Blind Date With A Book

I was reading the other day about a chain of book shops in Australia that are selling some of their books all wrapped up in brown paper, and promoting them as ‘Blind Dates’.

blind date with a book

As you can see, there’s just a few words on the front to give people a flavour of the topics involved. It’s an innovative idea, and apparently it’s helping them with their sales, as I guess it’s a talking point.

I do like this idea. I don’t know about you, but I can sometimes get stuck in a book-rut, where I only pick up the same types of books. Now, sometimes, this is just what I want as that’s the mood I’m in – I want endless regency books, one after another, until about 15 books later, I’m a little tired of them and need a change! This is when I deliberately choose something I’d not normally gravitate towards or I ask to borrow a book from my mum, as she has different reading tastes to me.

I wrote a post a little while back, ‘Do You Judge A Reader By Their Cover?‘ and I asked people about their favourite genres, too. There was quite a mix of responses, as you’d imagine, and I enjoyed getting a few recommendations from people, which has since seen me trying out a few titles that I doubt I’d have read prior to that. I do like to buy/borrow a totally different book sometimes than any that I’d normally gravitate towards and though on several occasions it hasn’t worked out, on many others it has. A few titles that stick in my mind that I’ve enjoyed recently..

the language of flowersThe Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh

The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey

Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen

Broken by Daniel Clay

The Ice Princess by Camilla Lackberg

They’re all quite different to one another, and I enjoyed every single one of them immensely.

As such, I’m now making it a very deliberate activity to pick up a book once a month, or 1 in every 5 that I read, whichever comes first!, that I perhaps would not normally choose. I’ll no doubt report back on any success and failures! Is this something that you do?

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65 thoughts on “Blind Date With A Book”

  1. Oh what a fabulous idea, love it! Can I add The Pilgrimage of Harold Fry to your possible reads in the future. So moving and beautifully written. Maybe we should start up a blogging book club? That might be fun.

    1. I do, too, which is great as I know I enjoy them, but the occasional foray into other genres has been nice, too 🙂

  2. I love reading, especially in bed, but now I’m blogging, I find I spend far too much time reading other people’s blogs than a good book! I’ve recently been lent The Tudor Wives books which I’m interested in having a good at. I love the idea of a ‘blind date’ book – ingenious!

  3. Another way I’ve found since getting my Kindle a couple of years ago is to download a lot of the free ones. There is some tripe out there but also I’ve discovered a few diamonds in the rough as well and, like you, taken a chance on something different from my usual murder ‘n’ mayhem !

    1. That’s a good idea to venture into new books. I’ve yet to succumb to a Kindle, though I’m sure I will one day and then do exactly that!

  4. I like the fun, creative and unpredictable nature of this idea, but part of me thinks that I’m not sure that I’d be prepared to part with my money when I knew so little about what sort of book I was getting.

    1. You make a good point. I don’t mind trying out different titles if they’re free or second hand, but full price might be pushing it!

  5. Blind date with a book seems a great idea! I do tend to get stuck in my sci-fi fantasy genre (non of that vampire/ werewolf rubbish though). I love historical novels but more often than not end up throwing them at the wall because of the inaccuracies. I must try something different but it’s actually a bit daunting taking the leap into the unknown!

    1. Take the leap! A different title every once in a while is fun – perhaps just pop and borrow one from the library as at least you’ve lost nothing then if you can’t get through it!

  6. What a brilliant idea! I haven’t read many books since POD was born although I do read a lot online. Always found I’d like one author then read loads of their books. I think it’s great to try different types of books and what a great way of going about it!

    1. I try to read a little every night, as it relaxes me and helps me switch off. I do that, too, and why not if you love their work? Nice to venture into new territory sometimes, though x

  7. I’m in a book group with a few mums from school and it’s great for getting me to read new genres/books I wouldn’t normally choose. We always pick books that have been out a while, so that we can borrow/order from the library.

  8. I LOVE the idea of a blind date book! Wouldn’t it be great to do this with some of your bookish friends and each donate a book to try and read something new? I’m just the same with reading ruts and sometimes reading something different can really kickstart my reading again. I have a lovely friend who posts me her books and I’ve found some great new books through her. I think it’s a great idea to try something new and then you are always ready to go back to your favourite genre!

    1. To all just swap every month would be lovely, and such an easy, simple idea. Why hadn’t I thought of it?! How great of your friend to post you books, too – that’s my kind of post!

  9. Great post, I’ll gave to check out your recommendations. The biggest problem I have is finding the time to read. I love books, but am averaging one every three months at the mo. To my shame, last year I only managed to read one book… I always have a little read before bed, but sometimes struggle to keep my eyes open after a few pages. How do you find the time? #PoCoLo

    1. I read pretty much every night before I go to sleep, unless I’m totally done in. Even if just 10 minutes, it helps me switch off and it’s important to me.

    1. I know! I got through a lot when Little Man was night feeding as reading kept me awake then! And now, I’ll read just before sleep, depending on how tired I am!

  10. I’m like Suzanne, I love reading books, but find I spend more time reading blogs and less books than I would like! I like to discover new genres too. I never thought I would like crime/ thrillers, but they make up at least a quarter of what I read now. I DO judge books by covers, though! I like covers that are a bit quirky. I usually find I enjoy those books. I wouldn’t read the book that you’ve got pictured there. To me that is exactly the sort of book I don’t like. But maybe I would like it?!
    Great post.

    1. You see, maybe you would – who knows?! I definitely judge books by covers, which is why this would be good for me as I have read some good books when I’ve got past the cover/blurb

  11. Thats such a brilliant idea. and you make an excellent point too – sometimes I’ve found real gems in reading “freebie” books that I’d never think to buy. Its all too easy to stick to the same type of book and just wait for “the next one” to come out thinking thats your book type

    1. Glad you like it. Yes, freebie books are a great way of trying something a bit different, and it’s free – what’s to lose?!

  12. I love this idea. I love reading and quite agree that sometimes I get stuck in a reading rut. Then I get a bit bored by what I’m reading and maybe don’t enjoy a book as much as I possibly would have if I’d read it at a different time. So the idea of getting a blind date’ book is great! I love to get recommendations from other people and have read some great books I normally wouldn’t consider! xx #PoCoLo

    1. It really does help you out of a rut sometimes by going with something completely different or someone else’s suggestion. Anything to get happily reading again 🙂

    1. Oh, same here, struggle with Sci-Fi. A book club is a great way of trying different reads – I’ve just linked up with one via Twitter, with @MeandBooks so looking forward to that 🙂

    1. It’s easy to do, and if you like it, then why not?! I’ve just discovered some I’ve enjoyed of a different genre so now I wonder what else I’m missing out on!

  13. What a clever and fun idea, although I do agree that I would only go for the unknown if it was markedly cheaper than choosing something I knew more about. The idea of judging people by what they read is true to a degree – I mean, when they’re reading the red top rag vs a broadsheet it sends a different signal out, same with books. I really miss seeing what people are reading thanks to the proliferation of kindles. Also means I don’t know what the really popular read is at the moment! Thanks so much for the recos, I am off on hols tomorrow, so will look out for a few of them!

    1. Yes, they’d have to be cheaper options! I think we do judge people by their books, but then I guess we do by many other things, too. Nice to try a new book here and there, and display the cover for all to see!

  14. I love the blind date idea! I get stuck in a rut too, especially with certain authors. I think it’s a good idea to branch out a bit and try new covers. I should make a similar resolution!

  15. I had a phase where all I read was Stephen King now I alternate between fiction and autobiographies and switch between authors too. I stumbled across Lisa Gardner completely by accident while shopping for books for someone else and love her writing! I sometimes revisit books I loved when I was younger too 🙂

    1. It does, doesn’t it? I do make time for books, though I’d definitely say I spend more time reading blogs nowadays!

  16. I really love the idea of a book blind date! I need to do this with the books on my book shelf. Although I have seen another idea for this with a jam jar of book titles.

    I certainly get stuck in reading ruts and am really looking forward to L moving into her own room so I can go to bed with a book again rather than my audio books.

    #PoCoLo

  17. This is a great idea. I recently did a little request on facebook to friends for good reads in an attempt to get out of a reading rut. Most of the books recommended I would never normally even dream of picking up but I’ve decided to be really open-minded and aim to read every one of them. I’m kind of excited y the thought of reading out of my book comfort zone.

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