Where do you get your book recommendations?

Summers are all about reading for me. I don’t know if it’s the longer days, the heat, or the feeling of being on vacation (even when I’m not) that make me want to read, but I do. So far, I’ve read about a book a week, which is pretty impressive for me.

I’m asked sometimes where I get my book recommendations from, so I thought I’d share…

Goodreads:

Goodreads is like my library online: I can keep track of what I’ve read, post reviews if I want, and see what new releases are out there. If I add an upcoming book to my shelf they’ll even send me an email to let me know it’s available. Pretty nifty. I also like their giveaways; I find out about upcoming titles, and even get a chance to win a book.

Criminal Element:

The perfect place to find upcoming mysteries and author features. They have contests as well.

Shelf Awareness:

I get their newsletter, mostly to keep up with industry news, but they’ll review books too.

Murder by the Book:

This Houston bookstore always has the best recommendations! And they sell signed copies, too…

Friday’s Forgotten Books:

You can find a list of blogger book reviews of older, forgotten titles on Patricia Abbott’s blog. I love to go there if I want to read something I might’ve missed.

Sarah Weinman:

I get my true crime recommendations from her newsletter—a must read for mystery fans.

YA Booknerd and Ms. Yingling Reads: 

I get so many of my middle-grade and YA recommendations from Jennifer's blog, it's awesome... Especially the more girl-friendly titles, for my daughters.

Likewise for Ms. Yingling's blog, for middle-grade and early readers.

I also hear about books from friends, sometimes bestseller lists, or just by walking around the bookstore.

How about you? Where do you find your book recommendations??

Linc's Bookstore Tour Stop #5: Murder by the Book

Linc here--I just left Denver, after hanging out at Tattered Cover and checking out the cool city of Denver. Now I'm headed south to Texas for the fifth stop in my tour. I'm having a blast!

Fifth Stop: Murder By The Book 
Place: Houston, TX

Here's the skinny:

Question: What makes Murder By The Book different from other bookstores?

For starters, we only carry mysteries! Our entire store is devoted to crime fiction, and we have a whole section for espionage/spy novels. Everyone on the staff at the store loves books and reading, so we're always ready to offer recommendations. We also host a TON of author events. A typical week has us hosting 3-4 events.


Question: I have a day to spend in Houston. What should I do for fun?

There's so much to do in and around Houston. My favorite thing to do is spend a day at Hermann Park. The park has a beautiful Japanese Garden, paddle boats, a train to ride through the park, the Houston Zoo, and it's surrounded by the Museum of Fine Arts and The Museum of Natural Science. You can also take a trip down to NASA and visit Space Center Houston.

Question: If you could invent any spy gadget, what would it be and what would it do? 

I think a gadget that put everyone in the vicinity to sleep for a short period would make sneaking into people's houses much easier. You would just sneak up to the area you needed to snoop around in, turn on the device and get a 10 or 15 minute window to find any information you would need. It's perfect, no one would get harmed and you could in, get the info you need, and get back out before anyone was the wiser!

Question: Any cool events coming up for my friends who live in the area?

We have some really great stuff coming up in December. We're still finalizing details, but December 8th and 9th we'll be hosting local authors at the store to signed books just in time for the holidays. We've got 14 authors signed up so far! On December 22nd we'll be hosting our annual Holiday Open House. We'll have live holiday music as well a last minute edition of Murder By The Book Recommends (where staff members tell the crowd about their favorite reads).

You can find the latest events on the Murder By The Book website.

Conclusion: Murder By The Book is where it's at!

Find Murder By The Book on Facebook and Twitter, so you always have the scoop. Or better yet, head on over there. Tell them Linc sent you, and they might be able to tell you how to enter to win some spy gadgets and a signed copy of Double Vision...