Today’s BBAW daily blogging topic is around how book blogs have exposed you to books or authors you never may have heard of otherwise.
I’m kind of at a loss as to where I start. It’s safe to say that the vast majority of books that I read nowadays are BECAUSE of blog recommendations, including some of my all-time favourites series. I never would have picked up Seanan McGuire‘s October Daye books if it wasn’t for everyone* saying ROSEMARY AND RUE was so worth it, so I put aside my irrational dislike of fae-centred books and promptly fell in love. Same with Ilona Andrews‘ Kate Daniels series – I didn’t really care for the first book, MAGIC BITES, but everyone* swore the series got better – and you know what? So true.
But these are NYT bestsellers, and they probably would have popped up on my radar via other means – be it on my local bookstore shelves, Amazon recommendations, print reviews… though yes, it may have taken longer.
So what about the books and authors I never would have discovered if it wasn’t for blogs? Here are three:
Andrea K Höst‘s TOUCHSTONE trilogy - and her entire backlist, really. Estara was the one that (virtually) hand-sold her books to me, and I believe she first encountered Ms Höst’s books via the Book Smugglers’ blog and Ana’s CHAMPION OF THE ROSE review. I read and loved the Touchstone books, and then raced through all her other books in a matter of weeks. It didn’t matter that the Touchstone books were SF (or science fantasy) while the rest were straight fantasy (and also very different stories) – I just fell in love with the stories she was telling. Now I’m waiting very impatiently on her next release, AND ALL THE STARS.
Tammara Webber‘s EASY (which I mentioned last week) – a brand new-to-me discovery via blog reviews. The emerging New Adult sub-genre is hard to pin down or define, perhaps a bit more mature than YA but not quite adult contemporaries, but whatever it is, Ms Webber got the story just right in EASY and I can’t wait to dive into her Between the Lines series.
Josh Lanyon‘s Adrien English series, which in turn has led to me buying everything he writes. I can’t recall exactly how I came across his name – I suspect an If You Like… kind of post at Dear Author, but his writing is the perfect blend of mystery and m/m romance, and it’s rare that there are any misses.
So yes, just three of my now auto-buy authors that I’ve discovered via book blogs – here’s to many more. Tell me about who you now read because of book blogs – I’d love to know!
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*If you have a book blog and love these authors, everyone is probably you – so thank you.
Very true indeed, re: Estara. I’ve also made Sherwood Smith aware of the existence of the Touchstone trilogy and she’s currently quite enjoying reading it. She already did a lovely review of Stray.
Andrea Höst FTW. I’ve been rereading her books this summer and it was a pleasure.
I read her review – I’m glad the love is spreading! I’m looking forward to AND ALL THE STARS – her Goodreads updates are maddeningly frustrating
But in a fun way ^^
Ha – yes!
I agree about Easy! Really enjoyed reading that one, I should probably write a review of it. I’m a huge Ilona Andrews fan – I remember not loving Magic Bites but the series did get a lot better. I’m sorry to say that I didn’t feel the same way about the Toby Daye books, I’ve read the first two novels in the series but the series hasn’t grown on me. Still trying to decide if I should continue with it.
Ahhh… not everyone loves the Toby books – I’d be the first to admit that she comes across as a rather incompetent private investigator in the first couple of books. But I loved the world Seanan McGuire dreamt up, and then I’m a sucker for the whole Toby/Tybalt will-they-won’t-they kind of relationship – and she gets much better at the PI side of things. Totally understand if you don’t want to continue though – two books is usually enough to decide.
I’d love to hear your take on EASY. I’m quietly glomming her other books, which are slightly more on the wish-fulfillment side of things but just as addictive.
And yes on the MAGIC BITES side of things – I remember not liking Kate at all (too prickly and unsympathetic), the vampires just freaked me out, and I was totally confused on the world-building.
I read the first three books and then I decided I’d given her enough of a chance and stopped. That’s how it is sometimes. Discount Armageddon didn’t blow me away but it was a fun romp.
Three is more than a fair chance, I reckon. I agree with you on DISCOUNT ARMAGEDDON – it was fun, but not a “wow” book for me.
Funny how blogging and blogs have changed our reading habits right? It’s really been a while since I’ve just browsed the bookstore aisles. Now, it’s all about the books I’ve seen online.
I gotta totally agree about Ilona Andrews. Wouldn’t have picked her up if it was for the internet.
It is very rare now that I pick up a totally new-to-me book at random while browsing the aisles. I usually have online reviews/mentions in mind at least.
And I’m glad blog reviews persuaded all of us to give Ilona Andrews a go!