Who Would You Tell?

Here a scenario: You’ve read a great book. I mean, really, really great one. Stay up all night and have crook in your neck good. Like you chuck all your plans for the day and get behind at work good. Suck you in and won't let go until you get to the end good. Now what do you do? Do you think about how wonderful the book is as you place it on your bookshelf, never to be touched again?

No! If you’re like me, you tell someone as fast as you possibly can.

Great books are like the gospel, it’s too good to keep to yourself. Both need to be shared. You wanna tell someone about it. You want to share that great experience with someone, and most of the time, you know exactly who you want to tell before you even finish the book.

I love passing on good books because it helps build good relationships. One of my passions is for people to have good relationships in their lives. When I recommend a book, it can be a test of how well I know a person. If the person loves the book, that means I know them pretty well. If the person doesn’t love the book, it means that there is an opportunity for me to get to know them better. Find out what kind of books they do like. And if nothing else, it gives me an opportunity to start a dialogue about why they didn’t like the book I recommended. 

In my personal life, my passing on of books depends on the person. If I read any great book, I tell my friend Linda Sothern first. She is a global reader and like many different genres like me. Second, I tell Dyara Henderson, who can inhale a book in a few hours. She has more specific tastes than Linda, but I recommend to her because of the sheer volume of books she reads.

If it deals with historic events, international locations or is Celtic, I’m calling Kim Ross. If it’s a man book, I’m telling my husband, Brian. Chick lit or women’s fiction, Damola Curtis. Non-fiction history and Christian living, Jake Greene. Any book about Christian disciplines, my pastor’s wife, Sharon Jones. Speculative fiction, my little sister, Sherrie Whittington. Great YA, my oldest sister, Wanda.

I have more people I recommend books to, but you get the picture. When I read a great book, I can’t wait to share. What about you? Who would you tell about a great book?