Tuesday Thingers: On Recommendations

July 22, 2008

I participate in LibraryThing’s Tuesday Thingers group — a weekly blogging exercise. This week’s question:

Recommendations. Do you use LT’s recommendations feature? Have you found any good books by using it? Do you use the anti-recommendations, or the “special sauce” recommendations? How do you find out about books you want to read?

Every few weeks, I click into LibraryThing’s recommendations areas and I am, sadly, usually not inspired. I don’t think anybody–not even mega-companies with hordes of mad scientists on the task day and night–has nailed the ability to do machine-created recommendations. It just isn’t there yet; there is no good enough algorithm. I mean, look at how piss-poor Amazon’s recommendations are, for a start.

What does have greater value is LibraryThing’s recently-added feature that allows you to personally recommend books based on another book. I have definitely added a few of those recommendations and found that some that I have seen from others have had merit.

As for figuring out what to read next, let’s just say I “have my sources.” Well, OK, they are, for the most part:

The New York Times Book Review
Powell’s Books, which I visit, in person, at least monthly. And wander around.
Various book lists online that say what books a well-read person should read.
Award-winners. These are easily tracked by the handy-dandy free Powell’s bookmarks you can get with them listed. Booker Prize, Pulitzer, National Book Award, Nobel Prize. Et cetera.
Book clubs. Sometimes they tell me what I’m going to read.
Personal recommendations from people I trust. Though I find, alpha reader that I am, that I spend more time giving these out than receiving them.
Personal interest. Sometimes I want to read about the scientific revolution. Or linguistics.
The Oregonian‘s Sunday book section, though it could be stronger.
Podcasts: NPR Book podcast, NYT book podcast, New Yorker podcasts.
OCCCCCcccccccccassionally, I have to admit that Amazon has my number. They send me a spamail and it is actually a book I find I must must buy and read (e.g. Lief Enger’s So Young, Brave and Handsome).
Other bookstores. If I see one, especially when traveling, there’s no keeping me out of it.
Amazon.com’s “Best of the month” book pages. Often the books they think are good, well, frankly, they are.

Boy, howdy, that’s a longer list than I expected!

4 Comments

The Kool-Aid Mom says:

“Personal recommendations from people I trust. Though I find, alpha reader that I am, that I spend more time giving these out than receiving them. ”

I have the same problem. Getting ARCs, I’m always saying, “Watch out in August! Such-n-Such book is coming out, and it’s a great book!” People just ask, “Read any good books lately?” so they can feel like they have some control in the conversation. :-D
tODD says:

Lyza, allow me to be brutally honest for a moment. You totally can’t drag out a word by extending its consonants — at least, not its stops (fricatives, maybe, and I know you know what I mean, because you read them fancy linguistics books). No, really, try it. “OCCCCCcccccccccassionally”? I’m sorry, but it’s properly spelled “Ooocaaaaaaaassionally” — look it up in Webster’s Dictionary of Unabridged Words*. You’ll see.

*Chicago style also allows it to be capitalized “OoocAAAaaaaassionally” to emphasize emphasis.
Mara Collins says:

My recommendations list is a lot like yours… with the addition of my college alumni mailing list, where in there are lots of people who read prolifically and make many recommendations. And now I have been turning to your blog, too, which is what finally got me to read In the Woods even though it had been on my list from an NPR review a year ago, which makes me ask if you are going to read The Likeness?

Also, can I add? That when tODD leaves a comment like that I get a little annoyed he doesn’t blog more regularly because I need to laugh more often.
Ruth says:

I wished I lived close enough to visit Powell’s that frequently! Oh, heck, let’s be honest: I wish I could live in Powell’s.

I love it when friends recommend books to me. I have two friends who, while their tastes vary widely from mine, can always recommend something I’ll love.