There is such a variety of books out there every month that I've found a need for reading compatriots. Friends, readers, reviewers who have similar enough taste to mine that I can almost always agree with their thoughts about a book and look forward to their recommendations.
My sister is my closest reading buddy. Sometimes it seems like we think with the same brain. Our taste in books is almost identical--at times it's a little spooky. I can't tell you how many times we've bought the same book and discovered we either loved it or hated it before we could talk to each other.
I've discovered over the last few years that I also have a few on-line compatriots Anne E. is one, she doesn't read as much romance as I do, but our taste is fairly consistant when it comes to historicals (I probably like a larger variety, but what she does read and enjoy I do too). Since I've discovered blogging, I've found a few more (I'm still testing the theory and I'll probably list them some other time).
When it comes to reviewers, probably the closest to my taste would be the dreaded, feared and hated (please note, my tongue is in my cheek) Mrs. Giggles. Anything she rates 85 or better, I'm likely to love and anything she rates 50 or less I'm probably going to hate. It's the scores in the middle that I don't always agree with. There are also a few reviewers over at AAR that I agree with fairly consistantly.
The funny thing is one of my best barometers aren't the people I agree with, but sometimes it's the people I never agree with--my reading opposites, people I know if they loved it I'm probably going to hate it and vice versa. There are a few of regular posters at RT that I almost never agree with. One writes the best reviews, I don't usually agree with them, but the reviews are beautifully written. When I first started to lurk and post on RT, I would go out and buy books she raved about--eek, I was always left scratching my head, wondering "huh??"
But, I've come to the conclusion it's a good thing there is such a great variety of books in the romance genre--that way there's something for everyone. It's just sometimes hard to determine which ones are right for me.
Have a great day, happy reading.
2 comments:
HMMM..didn't think of reading books others intensely dislike- but it's likely to work if you choose someone you consistantly disagree with. In other words, if they dislike books you DO like & vice versa, than they might be a good person to keep tabs on. If you're wanting to grow your TBR that is!
As to Mrs. Giggles, I think she's funny & worth keeping up with if only because her reviews are often well written.
Amanda--I'm always looking to grow my TBR pile--mines never all that large because I read so much (and I'm kind of picky) and the opposite things actually does work for me.
I find Mrs. Giggles reviews entertaining, especially the ones she really dislikes, because she's got the guts to say what many people think, but aren't willing to say.
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