slower, beautifully descriptive books. I havent finished it yet, but I also might recommend The Selection as a young adult book which was actually recommended to me. It's like the bachelor, which I didn't think I would like, but there's more depth to it which I think makes it more appealing.

I don't mind recommendations but please don't recommend a book from the middle of a series! I am not going to start there if I haven't read it and if I have read it then I don't need the recommendation (I either like it or don't and your recommendation won't change that).

If you like urban fantasy, I love the Harry Dresden series - it appeals to both men and women, it's got huge themes running through the series but each book wraps up the story fairly neatly. Start with Storm Front and you'll be hooked. Jim Butcher promises his fans that he will wrap the series up (likely within the next 8 to 10 books). It has been a wild ride so far and I am not disappointed.

It's hit and miss with me as I don't tend to stick to a single genre and attempt a lot of debut novels. Some I enjoy others I don't. I love hearing reviews or dramatizations on the radio, I've picked up some great authors that way eg David Sedaris, Nicola Barker, Hilary Mantel.
As I work in a bookshop it's usually me that has to offer recommendations and I reckon I get a 50/50 response. It's great validation when a customer returns to let me know they enjoyed a book I encouraged them to read.

I wish! Nobody close to me reads, as much as I keep forcing recommendations on them haha!

I do read book recommendations sometimes and I do enjoy them. I even take read for review requests as recommendations too. I like recommending books to others too.

If you like Fantasy stories, I recommend The Princess Bride. It's a pretty good read and the movie is great too.

I barely know any readers, and the ones I do have very different reading tastes than I do. Sometimes I'll read a book a friend likes just so I can sort of share it with them, if it's not too long or too "not me". Watership Down is the only one I can think of that really wowed me.

Mystery series: 70ish coroner in Laos in the 70s. This may have more of a niche appeal, but I'm really enjoying it, and I'd recommend taking a look at book 1 The Coroner's Lunch. I think the blend of modern and traditional, rational and not is brilliant. It's a rare feel good find for me because it doesn't feel fluffy or have pat answers.

Cindy wrote: "I don't mind recommendations but please don't recommend a book from the middle of a series! I am not going to start there if I haven't read it and if I have read it then I don't need the recommend..."

That is one of my pet peeves about book recommendations too. If you're going to recommend a book, recommend book 1 of a series.

I will read books recommended by Amazon or by book bloggers, but generally I follow my own path. A friend recommended I read Calico Joe by John Grisham, because I'm a baseball fan. I listened to it, and I thought it was fine.

Out of my group of friends and sisters I'm the guinea pig, they get me to read them and tell them if I think they might enjoy them.

Although if someone suggests a book to me I usually have a mooch around online to find out more.

Generally it depends on who is giving the recommendation and what they can say about it. If something isn't my usual read but the person gives a good reason why it's their recommendation I will be open minded.

I have found some good reads through recommendations from, friends, podcasts and GR - but typically from like minded readers

I have a friend at work whose book tastes and mine are very similar. We share book recommendations all the time, and she's usually spot on for the kind of thing that I'm going to find a great read.

I've also started doing a "compare books" with people who I think write great reviews for a title. If our tastes are in the 80% or better, I'll go ahead and read it or not, depending on which way they recommend it.

Faye wrote: "How often do you read books that have been recommended to you? How often do you enjoy books that have been recommended to you?

Recommend one to us! :)"

Online programs see my trends. They're often right Amazon did this magical book train: l started Husbands Secret as SIL recommended , Loved it. Amazon Suggested The Sisterhood based on that. loved it. Then gave me Life after Life and I loved that, too. Then High Spirits at Harrowby . very good, Amazon.

Lindsay wrote: "Online programs see my trends. They're often right Amazon did this magical book train: l started Husbands Secret as SIL recommended , Loved it. Amazon Suggested The Sisterhood based on that. loved it. Then gave me Life after Life and I loved that, too. Then High Spirits at Harrowby . very good, Amazon."

Nice! I've had the same experience with the Goodreads recommendation feature that judges what you'd like by what's 5-starred on your shelves. :)

For me it depends on who is recommending, I am willing to give it a go when I trust the person who is recommending the book to me (and I have found some wonderful surprises, books that I enjoyed immensely and that I wouldn't have picked by myself).
My recommendations are based on how well I know the other person's tastes no matter what my experience was (i.e. I might not recommend a book I enjoyed immensely if I'm not sure someone else will like the genre, if it makes sense).

I usually go by recommendations ( or reviews ) I read on here or Amazon . If it sounds good, I'll give it a try . I'd say it's about 50 % accurate . A lot of the ones I've read I have really liked, while others, not so much !

I don't have many friends that read. So I don't get recommended anything often besides what I see on this website or random reviews I read. But I almost always put it on the to be read list. I'm really picky with reading but a lot of the recommendations turn out good!

I can't think of anyone who shares my taste for works published within the last 1-2 years, preferably by debut authors.

My friends will thrust books at me that are 10 or 20 years old and insist I read them. Or they'll be high fantasy (blech!) or they'll say "You'll like this - there's a strong female character" (What, to represent her entire gender? *cringe*) or it'll be "Oh, I know you said you didn't like Author B, but Novel C is totally different - you'll like it" (That last is my husband, trying to coax me into a book he likes for our Bedtime Story Hour!)

So no, I don't often get recommendations that work for me. I'm open to them though, so feel free to recommend me anything you think I'll like!

My own recommendation for today is:


Shades of Milk and Honey
Think Jane Austen with magic.

It's hit and miss for me. There are a few pople that always seem to give me solid recomendations. I tend to go to recommended books in the business and professional development area.... Less so with fiction.

It depends on who recommends the book.

As others said, it depends on the recommender. If I trust them and we have similar taste, I go with it. Otherwise I investigate reviews and so on, in order to see if I would actually like the book. At the moment I'm reading a book that was recommended to me years ago, Perfume: The Story of a Murderer.

One recommendation for you? It will have to be Auto-da-Fé.

Depends who is doing the recommending - my friend Judy often successfully recommends to me and vice versa. My brother recommends books all the time and I don't think I've ever liked the ones he likes. My Dad and I share SOME tastes - though it's more often that I will recommend to him.

Recommend one to you all? The Daughter of Time - both a classic and a historical novel with a dollop of murder mystery thrown in. And we still don't know whodunnit!

My recommendation to absolutely everyone is The Lightning Thief. It has things for everyone, adults and children alike.

It depends on who does the recommending. My daughters are pretty good judges of what I will enjoy, so I usually read those.
The Good Women of China: Hidden Voices by Xinran is a wonderful book, painful to read at times, that I recommend to everyone.

I usually read recommended books

My recommendation is Harry Potter and the deathly hallows

I like Harry Potter books, a lot!

Occasionally but only if it really grabs my attention

I do read recommendations by others. One of my recent favorites is
Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz. It is a mystery within a mystery. Enjoy!

One book I have repeatedly recommended to nature lovers is The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating. It's a slow, meditative book meant for savoring.

If you don't like snails / animals, though, it's probably not for you. :)

Always 😉

I try. If it works for me. I love recommends. That's why I'm here.

Cindy wrote: "I don't mind recommendations but please don't recommend a book from the middle of a series! I am not going to start there if I haven't read it and if I have read it then I don't need the recommenda..."
I just started the Dresden series. Book 1, Storm Front, went by quickly...didn't feel like I dedicated much time to reading, but I finished within 10 days. I have the next...maybe I'll start it if I don't catch on with what I selected!

I do often read recommendations from GR friends but not the GR recommendations.