Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Video Post: Help Paula Get Better at Quick Reviews!




Hey All! Lately I've been discovering that I get a bit too excited about books with people outside of our happy little blog land and I need your help figuring out how to give people 30 second recommendations and not talk their ears off. More in the video below!

Books I mention in the video (and show off for a second) are: Everything Matters! by Ron Currie, Jr. and The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde

And that non-stop squeaking in the background is my dog being way too excited about toys... sorry!

4 comments:

  1. Lol! Story of my life. I usually realize I am geeking out and immediately shut up, sit on my hands, and try not to look like a weirdo while conclude by mumbling "it's good... just read it" to the floor. The people who know me have come to accept it (I think? I hope?) and the people I give the most recommendations to usually don't need me to say anything beside "Read! Now!" It's a struggle that I hope other commenters can shed more ligth on but know that you are definitely not alone.

    CeCe @ Steaming Mug of Books 

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  2. Ha ha! I am just about to start reading The Eyre Affair actually.

    I have this happen sometimes too, especially when I am working at the library (which is more fun because you can actually have bookish discussions and go OMG! I love author A and did you read author B who writes similar sort of books and blah blah) and sometimes you get people who want something to read but aren't crazy bookish so I try to think about explaining it to someone like I only have the time of one tv advertisement. (About 30 seconds or so)
    So my favourite character 'Character A is so funny/nasty/quirky/whatever', the genre 'Oh is a historical mystery/romance/crime/etc' two or three sentences about the overall book 'It's set in the nearish future, boy meets girl, girl punches boy, there's dancing ninjas' (That would be an interesting book actually). That sort of thing.
    Wow this comment was rambly and long.

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  3. I HAVE THIS SAME PROBLEM SO OFTEN! I just get bouncy and crazy and start going on about the book. I HAVE gotten better at the "elevator book reviews" (LOVE THAT TERM!) when I started doing my Book Review on a Post-It's years ago! HELPS but I still have to try and push away the natural inclination to GO ON AND ON around normal people lol

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  4. Based on your video, you tend towards a circular, tangential conversation style. This is fairly normal style for chatting around with friends and associates, but will drive people crazy in most other settings.

    Tell them what genre it is- that is what most people really want to know, and then give them one, two max, very brief reasons you like it (ex: It's is a murder mystery, I really like the writing style, and it's pretty funny at times).

    If they want more, they will ask you. It is better to let people ask you questions, and you give them short answers than become a pariah by info dumping on everyone.

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