Let's Talk: Books You've Read Because of Other Bloggers

Let's Talk is a weekly feature here at i swim for oceans. I think it's important that we all have our say, and there's something to be said for raising our voices. Simply put, here on the little old blog, I like to host some of my very own discussion posts because, well, I like to converse with you all.

And so, Let's Talk will feature questions or prompts, which I will answer, too. Love it or hate it, weigh in or don't, it's my hope that Let's Talk will at least get you thinking...and maybe even get you discussing with the rest of us!

What books, if any, have you read only because a blogger's review convinced you to? Did they live up?

From day one of this blog, I professed my utter aversion to contemporary fiction, so to any blogger that has convinced me to read a contemporary book - major kudos to you! But seriously, before I started blogging, I would have read anything BUT contemps. I avoided them like the plague. Thus, my blog was definitely skewed towards the paranormal/fantasy realm (though it's been shifting lately, eh?) It took some coaxing, but some awesome bloggers definitely opened my eyes to what contemps have to offer.

This one simple book is what changed it all for me. Seriously. I'm being dead serious when I say this, and I'm pretty sure my review states as much. I was convinced to read this book by Linds, who used to blog over at Bibliophile Brouhaha. She and another great blogger, Nic, arranged an international tour of this one, and it absolutely blew my mind. The power, the raw, raging emotion, the subtle backdrop which almost serves as a character in its own right all work together to create a book that just exceeded all of my expectations. 

Kirsty Eagar rocketed to the top of my favourite author list simply because she managed to bottle human emotion and created a book that was neither trite nor cliche, but rather pulled me into the world with the characters and let me experience it through their eyes. Of all the books that bloggers have recommended to me over the past three years, this remains the most prominent standout. I tout the merits of this book every chance I get, and I say this...if you don't like contemps but you want to try to...start here. Start with Raw Blue. You won't regret it.

This isn't the only book that's been recommended and succeeded for me though either. I read the Summer series by Jenny Han thanks to the coaxing of Ginger from GReads. I actually finally read Anna & the French Kiss because I figured if Jenny from Supernatural Snark loved it, it had to be good. There were some letdowns, too, of course. For example, I read Incarceron by Catherine Fischer, and I was so lost that I had to set it aside and take notes. Those recs are definitely in the vast minority though.