I knew I wouldn’t be able to participate fully in Book Blogger Appreciation Week this year because I’ve been ridiculously busy recently, both at work and at home, and just haven’t had time to prepare anything. Today’s question, though, is one that I really wanted to answer:

Wednesday—Unexpected Treasure
We invite you to share with us a book or genre you tried due to the influence of another blogger. What made you cave in to try something new and what was the experience like?

Looking back at the list of books I’ve read so far this year there are quite a few that I probably wouldn’t have thought of reading in the days before I started blogging. I used to stay very much within my own comfort zone and while there’s not necessarily anything wrong with that, as long as you’re enjoying what you’re reading, it did mean I was missing out on a lot of great books and authors. I had never considered reading Georgette Heyer or Sarah Waters, for example, before I saw so many other bloggers reviewing their books. I would probably also never have been aware of Persephone books; I’ve now read and loved three of them and have another two waiting on my shelf.

Going back to the question above, the biggest plunge I have taken into something new is when I decided to try an entirely new medium: the graphic novel. Before I began blogging, I had never even thought about reading a graphic novel. I didn’t have any prejudices about them; it had honestly just never occurred to me that I might enjoy one – and I had no idea how popular they were until I saw so many of them being reviewed on such a lot of blogs. So, this summer I finally read my first graphic novel (I should really call it a graphic memoir) which was Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. I don’t want to thank one individual blogger for bringing that book to my attention, because I had seen it mentioned by so many people, but all of you who said it was the perfect choice for a novice graphic novel reader were completely right! I haven’t had a chance to read another one yet, but I’m glad I now know that there’s no reason for me not to read them.

Thanks to everyone who has influenced my reading and encouraged me to try something new!