Tea Party (Q&A: Finding New Books)

Other Tea Parties | Content warnings

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Hello again! It’s the end of a very tiring and hot month here for us which means it’s time for another tea party! This time we’re discussing new books and where to find them. Grab something to stay hydrated and come join us!

Where do you find new books to read?

Pineapple:

I did want to read more popular and mainstream books this year, but I haven’t done it yet lol I see the booktok recs when I walk into bookstores and want to read those, even though I’m not really on tiktok. I see the hype about the REALLY BIG books on the socials and the JAAM fam tell me about some when we’re catching up and add them to my list. I do intend to read some of the really popular ones eventually, I promise!

I’m a lit student, so I really often look at “top however many ____ book” lists and want to read the top ones. I even bought The Book of Books and I have a pair of banned book socks that I want to read all the titles on, too!

Apple:

I get lots of recs from friends, and my sister is always sending me booktoks. I also watch booktubers, browse at the library and on the Libby app, and pay attention to fanfic writers I like to see if they get published. 

Raspberry:

I think signing up for a library card was one of the first things I did when I moved! I already had a big tbr list from talking to friends about books we like. Then I found more by just wandering the shelves of the library. And then my coworkers started suggesting books.

Do you buy any books, or just your favorites?

Pineapple:

Yeah, I often buy books. Probably too many. I do try to always buy my favorites, if possible, but I buy whatever is around too. I… actually am desperate for space and need to go through to get rid of books I don’t want, but. Such is the life of a hoarder and a lit student.

I’m trying to get into the practice of using the library more often, but so far I’ve only been using the app.

Apple:

 I would love to live that rich character in K-drama life and be like, “I’ll take everything from here to here,” while pointing at every shelf in the bookstore, but for now I’ve gotta be a bit more selective. I usually check books out through the library before I buy them, or if they’re not at the library, I ask my sister and friends for their thoughts and read reviews online first.

Raspberry:

I used to buy books all the time, even before reading them. Now I try to use the library instead. If I really love a book, I’ll try to find it at a used book shop. Then it feels like a quest!

Have you ever bought a book that you know nothing about?

Pineapple:

I used to do this ALL the time and I still do occasionally. My dad was a teacher, so we would go to the Scholastic warehouse sale and buy a bunch of books, just picking out what looked good based on covers and summaries. It was a good time. Sometimes I just go through a bookstore with the same energy and just look at titles and clerk recs and pick something out to buy. It has definitely resulted in some misses, but I’ve found a couple books that I really loved and wouldn’t have picked up otherwise!

Apple:

For school, definitely, but I don’t think I have outside of that. I’ve bought books where I don’t know much about the plot, but that’s usually because I’m already a fan of the characters it’s about or because the book is part of a series I already like. I’ve seen bookstores that sell gift-wrapped books, so you can buy yourself a little surprise, but I’m not sure I’m brave enough to try it out myself.

Raspberry:

I have a few times. Sometimes it really pays off, but other times it’s like “well, time to do a book swap with someone!”

Do you do book/reading challenges?

Pineapple:

I sometimes try to do a challenge, but I’m bad at it. I read at my own pace and I go on binges where I just want to read one specific type of book right at that moment or else so… I’ve had difficulty trying to do them in the past. I would love to be that person, though. I want my repertoire of bookish knowledge to be huge. I want to have a book for every occasion and every square on the bingo card, but I am not.

Apple:

 I did tons of them when I was younger. I’d even compete with my siblings. I don’t do as many now, but I watch lots of book challenge vlogs. It’s a super fun way to find recs too! That way, even if I don’t read the books during the challenge, I have a lot of cool stories to add to my list for later.

Raspberry:

Right now, I’m doing 3 Book Bingo challenges! Writing is a bit hard for me these days, so I’ve been focusing on self-care and reading.

How do you decide which book to read next?

Pineapple:

At the moment, I have a stack of books that has been sitting on my bed/desk/stool in my room, waiting to be read and I’ve been adding to it and making my way through it. So. At the moment, I just pick off the top of that.

Otherwise, I choose what I want by vibes. Something reminded me of Howl’s Moving Castle recently and I’d never read the book so OF COURSE I had to go and read that instantly. I immediately checked out the sequel, but have I read it yet? No. I went back to the Thai fan-translated novel I’ve been in the middle of for a couple months, because my mind works in ways that I cannot control.

Apple:

On a whim! It usually depends on my mood in the moment, especially since I like so many genres. Sometimes I’m in a sci-fi mood, sometimes romance or fantasy or thriller or mystery. Sometimes I look for something with all of the above. Even if I have a book picked out in advance, there’s zero guarantee that it’s gonna be the book I actually end up reading. Occasionally, I can be swayed by friends or by a book being due back at the library soon, though.

Raspberry:

I have a long list of tbrs and some have super long wait times. Sometimes, a hold will become available suddenly and that’ll jump to the top of my list. Other times, I feel like reading a certain genre (recently, I wanted to read about Roman history and then I wanted psychology and then I wanted a romcom) and that’ll determine what I check out.

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What about you? How do you choose your next read? Do you have any amazing book recs for us? Let us know in the comments or @ us on twitter! We’d love to hear from you! Take care and we’ll talk again next month!