WhichBook
If you've been online for long, you've probably come across whichbook.net once or twice. The site, a project by UK librarians, uses data gathered by 150 trained volunteers to help readers pick the perfect book for them.
Readers go to the site, use up to 12 sliding scales to indicate what they are in the mood for (Sex or no sex? Unusual or conventional? Happy or sad? Unpredictable or expected?) and are matched up with several books that fit the bill. Alternatively, readers can go into character/plot/setting mode and tell exactly what attributes they are looking for in a book.
Most of the book choices include excerpts, so readers can immediately take a look and see if they are interested in the book. All of the books are supposed to be in the UK library system, so readers in the UK can click a handy "borrow" button and reserve the book in their local library.
All of this is fine and dandy, but I had to wonder if the site actually included any books I would be interested in. After much experimentation, I realized there are very few fantasy books in the database, which makes it less than useful for a fantasy freak. Also, it is a UK site, which means many of the books are British. Frankly, I don't generally care for the British sense of humor and the slower plot pacing that I've found in the few British books I've read.
Despite my misgivings, I decided that the readers of Biblio Phile deserved an in-depth review of the Whichbook service. I gritted my teeth, slid the slider to the complete edge of three book attributes (happy, unpredictable, and unusual) and determined that I would read the first book recommended to me, no matter what.
Thanks to my extreme settings, I was recommended The Last Flight of the Flamingo by Mia Couto. Set in Mozambique, the book deals with colonialism and African folk-tales. There is no argument that the book is unpredictable and unusual. In fact, it's so unpredictable and unusual that I still don't understand the plot (UN soldiers are exploding, leaving just their helmets and male organs behind) or even know the main character's name.
Whichbook gave me exactly what I asked for. Unfortunately, I don't think I really knew what I wanted. I like to think that I like unusual books, but I couldn't make heads or tails of the plot of this book. I did appreciate a look into the results of colonialism and the African people's perspective of outsiders coming in and trying to establish order, but I think I could have found that in a less strange book. I remember one of my college professors telling the class that in some cultures the people only see three colors; red, black and white. I thought of that little factoid often as I trudged my way through the pages of this book. Reality was completely thrown upside-down and twisted all around and I had no idea if it was supposed to be literal or not.
If I decide to use Whichbook again, I think I'll take a more cautious approach when choosing the qualities I'm looking for. Instead of sliding the little yellow arrow all the way to one side or the other, I think I'll leave it closer to the middle. If nothing else, this experiment has taught me that as much as extremes appeal to me on a surface level, I don't really like them for more than a few minutes at a time.