Finding Your Next Book

This isn't going to become a book blog, but reading is one of my passions and a lot of you runners are also readers and having reading related questions, so if that's not your cup o' tea click "mark as read."  :)  You won't hurt my feelings.  But my book loving soul may cry just a little bit... just to be clear.

One of the biggest questions I get asked is "How do you find the next book to read?"  So I thought that'd be a fun topic to discuss.  I've always been a reader.  Interesting fun fact, my family thought I was a child prodigy when I was reading my books to my grandma and parents at the age of 2 1/2.  Turns out I was just read to so much that I had the books memorized and knew when to turn the pages.

I have several strategies for finding my next read, and they've changed over the years.

Browsing the Shelves
One of my favorite things to do is walk up and down book shelves.  In libraries, there will usually be a shelf of "new fiction" books displayed, or even a "librarian's favorites" shelf displaying recommendations.  My favorite "me" time activity is to head to Barnes & Noble, get a latte, and browse the shelves for my next great read.  I have the handy dandy goodreads app for my droid, so I can scan the barcode and add the books that I want right to my "to-read" list.  Pretty freaking handy.

Reading Other Books by An Author You Like
Once I find an author that I adore, it becomes a mad rush to read anything and everything they've ever written.  This is probably a given, but still notable.

Searching Amazon
This used to be one of my older "tricks."  I would search amazon for my top 10 favorite recent reads, and find books based on their recommendations towards the bottom "if you read this, you may enjoy this...."  I found a lot of great books this way.  Haven't used it for awhile now.  Now whenever I log in to Amazon it suggests library and information science textbooks since that's all I've bought from them in the last year.  :)

Checking out Goodreads
Goodreads is one of my favorite sites.  Top 5 for sure.  I don't know how many "book lists" I've started and abandoned over the years.  I have a book journal that I recorded books read and summaries for approximately 9 months before I got bored of it, and thousands of scraps of paper floating around from my previously mentioned Barnes and Noble trips.  To be able to consolidate these in to one convenient place that I can literally access from anywhere (provided I have an internet connection), yes please!  I love to view the feed to see what my friends are checking out.  I'll add what they loved, and possibly remove what they hated.  Plus it's fun to interact with those that are reading a book that you ZOMG loved or hated.

Goodreads find a book

Goodreads also has a new feature built in to get book selections based on your library "shelves."  Since I don't sort my books in to shelves very frequently, I haven't used this very much.  The few times I've ran it, some of the books they suggested were books on my to read shelf, so it appears the algorhithm they use is legit.  I know there was a huge buzz about it prior to its release.  Let me know if you use it and it's grand!

Book lists

There are so many book lists out there, top 100 classics, top ten novels of 2010, top ten YA novels of 2011, etc.  Always a great place to get an idea.  

So now you know why my "to-read" list is 200+ books long.  I clearly have no problem finding my next great book to read.  Problem is finding enough time to read them at the rate that I'm adding them.   BRB taking a mental health month to catch up on my reading for fun!

Beeteedubs, I'm not in anyway affiliated with goodreads or barnes and noble, and am getting no compensation of any kind for my tips and tricks.  Just to be clear.  But if they wanted to hook a sistah up with some free books, it would be a nice thank you.  jaaaaaaaaykaaaaaaay.

Books By the Quarter: 1/4

I meant to start a monthly book review on the ol' blog, but before I knew it, it was halfway through January, then the end of February, and now it's April.  What in the world?  Where is my time going??  Despite having zero free time, I have still managed to keep up on my reading "for fun."  Usually it's just my hour lunch break (the ones that I'm not reading text books), but I figure it's time spent on my future, right?

I set a goal of reading 52 books yet again this year, and am currently at 23.  Um... oops.  Apparently I could've aimed a bit higher.  Part of this is due to some time spent listening to audiobooks.

Audiobooks

I started The House of Night series (Marked: A House of Night Novel ) at the start of the year.  I've heard it reviewed as Harry Potter meets Twilight.  Well... not quite, but it's fairly entertaining, about a young vampire fledgling who attends vampire finishing school.  While I enjoy the series (so far) I would NOT recommend the audiobooks.  The horrible teen slang imitations and whiny tones are almost unbearable.  I'd imagine reading with your own voices in your head would be much more endurable.
Rating:***

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian was such an amazing re-canting of a young Native American's tale of growing up, narrated by the author himself. Found myself laughing outloud many times.
Rating: *****




Still Alice is not necessary a book I would recommend on audiobook vs. reading, but it was a great book regardless.  The main character is diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's, and it was truly a heart-wrenching tale.  I found myself not wanting to listen to it, because I was scared as to where it was going to progress.  I really really enjoyed it, despite the sad topic.
Rating:*****


I've been meaning to read The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 1) forever, and finally listened to it on audiobook. It was pretty entertaining and took me back to grade school learning Greek mythology. I'll likely listen to the rest on audiobook as well.
Rating: ****



Young Adult


Another of my beloved genres is young adult books.  I'd like to be a children's/young adult librarian so I suppose it makes sense that I read this (paying no attention to the fact that I'm a sucker for the dystopian/end of the world genre that is all the rage right now).


I vowed to finish all the series I was in the middle of before starting any new ones.  That... didn't last.  However, I did read Specials (#3 in the Uglies series).

 I enjoyed this series. I opted to not read the 4th book because it's technically a trilogy, and it almost seems like the 4th one is an afterthought to cash in on the series. Let me know if you've read it and loved it. Rating: ****


 Continuing on the Pretty Little Liars trend so far this year I've knocked out:
  Pretty Little Liars #7: Heartless Rating: ****

  Pretty Little Liars #8: Wanted Rating: ****






  Pretty Little Liars #9: Twisted Rating: ****






One of the top books I've read in 2012 (and to be honest, in my life) is John Green's The Fault in Our Stars

A truly amazing and heart-wrenching book, but just so beautifully written. Rating: *****




Delirium was one of my favorite YA reads for 2011, so I was thrilled for the follow-up novel in the series Pandemonium (Delirium) , however I felt pretty hohum about it. Wasn't an amazing page turner, but of course it ended on a crazy high note, and now I can't wait for the finale novel.  Rating: ***






I enjoyed the first book in this series on the way home from the Philadelphia Marathon, and I was excited to see where the second book took me Crossed I really enjoyed this book, and it was a great continuation of the first one. Again I'm excited to see where the series ends up. Rating: ****





Breaking my promise to not start any new series without completing my current ones, are Cinder: Book One in the Lunar Chronicles Cinder is essentially a tale of Cinderella set way in the future, only she's a cyborg. Very entertaining. Kinda predictable, but I'm excited to see where the rest of the series goes. Rating: ***



 I was really excited to read Under the Never Sky as it's another dystopian genre book, but it wasn't omg amazing. It was good, but I didn't put it down needing to pick up #2. Which is probably a good thing because this one just came out in January, I think. :) Rating: ***



This was another book that didn't quite live up to my expectations. Why We Broke Up is a novel by Daniel Handler who wrote the Series of Unfortunate Events books, with fun illustrations. I wanted to stop reading it.... multiple times. Ultimately, I'm glad I finished it, because it was good. I was just expecting greatness. Rating: ***



Children's Books


I'm not normally one to pick up a children's book unless I have a kid around who wants me to read to them, but these books by Brian Selznick came highly recommended.


Wonderstruck is the newest book by Selznick and the illustrations were just beautiful. The nice thing about kid's books is that you can read a couple over your lunch break.
Rating: *****

 I managed to pick up The Invention of Hugo Cabret on the same day that Hugo (the movie) came in for me at the library. Not realizing that the movie was based on the book. BAD future librarian! The movie was amazing, and the book was just as delightful. Again, the illustrations are just out of this world. Definitely flip through it next time you have a free moment. Rating: *****


Adult Novels




 The Lover's Dictionary: A Novel is a truly unique book, where the narrator goes through tales of his relationship using each letter of the alphabet as a word that describes a memory or story. I've never read a book like this and it was so good, and left so much of the story to your interpretation. Super quick read.
Rating: *****


Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) had me rolling at times. Very entertaining. Mindy Kaling has such quick wit. I really loved learning more about her and her career. I've heard this is amazing on audiobook (I believe she narrates it!) Rating: ****



I think I'm the last runner in the world to read Once a Runner: A Novel but it was so good. After reading on my lunch break, I'd immediately want to take the rest of the day off from work and just run.
Rating: ****




I'm not normally one to pick up a love story (although I am a sucker for Nicholas Sparks books, sue me!) but I thought The Last Letter from Your Lover: A Novel had an interesting take on the typical love story. I don't want to give too much away, but it was two stories woven together and I couldn't get enough of either of them.
 Rating: ****




I tend to read all of Sophie Kinsella's books, and picked up I've Got Your Number: A Novel despite a less than stellar rating. It was entertaining and wholly predictable, but sometimes when your brain is fried from school, that's exactly what you need.
Rating: ***



There you have my book reviews for the first quarter of the year.  Feel free to follow me on goodreads (and send me a message that you read my blog, I tend to not follow those that I don't know on there, it gets overwhelming).  Let me know if you have any good book recs for me as well!  Also, if you click on the links in this post and purchase the book through amazon, I get a penny or two from the sale.  Or you could just support your local library instead.  ;)