Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Aggressive book recommendations

As a book reader, I couldn't help but be charmed by the willful books that keep turning up in Sarah Addison Allen's The Sugar Queen. What fun it would be to have helpful reading just thrust at me when I really needed it.

Well, now that's becoming a reality in the virtual world of the Internet. For example, as a member of Facebook, I have the ability to add book-related tools to my homepage. What this means is that I can list recent books I've read, review and rate them, and recommend them to friends--all the things I love to do in "real" life, but now it's displayed for all to see. Recently, I added the application Books iRead. And now books are being "chucked" at me by friends.

Here's what Books iRead tells users: "Want to recommend a book to someone? At wit's end with someone? Want to give them a reality check? Maybe you want to say 'I'm sorry'? Or just sent them a sweet note. Now you can say it with a book--chuck a book." Just as in The Sugar Queen, suddenly book titles from friends are being chucked at me, and I'm chucking books right back at them (including The Sugar Queen). I've never had more fun exchanging book info with people.

—Laura

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