Recommending a Book to Read

Have you ever been embarrassed or sorry for recommending a book to your book club or to a friend?

I am currently reading Away by Amy Bloom. I had mentioned it as a possible read for our book club previously. Fortunately someone else in the group had read her work and recommended against it. Mind you, this is not because it was a bad book (so far it is rather good in fact). However, some of the content is rather racy and probably not appropriate for a church reading group.

The problem with choosing books for a book club is that there is an expectation that you know that the book is good. Frankly, I don’t have time for that. I’m lucky if I have time to read a book once let alone twice.

The last time I got caught mis-recommending was for the book Mists of Avalon. I had taken cue from one of the public radio hosts that I admire, Faith Middleton. On her book show, she had recommended a quick read. Boy, did I get an earful when people picked up the book and found it to be 912 pages long. Even I looked a little critical at it. I enjoyed the read, but many did not enjoy the female side of the Arthurian Legend.

You would think I learned my lesson but I definitely cannot be relied on to read the book in advance, but I will be surfing more for people’s comments on books. You’ll notice I’ve already added a book blog for review on my blog reading list. As always, I also appreciate any suggestions.