Recommending Reading - Grab-Lines

Advice on finding the ideal opening line when next discussing that last great read - a phrase that will grab interest in both your discussion, and in you

“You should read it some time; it’s a really great book!”

Stripping away a few adjectives and perhaps an expletive or two, this little blurb sums-up what most satisfied readers convey when beginning to tell a friend or colleague about their latest favored title. It’s certainly positive, but put plainly, the chances that this’ll sway their audience are small and if it was a search for conversation-fodder which led to the topic of books in the first place, well they’ve just purchased about a good half-second’s worth (and back to that awkward silence we go . . .).

Like movies and music, it’s an odd thing to find yourself at a party where at least one fellow fraternizer hasn’t tried to plug a favourite book or author during small-talk. So given the frequency of the topic and the fact that it’s a rare individual who wouldn’t take satisfaction from learning their recommendation carried enough clout to see a friend or family-member reading the same book a day or two later, why not put a bit of style and effort into that next coffee-shop talk or beerside commune when someone mentions what they’ve been reading lately?

Consider this an ongoing challenge (and likely an ongoing blog topic): When next you start uttering niceties about a book, try employing the following hint and see if you actually manage a sale. Check back in a week with your interlocutor . . . were you the sage advisor of literary selection, or a mere stop-off on the conversational route toward ‘so you’ll never guess what my cat did yesterday . . .’?

Mind your language – and your opening

As most advertisers will expound, the key to a good campaign is a cornerstone phrase that’s short, sweet and encapsulating. Now, I’m not saying you need such a refined tool here, but wording - particularly that used in the first sentence spoken - does play a far more important role than would be suggested by the actual amount of thought most of us put toward it. Bear in mind that you’re after balance here; you want phrasing that’ll stick with your friend – all the way to the bookstore – but at the same time, don’t go getting too formal on them. For instance, avoid quoting whatever Joe Critic blurbed on the back cover.

First and foremost, consider that opening caption up top, for it balances upon the one word that should be avoided like any given plague you’d care to name. It’s ‘great’ . . . fair enough, the book likely is great, but this is unfortunately such an ubiquitous descriptor that it carries almost no weight at all in most contexts. There are a good many things in this world that are really, truly ‘great’ and you’d be amazed how few I’d be willing to spend $37.95 on (and perhaps appalled as to which I’d spend it on . . .).

Since ‘I’m reading this great book’ is usually the lead-in for most of us in this situation, know that whatever you swap for the g-word will be your grab-line, your first chance to secure their attention, lest they simply start nodding politely and contemplating what to interject with when next you stop for breath.

Consider the type of book if you’re unsure what to open with. If it’s a romantic drama, then something akin to ‘This new book honestly has me in tears by the time I put it down each night’ might work, whereas for a horror, perhaps try ‘I swear I’ve got to re-bolt my doors and grab the crucifix before I flip each page’. So long as you speak with sincerity and aren’t the type to bawl when the waitress gets your order wrong, or jump at her shadow when she brings it, then you’ve just given the book a certain potency in the mind of your audience, and hopefully gained their interest for what you’ll say next.

On that note, I’ve mentioned that the art of recommending reading will be an ongoing topic here and my word-count’s wracking up at present, so for now, take this hint to heart whenever talkin’ books, and always remember that far too often does a good book go unread, simply because someone couldn’t be bothered to recommend.