If you’re a bookworm like me, you probably recognize that empty feeling you get when you read the final words in the latest really great book. I get the same feeling when I’m writing a book, but in the back of my mind I know I can always revisit these people. Maybe, if there’s still a lot of story that could be told, you have this hopeful little feeling that you can write another book featuring the characters you’ve come to love. Surely that’s the emotion that keeps Diana Gabaldon going  even though she’s already produced thousands of pages in seven books about Jamie and Claire Fraser. But as readers, we don’t have that option. We can hope the author has more ideas in store, but more often than not, he or she has moved on to new characters and a new story, often in a new place and even a different time.

So, you’ve just clicked back to the menu in your electronic reader, or closed the cover of this book you just loved and set it aside. What now? Well….. now you want to find another great book. Maybe even better than the last. My first recourse used to be to hurry down to the library or the closest bookstore and see what else this author wrote. Today it’s even easier – just head to Barnes&Noble.com or Amazon.com. Online booksellers have even done some of the homework, showing the covers of books others who enjoyed the book you just finished ‘also bought.’ The most exciting thing is to discover that this author has dozens more books already out and you won’t have to wait until their next book is released. But what if this is their first book, or you’ve already read their other books? What if none of the suggested books appeals to you?

That’s when you start paying attention to your friends who’ve been raving about a new author they just discovered. One of the nice things about Facebook, in spite of the games they play that leave you out of so many posts, or about Twitter in spite of the thousands of posts you can’t possibly keep up with, is that authors and their friends or enthusiastic readers post links to books all the time. Books you might never have discovered otherwise. For people like me, it’s a win-win bonanza.

But today, I’d like to hear about the books my blog readers have read and loved. Or Authors. I especially like to find new authors. So, please, leave me a comment – tell me what your favorite book/author of all time is and also what is the most recent book you’ve read that you just loved and couldn’t stop raving about. I’m going to compile a list of all the new suggestions you ladies and gentlemen make and two of you will win a $10.00 GC to either Barnes & Noble or Amazon – your choice. Be sure to leave me info on how to reach you, preferably an email address, which you can send privately to me via skye@skye-writer.com