i asked professionals to pick books for me to read! 📖 librarians vs. paid service

🌸 frequently asked questions 🌸

FOLLOW ME!

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[Meghan.Kirkland]

More proof that librarians are THE book professionals 😊

[MrRorosuri]

You're not overreacting. The book sounds icky

[ChanelChapters]

I’m so happy the librarian recd you a 5 star - I used to get sooo nervous when recommending books to our patrons, you never want to let people down with crappy books

[CheyeW]

the thing about those professional rec services is the more videos i see like this the more i start to think they don't read all the books they rec... whereas with librarians, they've either read the book they're recc'ing or have heard a detailed response from a coworker or patron (source: im a librarian. and also i feel weird recc'ing patrons things i haven't read myself)

[_frijol]

Honestly, I'm shocked at how poorly the paid book recs went that in requesting queer books they suggested a blatantly transphobic book. 😬 I will be requesting Salt Grows Heavy at my library tho.

[pinkful]

$18 for book recommendations that's insane😂

[imaginepageant]

I had a year subscription to TBR once, and even though the ONE thing in put in my “dealbreaker” section was child abduction and murder… they recommended me a book that opened with a mother discovering her child gone from their bed, then the grisly details of how the girl’s body was found. The book was about a serial killer who preyed on children. The ONE thing I will not read. And I paid for that recommendation?! They are terrible. Terrible. I would never recommend them to anyone.

[ollieb.]

I'd recommend Someone to Build a Nest In for you. It's a sapphic fantasy horror romance between a girl who is a monster hunter and a girl who is a shapeshifting monster who eats people. I haven't actually finished it but it's so good so far ❤❤❤

[camryncraig]

I think the TBR service is just pulling keywords to recommend things without actually having read the books. They could be recommending trash books without even knowing. The librarians have most likely already read the books they are recommending, or have friends/coworkers that have read them.

[tifftalkspages]

I love this librarian. She said “watch me werk” ❤

[theaudiobookaficionado]

Oh man i was so disappointed the second i saw Meddling Kids recommended to you 😭😭 you were right to dnf, that book was soooo problematic

[whitney]

I need another video if you reading the librarians recs!

[murakamireads]

considering most "normal readers" (people who arent in the book community, just pick up books whenever and read a few a year) that i know don't even want to spend $10 on an actual BOOK saying that seems way too expensive... i have no idea who would use TBR besides a content creator...

[ruki]

I used TBR for awhile back before they raised their prices. I used it because sometimes BookTube, BookTok, Bookstagram all feel like an echo chamber recommending the same books back and forth. My first recommender from TBR was great--I could tell she was queer like me and had read the books. She sent me bonus recs too, a lot, mixed in with the explanation for why she was suggesting the books. I found some new favorites from her that I have never seen other people talking about. It was great. But then after a year or two I got assigned a new recommender and he was awful. I cancelled the service after two rounds of recs from him. So, I think with TBR it might partly be luck of the draw with who you are assigned to.

[kimberlyreads]

I’ve been trying to get everyone to read The Salt Grows Heavy because it’s literally stunning. So excited you loved it!!!

[ChemicalPenguinn]

I'd be curious to try the TBR service, but do I really want to spend $15 on recommendations when I could save that money for new books instead? 😂

[KittyAndTheBooks]

Not for a second did I doubt that the librarian would win this. :D I loved Ring Shout, but I also adore monster hunters. I still need to read the Salt Grows Heavy, it sounds so great. Not really interested in the other two.

[kristenc]

Loving your haircut! Feels so fresh for spring 🌸 Adding Salt Grows Heavy to my tbr now!!

[Tazzie]

Even if your library doesn't have a feature like that on their website, most librarians are very much willing to give you recommendations if you show up in person and just, you know, ask.

[kategrossi]

AI gives free book recs and asks you questions about what you like also.. for free. so I assume it would be the same thing as the TBR service, but free and instant..