Like I told you guys last month, I’m not a big recommender. I enjoy getting recommendations but really struggle with giving them. So this linkup, hosted by Lauren and Bre, really pushes me to think hard about what I think is worthy to recommend knowing that what I like isn’t always for everyone.
But you know what is for everyone? BOOKS.
Books are for everyone. Because books are awesome. And in what’s probably my worst kept secret, I love books. Which means that, today, I’m going to recommend some bookish things in no particular order and in absolutely no categorical groupings (which, incidentally, is how my at-home library is organized. I won’t bother with a picture because I don’t want my organized friends to freak out):
- Book Riot. Follow them on all the social media, read their blogs, listen to their podcasts. They’re my go-to source for all bookish news and it’s my dream job to work for them.
- Flipster. Free library app for magazines. You can’t get all the magazines but you can get a lot and there’s a ton of variety.
- Litsy. A hybrid of Instagram and Goodreads, and it’s exclusively devoted to bookish things so if you find yourself scrolling through IG just for book pictures or reviews, get on Litsy stat. I use it to keep track of my book reviews for Show Us Your Books and not much else but it’s a great community of book nerds if that’s your jam.
- NetGalley. THE source for ARCs. They’re free, they’re eBooks, and the only thing you need to do is review the book somewhere. You won’t always get all the books you request but you will get most of them (HELP!: I’m currently stalking Amy Stewart’s, Julie Murphy’s, and Celeste Ng’s new books so if you see them there, please let me know).
- BookOut. If you like tracking your reading stats, this is perfect for you. You set a timer and it’ll track how long you read and you can fill in the amount of pages and which books you’ve read and all that stuff. It’s a paid app but there’s a trial version. Confession: I loved this one but deleted it because I kept forgetting to start my reading sessions and it’s hard to go back and fill in what you’ve done.
- Instagram accounts. Reading Quirks, Book of the Month, Books on the Subway, Harvard Book Store, and Liberty Hardy (from Book Riot. She also posts lots of cat picturs). I also recommend following the accounts of some of your favorite authors and publishing houses. I do, it’s fun to look at, and I learn about a ton of books that way.
- Finding your local indie bookstore. And using it. Look, I love Amazon as much as the next person and I definitely use it to it’s (almost) full capacity
I’m not going to recommend any specific books or authors because it’s personal and confusing and I struggle big time with picking my favorites or ones that I think you must read but if you’re interested, here’s a few summary posts I’ve written:
- Authors I’ll never quit
- All the book recommendations from everyone who participated in my Interview with a Bookworm series
- The Show Us Your Books archive, which has all the SUYB posts from the beginning
- My favorite things about books
- My quirky reading habits
Okay, so those last two aren’t necessarily recommendations but maybe you’ll like them anyway.
I’m 100% confident this is not at all a comprehensive list of bookish things I recommend so maybe I’ll dig a few more things out and do a part 2 in the coming months. But it’s what I’ve got for now.
So, tell me. What are some of your favorite bookish things that I absolutely must see/use/read?
Linking up for Add It To My List
This is so good! I’ve never given Book Riot a chance because it didn’t sound like i would like it but your enthusiasm for it makes me want to! I hate to admit that my reading has slowed wayyyy down lately (I keep falling asleep) so I’ll take all the book motivation I can get. Will you send me a link to Liberty Hardy’s IG? I can’t find her and books and cats sound like a great combo. Thanks for recommending!
I love all the access to all the things to stay up to date on books & the latest news.
I like looking up videos on YouTube about new books & podcasts about them too.
& I’m always look up pretty pictures of books on Instagram. Book porn makes me happy 😉 haha
I always feel silly talking about books or overwhelmed when searching the internet for bookish things. I don’t read as often or fast as I’d like to/as I used to, so I don’t feel *worthy* to recommend authors or series or websites. (I know that’s dumb.) I also get kind of self-conscious about the books I read because I know there are people that poo-poo YA readers or romance or historical fiction.
ANYWAY, I love when people DO recommend this stuff! And I know I absolutely shouldn’t care one lick about what people think of my reading habits/choices/speed. So I’m going to work on that 😉
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There’s a couple of resources on here I didn’t know about! For what it’s worth, you did a great job picking out books for me! The 1:1 factor, though, I get.
FF @ Femme Frugality recently posted…Around the World in 80 Books: Canada
I definitely don’t maximize following via IG. Still not using litsy either.
What would we do without Netgalley?!? I have a ton of books on my shelf I need to get to ASAP though, oops. I haven’t really checked out Book Riot so I am off to do that now.
I love finding out about new books and all bookish related things so I love your list! I also went and signed up for the Book Riot Newsletter! They have some awesome stuff out there!
Liberty Hardy. Cats AND books? Followed.
I forget about Litsy. I have it, I just use it infrequently.
I need to remember to put Book Riot in my reading rotation more often.
texerinsydney recently posted…Add it to my list vol.2
I like Modern Mrs. Darcy and her podcast a lot. I will say that she and I have different tastes in books so I really enjoy hearing that POV and then trying what she recommends and at least deciding if I like it. It’s eye-opening.
I don’t religiously follow Book Riot and it appears I need to take a closer look at them! I used to read quite a few magazines but fell off the wagon, Flipster sounds like a good way to get back on the wagon – for free! I recently picked a few books from netgalley and they were all good ones, previously my luck was not so great. 😀
Tanya @ A Mindful Migration recently posted…A Tongue-in-Cheek (sort of) Survival Guide to a Trump Presidency
Instagram accounts related to books never even occurred to me, honestly. Now I need to go look them all up!