When I was a kid, if you wanted a new book to read, you went to the bookstore or to the library. Both were down the street from where I lived, and I was a frequent visitor to both. The bookstore eventually moved to the mall, so the library became my sole source of entertainment.
If I wanted a mystery to read, I headed to the mystery stacks. I went through a biography phase. A Gothic phase. There was something fascinating in touching the spines, pulling one down and randomly checking it out. When I was in high school, I spent my free periods in the school library.
Nowadays, we do online book searches that have become SOOOOO complicated. Yes, you can narrow those down. I can still search for a mystery, or a biography, or a Gothic romance, but it just isn't the same. No more walking among the stacks. Discovering a hidden treasure. In the electronic age, authors are scrambling for attention. Online bookstores let you search everything from genre to trope to category. You can narrow your choices down to the exact thing you want -- and find a thousand unrelated titles.
I've been looking at my TBR pile, books I've gotten here and there that are waiting to be read. I haven't made a lot of additions in recent months, aside from books I KNEW I wanted to read. I've come to the decision I should read through what I have, then revert to old habits. Go to the library. Be among "my people" and search out my next book there. The problem is the changing landscape of books. The library doesn't give shelf space to dozens upon dozens of authors waiting to be discovered. Yes, the library stocks indie authors, but on a very limited basis. On the other hand, I have been reading many indie and "new to me" authors for the past 20 years. It might be time to catch up with some of my old favorites. But here's the thing. I've found recently that some of my favorite "big name" authors are going the indie route. Jill Shalvis, for example. She recently released a new book, and she's been telling people loudly that if you go to a bookstore, you'll probably have to order it because ... bookstores don't stock indie authors. Jennifer Crusie is another one. I don't know if she's still writing books alone or only the joint projects with Bob Mayer, but I do know Bob Mayer has taken their collabs indie. Which brings me back to...
Where am I going to go for future reads?
Another option is e-books through the library. While they don't have the same physical inventory they used to, you can easily find electronic copies, and if I want it badly enough, I could ask them to order the hard copy. I do miss reading hard cover books. Then again, hard cover seems to have gone the way of vinyl records. Available on a limited basis.
As you can tell, I'm a tad overwhelmed. This from trying to categorize my own new release so people can find it. When I look for related titles... they're not. So I'll just tell you it's a romance. It has a ghost. It has a cold case. It has a tour guide and a photographer. If it sounds interesting, you can preorder it. Release day is July 23!
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