I Paid a Book Expert to Recommend Me Books

[@larapa123]

These recommendations seem like they were generated entirely by a Gen/AI model rather than a book professional. A few things stood out to me: 1. Despite your request to avoid certain topics (child death, etc.), 2 out of 3 books included those exact trigger warnings. A Gen AI model might just match keywords from your survey and be more likely to pick books that have the trigger warnings without understanding the nuance of the preferences. A human curator would know to steer clear of these topics unless the book was particularly relevant or worth the exception. 2. All the books were part of a series, even though you specifically asked for standalones or duologies. That's the kind of detail that relies on broader context than the data the model may be trained on (i.e. books are not normally labeled by how many books are in the series, "duology" vs. "trilogy") and could be challenging for the AI to accurately parse, especially for less popular books, but an actual person could easily find that information and would be more likely to respect this preference. This also applies to some of the other preference requests like "POC authors." 3. Probably most importantly- while the books technically match some of the genre and subject matter requests you put in, they seem to lack the quality and personal touch that I would expect of a recommendation from a well-read book professional, especially considering they are lower quality (somewhat subjective I know) than the other books you said you loved. Plus the explanations provided for the recommendations sounded very AI to me, they didn't have any net new info or opinion added other than connecting your survey answers to the existing book blurb. This is speculation I know, but if true would be super disappointing that this service promises personalized recommendations but relies too heavily on AI. I wonder if other folks agree and/or noticed anything else.

[@Chris-pu6eb]

Yes!! I had the same thought. Also, the fact that Hannah couldn't even find one of them as an audiobook, even though she mentioned that as her preferred reading format. I feel a person would have checked that? Plus, all of the books were science ficiton, which was only one of the genres mentioned. I feel that AI might just have picked that while a human being would have recommended a wider range in terms of genre.

[@lenausesyoutube]

As I bookseller, I haven't thought of this before you mentioned it but it makes sense. It can be incredibly hard to recommend books to people, however I would be disappointed if an actual human bibliologist came up with these recommendations.

[@oesterzwamsnack]

I also thought this when she was reading the email from them!

[@lanicolassa]

I am 95% sure this service is using (shitty) AI and not even checking the output

[@hannahbennett7788]

Such a great point! Was kind of baffled by the big content no-no’s being completely disregarded, so this makes way more sense

[@dees3179]

So the TBR doesn’t listen to you at all basically. No series, no child deaths, but do want audio books. They sent all series, two child death, and one was only available for reading. Is it an AI that’s confused about yes and no questions?

[@jessycac6311]

Was there not a separate section though that asked ehr to list any "deal breakers"? And she put N/A. There might've been confusion there, though I agree including 2/3 being with the trigger warnings is suspicious n probably a degree of AI/shortlisting.

[@sianieisme]

An amazing UK-based independent bookshop that recommends and also sends you the books is Mr B's Emporium in Bath. You can purchase a book subscription of 3, 6 and 11 months and they send you a very thorough questionnaire. Each month, they send you a book and around 3 weeks later they ask for feedback on what they sent you. You can do it all online but the bookshop itself is also lovely and they have an in-person option called a 'Reading Spa' too!

[@Sophie_Cleverly]

Omg yes Mr B's is amazing and this would be such a good thing for a video

[@turtlegoescanada]

+1! My favourite bookshop in the UK and their booksellers' recommendations are the most spot on I've ever had. Found some of my favourite reads through them!

[@asliyase]

Storygraph is so good about recommending books and the plus/premium version is affordable!! I’d love another video reading books recommended by storygraph after you fill out your reading preferences, just an idea.

[@hannajacunski3532]

co-signing that StoryGraph's recommendation algorithm has been great for me!

[@TManNick17]

Storygraph is such an awesome app! It's worked great for me!

[@malb9236]

Would love to see that video!

[@Amz7007]

Bookist is a nice complementary app to Storygraph. I use Storygraph for tracking my reading but find that Bookist has better UI/UX and more targeted recommendations!

[@marja2909]

Storygraph's recommendations never work for me. Maybe I'm not good enough at filling out their Server. But it doesn't rallye matter since I'm already drowning in recommendations from Booktube

[@MustBeM]

If your job is to recommend books, and someone says ‘TW child death’ the IDEA that you would suggest two books with that content warning is bizarre! Also 3 of the same genre, and all with poor overall reviews? I wonder if TBR is paid by certain publishers to push books that aren’t selling so well.

[@toswingonastar]

I was wondering this as well - very strange

[@MissNoechen]

That part baffled me so much, too! It's like they saw the TW as an invitation to choose these topics instead of a "be cautious about including books about this topic"

[@LizzLunney]

Maybe they use AI to recommend the books. They seemed like awful choices based on the original form.

[@toswingonastar]

@@LizzLunney yeah that would also track I think :(

[@jacforswear18]

Yeah, the only way I would recommend a book with content a friendwasn’t thrilled about would be if I felt the other content of the book would out weigh that for them. And that is with friends, who I know with enough nuance to be able to make that sort of analysis. I wouldn’t even bother doing that with a brand new client if I recommended books for a living.

[@CorinneDemyanovich]

I’m so glad you still made this video! Honest book experiences are great, especially DNFs. I rarely DNF and find your takes motivating to let go when I’m not feeling it.

[@morehannah]

yeah I definitely needed the external motivation to help me DNF the books but I'm glad I did!

[@nikoletahanakova8573]

There are too many great books in the world to spend time reading something you do not like. I read for pleasure, so if I do not like the book, it is not fulfilling what I signed up for: JOY. It does make me a little bit sad to not finish a book, but if I think about another book I know I love, I would much rather be reading that, it helps to give up on the book I am not enjoying.

[@BriMiKie]

My library has this service for free! You fill out a questionnaire and they respond with an emailed list of books. Maybe your library has this too? Oftentimes, it’s called reader advisory. My sci-fi recommendation to you is Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki. And for a contemporary recommendation, The Sleepwalker’s Guide to Dancing by Mira Jacob. I’d love to see more vids like this!

[@susannahleopold6788]

Yeah, my mum was a librarian and this was just part of her job!

[@La8Stell]

Seconding a light from uncommon stars!! One of my fave scifi novels.

[@irisiemenschot9791]

How fun to do that for people!!!

[@Larissa_KD]

Haha we read Light from Uncommon Stars with a book club and we almost all hated it

[@MeMyshelfAndI]

My library has this, but the last time I used the service they mentioned in the email that they just plug the search terms into a wider service and spit back out the top X books as rec's. So depending on your library, it'll really vary on how much a human is involved.

[@maddinar6727]

With what you answered in the questionnaire I would recommend "An absolutely remarkable thing" by Hank Green to you. It's a duology with 800 pages in total. It's contemporary sci-fi and has a female bisexual protagonist that I liked a lot because she's kind of snarky. But what I appreciated most about the book how it reflected on human collaboration. It also didn't have any child death. 😉

[@ocdgirl115]

I second this recommendation. I didn't recommend it because I had assumed you had read it already but if you haven't drop everything and read it now!

[@bifriend8219]

Yes!! I was gonna recommend too!! Also talks about fame!

[@mariailyukhina405]

Adding a vote to this recommendation! Also it is very fast paced

[@herrengelsful]

Yes, and the audiobook is super good too!

[@mousestripedgrass2123]

+

[@thedanielleallen]

HIGHLY RECOMMEND The Left Hand of Darkness! very ahead of its time in terms of conversations about gender, and Ursula K Le Guin is such a badass

[@cleolangsford1006]

I second this! I actually thought it was going to be this when I heard “the left hand of…” while you were reading the book recommendations, and thought it would have been a perfect fit!

[@rachelcruickshank7269]

yeah I read this for a book club and really loved it. And I'm not usually a big science fiction person.

[@EmunahWoolf]

Just came to the comments to say the same! It's an all-time sci-fi fave of mine. I also really loved The Dispossessed by Ursula Le Guin

[@judy-anncilliers3474]

Yes, I was coming to say that a (former) sex educator who loves scifi HAS to read Left Hand of Darkness 😊

[@Essiggurke-r2h]

my flatmates got me this for my birthday in a beautiful hardcover :-) I havent read it yet :/

[@GlitterEnby]

I am shocked that they charged you $18US to mostly ignore the info you provided and then only recommend 3 books. 😢

[@Micaaaaaaaah]

FR. I prefer to use my library's recommendation/ask a librarian, which is free and really good at giving personalized recommendations! This was unfortunate.

[@GlitterEnby]

@@Micaaaaaaaah same here!

[@KnasMuuIda]

Always nice with a reeding vlog! It was nice that you got recommended books you hadn't ever heard of and might never have picked up otherwise. But it was also quite strange that three Sci-Fi books were recommended, when that was just one of the genres you mentioned

[@morehannah]

yeah I was excited that I'd never heard of them but yeah weird they only went with one genre!

[@nellien4802]

I've used TBR before and my experience was WAAAAY improved the second time. They really take your feedback into account, so I'd send this video to them if you're interested in trying again. My second round they recommended books that I still think about!

[@CaityLouise85]

That's a risky business model! No way would I give them a second chance if the recs were as bad as this

[@BethMaryHal]

@@CaityLouise85 I think it's less that you're expected to do a second so much as the more data they have, the better recommendations will be. Most clothing selection services work the same way. Any time someone is selecting for you, the more data & more familiarity with you and your preferences, the more likely you are to enjoy. Not saying that in defense of this frankly off-kilter set of recommendations, just pointing out that selecting for someone is always going to be risky.

[@grreeeeee]

@@BethMaryHal no way, i had over 400 books on my goodreads when I signed up for their service. gave them three chances (ie 9 books). didn't like a single book they recommended and each book was less than 5 years old. some of them just felt totally random too, like a publisher was paying them to market the book.

[@abirobins608]

Y'all are missing out not using Waypoint Books. It's an indie online bookshop based in the UK and they have a monthly book box where they recommend you books based on your Goodreads/Storygraph/info you gave them. I've never had a single recommendation from them go wrong!

[@eliontheinternet3298]

The book you were concerned about isn’t on there, but I use Does the Dog Die and/or Common Sense Media when I want to know a bit more about the context of trigger warnings.

[@maxturner3459]

Unconsenting Media is also starting to do books as well, although they’re focused around sexual assault

[@emmalouisereads1232]

I have seen my favourite booktuber, Riley Marie Reads, do videos on this service, but their local library has a service where they recommend books too and they had soooooo much more success using that service, and it's free!

[@Applepopess]

Yes, librariiiieees!

[@xeniafoe]

Some truly bizarre recommendations for you! I used to run a subscription service at my bookshop, and it's really not that hard accommodating requests/preferences like yours even when the recommender hasn't read these books themself. It being AI-generated feels like the only reasonable explanation. So glad you started Murderbot in the same video, it is one of my favourite scifi series also I BEG OF YOU check out the audiobooks, the narrator is incredible! Some other book recs for you based on your preferences: 1. The City We Became/Any NK Jemisin really: you're already starting The Fifth Season, which is awesome, City We Became is a little bit more rooted in the real world with cool scifi elements at play, and it's a duology so very manageable scope. Jemisin's worlds also always feel very authentically and naturally queer and diverse. 2. Service Model - Adrian Tchaikovsky: MC is an Android butler who one morning realize they've murdered their owner, and set off across an AI-run wasteland that is strangely devoid of humans in search of answers. Standalone, more snarky robot fun. 3. The Husbands - Holly Gramazio: A never-before-married woman realizes her attic is producing husbands for her. Alternate reality chaos ensues. Funny, quirky, with great heart. Also good for bite-size reading, a lot of the individual husband chapters are quite short so easy to dip in and out of during a busy day. 4. This Vicious Grace - Emily Thiede: sexy hot slowburn fun, a girl tasked by the gods to protect her island from demon attacks has a magical power that seems to kill anyone she touches. Three arranged marriages and three funerals later, she hires a bodyguard to protect her from assassination attempts as the populace are losing faith in her, and finds in him much more than she bargained for. 5. A Natural History of Dragons - Marie Brennan: a series, but each book feels comfortably self-contained and the series is finished! In a Regency era world where dragons exist, Lady Trent desires to study dragons, gender norms, cultural expectations and comfort be damned. She's incredibly funny, resourceful and the audiobook narrator does a great job at aging her voice up gradually as you are progress through her life's story which I thought was a neat touch. All of these are available as audiobooks, no child death/specific child suffering as far as I recall, a mix of scifi, speculative fiction, fantasy and magical realism, and all just very consumable and easy to grab onto, no big lore dumps or dense exposition. Hope you'll check em out! Xx

[@teuntje_esle]

OMG yes to The Fifth Season (it's the name of the first book, the series is called The Broken Earth), I've finished that series recently and damn it's SO good. I hadn't read much fantasy before that, but this made me wanna read so much more fantasy and I think it's one of the best series I've ever read up until this point.

[@morehannah]

me and a friend are planning a buddy read of it soon!

[@teuntje_esle]

@@morehannah Love that, enjoy!

[@karennaftel]

It is very well written but doesn't hold your hand in explaining what's happening so a buddy read is a great way to tackle this series!

[@buddiesdog]

Would warn there is child death in the first book. Toddler at that, so it could be difficult for a parent of a small child. My SIL struggled because her son was around the same age when she tried to read it.

[@ThePopsicle1234]

@@morehannah yesss!!! It is a great series! if you are into speculative fiction, sunbeamsjess is great for that (she's the reason why I read the series actually!) but yes to the TW of toddler death, since it happens at the beginning, but it keeps being mentioned/referenced to

[@MsMyrmaid]

Despite you not enjoying your recs it does make me want to try this service, just because it is intriguing that all of the books recommend were lesser known titles.

[@CorinneDemyanovich]

Since you use the StoryGraph, would the Recommendations features help you pick your next read? You can explore them or dive into advanced recommendations and change your preferences. It’s been a game changer for picking my next reads. And the stats are next level! 🤓

[@morehannah]

I haven't yet but think I might give it a go for a future read - see what they recommend!

[@eli_drottningu]

​@@morehannah If you go to advanced recommendations you can indicate what genres and moods do you want or don't want.

[@eli_drottningu]

There's also a beta function in the reading preference section for avoiding certain things!!

[@alyssahougham6626]

Of their recs that I've read, I've enjoyed them all!

[@marie09333]

This was so interesting! Thanks for sharing your thoughts even though you DNFed two of the books. Love reading vlogs/videos!

[@crazychaoscow]

I am so curious!! I'm currently in a big reading slump so there couldn't be a better timing for a video like this. Thank you for posting! 😊

[@Applepopess]

Loved the video! It was so interesting (and honestly frustrating) to see what this professional recommended to you. Just as a footnote, you can always ask bookshop employees for recommendations, they're usually great at it, and you can clarify some things in person (i.e. the context of triggering topics) to decide whether something sounds up your street.

[@Applepopess]

Edit: Or as other people have pointed out: ask a librarian!

[@emmanemsl]

Ahhh I was the one who recommended Amina Al-Sirafi!!! So glad you liked it! I'm a bookseller, so recommending books is also my job. I don't read a lot of sci-fi, so I can't really help there, but based on the info you gave, I would have recommended: The Daydreams by Laura Hankin - fun, funny, feminist, friendship, fame, similar to Daisy Jones, excellent audiobook Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld - similar to Emily Henry, focus on fame, very well written and also an excellent audiobook and for some stretch picks: VenCo by Cheri Dimaline - contemporary fantasy, queer, feminist, indigenous author, excellent grandparent relationship, capitalism and patriarchy are the bad guy Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn - retired assassins fighting for their lives after their retirement cruise goes all wrong, feminist, hilarious but grounded, also a great audiobook The Husbands by Holly Gramazio - woman in her 30s figuring things out, speculative/sort of magical realism, excellent audiobook, hilarious

[@daisydog]

I have the audiobook for Amina Al-Sirafi checked out on Libby now and can't wait to start it! Just added the rest to my library holds, thank you!!

[@morehannah]

omg thank youuuu!!! I will have to try my best to get to your other recommendations as you've proved yourself a good recommender for me haha! 😅😅😅😅

[@IloveHeartlandX]

Can I echo Killers of A Certain Age, was one of my fave reads last year, super fun!

[@laurie8857]

Ooo can you please recommend an author who is similar to Lianne Moriarty or Emma Straub? I love their books but am finding myself caught up in best sellers that are a bit too light.

[@puffmaggie]

imma throw a wild but potentially hit recommendation: Gideon the Ninth. it's sci fi with a bit of fantasy leaning and some humour sprinkled in there. it IS a trilogy (with a 4th book coming) but i'd say you could try the first book and see if you like the style! i'm currently reading through Gentleman Bastard series and it's basically the movie Oceans 11 set in fantasy lol really action packed summer read!

[@pauladirac7441]

I second Gideon the Ninth, one of my favorite books ever! It’s also the best audiobook I’ve ever experienced. It is the first book a series though.

[@galaxychar]

Gentleman Bastard is super fun but it’s been sad waiting this long for another book 😅

[@bookmouse99]

I know a few people mentioned that libraries do something similar, but I am going to echo this as a librarian who does Reader’s Advisory. Check if your local library has access to Novelist, and I recommend the TED talk by librarian Nancy Pearl who talks about how to pick books and doorways of reading versus genre

[@Emelectric1001]

Yessss I love that Nancy Pearl ted talk!

[@justinamoniz]

I'm commenting before finishing the video, so maybe it will be included. Sea of Tranquility hits basically all of the themes you were talking about! My husband read it first and highly recommended it. I can safely say it is one of the most well crafted books I have ever read. I actually gasped out loud (so much so that my husband came into the room to find out what was happening) at a certain reveal towards the end.

[@aga3006]

I recommend reading the other two books from Emily St John Mandel as well, they are great in my opinion. Very different

[@katherine_and_cats]

Sea of Tranquility was the book I thought of for Hannah's requests too. Incredible book. Even better if you read The Glass Hotel first.

[@qwertydeluxe]

@@katherine_and_cats yes!!!! obsessed with the not-trilogy of Station Eleven, The Glass Hotel, and Sea of Tranquility

[@EllenFelicity]

I looooved this book, can't wait to read her others

[@beatriztoledo551]

I don't remember if you have mentioned it, but I think you would love The Name of the Wind. It so good. The world building is amazing. Unfortunately there's a bit of a GoT situation where it's been 15 years since book 2 and we don't know when book 3 comes out. But it is worth it.

[@MandaPanda254]

I read the Name of the Wind, and I swear I found out about it based on a Hannah recommendation 😄

[@fennebastiaansen4844]

Yaaay so glad you enjoyed All Systems Red! The next books get even better imo 🥰 I'm OBSESSED with The Fifth Season/The Broken Earth trilogy, they are in my top 10 all time favourite books (and I studied and now teach literature so that's saying something!), soooo excited to hear your thoughts! As for recommendations: if you're looking for a 'classic' (like GOT or LOTR) type fantasy, I'd recommend The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon. It's a standalone novel (tho there's a prequel out now, but I haven't read that one yet), about a 1000 pages so it is looong but the world building and characters are really well drawn and it's a good mix between fast paced adventure and political intrigue. Also some excellent queer representation and DRAGONS! 💖✨

[@conniem7713]

Priory has pregnancy loss - so just an important note on the content warnings! (I loved it too)

[@eleanorjenkinson1080]

You should totally turn this into a little series and do recommendations from other sources too!

[@redpandareads9300]

Have you explored Middle Grade fantasy? Would highly recommend - Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend. It's wholesome and magical but also addresses some really important issues like prejudice, the media and politics, friendship. Best series I've read that is aimed at a younger audience. And interestingly the third book in the series includes a pandemic. She started writing it before COVID and then delayed it's publication so she could edit it based on what happened during COVID.

[@CherryEggi]

just wanted to recommend it too 🙌 One of the most wholesome books I've ever listened too.

[@ILoveTrees01234]

Oooh I loved these and I enjoyed the audiobooks of them too!

[@dobetterwithchristian4472]

I love Nevermoor!

[@Sophie_Cleverly]

I LOVE Nevermoor! It's my HP replacement of choice within children's books (given that I can't choose my own lol). The series is so good and the author is lovely. I got the Owlcrate edition of one of the books which came with like a Nevermoor umbrella and stuff, it's so cool 😆

[@Ellie-yn9zz]

Based on your preferences I would recommend The Reckless Afterlife of Harriet Stoker by Lauren (Wren) James. It focuses on a girl who dies while exploring an old shut up student accomodation and becomes a ghost. Harriet is a morally grey character, there's a cool magic/supernatural system, diverse characters and a good mystery! All of Wren's books are super good, with diverse casts, morally grey female characters and the best plot twists! They write mainly sci-fi and fantasy. :)

[@lcolli096]

I recommend books by VE Schwab for you Hannah! She writes fantasy books and has a mixture of standalones and trilogies. Her book Vicious is a morally gray character with a bit of fantasy, her Shades of Magic series is about parallel Londons and the world building is great! Each London has different levels of magic and it’s really easy to read! Her children’s series City of Bones is great as well!

[@ruthreyesmoreno4670]

Yes!!! Every time you upload a book vid I’m like she would love VE Schwab 🥲

[@ciarafranck9265]

The Fifth Season (and all of NK Jemisin's stuff) is utterly incredible, but I would absolutely look in depth into the trigger warnings. The Broken Earth series is pretty graphic and upsetting - definitely worth reading, but maybe something to check. For sci-fi duologies, A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine is amazing. Really fun stuff about poetry, imperalism, and intrigue. Its set on a world inspired by Aztec and Byzantine culture, and is so much fun. The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison is a real balm, does very cool stuff with formal/informal language.

[@TheTechnoTiger]

I am loving these long videos!!!

[@ThePopsicle1234]

Hiya! Might I recommend "Tress of the Emerald Sea"? It's a Sanderson stand alone, young adult/adult high fantasy that felt both high stakes and cozy somehow. LOVED IT It is classified as fantasy and romance (there's a bit, but it's not the centre), clean book. The narrator is funny (reminds me of Andy Weir's style, but a bit subdued)

[@hannahbradshaw2186]

Same! It was so cute. It was my first Sanderson read.

[@diri07]

I love your book-related videos! 📚 I’m curious since you use StoryGraph, have you ever tried their recommendations? The survey-questions are quite limited, but now they do recommendations based on recent reads too. I’ve never tried the books I see there, but would love to hear opinions.

[@morehannah]

I've browsed them but never beyond just looking at titles and covers but may have a peruse next time I'm in need of some recs!

[@MariaMarsbar]

This was a great video! I'm gutted you didn't find any new faves from this service, but I'm glad you decided to talk about it. Some book recommendation services in other people's videos have done a good job, so I would have hoped that TBR would have been just as good. It's important to talk about when a service fails to reach our expectations, especially when it did such a poor job for you. Here's hoping some for some faves from your more reliable sources for recommendations! 🤞🏼

[@daisydog]

I would recommend John Scalzi as a sci-fi writer. Lock In is one of my favorite books and has an attached novella about a pandemic. Old Man's War is really interesting (there are a lot of those, but they aren't that long - I have only read the first one). And Agent to the Stars is silly and fun. He has so many more novels that I haven't read yet. (And most of his audiobooks are read by Wil Wheaton!)

[@natashalewthwaite8583]

Oh, I loved old man’s war! Had me laughing out loud for the entire first half of the book at least!

[@Viktoria71513]

Hi, loved the video! Made me wonder just how effective in general a service like that might really be, considering a short questionnaire is all they have for making recommendations 🤔 As for me, I’ve just finished “The Secret History” by Donna Tartt in audiobook form, and it was amazingly gripping! The author is also the narrator and has a charming southern american accent.

[@sarapattschull]

You mentioned Goldilocks which I love as well. Highly recommend Do You Dream of Terra Two? Great sci fi with varied and we'll developed characters. Emotional rollercoaster, and a great audiobook!

[@gemmcraft]

Loved this video! More book related content would be amazing, i love your point of view 👌👌👌

[@dragono6399]

if you want a better fantasy polynesia, highly recommend victoria goddard's lays of the hearth-fire. most emotionally satisfying series i've ever read, i accidentally stayed up until 5am finishing the second book after spending a whole day reading it and it was entirely worth it. describing the plot is difficult because it sounds minor, but there's so much emotional depth underlying everything. also it's a high fantasy series with meticulous worldbuilding from the point of view of someone who loves meticulous systems, so the exposition moments didn't feel like exposition to me since the character's love was so palpable

[@mandarina_ra]

Before even listening to what that tbr service recommended to you, I must say based on the descriptions you gave I would recommend First law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie for sure. It has moral ambiguous characters that are deep and interesting, it is one of the best series I have ever read and I like it more than GoT because of certain characters.

[@DillyBlue]

In 2022, I gifted myself a yearly subscription to TBR, so twelve book recommendations in total. Of those twelve books, I didn't like nine of them (five of those I DNFed), two of them were just fine, and one of them has become an all-time favourite. I learned a lot about myself and about books in the process. I have a much better understanding now of what I love (and hate) to read, and how to explain that to another person (or a search engine). But my main takeaway from the experience was that it must be extremely difficult to recommend books to a stranger! I was also suggested books that were part of series a few times, despite asking for standalones, so I'm not surprised that you had a similar experience. But I was surprised that you were recommended three sci-fi books when your profile showed a lot more diversity of interests. My three books each quarter were all fairly different from one another, or there was always at least one which was a different genre from the other two. I'm not sure if I would ever use TBR again, but I do miss the anticipation of getting the "pigeon" in my inbox every three months. Perhaps I'll have to find another way to recreate that experience for free.

[@irisiemenschot9791]

Thanks for doing the experiment for a whole year and report it on here!! A lot of not-likes, how sad! For the recreating this feeling for free, could there maybe not be (or created (in Hannahs discord/patreon)) a group of people that want to send each other a recommendation per month? Could be with a survey as well and in a cute format as the pigeon!

[@DillyBlue]

​@@irisiemenschot9791 Thank you for replying! I actually ran an online book recommendation swap earlier this year, and got recommended a couple of good books, but it took so much time and effort to organise, I never did it again. I remembered today that some of my local libraries essentially do exactly what TBR do for free! The surveys that you fill out are almost identical. I've also talked with my sister about swapping library cards and choosing a book for each other.

[@irisiemenschot9791]

@@DillyBlue ah yeah i get that! Cool!!

[@CopperEJ]

I would recommend “I Who Have Never Known Men.” It is a short novel, very mysterious and propulsive, and originally written in French. The main character is a young girl who is locked in an underground bunker with a bunch of other women. It was excellent for my book club’s discussions because we all had different theories! I would also say my favorite Martha Wells is “Witch King,” which is a standalone epic fantasy. There’s queer love and some gender ideas thrown in with so much politics and religion. I think you would like it!

[@LizTiddington]

Project Hail Mary was such a good book! I definitely vibe with some of your favourites, but haven't read many of them, so maybe that's my new reading list!

[@morehannah]

oooh hope you like them if you end up reading some!

[@Lancaerie]

Thank you for this video! I really like to watch your reading vlogs! Recommendations: The Priory of the Orange Tree, by Samantha Shannon - Epic Fantasy, Stand-alone, Dragons, LGBT This Is How You Lose the Time War, by Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone - Time-travel, Sci-Fi, Romance, as close to poetry as you can get with a novella Legends & Lattes, by Travis Baldree - Cozy Fantasy, Coffee and cinnamon buns, LGBT, renovating a shop The Kaiju Preservation Society, by John Scalzi - Epic Sci-Fi, if Pacific Rim was a book, funny Lock In, by John Scalzi - Sci-Fi, Thriller, Crime Investigation Gideon the Ninth, by Tamsyn Muir - Sci-Fi/Fantasy, LGBT, lesbian necromancers in space, sarcastic characters Wishing you good readings from sunny Portugal

[@roma_venka]

Gideon the Ninth!!

[@katielouise210]

an hour long book themed video!!!! what a dream 😭

[@katherine_and_cats]

Books I would recommend to you: The Monk & Robot duology by Becky Chambers (if you haven't read those already) The Glass Hotel and Sea of Tranquility by Emily St John Mandel (read them in that order, there are links between the characters. Glass Hotel is contemporary, and Sea of Tranquility is speculative. Two of my favourite books of all time). Any of Bridget Collins' books - I love them all! All three are standalone fantasy/speculative with queer characters and plot twists. She's one of my favourite authors. (Her most recent one The Silence Factory has minor mentions of child death, but it is not a major part of the story and is only referenced vaguely as a past event, no graphic descriptions) The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V E Schwab - just utterly fantastic standalone fantasy

[@HeyDoYT]

I think you might really like "Legends and Lattes". It's a super cosy fantasy book. A warm hug of a story that made me so happy. Think an ex adventurer opening up their own coffee shop. And if you like that there's a second part and "The Spellshop" is also amazing. In the range of motherhood you might like "The Bookeaters" as well. It's heavy around the feelings of motherhood in a fantasy setting in England

[@vallentinac9513]

I would definitely recommend The Long Way To A Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers, it is part of a series (Wayfarers) but each book is also a stand alone, they are just set in the same universe and there are some characters that overlap, so you don't have to read them all for the story to make sense. So far I read and loved this one, as well as A Closed Common Orbit which was also incredible. I think you might enjoy them. The world building and the characters are amazing.

[@madgirlintown1994]

Hannah has already read the Wayfarers series actually, she has mentioned it in her videos before 😄 I bought the series based on that but haven’t read it yet

[@ester6527]

Would love to see Leena recommend some books for you based on the same questions/answers, as a follow up to this video 🤝

[@valarya]

Reading that you struggled with Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb made me so sad 😅😅 - it's a 16-book series and is my all time favorite in the whole world. It's good that there are different kinds of books for all of us, though!! What an interesting service this is.

[@ellenkarlsson9490]

Just started watching but had to pause to tell you how much I love Rowan's play kitchen. It's so pretty!

[@juliemorrow174]

Really enjoyed this video!! Glad you didn't cancel the video

[@cuppa.books.]

For a sci-fi standalone I would recommend 'Far From the Light of Heaven' by Tade Thompson. For a sci-fi duology I would try the Texicalaan books by Arkady Martine. If you like/would try historical type fantasy I would suggest 'The Bear and the Nightingale' by Katherine Arden (it's based in Russian mythology but it is also a trilogy). For a fantasy author, you might like John Gwynne. For more kind of general fiction, I'd maybe check out Sarah Winman, Joanna Cannon or Carys Bray. If you read middlegrade fantasy 'Amari and the Night Brothers' by BB Alston is fantastic.

[@shadeweaver]

I've been strugling to find books that would really grab me until I found The Book That Wouldn't Burn by Mark Lawrence. It's a trilogy though (the 3rd book isn't out yet). It's a fantasy series, somewhat mixed with sci-fi. The action takes place in a timeless library; there's intrigue, political divide, religious plot, romance ... The books made it to my top 3 favourite fantasy series. I absolutely loved it! The audio book is also brilliantly narrated. It does have some gore, racism, kidnapping that involves children - one of the children is the main character that is determined to make the best out of the situation she's in.

[@rosie1282]

Honestly the minute you mentioned the service I was like.... just ask bookseller - I feel like you'd have better results asking in a few bookshops where you get more of a chance to discuss the content in the books they're recommending. A couple books I thought you might enjoy as an ex-bookseller are The Ghost Ship by Kate Mosse (technically it's a series but I love pirates so I only read the one so far and it's a bop as a stand alone) a fiction loosely based on the pirates Mary Reed and Anne Bonny and The Employees by Olga Ravn - speculative sci-fi told through crew journal entries about a ship that picks up mysterious artifacts which have a strange effect on the crew (super short and puncy, I imagine it works well as an audiobook)

[@HeranBago]

My thoughts exactly re: booksellers.

[@zachreads]

My picks If I were your biblioligist -Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro -The Witch's Heart by Genevieve Gornichec -The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave Bonus pick for mad mom on a mission -Shadow of the Gods by John Gwynne (but it does break the series rule)

[@dhrachth1]

I don't get this paid service model. Recommending books is a standard free library service. Reader's advisory is an actual field of study in library science. You usually have to talk to a human being, instead of filling out a survey, which might be a negative for some people, but will usually yield better results.

[@manonane1148]

That’s what I was about to say! Obviously to each their own but as a bookseller, I struggle to see why people would pay to get recommendations (at least enough people for it to be a sustainable business) where they could just walk into a book shop or library. Now I live in France where we are lucky to have a bunch of independent book shops still but I’m sure that even in large chains (or libraries) somebody would be able to recommend books. Again, I don’t blame anyone for using such a service but I don’t really understand why one would feel compelled to do so (unless they are extremely introverted, can’t get to a book shop or library, or want to film a video)

[@carly6107]

Im really enjoying Babel by RF Kuang right now-a true standalone. Not sure if you’ve tried it, but it’s got cool world building :)

[@ellenkarlsson9490]

My goal for this year has been to read the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett, I'm not doing very well but I'm working on it. I am also re-discovering audiobooks and I've gotten a lot of reading done by listening. I've managed to tick off a few books that have been on my TBR for 10+ years this way, including The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Oddly enough, I've discovered that my preferred audiobooks when going to sleep are humourous non-fiction and Natalie Haynes', at times quite deep, breakdowns of women in Greek mythology.

[@Maxwellhyde14]

Just listened to True Grit on a road trip with my boyfriend and LOVED it! I’ve never read a western before but have heard so many good things about it and wanted to check it out. I think you’d really enjoy it and the main character. Also! It’s narrated by Donna Tart (who wrote the secret history and the goldfinch), she has an essay at the end about how she loves the book so much and thinks it’s a masterpiece! Think you might really like it :)

[@amygilligan1880]

I LOVED this video! Feels reminiscent of Safiya Nygard's content from the 2017 era. I would love to see more content like this! :)

[@Carina-vg6em]

I would highly recommend working with an independent bookstore in the future for a similar service! I was gifted a series of three book recommendations from my local bookstore, The Odyssey, in Ithaca, NY, and it was fantastic! I really felt like my preferences were taken into account, and I loved all three.

[@PagesandPens]

the whole time until your last answer I was screaming Becky Chambers! lol Glad you're already read and loved them. I really liked anything Backman - I love character based stories, so he's top notch for me. I also loved The Wicker King & The Weight of the Stars by K Ancrum. They're YA but don't really read like it. They're told in really unique ways and her chapters are short and punchy and they've really left me thinking about them years and years after reading them.

[@Hillary429]

I’m dying to see GavinReadsItAll give you book recs while you give him Project Management advice 📆🤝📚

[@annabroomfield4689]

Highly recommend asking your local indie bookshop for recommendations!! They're usually so excited to discuss this with you, and you can have more of a back and forth.

[@droomprinsesje1234]

When I think about DNFing a book I read a summary online, it satisfies my curiosity and if does sound super interesting I might keep reading. And a book recommendation: Shades of Grey - by Jasper Fforde, it is a parody, comedy, humanities future-ish, hard to describe, but easy to read, interesting and funny

[@Emelectric1001]

Hi Hannah, I’m a librarian who loves doing readers’ advisory, aka recommending books! A few authors you might like to look up are Valerie Valdes, Mur Lafferty, Charlie Jane Anders (for Sci Fi), James Islington for the Brandon Sanderson vibes and for Daisy Jones vibes, there’s a book by Natasha Lester called The Disappearance of Astrid Bricard which might do the trick.

[@sara_gillett]

I think you mentioned reading the Mistborn & Stormlight series by Brandon Sanderson, but another series I'd recommend similar to him is the Wheel of Time series. Would recommend the Rosamund Pike audio version, she does SUCH a good job with the characters. She's only done 4 of the books so far unfortunately, but Kate Reading and Michael Kramer (same voice actors who do Brandon Sanderson's books) does the entire series as well, so you can switch to them after. PLUS Brandon Sanderson actually wrote the last books in the series after Robert Jordan passed away, so I think you would like the style of the books.

[@steffikaysince1996]

it is strange to me they gave you three books that are all fantasy/sci-fi, also weird that you specified a TW (that isn't that common in books) and it was in two of the three books. Also two of these books being part of a series when you asked for standalones. If it were me, I'd be thinking give you one fantasy, one contemporary (tennis related maybe) and then one pushing the boat out (like a thriller or something)

[@emilyjaneex]

I’m not normally a fan of contemporary romance (thanks for explaining what it is I don’t really know either 🤣) but I needed a change from the usual thrillers I read, and I’ve been loving the things we never got over by Lucy score, it is a trilogy and I’m onto the second book but it does follow the same time line just different characters stories so you could just read the first one and not be left wondering what happens if you didn’t want to continue, it’s small town, grumpy sunshine, spicy and evil twin vibes 😂

[@helenaedwards263]

Based on your survey, I think off the top of my head I'd have recommended Cantoras by Carolina de Robertis, Good Girls Don't Die by Christina Henry and The First Sister/Jeanette Winterson's Frankissstein/A River Called Time by Courttia Newland or something similar. Mind you I'm just a librarian who stumbled upon your video and used to enjoy book recs; surprised a "professional" recommender couldn't come up with some more appropriate stuff!

[@Micaaaaaaaah]

If you want a sci-fi rec that fits a bit more of what you wanted, (queer author & characters, human nonbinay folks, no child death, romance) while technically a part of a "series", it is a series of standalones set in the same universe! Is *Winter's Orbit* by Everina Maxwell! It is tons of fun, pretty lighthearted despite heavily exploring recovering from an abusive relationship. It is one of my all-time faves and is up there with Murderbot. (Tho the two are quite different tonally)

[@libbystorer9399]

I'm reading the Broken Earth trilogy (The Fifth Season's series) and its so good and it really sounds like you'll enjoy it but BIG trigger warning for child death! The book literally opens with the protagonist finding the corpse of her murdered 3 yr old son and there is another traumatic infant death later too. Plus they are both referenced constantly in the narrative (obviously, its pretty traumatic for her and her other child). If that's something you're sensitive about currently then I would maybe wait because its really a massive plot point and very prominent in the narrative from the get go.

[@SGast]

The concept of accelaratio could be insanely interesting. Imagine it being an allegory on how we all rush to become adults instead of appreciating our childhood only to look back and mourn the time we have wasted. Also exploring how growing up is so much more than just learning skills and maturing physically. Instead, our experiences and the wisdom we accumulate make us an adult.

[@megthemarshmallow]

Just as a heads up (you may already know this) The Fifth Season is an excellent book but it does contain child death - multiple instances of it and it's fairly graphic

[@mac8697]

You might enjoy "Cold enough for snow" by Jessica Au. It's about the inner life of the narrator and the relationships she has with members of her family, mostly her mom, her sister and her niece. It's also very short, around 104 pages long, and I think would read well as an audiobook.

[@homicidalhouseplant]

I apologize if you've mentioned reading them before and I missed it but I think you might like the LitenVerse Series by Nino Cipri. It currently has two books that are novella length, and audiobooks are available on Audible!

[@susannahleopold6788]

Glad you kept the video idea! Loved the overall section at the end. Have you read Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys (Dominican-British author)? It was my fave book from my lit degree. It's a postcolonialist, feminist, mental-health-critique of Jane Eyre. And trigger warnings DEFINITELY need to be more specific than that!

[@Starrysong]

I have read the first thee Murderbot stories and I am currently reading Exit Straegy and I have loved every page. Murderbot is one of my favorite characters that I have ever read.

[@tessapal]

8:36 based on your questionnaire I’d recommend An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green (though I’m fairly certain you’ve already read that; it seems like explorations of fame are intriguing to you, and AART definitely has that); Tess of the Road by Rachel Hartman (BUT!!! Warning for pregnancy loss/stillbirth involving a young teenager; recommending this because the audiobook is amazing, as are the world building and fantasy elements), and the Skyward series by Brandon Sanderson (if you’re reading his adult series, you might not have thought to branch out into the YA, but it’s a great series with really interesting explorations of humanity and progress).

[@sandrar4981]

since I became a mom I also sometimes dnf books, never have before. But you got to do what you got to do, because there's only that much time 😅

[@eb8747]

I used to work in a bookshop and recommendations are my favourite!! I think youd like David Mitchell, Id recommend Ghostwritten and Number9Dream (although slight TW for you on that one if i remember correctly!) Id also recommend Lucinda Riley for a fun romance, my favourites are the seven sisters series, but she does standalone too. Finally Emily St John Mandel is fantastic and fits your vibe very well I also think you may like Trust, by Hernan Diaz, The Outrun by Amy Liptrot, The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff, Moon witch Spider King by Marlon James, and The Overstory by Richard Powers (although a fair few CW in that last one)

[@Essiggurke-r2h]

I rarely dont finish books but an estimated 80% of TV shows and 60% of movies I start I never finish. I usually just go on wikipedia and read the plot :D

[@conniem7713]

Since I seem to have a problem giving recommendations when someone asks: Sky on Fire by Jenn Lyons - amazing queer normative world building with a 32 year old heroine (standalone) Pretty Furious by EK Johnston - contemporary where a group of high school students do something about the "isms" in their rural town (standalone) Nottingham: The True Story by Anna Burke - a Robin Hood retelling that does a thorough examination of what it meant to be a women in 1200s (standalone) Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennet - a fantasy murder mystery with some very ambiguous characters (technically marked as book one, but self-contained and book two doesn't exist) The Blonde Identity by Ally Carter - contemporary romance, fun, and silly with a great mental health journey

[@thunkerfunk]

So I have a book reccommender recommendation! I recently was gifted a book seller appointment and voucher at Toppings in Edinburgh, you send an email going over your book preferences (the more detailed the better it seems as I went on for paragraphs and they appreciated that) and you go in and talk to the book seller and my experience was really good! I haven't got round to reading the books themselves just yet as my appointment was only a couple days ago but the experience was very good and I felt very listened to and the book seller themself was really nice and gave me a great explanation on them all and why she picked them ect! Interestingly the book seller appointment itself apparently didn't cost anything itself, it comes with the voucher which you can use on the reccommended books or not and the vouchers never expire. I know it sounds like a promo but I genuinely had a great experience

[@silvercookies]

You can give feedback to your bibliologist and don't forget to cancel your subscription! Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this experiment. I am reading Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros, but it is less gripping than the first book. Just recently finished the standalone graphic novel Doughnuts and Doom by Balazs Lorinczi (queer cute fantasy) and the comic series Die by Kieron Gillen (portal fantasy, sci-fi, gender fluid main character, action, adult)

[@moriahs82119]

I just finished reading The Hot Zone by Richard Preston, and I COULD NOT put it down. It's nonfiction, but it reads like a novel. It's older (mid 1990s), but has some suspense/science fiction/future of humanity vibes, and I feel like it's very relavent today. I'm an EXTREMELY slow reader; it normally can take me a month to get through a book. I read this one in 2 days.

[@sienat7249]

If you're interested in some excellent contemporary romance that will also give you /feelings/ as heck I super recommend "The Seven Year Slip" about a magic apartment and how important timing is to romance. I would definitely recommend when you're keen on more stand alone sci fi Recursion by Blake Crouch it has the vibes of Artemis by Andy Weir in that sort of thriller meets sci fi.

[@karennaftel]

Currently reading Infinity Gate by M. R. Carey who is slowly becoming one of my fave authors. I never see anyone talking about his books (The Girl with all the Gifts, Rampart Trilogy) even tho the former was made into a movie!

[@ggishallou]

I feel like these book recommendation services are just doing a Google search and not actually reading the books. If they recommended books they actually read, maybe they'd provide better recommendations. Am I wrong in this assumption?

[@MJheartly]

As a pretty casual reader who has waaaaay too many books already on my TBR pile, I wouldn’t have ever seen myself trying the service so I was intrigued to hear your experience. It’s a little shocking to hear it you didn’t have a good experience in the end. The lack of attention paid to your preferences does make me wonder if the person recommending the books isn’t a real person but an algorithm that finds book based on keywords... 👀 In all my years of reading (including as a child), I’m fairly certain I can count on one hand how many books I’ve DNF’d. I think I’ll stick to Goodreads and Fable for book recs, the latter of which is a new app I’ve found that’s quite similar to the former.

[@abigail6744]

Based on your survey, I think you would really like The Mountain in the Sea. It's a really beautiful speculative fiction - it's very easy to read but also very smart and has a lot of substance

[@ritacavalheiro7710]

I do have a sci-fi stand alone suggestion that is a stand alone and a short nice read, it is The weight of the heart by Rosa Montero. I’m not massively into sci-if so it is mild in the genera but I really did enjoy it!

[@carolinesch.]

Its reall interesting to see one of these videos that doesnt go well, all booktubers I have seen do this so far have mostly loved their books

[@amandapearl1887]

I've gotten good results from TBR but you can't use expand my horizons at all, basically. I don't know why they bother with that option, if I wanted to take a chance I wouldn't be paying someone to pick books out for me. If you pick the option that they stick as close as possible to your questionnaire you get better recommendations; I'd love to see a followup with that selection!

[@baileec496]

A “scifi” I really like that’s a standalone is Where the Forest Meets the Stars by Dayanara Ryelle. It’s more a mystery but it has a hand in the idea of science fiction. There’s no child death but the main characters are determined to protect one of the main characters, who is a little girl who says she’s an alien sent to earth to observe 3 miracles.

[@ramotnik8061]

Stanislaw Lem has a lot of standalone SF. I think Solaris is the most popular one. The books are a bit old and its amazing how he managed to imagine internet and smartphones. Highly recommend!