The Quiet Concert: I am a Follower of Trends

Mar

2015

I am a Follower of Trends

Welcome to Thoughts for Thursday! This feature is our outlet to talk with you about whatever we currently have on our minds. It might be bookish, it might not! Now for this week's thought:

I am a Follower of Trends

Something I’ve noticed about my reading choices is that they are pretty significantly influenced by popular opinion. If a book starts getting a lot of attention, I am pretty quick to bump it to the top of my TBR. Mostly because I want to know what all the fuss is about but also because I trust the masses. If a lot of people are enjoying a book, there is a good chance that I will too and I obviously want to spend my time reading good books. Conversely, if I book is getting a lot of negative attention, I likely won’t read it and it would take A LOT of convincing otherwise. This is usually because I get so discouraged and am very risk-averse. This also leads me to be very selective in my review requests and to only request books I am pretty confident that I will like. I know this is not the best of habits – I am probably overlooking books that I might love - but I do enjoy the majority of books that I read so I guess it is a tradeoff that it is mostly working for me.

Now, most of the books that I read are still in my comfort zone but I will go out of my comfort zone for a book that is getting a lot of hype. This is a benefit of my trend-following-nature because it encourages me to pick up books that I might otherwise have shied away from. And then there are books that I pick up without a clue as to what it is about because I so blindly follow the hype [and because I don’t read synopses]. Basically, I set myself up for a lot of surprises, but this can be fun too.

To give you an idea of some of the books that hype has led me to, here is a small list of some that have worked in my favor, some that haven't and some that are coming up!

Hype that has steered me well:

Hype that has steered me wrong:

Hype that I am currently buying into:

How does hype/trends/popular opinion influence your reading choices? Are you more likely to pick up a book, or do you tend to avoid books with a lot of hype? Has this been successful for you?

Comments (20)

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jackieleasommers 34p · 524 weeks ago

You didn't like Eleanor and Park, Nicole?
My recent post Uncompartmentalized Faith

1 reply · active 524 weeks ago

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Nicole · 524 weeks ago

I didn't hate it or anything, but yeah, it was just OK for me. :(

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Nicole's Novel Reads · 524 weeks ago

I feel like some books are over hyped. When I get to read the over hyped book, I have higher expectations and sometimes end up not enjoying the book as much as I want to.
My recent post Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

1 reply · active 524 weeks ago

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Nicole · 524 weeks ago

I agree and that's definitely a very real risk. My expectations often soar when everyone starts talking about a book and it's harder for the book to live up to my expectations. The Sin Eater's Daughter was a recent example of this but fortunately I usually still like these book (just maybe not love them)

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Nick · 524 weeks ago

I think I'm the opposite of you, in the sense that I turn my back against hype. I've been disappointed too many times. Although there are times when it's hard to ignore the hype. As for negative attention, if one of my friends loved the book and everyone else hated it, I'm more than willing to give it a shot. I used to be a trend follower and I missed out on some great books that way.
Great post, Nicole!
My recent post Blog Tour Stop : Red by Alyxandra Harvey

1 reply · active 524 weeks ago

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Nicole · 524 weeks ago

I've definitely been disappointed a fair amount but I would say hype steers me right more often than wrong. And it rarely steers me VERY wrong, meaning my upsets are rarely 1-2 stars. And I agree, I will read a book that my friend enjoyed regardless of the attention its getting. For example, Ashley just read and enjoyed Talon and now I plan on reading it even though many others found it underwhelming!

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Pam@YA Escape · 524 weeks ago

I'm the same way, I will pick up a book just for the hype, especially if it is out of my comfort zone. Most of the time it works for me, but a lot of times, while I LIKE the book, I don't LOVE the book. You know those ones where everyone is flailing around about? A lot of the time, I'm like, it was good, I liked it, but I am definitely not fangirling it up.

Book of Ivy!! Hope you love it. It's not necessarily original or anything, but this is one of those books that, for whatever reason, I just LOVED. Glad you liked Stolen Songbird, I loved that one too. Hmmm…Every Breath, not sure why you didn't like it. I didn't read it because of the hype. I read one review from a blogger I trust and so I bought it and loved it. Sometimes the hype does set ridiculously high expectations, and when that happens, it's kind of setting you up to be disappointed. Great post!
My recent post Recommend It? Super Mini-Reviews (4)

1 reply · active 524 weeks ago

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Nicole · 524 weeks ago

I so know those ones! I mean, that happens a lot (most recently The Sin Eater's Daughter), but I still consider a "like" a win.

Would you say The Book of Ivy is overhyped? Cause I definitely just bough it on Audible and plan to listn to it soon and I am wonderfing if I should lower my expectations...

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Alexa S. · 524 weeks ago

Ah, hype! It does often bring my attention to various books, for good or bad reasons. But I do the opposite of you, and tend to push books farther down my pile when I feel like there's a lot of hype surrounding it. It's mostly because I don't want to find myself caught up in a wave of hype that will affect my feelings towards a book even before I start! But I agree that sometimes hype helps and hype hinders :)
My recent post Nowhere But Home - Liza Palmer

1 reply · active 524 weeks ago

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Nicole · 524 weeks ago

I wish I could ignore hype but I hate feeling left out lol.

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skizzles22 70p · 524 weeks ago

I will definitely add hyped-up books to my TBR!! I wanna know why EVERYONE loves it! Of course, I've been burned before. Badly. But I still think it's fun to read popular books because then you actually have people to fangirl with and a huge fandom of crazy but awesome people. Plus, like you said, if everyone is loving it, chances are you will too and you WANT to read books that you'll love.

However, hype scares me. It's why I haven't read Throne of Glass or The Winner's Curse yet. It's why I'm wary of them. Sometimes, my expectations of how awesome the book should be are NOT met and I'm left completely disappointed. That hasn't happened too often, thankfully. The ones I can think of off the top of my head are The Fault in Our Stars and Beautiful Oblivion by Jamie McGuire. They're the exception though, but I still shy away from the popular books because I don't want to be the negative black sheep. That's really no fun.

Gah, and this reminds me that I still need to read Stolen Songbird! I'm glad it was a winner! But oh, I'm sorry Hopeless steered you wrong. I loved that book, and Colleen Hoover is one of my favorites. Also, Simon and The Storyspinner are ones I'm REALLY excited to read now because of all the attention they're getting. Which is actually really great, since I hadn't heard of it before and hear it's very good. :)

Awesome post!!
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inspiringinsomnia11 24p · 524 weeks ago

I'm all about the hype! Without it, I would have missed out on a lot of books in the contemporary genre, which is one I struggle with. Some recent examples are Since You've Been Gone, I'll Meet You There, and Fangirl. (I haven't read E&P yet, but I hope I have a better experience than you did!) One that didn't work out for me was also Hopeless, which I thought was incredibly offensive and gross, and it turned me off the whole NA genre.
My recent post Review: The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson

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loveatfirstpage 73p · 524 weeks ago

Hmmm, I'm so picky about books, so even if a book is very popular, I have to know certain ~things before I'll commit to it (like if there's a love triangle or a terrible romance). So in that way, I don't really care about the hype, though at times it SUCKS to feel "left out" (like with Throne of Glass - every time I hear something new about that series I hate not being able to be a part of it, but I'm not sure the books are for me, you know?)
On the flip side, I do listen to negativity a lot more than hype. If a book is getting lots of bad reviews from friends, chances are I won't read it.

Great discussion, girl! And all 4 books you are "currently buying into" are favorites of mine :D
My recent post ARC Review: Duplicity

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Kay · 524 weeks ago

Even though the cover does nothing for me (I don't know why it just doesn't) I think I am now officially buying into The Storyspinner hype. I hope you read it too so we can discuss.

I used to be super picky about what books I read and would ignore a popular book if it even sounded a tiny bit like something I don't normally read. But this last year or so of blogging has changed that for me because kind of like you the hype makes me curious enough to read a book even if it is out of my comfort zone. My curiosity tends to get the best of me. Heck, I even read 50 shades solely because of that reason. (I regret it.) Anyway, I also try to find a book that isn't so hyped or read at least once a month so I can bring something new to the blogging community.
My recent post A Look Back: It's a Book Life Through the Ages

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mel1704 86p · 524 weeks ago

I always try to stay away from hype books, but for some reasons I don't seem to be able to do so, haha. Hypes always scare me and I'm afraid I will dislike a book because of my high expectations. But, in the end I always end up reading them because everyone is raving about it and I want to be part of the club. A lot of times it pays of. I also had a couple of times where I tried to read a book I wasn't interested in, because everyone was raving about it: I don't do that anymore. Hype can't make me like a book if I don't care about it in the first place.

I want to buy The storyspinner soon too. The cover look bad-ass and I've heard amazing things about the romance and plot.

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Alisa @ Papercuttts · 524 weeks ago

I bump up or even pick up popular books because I want to join in the conversations going on about it. I want to be able to talk about the authors from a first-hand experience, not just "I read a review and blah blah," or "I didn't like the movie so I bet the book is lame." Actually though, I want to start reading less popular books. I didn't read many popular books when I was growing up (lots of classics or outdated finds at the poor local library), but I really liked all of my literary experiences. I want to try to go back to that.
My recent post New on the Stack || February Edition

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Lili · 524 weeks ago

Your entire "hype that I am currently buying into" section are books that I cannot wait to read as well because they look so awesome from the hype!!!

Such a bummer that EVERY BREATH led you wrong :( I still need to give that one a chance!
My recent post The Intern Diaries (5): That Q&A Thing Again

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sharonbernt 39p · 524 weeks ago

I definitely feel like some books are overhyped, but most of the really hyped books I've read, I've enjoyed (like Snow Like Ashes, Red Queen, An Ember In The Ashes, etc). If there is a lot of positive buzz about a book, I do add it to my TBR. I guess you could say I'm also a trend-follower. :-)
My recent post Every Day by David Levithan–Co-Review with Fari from My Little Corner For Books

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pizzabook 56p · 524 weeks ago

I wouldn't say I am a hype follower as I also like to read a lot of indie books that hardly anyone else has read. But the hype can sometimes steer me towards a book or away from it and without the hype I am sure I would've missed out on some great books as well. Although hype around a book can also make me more hesistant to read it, not sure why. There are also some hyped books that I have no intention of reading because they don't sound like my kind of book. For example Cinder is one of those books I want to read because of the hype, I am not a fan of the fairyrale retelling genre, but everyone seems to love that series so I want to give it a try and see if it can change my opinion of the genre. Great post!
My recent post Review: Flip by David Estes

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samanthathebookworm 16p · 521 weeks ago

I think I'm kind of the same as you. I get really curious about a book if there are tons of people raving about it on twitter and loads of people are reading it on Goodreads. And I usually find myself buying said book. I think the most recent ones have been Red Queen and A Darker Shade of Magic. I ended up loving Red Queen and I grabbed myself a copy of ADSOM the other day.
But I really hate when the hype surrounding a book doesn't live up to your expectations. That's always the worst.