It’s ‘Blame a Blogger’ for #BBAW Day 3 – much nicer than it sounds, promise. The question is…
Have you ever read a book because of a book blogger?
Why yes, yes I have. Truth be told, other bloggers’ reviews have chiefly led to me stocking my tbr shelves, and I’ve not been brilliant at actually reading the books yet – but there are certainly some much-loved reads that I have lovely bloggers to thank for. Here are five of them, linking to the original reviews that inspired me…
The Lark by E. Nesbit: this one again! I have Scott at Furrowed Middlebrow to lay laurels upon for bringing this one to my attention (and a stranger in Yeovil to thank for giving it to Oxfam).
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson: I’m now one of the biggest Robinson fanboys, but it was Rachel/Book Snob’s beautiful and persuasive review of Gilead that kicked it all off for me. Thank you, Rachel!
Skylark by Dezső Kosztolányi: I don’t read enough literature in translation, but a combination of NYRB Classics publishing it and the most reliable blogger for matching my tastes, Claire/The Captive Reader, reviewing it – and I was sold. This is a beautiful, elegiac delight of a novel.
The Driver’s Seat by Muriel Spark: I’d more or less shelved Spark on the “Ok, but not for me” shelf in my mind before I read Simon/Savidge Read’s enticing review of this dark novella. Fast forward a few years, and I count Spark among my favourite writers. Thank goodness for bloggers and second chances!
Patricia Brent, Spinster by Herbert Jenkins: I think various people recommended this frothy wonder of a novel to me before I finally picked it up, but the one that really swung it was Thomas/Hogglestock. He compared it to Miss Hargreaves – what was I going to do except read it?
I have Skylark on my to-read list – also thanks to Captive Reader. The Driver’s Seat too, but a different blogger responsible for that one. I can definitely identify with what you said about not exactly being brilliant at keeping up with all the recommendations.
Skylark is such a lovely book. It feels like one to read in spring, though, for some reason. And yay for Spark!
I’ve just bought a notebook for recommendations, so hopefully that will inspire me more.
And I have you to thank for my overflowing TBR shelf and for reading some of my favorites in 2015!
It’s been such a joy seeing you read them! :D
Skylark was very interesting!
I’m so pleased it was recommended to me :)
Book bloggers are a bad influence – and I have to say that many of you or posts have created issues on my TBR….. 😁
Ha! Not at all sorry ;) And vice versa – one of these days you’ll get me reading Russians as well.
Ah, yes, it’s a disaster when you find bookbloggers you like and trust…
Certainly a disaster for wallet and storage…
I know completely what you mean – those books that you feel like you ‘have’ to have, and then they just sit accusingly on the bookshelf!
I picked your site as one of the ones I check regularly – a fellow Oxford-based blogger!
Girl with her Head in a Book
One of these days we must meet! Thanks so much for the mention :)
I always feel bad when I don’t like authors that everyone else seems to love… Marilynne Robinson is an example of this!
c.f. my most recent post on Edith Wharton for similar feelings!
I would say–there a dozens of books i cannot read because some bloggers(no names mentioned but you know who i mean) mainly praise books that are as rare as hens teeth to find.So they are very happy and i am not.
Tina
But I’d always rather that I knew about them, and that the internet had info on them, than not! You have to keep your eyes open for the rarities, but the hunt is fun.
Hmm, I may start comparing more things to Hargreaves if that is all it takes.