I often see friends and acquaintances asking for book recommendations on social media and I also have some friends that share their favorite books amongst ourselves. While writing my last blog, I recalled a conversation I had with someone recently when they asked why I make different recommendations for different people instead of just pitching what I am reading at the time or my all time favorite stories. It hadn’t occurred to me that their method was how a lot of people made book recommendations. I want to go back to a story from my previous blog.

I have this fantastic friend, I will leave her nameless. She comes to visit periodically (pre-pandemic) and we are both your typical book nerds who geek out over our favorite fantasy stories. We bonded pretty heavily over the Harry Potter world and I remember when we were working overnights at the company where we met and the Pottermore beta released. We both eagerly signed up and I got mine first and got sorted into my house (Ravenclaw) and then not very long after she got her owl and was sorted (Hufflepuff). I think we were both expecting different results but I remember being elated at the outcome. This same friend has been a solid book geek with me over the years since those days. But on a trip to visit me a year ago, we took our book geek sessions on a field trip and drove over to BN. We made each other a deal, we would both look about the entire store and find a book we had previously read and loved and buy it for the other person. Now here’s the thing with this fun field trip, we both enjoy the same books and we knew that heading into this adventure.

So, what about people I am not as close with… how do I make recommendations for them? Well, I mentioned before that I like to read outside of my comfort genres. I like to expand my reading list and I am often very satisfied with the reads I stumble across doing various reading challenges and book clubs. Because of this, I (almost) always have something that will fit the taste of someone else. If someone fishes for book suggestions or even author suggestions, I will always ask them in their comments or private message them if they did not pre-list their interests or what they are interested in reading. This gives me an idea on what to narrow down my list of books that I would rate four stars or higher. If someone responds with something vague or says they aren’t sure what they life, I will usually give them one or two suggestions in two or three categories. This would look similar to my January 2021 Book Recommendations list.

Another thing I will do for my friends who want to pick up a book but don’t know what they would like is find out what TV shows they like to watch or binge. Knowing what hooks someone on TV can often lead to what hooks them into a book as well. I am fond of crime solving shows (mystery books) and fantasy worlds (fantasy books), but I also sometimes enjoy period pieces or romances (matching books). These are all quick and easy ways to help make suggestions to someone who wants to read a book you have already read and enjoyed yourself. Of course, this may still lead to some duds in their opinion but that is why opinions are great, they are always your own. Thank you and keep reading!