I remember one of my favourite pastimes whenever I went into "town" was a happy half hour or so spent at my favourite book store. But nowadays, I confess that I don't browse so much. Is it because there seem to be so many titles, piled so high, that it's hard to choose? Or is it because we rely on word-of-mouth referrals and then order our books online? Probably a bit of both. The convenience of e-books and audiobooks also means we're not tied to one platform for our reading.
There's another way to receive recommendations and that is, of course, via online forums like Goodreads, the largest online book club in the world. Both of my books are listed there, along with hundreds of written reviews. But, for me, the biggest surprise has been Instagram. It offers a pictorial take, with beautiful images of my novels accompanied by short reviews or comments. The most numerous posts have been from readers of the books in translation. Spanish, French, Turkish, Croatian and Polish readers are happily snapping away and posting lovely pictures of La hija de la Criada, Cradock Evi, Kolor jej serca, La chica de Simons Bay, Sobaricina kci...
I have to feed their comments into Google Translate, of course, so that I can understand what they're saying but the pictures tell a story without words.
Have a look at #barbaramutch !
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