Q1 2018 Update: My Go-To and No-Go Book Recommendation Sources
As many of you probably know, I adopted a new method for selecting books this year. I’m choosing books that have already been read and recommended by trusted recommendation sources rather than from publishers’ catalogs or various “Most Anticipated” book lists. The key to success is the “already read” part because it provides an opinion beyond “does the premise sound good on paper?” and that of independent of publishers’ marketing machines.
Each quarter, I’ll share how this is going…my Go-To and No-Go recommendation sources and whether the quality of my reading has improved or not.
My Q1 2018 Reading Quality
| % Successful Books Attempted (includes DNFs) | 54% |
| % Successful Books Finished (does not include DNFs) | 81% |
My Successful Books Attempted increased almost 26% over last year (43%). My goal is to keep this success rate above 50% all year long, so I’m pleased with this so far!
The second number gives me an extra incentive to DNF books that aren’t working for me.
My Go-To Book Recommendation Sources for Q1 2018
| Annie Jones from From the Front Porch podcast | 5 (Heating & Cooling, Sunburn, Bachelor Nation  , Tangerine , The Female Persuasion) |
| Trusted Authors (Ann Patchett, Kelly Corrigan, Meg Wolitzer, Sloane Crosley) |
4 (What Now?  , Glitter & Glue , The Female Persuasion, Look Alive Out There) |
| Read It Forward’s Best Books of the Month Lists | 4 (An American Marriage  , Woman Last Seen in Her Thirties  , Laura & Emma , Brass ) |
| Tyler Goodson, Manager at Avid Bookshop in Athens, GA | 3 (Sunburn, I’ll Be Gone in the Dark, Laura & Emma ) |
2 Big Lessons Learned from Tracking my Recommendation Sources
- If you want to find people who have already read new releases way (like months) before their publication dates, look to the booksellers/bookstore owners! They seem to read months ahead of bloggers and this group has really climbed the charts of my top recommendation sources. Annie Jones, Tyler Goodson, and Kelly Massry (who didn’t make my top four, but has given me some great recommendations this year) are all booksellers.
- Ask your Go-To Recommendation Sources who their Go-To Sources are! Annie Jones has been one of my Go-To Recommendation Sources for awhile now. She did an episode of From the Front Porch podcast where she took questions from listeners and I asked if she could share some of her go-to recommendation sources. She shared an awesome list of her sources and their Instagram handles. I immediately followed them all. Tyler Goodson came from this list.
My No-Go Book Recommendation Sources for Q1 2018
| Trusted Authors (Melanie Benjamin, Chris Bohjalian, Anna Quindlen) |
3 (The Girls in the Picture  , The Flight Attendant , Alternate Side ) |
| Book of the Month | 2 (The Wife Between Us  , Not That I Could Tell ) |
| Modern Mrs. Darcy | 2 (Castle of Water  , The Almost Sisters) |
This category is especially hard for me. Every single one of these sources has been a Go-To Source for me in the past. Trusted Authors topped my Go-To list this month as well. Book of the Month has put a number of phenomenal books on my radar…and they’re usually books I hadn’t even heard of before Book of the Month chose them as monthly selections. And, Modern Mrs. Darcy‘s Best Books of 2017 list was one of the ones I agreed most with.
I guess the lesson here is not every single recommendation from your Go-To Sources will always pan out. And, that’s OK.
How I Keep Track of My Reading Quality and Go-To/No-Go Recommendation Sources…and You Can Too!
Are you thinking it takes me hours to calculate my reading quality and keep track of my Go-To and No-Go recommendation sources every month? Well, it totally could, but it doesn’t. I use my “Rock Your Reading” Tracker, which automatically calculates my reading quality for me and helps me easily keep track of my recommendation sources.
If you’re interested in tracking your own reading quality and recommendation sources, you can purchase my tracker for $11.99! Go here for more details or purchase below!
Purchase here…
by Caroline Kepnes by multiple 
) called it “a perfect nightmare of a novel.”
and 
and 
.
by Meg Wolitzer (review coming)
by Sloane Crosley
by Kayleen Schaefer (audiobook)
by Elisabeth Hyde
by Anna Yen
)
by Curtis Sittenfeld (April 24)
).
by Maile Meloy (
crossed with 
set in South Africa and involving race. And, ultimately, it’s about friendship and regret.
by David Shafer (
by Matt Gallagher (
Tip
I finished reading…
by Xhenet Aliu (January 28, 2018)
by Elisabeth Hyde (April 10, 2018)
by Anna Yen (April 10, 2018)
, 
comes highly recommended by three of my Go-To Recommendation Sources (
Fiction – Literary
) and think she just “gets” women. 
by Meg Wolitzer (April 3, 
by Tom McCallister (April 3, 
by Sloane Crosley (April 3, 
and 
know Sloane Crosley’s life as a series of relatable but madcap misadventures. In 
by Joanna Cantor (May 8, 
, but I’ve heard his latest is far better. Two of my 
by Aja Gabel (May 15, 
and is one of the things I try to keep in mind as I figure out how to prioritize my precious non-child rearing time.
Bachelor Nation
Laura & Emma
and I’d say that’s true with the story’s premise (single mother from a wealthy family trying to raise her daughter differently than how she grew up, but not totally disconnecting), but not at all in character or style. Laura is offbeat, but likable and funny in an awkward way (she reminded me of a less damaged version of 
). However, the ending is perplexing to say the least. I’m still not sure what happened and it will probably annoy readers who don’t like things left open-ended. P.S. – there’s an entertaining, kooky grandmother…always a plus in my reading!
Tangerine
The Flight Attendant
Girls Burn Brighter
by Shobha Rao (March 6, 2018)
(“highlighting for audiobooks”).
