Book Recs and Bloggers

So, you may have seen that I’ve been participating in the Support Book Bloggers Challenge. July’s “unofficial” prompt is discussing books you’ve read because of blogging. I’m going to tweak it a bit and discuss a handful of books I plan to read because of other bloggers, as well as a handful I plan to avoid. Book recs and bloggers go hand and hand, obviously. Yet, the longer I’ve been a blogger, the more weight a trusted blogger’s opinion holds for me, in both ends of the spectrum: recommending books and helping me find books I’m not interested in.

This should be fun. Let’s do it!

Books I Want to Read

The fun thing about book recs and bloggers is that–at least for me–it’s a very rare circumstance when a blogger approaches me directly and tells me to read a book. In fact, the recommendation usually comes from me stumbling across a book review or a book list that the blogger posted generally. So, I wouldn’t be surprised if most (if not all) of the bloggers below have no idea their opinion of a book has made me want to read it.

So, surprise if it’s you! 😂

The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid
Recced by Fadwa @ Word Wonders

I believe I first saw Fadwa talking about this book on Twitter and raving about how good it was. Before, I saw the book a lot around the blogosphere and it was borderline about to be a book I lost interest in because it had too much hype. But then I saw Fadwa’s love for it and decided it’s safe to have a space on the TBR.

The Last Watch by J.S. Dewes
Recced by Caitlin @ Realms of My Mind

I trust Caitlin’s recs more than most, as she has an impeccable taste in books. But The Last Watch first got on my radar because of her writing about it on my blog. I really need to read this book, because she solely made me want to read it with her own pitch of it!

A Boy and His Dog At the End of the World by C.B. Fletcher
Recced by Corey @ Grimdark Dad

So, I traditionally don’t read book reviews of books I haven’t read, because book bloggers are obviously influential (I mean, that’s the point of this whole post). And I like to read books with as little influence as possible. But, Corey’s reviews are always on point, so I wanted to check out this one to see if the dog died, because that fear was the ONLY reason I didn’t get it. But Corey confirmed the dog is safe AND wrote a review that made me want to read it. Win win!

The Mirror Empire by Kameron Hurley
Recced by Book Blogging Community

This is a book where I can’t tell you which bloggers put this on my radar. But, it’s been enough that I trust this is a book I need to read!

A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall
Recced by the Book Blogging Community

I have seen this book EVERYWHERE recently and I am so, so grateful. It seems right up my alley and it’s definitely going on my Christmas list.

Books I Want to Avoid

Now, to be clear: if you are someone who loved one of the books or authors below, I’m not coming at you! I am simply showing how, while book recs by bloggers can definitely be detrimental to my TBR (and that’s how it usually is), it can also serve as the opposite. Book recs by bloggers can also: help me lose interest in a story or author, enlighten me to things I didn’t know or just tell me more about a book and confirm it’s not of my tastes.

Unfortunately, that happened not just with specific books, but with entire authors below.

All books by Sarah J. Maas
Due to: the hype and obsession of the book community

You know when something becomes so hyped that you just lose all interest in it entirely? Yeah, that’s how I feel about Maas’ books. It is just everywhere all of the time and I just really have no interest reading it. (To the friend who surprised me with the copy of the first book: I’m so sorry.)

All books by Mackenzie Lee
Due to: learning through the book community of the author’s behavior

Luckily, I don’t really read a ton of YA anymore, so this is not a huge loss for me. But, when it was first hyped, I was at least a bit interested. Then, when I learned about Lee’s behavior of signing other author’s books (amongst other things), my interest evaporated.

All books by TJ Klune
Due to: learning through the book community about the author’s inspiration of Canada’s residential schools

This is one where I might have actually read this book, had I not learned about the inspiration behind it via the book community. I just personally feel that it wasn’t his place to use that as inspiration, but it’s also a book I haven’t read (and many seem to usually enjoy), so perhaps I might be wrong. But it was enough that I lost interest in reading anything by this author.

Anything by Jay Kristoff
Due to: learning through the book community about his antisemitism and his racism

Considering he just has a consistent record of being an author who culturally appropriates repeatedly (including different cultures) and being an asshole in general, apparently, my interest dropped to absolutely zero with anything that has his name on it. Thanks but no thanks.

In Sum

I hope you enjoyed this post on book recs and bloggers who recced them (even if it sometimes was just the whole book community at large). It was also a bit different to discuss books I want to avoid (I usually try to keep things a bit more positive on the blog). But, I did it to highlight the power of bloggers. Sometimes, I think the community forgets it, publishing often underappreciates it and we ourselves fail to give ourselves enough credit.

So, thank you, to all the bloggers who help connect me to books I might not have found. My TBR will never end, thanks to you and the work you do.

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