Do you read book review bloggers? For ideas on what to read?

I read certain book bloggers whose taste seems similar to mine. I also read a few who have different tastes but who review in such a way that I get a good feel for the book and whether I might like it. These are sites that review romances and mysteries since that is primarily what I read.

I don't read them all the time, but only when I'm searching for something to read.

Book trailers are a waste for me. I don't want to see a video about a book. I never click on them.

Book blogging certainly does not equal Book trailers. While I actually enjoy the odd well made book trailer (but those are few are far between), I know that they aren't necessary to build buzz around a book.

Book blogs on the other hand?

Uh yeah. Especially if you write in a specific genre. Like SF/Fantasy, Romance or YA (technically YA is a category not genre but . . . )

The YA world especially has a massive blogging community, with young people blogging and talking about their fav books, as well as not so young people who love these books doing the same. There's even something called Waiting On Wednesday where every Wednesday a host of YA bloggers post books they are excited about. This then generates comments, and people saying stuff like "Never heard of this one before, but so adding it to my Goodreads!" etc. It's a huge community.

Now, it is still a smaller community than the reading world at large, but it's large enough to matter. And I think it's amazing. I love that all these teens are so into reading that they have created blogs devoted to the pastime. And it really can make a book if every blog is talking about it. We always discuss how word of mouth is the most powerful way to make a book a bestseller, and this is part of that.

(and yes, I do read a few specific book blogs regularly - if you like YA and want the odd review of something not YA too, check out http://thebooksmugglers.com/ - they rock!)

Oddly, the only book review site I read is for a genre I don't read--the site is hilarious, though, and cracks me up every time.

I don't read them to find books, though. I enjoy just wandering into a bookstore and picking stuff up off the shelves, and friends recommend a lot of books. I don't really need to do anything else. On occasion I'll come across a review that sounds interesting, but I don't seek them out.

I read a few bookblogs, but only when I am in need of something new to read. And I know that it has happened that books got such a buzz from blogs that they became extremely popular only through the grapevine.

Soccer Mom said:

Book trailers are a waste for me. I don't want to see a video about a book. I never click on them.

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I've never watched a book trailer. I'm imagining something like this:

The deep-voiced movie trailer guy says, "In a world," as dramatic string music picks up.

The video shows a man walking through a mysterious street.

"...where dogs could fly." The string music begins to crescendo.

The man has a tense look on his face.

"And babies ruled over adults."

The music pauses as the man stares at something.

"Heroes will be born."

The camera pans to what he's staring at: a library bookshelf. The orchestra explodes when the man picks up the advertised book.

Random snippets from the book scroll across the screen: "We've got company," Laura says. [...] John jumps from the burning building at the very second it explodes. [...] "Lock and load," Blaine says. [...] "According to my calculations," Kevin says. [...] It's quiet, a little too quiet.

Sexy guitar music plays as the man with the book strolls to the library's checkout line, smiling.

The trailer guy says, "Diaper Democracy, coming in 2013 to bookstores near you."

I read book blogs because they inform and entertain me, it probably influences what books I know about and which books I buy.

I never look at book trailers except by accident and normally find them either boring or hilarious.

SoO- you absolutely nailed like 90%+ of book trailers I've seen, only except for the stolen LoTR-footage.

Sometimes they steal Highlander footage, too.

I don't read reviews, period. The last thing I need is the opinion of someone I don't know. It's not like I have a shortage of potential books to read.

My problem is not finding books I want to read, it's finding the time to read ten percent of the books I already know I want to read.

I couldn't care less about book trailers.

But I do read reviews, printed and other, by people I have some reason to trust as careful readers/reviewers.

And yes, I do buy books, especially by new authors, based on reviews.

I don't read blogs much in general, but book blogs never. Even if I knew how to find them, I wouldn't know who is reliable and who is just blogging to stroke their own ego.

The only ones I follow with any regularity are the ones who also post here, or that I've "friended" elsewhere in the blogosphere. Meaning, I find that person interesting and like their ideas, and also they sometimes blog about books.

But just, straight-up book blogs? Eh, I don't think so. None come to mind, anyway.

I don't read books reviews all that often, and they have never compelled me to read a book. I have so many books in my library that I need to take a "ready vacation"- maybe a few months to read all day long and get through the books I have not read.

Nope. I go to the bookstore and the library and I cruise the shelves looking for something that sticks out (no - not sticking out of the shelf like that!...) I mean - if it has a nice (I mean appealing, to me) cover or title. Then I check on the blurb, then the first page.

I don't think I've ever read/bought a book based on a blog, or trailer.

I have because of:

Magazine interview: Ruth Downie [Ruso II]
TV Interview: Robyn Young [Insurrection]
Personal Recomendation: Lindsey Davis.
Literary Awards: Wolf Hall and Pure [Andrew Miller]
Book Club: Let The Right One In, Little Stranger, and Monster Love.
Amazon Recommendations: Vespasian II and Spartacus [Ben Kane.]

I read one or two, but they don't nesc. make me buy the book. They make me aware of the book. Then if I see it somewhere else (someone saying they liked it on twitter, a friend talking about it, at the book shop etc) I might be more likely to take a look.

But I think awareness is (for many people) the issue - you need to have heard of a book to want to read it, however that awareness comes about

A book I read fairly recently, I saw on a review site and they rated it. Sounded quite fun, but no burning desire to read it. Three days later, someone I know tweeted they liked it. A day after that, I was in Waterstone's, I had five minutes before I had to go and two books under my arm, with a 3 for 2 offer on....

I bought the book. It was the best of the three too! But if I hadn't seen the title before (and associated it with good stuff) I may not have picked it up.

Yup. I read Dear Author to find romance novels to read. That website gets a lot of traffic. I sometimes also read Smart Bitches and Mrs. Giggles.

I honestly don't know how I would find romance novels otherwise...
No one I know in real life reads romance novels, so I can't hear about romance novels that way.

... in a way. Once I have found a book that seems interesting I sometimes will go to a blog to find out what they have to say. That's usually because a review of the book is not to be found elsewhere. Some blogs are really good and informative and the bloggers really know their stuff. Of course there are some that aren't. So you sometimes are led on a wild goose chase.

The only book trailers that I've seen are when they're run as ads. I wouldn't click on one on the internet.

I don't like book review blogs. They tend toward a b*tchy quality and/or have those affiliate links that annoy me. It also annoys me that these book review sites (especially the b*tchy ones) are done as anonymous names. If a book blogger blogged under their real name and credentials, then I might look at it. But without a real name associated, all those 'credentials' are about as reliable as toilet paper against a huricane.

Now, if a blog that I already follow (e.g. best ways to knit booties for your kitties blog) happens to have a "Oh, I just read this and it was good/bad" then that will influence me because I'm already following their blog for some sort of mutual interest.

I read reviews at GoodReads and Amazon (and other sites where it is a mish-mash of the general public). I preview books at books.google.com (and pretty much will not buy a book that doesn't have a preview).

I usually find books because of GoodReads/Amazon ranking lists/also reads or because the author was highlighted in an article that I've read.

I don't, no.

I check in with a bunch of them I have established have similar tastes to mine.

I enjoy a good trailer and there are plenty of them in YA. I tend to know within the first 20 seconds if I will watch the whole thing. I don't think they are much of a selling point but they can be fun. YA blogs seem to like using them in posts.

SomethingOrOther said:

The trailer guy says, "Diaper Democracy, coming in 2013 to bookstores near you."

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I saw that book trailer! It looked interesting.

She's not a book review blogger per se, but I watch Jennifer Laughran's twitter feed and blogs for books she enthuses about—she's one of those agents who love books, and will tell you about a good book even if the author isn't her client. A lot of agents and editors do similar things.

I don't think I've been to a book review blog. The only reviews I read are the ones in our Sunday paper. I can find enough new books browsing through the new releases and staff picks at my branch of the library. Or if I see buzz on here about an AWer's book.

MM

I follow about 50 book blogs in my Google Reader and read a few of them very closely (like Dear Author). In my genre, we live and die by the book review blogs.

As for book trailers, most of them are pretty awful. But I did put together a relatively non-pompous trailer for Hawaiian Gothic, because they do draw interest (just not nearly as much as a review on a highly read book blog).