T: GREAT NEWS!

So, 

A fantastic moment that D. and I have waited for has finally arrived… we have gotten comments from people we do not know! This has acted as a blog related energy drink. We are both so excited to see that our little baby blog is growing into a toddler blog… So please keep reading AND commenting. 

Today I decided to give a few suggestions on how to find a great book to read when you’re sick of reading whatever the newest literary trend is – I mean we can only read so many twilights, harry potters, and dan browns (and I think I have made it pretty clear about how I feel about Dan Brown). These are a few great options and even though some of them might seem like common sense what comes naturally to some people may not come naturally to others. 

1.) My favourite way to explore new potential books is to decide what kind of book I am in the mood for – do I want to cry, do I want to be uplifted or do I want a nice little combination of both (i.e. feel uplifted as a result of reading about someone’s depressing life that makes mine look like a walk in the park). 

Examples of books that make me feel the ways I described above: 

 – “I want to cry” – anything by David Adams Richards (great Canadian author), John Steinbeck’s “The Red Pony”, “Flowers for Algernon”, and Mitch Albom’s “Tuesdays with Morrie” 

– “I want to be uplifted” – Jane Austen’s “Persuasion”, The Anne of Green Gables series (an oldy but a goody), Obama’s “Dreams from my father”, Michael Ondaatje’s  “In the Skin of a Lion”, and an ode to the recently departed J.D. Salinger – “Catcher in the Rye”. 

– “I want to feel uplifted as a result of reading about someone’s depressing life that makes mine look better” – here we can stick with pretty much any East Coast Canadian Author (think Anne-Marie MacDonald and Alistair Macleod) or pretty much any Irish author (think Frank McCourt and Nicholas Davies). 

Once I have decided this I try to think of a book I have read in the past (and enjoyed reading). I then go onto amazon.ca/ amazon.com and search that book…I then use a lovely feature on the amazon website that allows you to see what others who purchased or searched this book also found. This is a great tool. It gives you recommendations basically from readers who have the same reading style as you. I would recommend resisting the urge to google reviews of these books – I like to go into books with an open mind. 

Here are the books suggested when I search "What is the What"

2.) Another great way to find books is to google online book clubs. Browse through a few lists and find a book club that has read a few books you really enjoyed then take note of books they have read that you have not…or books they have on their “to-read” list. 

3.) The most random…but also incredibly fun way to find a new book (and potentially new favourite author) is to browse through your favourite section of the bookstore without any goal in mind. Just run your hands along the bookshelves and grab whatever pops out to you. Then I recommend opening the book to about a third of the way through and reading a paragraph or so…this will give you an idea of writing style without giving away the plot and if you’re hooked at this point you know you’ll have trouble putting it down. Some of my favourites have been discovered this way. 

Well, hope this helps and good luck on your quest to find a good book! I also recommend joining an online book club – it’s all of the ideas with none of the pressure and commitment that keeps so many from joining book clubs in the first place. 

Sometimes it is hard to start reading because it is hard to find the right book...