Posted by Carly at Jul 19, 2012 6:00 am
Please give a warm jungle welcome to ultra talented paranormal author, THEA HARRISON! Thea and I met after I read her first book, Dragon Bound – and posted on Twitter – people had been raving about the Elder Races first book and I was delighted to discover they were right. Thea has a way of creating a world that is amazing. Welcome Thea!
What was the name of that book anyway?
I read a lot of books. In fact, I had taught myself to read by the time I was four, so when I hit the third or fourth grade, I had already read a lot of books. As you can imagine, the number has only increased with time. *cough* No need to mention how much time…
I have read so many books that, until I got wise to my own shortcomings, occasionally I have actually rebought books that I have already read.
Argh, right?
Let’s be honest here. Publishers and websites like Amazon don’t really help matters in this regard. Occasionally you’ll find a book release that states right on the cover that it has never been released before, or that it is a reprint. Nora Roberts’ publications come to mind, and frankly, that is refreshing. Most of the time it’s a buy beware kind of market. Now I always do a little research before I fork over money.
For example, take Dorothy Dunnett’s The Game of Kings, which is the first book in her fabulous historical saga called the Lymond Chronicles. (If you’re a fan of antiheros, historical sagas, and high drama, you might want to give this series a try.)
If you search on Amazon for the title of the first book, this is what comes up: http://www.amazon.com/The-Game-Kings-Lymond-Chronicles/dp/0679777431/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1341460275&sr=8-1&keywords=the+game+of+kings. If you look at this entry, it says April 29th, 1997, both in the general search listing, and on the product page itself.
NOT QUITE TRUE, MY FEISTY INTERNET FRIENDS. The Game of Kings was actually published in 1961. I discovered the series in the 80s, and I devoured each one as fast as I could buy them. I loved them. I was breathless at the end of every one, and couldn’t wait to start the next. **I must say at this point, I have no idea how they would read now, so I don’t know how dated the series would feel to a reader in 2012. I would love to reread them again and find out how I would react to them now, as an older reader.**
I wish there was a way to organize the chaotic, half remembered, overstuffed library of half remembered plots, scenes, and things I have read in my brain. There are a lot of reader-oriented websites that can help with this, such as Goodreads and Shelfari, where you can add titles that you’ve read to your “bookshelves†and you can rate them, and share recommendations with friends. These sites are awesome and powerful, and they are a super way to connect with other readers. But they have their limitations too.
This is why I thought I would share another website with you, called What Was That Book? I’m intrigued and charmed by the concept behind this website. It claims, “This community reunites people with the books they’ve lost!†What an idea!
Have you ever had a half remembered phrase from a book, or perhaps a plot of something that you remembered absolutely adoring, but you cannot for the life of you pinpoint what the name of that blasted book was?
This website gives you a chance to recover those details. You can post a blog with the details that you remember, and people respond or not according to what they know. For example, one of the most recent postings starts like this: “There are three children’s picture books I would have read in the early ’90s (in America) that I have been trying to find for so long…here is what I can remember about them:…†The rest of that post is too long and detailed to copy here. And the person got four comments, the first of which hit the nail on the head and identified the books for the person who posted!
Eureka!
This website has its limitations too, such as how much information someone who is posting can offer, and who might be reading and responding at any given time. But I feel that it is a powerful addition to the many assets that are available to active readers who are online these days.
~~~
For readers, have you ever rebought a book you have already read, or have you tried to remember the name of a story you read?
Comment for a chance to a story of your choice from my backlist of current publications. If you already have the all the novels and novellas on my backlist, you can always give your prize to a friend! The giveaway will end at Carly’s discretion. Thank you so much, Carly, for having me on your blog!
Don’t forget to visit CARLY at Thea’s Blog – for a chance to win a Serendipity Backlist title … and talk about When Life Gets in The Way … Click HERE!
VISIT THEA HARRISON
Thea Harrison’s Website
Twitter – @TheaHarrison
www.facebook.com|TheaHarrison
Welcome Thea! Always fun finding new authors!
I don’t recall starting to read a book I have already read, but I have bought the same book more than once before I have read it. I have a pile of books to catch up on….about 50!
Love the idea for the What Was That Book website. I will have to go check that out.
Have a great day!
Welcome to the jungle, Thea!!! :cooldance: I love the Elder Races books so much! Ive read them all and can’t wait for the next release. Started listening to Storm’s Heart on my walk this morning.
The updating of covers have caught me a few times and I have repurchased books I already own. I usually just give the book to the library or take it to the used book store.
Thank you Thea for the interview, I love hearing from authors about their books, we get some good insight.
Welcome Thea Harrison! I feel your pain when it comes to buying duplicate stories. I have done that twice in my life by accident, since like you I have been reading books since I was three or four. It is difficult now that I am older, and several books are coming out with new releases, but really they are just re-issued in a newer fashion. However, if a book catches my attention in a store twice, several years apart, it must be a decent story. I have also bought a duplicate copy of a book, Their Eyes Were Watching God comes to mind, because I read it in school and I thought I didn’t own it. I bought it on sale, brought it home and placed it on my bookshelf. Two years later, I had moved to a new state and was unpacking boxes, when I came across the book, and then found an older version of that book in the box with all of my old textbooks! Oh well. It is funny that you asked if we have ever tried to remember the title of a story we read in the past, because it was just two months ago when I had finally figured out the title to a story that has haunted me for a full decade. When it rains, or when I see a bunch of frogs, I always thought of a story about a town that when it rained, it rained man-eating frogs, but I could never remember the name of the book. After several attempts of searching for a book about man-eating frogs, two months ago I found the book. It is a short story called Rainy Season, in Stephen King’s Nightmares and Dreamscapes. I felt a huge weight disappear from my shoulders. I apologize to everyone for rambling on so much, I just really enjoyed this topic! I hope everyone has a wonderful day!!!
I have repurchased books in error and finally learned my lesson to ALWAYS look at the inside page of the book to see the original publications information… Most of the time, the book in question was being reissued with a new cover and the author’s name would be very familiiar [duh.. ]…
I have bought a few books that I thought were new…always sad. I picked up a few older Julie Garwoods with new covers before realizing they were reprints of her old stuff. Its like finding a friend again, I just wish it wasn’t so expensive
HUGE fan of Thea Harrison
I’ve read all of the Elder Race novels and cannot wait for the new release!!
Hi, Thea! Yeah, another Elders Races fangirl here and I had the chance to meet you briefly in NYC last summer at Nationals. I have trouble remembering titles and character names but I can usually remember plots and if I can get to the first page or two to read, then I’ll remember if I’ve read the book before I buy it. If I haven’t read the book, though…. Yeah. I’ve ended up with a few duplicates. I keep promising my book budget and TBR pile to get everything listed on Goodreads so I can keep track. :blushing: Adding to the confusion is that I normally read digitally and try to limit my *dead tree* books to ones I really want on my library shelves. Sometimes I have the book on the Kindle, see it on sale in paper and end up buying it. All my duplicates are sent over to the volunteer library at our local VA hospital. More women vets now, plus wives and daughters there with their male veterans mean the need for more books.
For romance readers trying to remember the title and info on a book they’ve read, Sarah at Smart B!tche$ has HaBO (Help a B* Out) where you can email her the details you remember and she puts it out on the blog for readers to come up with the answer. The Google-Fu of the B!+chery is amazing when it comes to romance books. Glad to know someone else is doing it for all genres!
Thanks for dropping by Thea. Can you give us a hint as to what’s upcoming with the Elders?
I have rebought the same book many times. Augh. The pain of it all. I now have a system (besides my database of books I have given to the goodwill). Welcome to the jungle. No need to enter me in the drawing as I have a backlog of books. I’ll have to put your titles on my “to buy” list.
Welcome Thea!!!! There is a book i read years ago – a Western. I loaned it to a coworker and you know how that story ends…. they never returned it. Unfortunately I can’t find it…..
I have bought a book that I have already read and I constantly remember a story, character or line that I cannot remember the title to save my life. I read so much that I find myself reading stories that remind me of other stories. It’s hard to keep everyone straight!
Good luck and happy writing!
Hi Thea. I love your books. I have bought a book that I have already read before and I sometimes forget the title of a book but can remember the characters.
.
:partygroup:
Hi everybody!
Thank you so much for all the wonderful, kind comments–reading that so many of you have enjoyed the Elder Races series has made my day.
Silver, I didn’t know that Smart B!tche$ has HaBO (Help a B* Out). I think these are fantastic tools for readers. There’s so much available now if you’re willing to get online and explore.
As for what is up and coming in the Elder Races, I’m pushing to meet a deadline on book six, which is Aryal’s story. After that it’s a race to the Romance Writer’s of America conference next Wednesday! I’m so excited–this will be my second national conference. If you’re going to the Literacy signing on Wednesday, be sure to stop by and say hi!
Hi, Thea! I just finished Dragon Bound and it was AMAZING!! I loved it to pieces! :-)
I’m actually pretty good at remembering which books I’ve bought, strangely enough– though it seems to have taken up all of my memory space, because I can’t remember anything else ;-)
Thank you for stopping by!!
Hi, Thea! I have bought the same book several times not knowing till I start reading. I usually keep reading because I enjoyed it the first time so why not a second.
Thank you for your blog! I will remember that website because I’ve bought books that I’ve already read before! I went to your website and all of your books look great. I hope I win!!!!
I’ve bought several duplicates, but so far they’ve all been by choice.
If you have a Mac, you can get Delicious Library to list books and other stuff (CDs, DVDs…) you own. You can even keep track of who you’ve loaned them to. (Anything with a barcode that can be found at Amazon can be listed…except ebooks.) DL has all my English print books listed, so it’s easy to check if I own the book or what the title was and how soon my print TBR will topple over and bury me…
I use Goodreads to keep track of books: Books I’ve read and how I felt about them (just a quick squee or some words why they didn’t work for me), books I own, what format they’re in, what device they’re on, whether I’ve downloaded them from the store yet, books I’ve ordered, books I might be interested in, who recommended them to me, books I want to reread… Shelving is a wondrous thing.
I have a few duplicates but they are usually a print & ebook copy of the same book… I usually try not to buy more than one of the same book, but it is hard when they sometimes change a book’s title or the book’s cover. I keep a list nearby with the books I have from my fav authors to help…
I have the first book from the Elder Races waiting in my TBR file… just have not gotten to it yet, but I have heard truly wonderful things about the series!
:yourock I’m a HUGE fan Thea! I was over at the Dear Author site & they recommended your Dragon Bound. I gobble up all your Elder Races books and can’t wait for Lord’s Fall!!
Welcome Thea!! I have Dragon Bound on my ereader, and just have to find time to get to it. And all the others.
As for buying multiple copies of books? I think I have helped out my local library quite nicely because of it. And let’s not count the digital copies of books I already have in book format.
::sigh::
I have bought the same book twice but got lucky. Barnes & Noble let me exchange it for something else. Yes, not being able to remember the name of a book I read really irritates me. I started a book journal 3 years ago and it really helps! I write down every single book I read, the author, where I got it and a synopsis of it. It is fun to go back and reread all my books that I have read and my little notes on it. My pet peeve when reading a book is finding grammatical mistakes and misspellings. I am always tempted to write in the book and fix it for the next person who reads it but I don’t. Oh well….
Great to have you here today Thea! I love paranormal books! :snoopy:
I have brought home books in the past that I’ve already read, but I’m pretty hopeless about remembering the names of stories, unless is a great favorite or a really memorable title. I love Goodreads, because now I have books I’ve read listed and I can check to see if I’ve read a book, or at least if I have it among the TBR pile.
I have some of the books in your Elder Races series, but I still need some of them before I get started on the series. I know I’m going to love reading the series though.
The ansewr is an unfortunate yes. I check the copyright date in print books – it’s harder with digital. My best solution has been to visit the author’s site and check out the booklist.
I have purchased books I have read. Mostly re-issues with new covers.
Hi Thea,
I haven’t bought a book I’ve already read.(unless it was revised by the author,but I did that on purpose) But I have forgotten titles and wrack my brain trying to remember it a few times.Then out of nowhere hours or days later I’ll remember
i have to look up book titles often. If i know the author at least i can figure it out. I have um tried to buy ebooks more than once. Thankfully Amazon tells you if you have bought it already. Happened to me today lol I have bought used paperbacks more than once. Sometimes i find i have 3 copies of a book. Oops.!!
Lisa B
Hi again!
I wanted to say thank you to Carly for having me guest here this weekend. And thanks again for your kind words about Dragon Bound and the Elder Races.
Ms. Bookjunkie, I didn’t know you could do that with Macs. I’m a pc user, and I keep threatening to make the switch over….
I think if a publisher is going to reissue a book with a new cover, they should say it right on the cover somehow.
I have to get more active about some of the online resources for shelving and keeping track. And I do love that Amazon will tell you if you’ve bought something before. The only challenge with that is that I don’t just shop at Amazon….
Oh, yes I have! It is usually because the book either has a cover that is da bomb or the publisher suddenly changed the cover and it is really appealling. So frustrating.
I have bought books I already read and I have tried to remember ones I already read so I can find it again. Some books are great for comfort reads.
I have made a duplicate purchase once or twice. Luckily if it’s a book on my Kindle, Amazon tells me I have already bought it. I keep track of my series on Fictfact but it doesn’t help for stand alone stories. I read a lot and I tend to read pretty fast so I can easily get my stories mixed up when trying to recall a certain book. One of these days I will learn to slow down but once I start reading…………I need to know what happens next.
I have bought the same books in different formats before (like a novella that was in an anthology and then the e-version of said novella, thinking it was a different story). Still, it’s not a big deal most of the time.
Then there were times when I had bought a book and then won it and then received it as a present…
My favorite book that I had to buy after I read it was Jennifer Crusie’s Welcome to Temptation!
I’ve been known to buy a book that was already on my tbr pile!!! Yes I’ve forgotten the names of books of I’ve read, but then I’ve been reading for a very long time. Welcome to the jungle Thea!
Hi Thea! I LOVE your books!!! I have definitely rebought books that I’ve already owned. I’ve started actually writing everything down that I’ve bought since I have so many.
Thanks!
-Amber
goodblinknpark @ yahoo.com
Welcome, Thea! I am just discovering your work and loving it.
I have bought second copies of several books over the years and if I can’t return or exchange them I wrap them up and give them as gifts, or put them in a basket with other finds and donate to charity auctions.
OH WOW! Thea!!!! I love your books! I’m a bit behind on the series but I blame work
I have definitely repurchased books that I “forgot” I own. I blame reissues and brand new covers. Nothing worse than going to the bookstore and seeing a “new” book by an author that I love and getting it home to lovingly put on the shelf by all the other books just to see another version! Grrr! I also have a very large personal library and sometimes I rebuy a book cuz I forgot I own it. I would kill for a bookstore/library scanner that would input all my books into a spreadsheet!
Thanks for a fun post and the great blog mentions! Congrats on all your success… as a loyal reader I’m so glad to see all the new books!
Hi Thea – I love your books. Dragos is the best dragon cause he can be a real jerk at times – I love it. Pia really knows how to keep him in line. I can’t wait to meet peanut but you have me so worried after the Tweet about that difficult scene you had to write last week.
I also have re-purchased many books. Thank heaven I have friend who enjoys the spoils ;).
I sometimes try to remember a book I’ve read a while ago.
yes I have. It’s frustrating sometimes when you read as much as I do and then can’t recall a title. GRRR sometimes it comes to me and other times I let it go. A year ago I started Goodreads to track my book. I find it the best way now to look at what I’ve read so I don’t make that mistake again. LOL
I have definitely bought books I had previously read from the library and decided were so good I wanted copies to read whenever the mood struck. Some are the Mercy Thompson series by Patricia briggs and The Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews.
I used to read Victoria Holt when I was younger and a couple of years ago I found myself buying another copy of Bride of Pendorric so I could read it again. I enjoyed reading it just as much this time.
Please! What is the URL to the book finding site: What Was That Book? I can’t find it on Google!!! And I’m desperate! Long, long ago I read a fantastic book set in pre WWII Japan, Hero (kind of) a high-class Japanese, Heroine (kind of) a married but unhappy Englishwoman I think. There was a tree on the cover and also in the title. I Loved That Book! And Thea, I love your books, too. Thanks for visiting with the Monkeys. Aren’t they fabulous ladies?
Hi again, everybody!
So many more lovely comments… thank you so much.
And no worries about any difficult scenes I might write… Sometimes the characters have got to cry, but there’s always some kind of HEA in the Elder Races series!
Also, there was supposed to be an embedded link to the What Was That Book site, but apparently it didn’t make it through to the posting–sorry about that!
Here’s the website: http://whatwasthatbook.livejournal.com/
Hope you guys are looking at a weekend filled with happy reading!
I bought a book I had already read once because they re-issued it with a new cover.
Yes! I still haven’t figured out the author of a book I loved. I had to pack up some of my books and that book is in 1 of a few boxes =( I have tried doing a search for book I read but I couldn’t find it…. I should make just look through my boxes
Ive done both. Most recently with the Nora Roberts rereleases. Im still reading her backlist, and honestly will be for a while. And I bought a rerelease that sounded so good. Started reading it and was like hmm Ive read this.