For a little while now, I've been trying to up my game when it comes…
How Do You Find New Books (Or I Miss Borders)
I’ll admit it. I haven’t been in an actual bookstore since the Borders near us closed. So that’s…a long, long time.
It’s not that I wouldn’t kill to go wander a bookstore. I would. Seriously, I would love to find a bookstore, buy a coffee, and just browse like I used to do in Borders. But the nearest Barnes & Noble is 40 minutes away (it’s only like 15 miles. There just don’t happen to be any straight roads that get me from here to there with any ease.)
And so I found myself trying to browse on Amazon. Don’t get me wrong, I love Amazon. I love reading on my Kindle. I love my free Prime shipping and how quickly everything gets to me. But browsing books on Amazon? That’s a little bit like panning for gold.
Maybe it’s just me, but the whole category system they have set up never works all that well. In the bookstore, I would go to the genre I was interested in and then walk back and forth down the alphabetical list of books until something caught my eye. Then I’d pick it up, read the back, and, most likely, buy it. It’s how I found Game of Thrones when it was first released and so many other now-favorite authors.
Amazon weights things based on how well they’re selling. So the big sellers show up before the not-so-well selling. And frankly? I could care less how well something is selling if it’s a good book. But I can’t *find” a good book that way on Amazon. (Because trust me, sales don’t always equal good. If you’re a reader, and I hope you are, then you know exactly what I’m saying. You’ve got that best seller that everyone raved about that left you wondering what was wrong with the rest of the world.)
So, seeing as how random shelf wandering isn’t going to happen any time soon…tell me how you find new books to read. And maybe leave a recommendation for something as well. Cause while I have a number of books on my kindle right now, none of them are grabbing me. And I need something to read!
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I feel your frustratration with books on Amazon. I subscribe to Spirit Filled Kindle, and they usually have some pretty good recommendations. I also subscribe to BookBub and find some good books on there as well. Hope this helps!! 🙂
I do love Spirit Filled Kindle! I’ve advertised with them a handful of times in the past as well. 🙂
I know what you mean about Amazon.
I find my books now by reading blogs, word of mouth and belonging to Facebook groups that cater to what I like to read.
Definitely feels like word of mouth and friend recommendations are the way to go these days 🙂
I get recommendations from blogs and emails I get from authors. I’m dying to read Mermaid Moon by Colleen Coble and With This Ring by four different authors. Just finished Undaunted Hope by Jody Hedlund. I highly recommend it!
Awesome book, I just finished it, I love her books!
With This Ring sounds fun – I think I’ve seen a promo for it. 🙂
I belong to Faithful Reads and they offer selections each day I pick the ones that look good and download them on my Kindle, I also go to Amazon to look up my favorite authors to see what new books are out, or I have a few of my favorite authors that I am on Facebook with so when a new book comes out I know it and I order it. I currently have over 800 books on my Kindle to read yet. I never lack for a book to read. May I suggest Colleen Coble she is my favorite author, I always read her books as well as yours and Denise Hunter’s. Happy hunting!
I get so many deal emails – I’m just never sure which are going to be good. I do try to check out the ones that catch my eye. I need to get better about trying new-to-me authors. I have read quite a bit of Colleen Coble. 🙂 Thanks!
I often check best seller lists, new release lists, or I just start hunting on Amazon for a book in the genre I want to read. Right now I’m reading The Secrets of Pembrooke Hall by Julie Klaasen.