Recommended (Blog) Reading

I spent some time this weekend catching up on my Google Reader - a much-needed task - and discovered some true gems in there. So, as some insight into what I love to read (when I'm not reading books) and which blogs I'd recommend (besides my own, of course):

A Match Made in... Books? (from Rebecca at The Book Lady's Blog): Highlighting a new online dating website that matches users based on their book preferences, Rebecca explores what makes people - and readers - compatible. Personally, my fiance and I have vastly different taste in books (with the exception of Robert Jordan), and despite my pleading and prodding, I have yet to successfully recommend a book to him. But while our book choices might not be compatible, I like to think WE are (hence the whole marriage thing). Then again, he lent me Love in the Time of Cholera before we started dating, which definitely sparked something... so maybe it's not so far off base, after all.

On the Shelf (from Karen at BookishNYC): Karen posts lovely pictures of libraries and shelving arrangements relatively frequently (reading her blog is worth it for these pictures alone, not to mention that I also enjoy her other posts), and I particularly loved this post featuring the luscious and deluxe home library of a NYC-based costume designer.

Blurbs! Blurbs! Are They Important? (from Greg at The New Dork Review of Books): I always love Greg's posts. Always insightful, always thought-provoking. This recent post discusses the impact of cover blurbs - something I've often wondered about, especially after having been through publishing meetings in which we've speculated over who we could get to blurb a book. I admit, even with my cynicism, I am absolutely victim to picking up a book because an author I like has blurbed it. At the very least, it tells me about the genre/style/targeted audience of the book (i.e. if Nora Roberts and Danielle Steel blurbed vs. Pete Hamill and Mark Helprin). What are your thoughts? Join the discussion over at Greg's blog.

Enjoy the reading, and while your over there, I'd recommend following all three of these blogs.