I Paid a Service to Give Me Book Recommendations
I paid a website to give me a TBR tailored specifically for me. Were the picks successful? Was it worth the price? Keep reading to find out.
The website, BookRiot, has a service called MyTBR. This service is designed to recommend books that are curated for your tastes. I wanted to try it out to see how personal the experience was and if the recommendations would result in 5-star reads. So, I filled out the questionnaire and waited for my recommendations.
Many of my favorite BookTubers, such as Jack Edwards and BooksandLaLa, have done this experiment. This idea is inspired by their videos.
My “Bibliologist”, Emily, gave me three recommendations. And right off the bat, I can confidently say she did a fantastic job. Even without reading the novels, I can tell these recommendations are fantastic for me.
I can truly see that Emily took time to read through my answers and really give me what I am looking for. I hadn’t heard of the three books yet, which I really appreciated because I could tell that Emily did not just pick best-sellers or hyped books for me. I can tell there was time and effort put into these selections and I am genuinely excited to read them.
Here is the letter I recieved on the website from Emily explaining the three books and why she picked them.
The Selections:
My Thoughts:
The Violin Conspiracy
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
I did not know if I was going to like a book about classical music, but I now know that I do not like it- I love it. I love books that involve music, and this was no exception. Mixing music and mystery with sprinkling of family and legal drama is a perfect combination for me.
This book follows a professional violin player about to compete in the most important competition of his career when he realizes his violin, which is valued at $10 million, is gone. We then go on a journey to understand Ray (the main character) and how he acquired the violin, why he plays the violin, and his life along the way. Through Ray’s experience we see the struggles he goes through as a Black violinist and how he is determined to do everything in his power to be taken seriously in the world of classical music.
The only reason this isn’t a 5-star read is because the ending was a bit rushed. I felt the conclusion happened too fast and the wrap up did not pack the same punch that the rest of the book did.
I can totally see why this was recommended for me and I am so happy I read this because it was absolutely stunning. I highly recommend this book if you like legal battles, music, family drama and dynamics, and mysteries.
Little Eyes by Samanta Schweblin, translated by Megan McDowell and Eugenie Schoolderman
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
This novel takes place in a world where devices called “kentuki’s” exist. A kentuki is a little electronic animal with a camera inside it. And on the other side of the camera is someone controlling the kentuki. So, the person behind the camera, a “dweller”, and they cannot talk, they can only watch the person who has bought them, a “keeper”. The keeper can talk to the dweller, but the dweller has to figure out how to respond. But also, the keeper has no idea who the dweller is (unless they establish communication to figure each other out). But anyone can be a dweller, which can lead to intense dynamics.
This book is told in little vignettes depicting the relationship between “keepers” and “dwellers”. You get perspectives from both sides which elevates the creep-factor of the book. You are thrown into the story, which starts out confusing because you have no clue what is happening, but throughout the stories you start to understand what is going on.
This reads like an episode of Black Mirror and it worked so well. I was mildly confused through out, but in a very good way. I loved the exploration of different dynamics and relationships that arise. I definitely will be thinking about this book for a long time.
This is a great recommendation for me. I know this is for me because I definitely would not recommend this for everyone, but it is for me.
The Magical Language of Other by E.J. Koh
Rating: no rating (I do not rate nonfiction)
This was a beautiful reflection of family and personal exploration. The mix of letters from the author’s mother and the history of the author’s life is stunning. In this memoir, we follow a woman who was left to raise herself after her parents returned to Korea while staying in the US with her siblings.
Koh’s mother’s letters are beautiful, making this book stunning. The general memoir was good, but the addition of the letters brought this memoir to the forefront. The writing is breathtaking. There are so many quotes that I underlined and highlighted. I mean, listen to this, “The present is the revenge of the past”. C’mon, that is just stunning. This was heartbreaking, beautiful, and somehow hopeful.
This was a great recommendation for me. I love memoirs, especially ones that surround multi-generational stories. So, I am so happy I read this and think this was an amazing recommendation for me.
I loved all three of these books. They were spot on for my reading tastes and exactly what I am looking for in recommendations. I loved this experience, and these books are amazing.
Would I Recommend this Service?
Kind of? Hear me out! While I loved my experience with this service, it is money spent. So, if you have a disposable income and are struggling to find books you like, then yes, I recommend this service. But, if you already know your reading tastes, have a giant TBR, and don’t have the money, then I would say a YouTube video does the same thing. This was a great experience and a successful experiment, but it is by no means necessary.