'I would like a book'

[bunn]

Well yes, but what *sort* of book?  Genre?  Author? Colour even, I'd settle for colour?!  Is there no hint...?

This is a problem I have created for myself, of course.  If I had diligently kept records of which of my roughly 9,000 favorite books I had previously bought for my sister, then I would at least have some idea what books not to buy for her again. 

She has moved to a different continent twice recently, so there's a decent chance that if it's a book I bought for her over 10 years ago, she will no longer have it and has probably forgotten I bought it for her, AND YET.

But still.  Scrolling through book lists looking for books that are Not Old Favourites is proving something of a struggle.  I know she likes cosy mysteries, has some tolerance for historical fiction and fantasy,  likes good writing, but is not a hard-SF person....

I used to be moderately good at finding books that didn't prominently feature covers of muscly torsos and where the writeup didn't immediately tell you about the protagonists' amber hair, but I am having no luck today.  Perhaps tomorrow will be a better bookhunting day. 

Comments

[pixel39.livejournal.com]

Hmmm. I've recently just devoured the PC Peter Grant series by Ben Aaronovitch--it's sort of a cosy mystery and sort of fantasy. Don't know if that's your sister's cup of tea, but I loved them.

FWIW, I'm definitely an Agatha Christie/Dorothy L. Sayers/Ngaio Marsh kind of girl as far as my mystery preferences go.

[bunn.livejournal.com]

Ooh, thank you! I will look them up, got to be worth a try. My sister is also an Agatha Christie fan (I'm more of a Sayers fan myself)

[alitheapipkin.livejournal.com]

I second the Ben Aaronovitch recommendation - they are really great and I've recommended them to a lot of people and have yet to find anyone who didn't enjoy them.