So I am back after a day off sick… well, I wasn’t so much sick as feeling incredibly rough and with masses on. Thank you all for popping by to see the Tom Rob Smith interview and the first ‘Savidge Meets’ it looks like it might become a more regular thing and I have two authors I have everything crossed will be able to do it soon, I shall leave some mystery around it for now. Now I was going to do my usual Booking Through Thursday today but it hasn’t turned up and I need to dash soon. My backup blog was to review The Reluctant Fundamentalist but I don’t have enough time to type it this morning.
How do blogs manage to take over our lives and make us feel guilty if we don’t post daily? I normally work from home meaning I can have the whole day to fit a blog in but at the moment am doing a month placement making blogging time sparse. However with the delightful Easter break upon us I am going to be reading like a trouper and making sure I have plenty of blogs in reserve in advance. What are your reading Easter plans? Or your Easter plans in general? The great Easter Debate in Savidge Reads Towers between the Non Reader and me is kittens! We think we have mice, ok we know we have mice, and so a cat would seem the answer… only I cant only have one lonely kitten, I must have a playmate for him/her/it. After loosing Hoyden last year I said I would never have pets again, hmmm, we will see.
Anyway… my actual blog for today before I dash off to London Bridge was all about Amazon and its recommendations. As you know I can often get stumped for what book I want to read from the ridiculously but wonderfully mounting TBR pile. Sometimes I ask you, sometimes its family, I hear someone mention it or see someone reading it on the tube (more on tube reading next week). I haven’t ever looked at my Amazon Recommendations until today and was shocked in a good way by the results. Here is my top 15…
1. The White Tiger – Aravind Adiga (reading over Easter)
2. The Road Home – Rose Tremain (on TBR)
3. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo – Stieg Larsson (on TBR)
4. The Outcast – Sadie Jones (on TBR)
5. Revolutionary Road – Richard Yates (on TBR)
6. Random Acts of Heroic Love – Danny Scheinmann (don’t own not sure about)
7. The Gathering – Anne Enright (on TBR)
8. Blood River – Tim Butcher (on TBR)
9. The Northern Clemency – Philip Hensher (hadn’t considered owning, now am)
10. The Reluctant Fundamentalist – Mohsin Hamid (haven’t reviewed yet so wont be there soon)
I am impressed Amazon seem to know me so well and what I thought was a good ploy to make you buy much more (which of course it still is and on two occasions might work with me) it is actually a good recommendation source. I am wondering if after reading Something Borrowed by Paul Magrs (I needed an adventurous, hilarious romp next and it is proving to be just what the doctor ordered) I should try and do my Amazon Top Ten in order? What do you think? Have you done this, have you found any gems this way? What’s in your Top Ten via Recommends? Oh and how on earth do you get on the Vine Programme?
With all those questions I will sign off… oh and the Non Reader is picking the BAFAB Week Winner tonight, so watch out for a post on that tomorrow!
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7 comments:
I have had Random Acts of Heroic Love by Danny Scheinmann sitting on my bookshelf for so long and I'm not really sure what is putting me off reading it! I really want to read The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo as well, supposed to be very good. Hope you have a lovely Easter!
I don't think I've ever gone to Amazon for recommendations...I have too many already from other places! I do feel guilt sometimes for not getting to the blog as often as I want. I definitely don't do daily posts, but try to provide something four to five days a week. If only I made money at this huh? My husband gets very frustrated with me, because he says nothing else gets done!
FYI, I vote for kittens. Nothing adds more of a bright spark in your home (and sometimes insanity) and a couple of kittens! My life wouldn't be complete without mine...
I agree that Amazon recomendations are very accurate, but the problem with them is that they are all so obvious - they are all the best sellers that I already have on my TBR - I have never come across a book I haven't heard of before, and that is what I'm looking for when seeking out recommendations.
I have read 5 of your list, and the others are on my TBR.
I loved Random Acts of Heroic Love (It's in my all time top 10) so I'd be very interested to see what you think of it - it is basically a powerful story of love and loss, with a bit of physics thrown in! I think you'd enjoy it, but your reading taste is slightly different to mine, so I'm not totally sure!
Re: The Amazon Vine question. I think you have to do a heck of a lot of reviews on Amazon to qualify.
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo was fabulous. I am not even going to read the second one for awhile to draw it out and because the third one won't be translated until some time in 2010.
The Northern Clemency I thought was incredibly good. Did not like Revolutionary Road. The Gathering was excellent but I still prefer Darkmans. Am having trouble getting interested in The White Tiger.
I will be interested to see which you choose to focus on.
Note for Candy: Quercus have moved up publication of Stieg Larsson's 3rd to October this year. I translated them all in 2006.
I'm also having trouble getting through The White Tiger!
--Reg
Getting on the Amazon vine programme appears to be a bit random, as I think the places are more or less filled now. To qualify initially I think you had to be a top 1000 reviewer (about 500 helpful votes?) and provide quality reviews, on a regular basis.
I'd like to get on the Vine programme too, but I'm not sure how often people get invited to join now. All we can do is keep adding helpful reviews, and keep our fingers crossed!
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