Citations & Library Things

Recommending books is tricky business. I relate to Sara Nelson in So Many Books, So Little Time when she woes that on one hand, I can never quite help myself, but to share all the wonderful morsels I've picked up through the years, on the other hand, I know if they don't like it, I'll feel responsible, or even worse, wonder what kind of bad taste does this person have that they didn't like what I considered a masterpiece.
Even trickier, asking others for recommendations. It's not necessarily that I'm that hard to please, but people just read less and less these days, and if they are reading, it's more than likely a watered-down version of the latest movie that came out, so I'm usually not interested. Most of my choices these days come from wandering around B & N, learning that you really can tell more than you think by the proverbial "book's cover."
So, with all kinds of technology these days, it's no wonder that the internet has what we'd like down to a science. I was chuckling the other day at an article on TheOnion.com where a lady was convinced that Amazon's recommendation emails knew her better than her own husband. While Amazon is a great resource for cheap books, they've never quite nailed it when it comes to figuring out what I'd like next, I have just discovered another feature on the site that is just as useful.
So many of the authors I've ever discovered a love for, I stumbled across in another author's writings (Lauren Winner via Donald Miller; Chesterton, Pascal, and McDonald via John Eldredge; Anne Lamott via Professor Malone), so it makes sense that a book you love, might cite another book you would equally relate to. Scroll down past "Better Together," Editorial Reviews, and Product Details, and you'll find "Citations." Here Amazon will list all the books that refer to the particular volume you happen to be viewing at the time and any books that the book cites as well.
Another brilliant site I've happened upon, LibraryThings.com, will catalouge your books for you, then suggest books based on your library. Like Pandora for books!
Next time you need a great book to read, check out these sites (or here!), and see what you can find. Let me know what you love/hate.