Dear Kate | Recommendations

Do you know what the book world is missing? If you said jet packs, I'm with you 100 percent, but unfortunately that's not what I'm going to talk about today. As crucial to book blogging as jet packs should be, what the book world really needs is more advice columns. Where is the book blogger version of Dear Abby, or...okay, that's actually the only advice column I know. But still, we need one that applies to book bloggers. To that end, I have decided to start a new feature here on GReeps Through the Shelves, which I have plumbed the very depths of my creativity to name Dear Kate. In this feature, I will happily answer questions that readers may or may not have actually submitted and provide advice on a variety of pressing issues.

By a stunningly fortuitous coincidence, I just happen to have a question right here, even though I only came up with this idea five minutes ago. It's weird how the world works, right?

dear kate,

there are just, like, so many books that i, like, really, REALLY love :) only my friends think they're dumb, so, like, how can i make every one of my myspace friends read, like, all my favorites?????

thx soooooooo much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
billie sue

Dear billie sue,

While there's no way you can make your friends read the book you want to recommend (short of tying them to a chair and making them read aloud, prompting them with increasingly strong electric shocks when they falter, but when I suggested that, my lawyer assured me that it is illegal. Who knew?), you can certainly make your suggestion more palatable. It just takes three simple steps.

First, send recommendations to every single person you know. They should all read this book! You like it so much, it's obviously the greatest thing since sliced bread, so there's no doubt every one of your friends (and acquaintances (and enemies that you're still Facebook friends with)) will like it too. You're suggesting a romance book and they only read nonfiction? No problem! You'll broaden their horizons. That's what friends are for!

Second, bring it up every time you see them; otherwise, they might forget what a great book it is, since they haven't read it yet. Remember, there's no such thing as bad publicity! If at first you don't succeed, try, try again! A stitch in time saves nine!*

*I actually have no idea what this means, but I needed three sayings for flow and I couldn't think of any more that applied.

Finally, if all else fails, offer jet packs. I would read The Catcher in the Rye, part 2, independently published by Stephanie Meyer, if you gave me a functional jet pack. And I hated The Catcher in the Rye.

Best of luck,
Kate