I spent time last night talking with a friend, Ben Curnett, who I don’t see that often. The conversation turned to books and he threw out a couple of books he had read and enjoyed. He mentioned Bernard Cornwell’s Arthur Books and Patrick Rothfuss’s Name of the Wind. I look forward to checking them out. I rarely purchase books without a recommendation. The recommendations on Amazon.com are okay, but I don’t know those people. When someone I know has good things to say about a book, I listen. In fact, I still have Empire Falls on my list from a February recommendation (Thanks Tom!) and I’m in the middle of Going Postal by Terry Pratchett, also a recommendation (and loaner).
You just can’t beat word of mouth.