Since you’re reading this blog, I’m assuming you’re like me and are always on the lookout for good books. When it comes to book recommendations, it can get interesting. My book tastes are vastly different from the people around me. When I love a book, they might not. When they love a book, I might not. Recommendations can be a tricky thing.

This is not to say that I don’t recommend books. Obviously I do. If I love  book, I want people to read it. But I also know that sometimes I have to recommend books I don’t like. I think it’s important to be able to look at a book somewhat objectively and be able to see when it works for a person and when it doesn’t.

I am a huge historical fiction fan. I love me some history, no matter the form, and when I find a good historical fiction novel, I wish I could get the world to read it. However, I know that not everyone loves the genre as much as I do. I would never recommend a historical fiction novel to, let’s say, my sister. I just wouldn’t. She wouldn’t love it and she’d probably think I was crazy for telling her to read it in the first place.

Then there are the books I don’t love. That doesn’t mean someone else can’t love them. If I read a book, even if I can barely make it through the book, I look for the good things. I know there is a book out there for everyone, but in order to see that, you have to be able to take a little bit of the emotion out when telling someone to read a book. If I’m telling someone to read a book I didn’t love, I make sure to tell them that I didn’t enjoy it, but because of reasons A, B, and C, they might have different feelings on it.

Book recommendations are a tricky thing. I want everyone to love the books I do, but I know that’s not possible. So when someone asks me what to read, I try to look objectively at my reading list before sharing my ideas. What about you? How do you go about giving book recommendations to your family and friends?