I like the idea of going on a blind date with a book!! Kudos to this idea from booksellers in Australia! I came across an article on LifeHacker titled Go On A Blind Date... With A Book by Chris Jager. In the article, Jager writes:
Often times, when I go into our local Friends of the Library Used Bookstore, I purchase works of fiction by authors I've never read before... Or authors I've never even heard of before. Even when you know the book title, author, and have read the book synopsis on the back cover of the book, it doesn't guarantee it'll be a good read.
So, buying a book wrapped in brown paper with a few clues as to what it is about, couldn't be all that bad in my opinion... In fact, it could be quite a a reading adventure! Maybe, you'll be lucky enough to discover a favorite new author or book in this manner.
Would you go on a 'blind date with a book'?
“A lot of people who come into our store don’t know what they want to buy so they just browse or ask for a recommendation,” explained Ryan, an Elizabeth’s Bookshop employee from the Pitt Street store in Sydney.Granted, I wouldn't buy every book I purchase wrapped in brown paper with a few words scrawled its cover as a clue to what I was purchasing... However, I think I'd try this 'blind date with a book' idea a few times as I like the idea of trying something new--- Especially when it comes to works of fiction.
“One of our staff members thought it would be a good idea to set up a kind of lucky-dip table where you get to pick a book at random. I was really skeptical that it wouldn’t work at all, but it’s been really successful. It’s actually a really good promotional tool for our stores.”
All ‘blind date’ book covers are completely covered in brown paper — with just a few vague word cues scrawled on the front to give you an idea about the book’s content.
“We just offer a broad topic which hints at the genre, so if you feel like reading an adventure or romance you can search for the relevant word cues.”
Often times, when I go into our local Friends of the Library Used Bookstore, I purchase works of fiction by authors I've never read before... Or authors I've never even heard of before. Even when you know the book title, author, and have read the book synopsis on the back cover of the book, it doesn't guarantee it'll be a good read.
So, buying a book wrapped in brown paper with a few clues as to what it is about, couldn't be all that bad in my opinion... In fact, it could be quite a a reading adventure! Maybe, you'll be lucky enough to discover a favorite new author or book in this manner.
Would you go on a 'blind date with a book'?
I did once. This was for a Valentine's Day promotion thing my local library did where they set up blind dates with people and a bunch of romance novels. The put the romance novels in paper bags (just like you did) and put on the front the author and if it was gothic romance, modern arty romance, mills & boon type, racy and rude, hot and ready to go or Fanny Hill type of romance... went off really well. I picked up an arty romance and it was good. I found myself in a nice little romantic book about a woman who had inherited a rundown cafe in a seaside town. She was a big-time art dealer from the big city and had no interest in it - not until the hot neighbouring cafe owner showed up and gave her the key to the place.... and then all kinds of fun ensued. :)
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