Suggestion Box

It can't be easy to come up with new questions every week....so how about a place for people to post ideas for bostonbibliophile to chose from?

love this idea!

How about:-

What do you think should be included in a book review and how do you feel about spoilers?

could always discuss one (or more) of the books that you read in your library more then once...and potential reasons why this book (or books) warrant revisitations.

Since we all do book reviews on our blogs - what is your book rating system? Stars? Points? Thumbs up/thumbs down?

I'm kind of hesitant to institute any kind of a rating over on a Reading Life. Ratings have always felt kind of meaningless to me. The reviewer's comments and observations are much more useful.

My rating system when I review seems to mostly be "Well, I like this better than X but not as well as Y and Z." Very scientific. ;) It'd be fun to talk about, though! Even a lack of rating system could make a good post. :)

We could maybe bring LT into it a little more and use the suggester feature. For instance, if we picked out one book that we really like and had the suggester give us a list based on that book, then talk about the first ten or twenty or something like that. It'd be kind of like a "meme" but still fun to blog about.

Are we sticking to LT topics for the questions? If we are, I would want to ask what is the strangest recommendation LT has made for you? I'm still trying to figure out how it suggested a book on the history of museums based on 5 of my Robert B Parker mysteries.

The rating system is a good question. Another might have to do with accepting recommendations - do you have a friend who always recommends good/bad books? And what do you do when a friend recommends a book and you hate it?

Speaking of LT and the suggester feature, what about the unsuggester feature. Like:

Have you actually ever read any of the books on your unsuggester, and what did you think of them? Or, pick 1 or 2 or 10 of the books on your unsuggester, and discuss why you think they are appropriate or why you think LT has lost it's cyber-marbles.

That would be fun. The Unsuggester makes a habit of unsuggesting books that I have in my library - including some with 5-star ratings!

How about- what are some of the books that you have marked "TBR" longest and what is keeping you from reading them?

That's a good one! Although I might be a little ashamed to admit how long some of the books currently on my shelf have been sitting there. >.>

For a topic: Have you ever pretended to read a book for some reason or another? What book/s, and why?

Example, a friend recommended it/forced it on you and you don't want to hurt their feelings.

Here's a question: if a friend or fellow book blogger LOVED a book you hated, or HATED a book you loved, do you question their taste? Do you trust their reviews?

This one is "borrowed" from another group I think it was Green Dragon but I'm not entirely sure, it was a while ago - anyway.

Do people's book collections influence your feelings toward them, would you be a friend to someone who's collection was the complete opposite of yours or what if they weren't a reader at all?

That's a very good one. I am leery of people who don't read books, but I haven't thought much about libraries. I have often wondered what people might think when they check out my blog and see some of the Random Books that LT puts on the widget.

I would be really interested in a discussion on banned books, or more specifically on people (usually parents) who try to remove books from libraries. I find this such a distressing trend and I'm interested in what other book-lovers think about it.

What forgotten books has LT brought back to your attention? Books from childhood or adolescence, books related to former interests or genres, treasures you hadn't read in years. Did you find you owned them already but had forgotten? If not, did you go buy them/check them out from a library/search for them? What memories did they bring back? How did it happen that being on LT reminded you of them--Talk, Suggestions, someone else's library listing, tags, or what?

#15 - there is a actually an entire article on this:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/30/books/review/Donadio-t.html?_r=1&ex=120762...

Thanks aarti, interesting.

How about this for a question?

Covers. Are you determined that the cover that shows for your book is the actual cover you have or you don't mind as long as there is a cover or do you just go with the blank default? Do you scan and upload covers?

I like that question! I would love to write a blog post about it, as I actually spent a long time thinking about it when I was getting my catalog situated.

As a related question: does the cover make a difference in the books you buy? For example, I spent Saturday book-shopping with my cousin who is desperate to find a copy of Middlesex that doesn't have the Oprah seal on the front. And I know that when I'm browsing for books, the cover is the first thing that will attract my attention.

Also: hardcover, trade paperback or mass market paperback? Most of my books are hardcover and it was really annoying when I was loading them into LT that it would often only bring up paperback editions as an option.

The cover issue has come up here not only in our library on LT but in YA/childhood favorite books with which I'm stocking the shelves for the monster munchkins of the household (aka the kids).

maybe: If you were reading a series, but didn't like the newest one or two books, would you continue to buy the books in that series? Either because you had hope the author would redeem him/herself, or because you wanted to have a complete set? Or some other reason?

That's a good one and I think it applies to authors as well as series.

I hate to start a series in the middle. I have to have the first book before I'll start reading. Yet I can stop buying half way through a series if I don't like the story, how strange is that!

who remembers their first time??

:)

http://autumnrouse.wordpress.com/2008/06/19/you-cant-catch-me/

fellow book dorks: NPR is doing a profile on the public showing of Thomas Jefferson's personal library of over 6,000 volumes on its program "All Things Considered"

in my market it plays from 4-6pm but you can check at NPR.ORG if you are curious about this story. i thought it might be worth checking out...

:}

I'm bumping this thread. I'm SURE that more of us have ideas for fantastic questions for Marie so she doesn't have to come up with them ALL the time.