Book Blogger Hop #24 (6/28 - 7/4): All That Hype....

Welcome to the new

Book Blogger Hop,

hosted by Billy @

Ramblings of a Coffec-Addicted Writer!

He took over this hop from

Jennifer @ Crazy For Books.

I'm so glad he decided to

continue with this weekly feature!

For more information, click HERE.

What to Do

1.) Post on your blog answering this question:

So would you read a book

just because of the hype?

2.)  Enter the link to your post in the

Linky list on Bill's blog.

3.)  Visit other blogs on the list and

comment on their posts. 

4.)  Be sure to find out next week's

question when you visit Bill's blog!

My Answer

Well, before I started blogging about books, I can't say that hype had much influence on my reading habits.  One exception was the Harry Potter series.  I had heard of these books long before I actually read the first one.  At first, I wasn't too interested in picking up one of these books.  But then, I happened to be at a Barnes & Noble store during the midnight release party for book 7.  There were people there dressed as characters from the books.   I saw Dumbledore, Voldemort, and a kid who really fit the part of Harry Potter.  I stayed a while, greatly enjoying the enthusiasm of all the fans crowded around the characters.  In fact, the store was overflowing with them!  And people were even getting their pictures taken with the Sorting Hat on!  So that was it -- I went to a cash register and bought book 2; a friend had previously given me the first book, but  I hadn't read it yet.  So I bought the second book, started on the first one right away, and went on to the second.  I just had to get the rest of them after that!

Now that I'm a book blogger, I really do pay attention when a book is highly anticipated by other bloggers, or receives high praise from them shortly after its release.  Of course, I also check out the Amazon, Shelfari, and Goodreads reviews.  I think that so-called 'hype' is very important.  Most of the time, I've seen that it's a very good indicator of just how terrific a book is.  However, I sometimes discover that, in spite of the hype, I'm not interested in a book, or series of books, at all.  This was the case with The Hunger Games series.  In spite of the popularity of these books, I'm definitely not interested in reading them.  Why?  I just don't like the whole premise of the story.  So, no amount of hype will ever entice me to start reading these books!

There are also two genres that I flat out refuse to read -- erotica and horror. 

So, in spite of the fact that the Fifty Shades of Grey books are based on The Twilight Saga, which I dearly love, I will never read them, no matter how 'hyped up' they've been, and are, no matter how many women eagerly read them and sing their praises.   So that's definitely out!

As for the horror genre, I made the mistake  of reading The Exorcist years ago, based precisely on all the hype.  This was another exception.  Well, I couldn't sleep for an entire week!   So, absolutely NO Stephen King novels (or movies) for me!

Oh, and one more thing....absolutely no amount of hype will ever get me to read an e-book.  Unless, of course, the author decides to make it available in a printed edition later on.

 What do you think of my answer?

And what about you? 

Are you influenced by hype 

when choosing a book to read?