Yeah, but why some books and not others?

Certain books get recommended to Robbie A LOT. And yet, to the neverending frustration of readers, he never seems to get around to reading them. There is a good reason for this. If Robbie senses that a book or a series of books is already very popular and highly publicized, he doesn’t feel an urgent need to review them because they’re selling themselves pretty well. He considers it more important to draw your attention to lesser-known treasures, books that deserve more attention. Often Robbie will wait until the best-selling book that everyone wants him to read comes out in paperback before he buys it for himself. He is in no hurry because he knows they’ll be around for a while.

But so much rich magic, so much reading pleasure can be found in unexpected places, forgotten titles, authors relegated to the discount rack or the public library—some of them, outrageously, out of print. This is where Robbie’s missionary zeal kicks in. These books NEED to be on the Book Trolley, need to be brought to the attention of the discerning reader in search of something special. Thus Robbie will glom onto whole strings of unjustly neglected books by Joan Aiken and Diane Duane, for instance, because he really believes you will love them and they deserve to be loved. Meanwhile, books such as Inkheart and Cirque du Freak, authors such as Tamora Pierce and Orson Scott Card, are not in any great danger of being overlooked. Your feedback has proven that you know about them, and they will still be in print when Robbie gets around to reading them. So despair not!

Return to The Book Trolley.

If you would like to contact Robbie, you may do so here.

Logo: photo by Julia Eisenberg (sphaera)