I am especially delighted by #3 -- I love recommendations for books that are readily available at my library! It certainly enjoy when I can get my hands on a buzzy book, but it usually takes moooonths on a waiting list. A few years ago, someone recommended White Oleander to me, with the note "and there's probably 37 copies at the library right now." That's the best kind of recommendation!
I love this. Usually people share the same books in Substack, Instagram, etc, and it becomes kind of a circle jerk. I am trying to ask my local librarians for recommendations and that has worked well.
What great goals, Natalie! And exciting stuff with your novel, I look forward to hearing more as you progress through the process. I read Fourth Wing this weekend and it does indeed get more fun once the dragons enter the picture. I really enjoyed the fun reading experience and am now contemplating whether I want to commit to book two or not (650+ pages!?!)
I've decided that I can get a friend to tell me the main plot points of book two, haha. Although there were parts of Fourth Wing that I really enjoyed, I also thought it could have been more tightly edited/about a hundred pages shorter and the fact that the sequel is so long makes me hesitant to dive in.
I love these goals (I "completed" Maggie O'Farrell in 2022 and had so much fun with that project; I've also made a decent dent in Erdrich's work ... you can't go wrong with either!) and am really interested in the switch from Goodreads to Storygraph. The only thing I use Goodreads for is to track what I read/when ... sometimes I need to check if I actually read something, and when. I also record stars, but that's more for folks who follow me there. I know lots of Bookstagram and Fiction Matters friends have made/are making the switch and I'm curious about reasons ... not sure it would be worth it for me.
They're two of my favorite living writers so I'm very excited. For Storygraph vs Goodreads, I like Storygraph's tracking and statistics capabilities *much* more. I also feel like in the past, I've dismissed books that I might have loved because of a low Goodreads rating and in general, I want to focus more on reviews from readers whose taste I know and trust. (Even for things that they may not like but I might, depending on where our taste aligns and diverges.)
Love all these goals for you. A few we have in common: read from shelves, more nonfiction, author projects, and back up from the buzz! Also so thrilled for your writing goals!!! Cheers to a bright new year 💛✨
So many people have had quitting Goodreads as goals! Does StoryGraph fit all your needs? I already imported my library, but I’m hesitant about fully making the switch. 🙈
I used both Storygraph and Goodreads all last year as a test run and it pretty much does? I've also noticed a shift in my own reading, where the reviews that I look for are from readers whose taste I feel like I understand, that I think Storygraph is better at facilitating. Their tracking and stats capabilities are also significantly better, which makes my librarian brain very happy.
I am especially delighted by #3 -- I love recommendations for books that are readily available at my library! It certainly enjoy when I can get my hands on a buzzy book, but it usually takes moooonths on a waiting list. A few years ago, someone recommended White Oleander to me, with the note "and there's probably 37 copies at the library right now." That's the best kind of recommendation!
Yes, I'm definitely hoping to share more backlist and library-available recommendations here this year!
I love this. Usually people share the same books in Substack, Instagram, etc, and it becomes kind of a circle jerk. I am trying to ask my local librarians for recommendations and that has worked well.
Librarians have fabulous recommendations! I got to do a little bit of readers advisory when I was in library school and really enjoyed it.
What great goals, Natalie! And exciting stuff with your novel, I look forward to hearing more as you progress through the process. I read Fourth Wing this weekend and it does indeed get more fun once the dragons enter the picture. I really enjoyed the fun reading experience and am now contemplating whether I want to commit to book two or not (650+ pages!?!)
I've decided that I can get a friend to tell me the main plot points of book two, haha. Although there were parts of Fourth Wing that I really enjoyed, I also thought it could have been more tightly edited/about a hundred pages shorter and the fact that the sequel is so long makes me hesitant to dive in.
I love these goals (I "completed" Maggie O'Farrell in 2022 and had so much fun with that project; I've also made a decent dent in Erdrich's work ... you can't go wrong with either!) and am really interested in the switch from Goodreads to Storygraph. The only thing I use Goodreads for is to track what I read/when ... sometimes I need to check if I actually read something, and when. I also record stars, but that's more for folks who follow me there. I know lots of Bookstagram and Fiction Matters friends have made/are making the switch and I'm curious about reasons ... not sure it would be worth it for me.
They're two of my favorite living writers so I'm very excited. For Storygraph vs Goodreads, I like Storygraph's tracking and statistics capabilities *much* more. I also feel like in the past, I've dismissed books that I might have loved because of a low Goodreads rating and in general, I want to focus more on reviews from readers whose taste I know and trust. (Even for things that they may not like but I might, depending on where our taste aligns and diverges.)
Love all these goals for you. A few we have in common: read from shelves, more nonfiction, author projects, and back up from the buzz! Also so thrilled for your writing goals!!! Cheers to a bright new year 💛✨
Thank you! I'm determined to make this the year where I really dive into my shelves--so many books languishing away, waiting to be read...
So many people have had quitting Goodreads as goals! Does StoryGraph fit all your needs? I already imported my library, but I’m hesitant about fully making the switch. 🙈
I used both Storygraph and Goodreads all last year as a test run and it pretty much does? I've also noticed a shift in my own reading, where the reviews that I look for are from readers whose taste I feel like I understand, that I think Storygraph is better at facilitating. Their tracking and stats capabilities are also significantly better, which makes my librarian brain very happy.