Valentine’s, Schmalentines! Romance Takes a Back Seat in The 25 Most Wanted
February 7, 2011 | 
Author Literary fiction, the paranormal, sci fi, crime fiction, thrillers and even a memoir about a comedian’s one-night stands; it seems like booklending.com readers (who tend to be female and between 35 and 55 years of age) are reading anything but traditional romance in the lead up to Valentine’s Day 2011.
While Amanda Hocking’s vampire and paranormal romances for young adults remain perennially popular, only two of the top 25 most requested books are traditional romance novels: A Season to be Sinful, by Jo Goodman, and Terry Spear’s An Accidental Highland Hero.
Another interesting trend we saw last week as well? Eight of the 25 titles fall under the umbrella of young adult fiction.
BookLending.com Most Wanted
Week of January 30, 2011
1. The Hangman’s Daughter, by Oliver Pötzsch
2. Water for Elephants: A Novel, by Sara Gruen
3. The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins
4. Switched (Trylle Trilogy, #1), by Amanda Hocking
5. Wicked Appetite, by Janet Evanovich
6. Mockingjay (The Final Book of The Hunger Games), by Suzanne Collins
7. Catching Fire (The Second Book of the Hunger Games), by Suzanne Collins
8. Heart of the Matter, by Emily Giffin
9. My Horizontal Life, by Chelsea Handler
10. My Blood Approves, by Amanda Hocking
11. The Lover’s Dictionary: A Novel, by David Levithan
12. Freedom: A Novel (Oprah’s Book Club), by Jonathan Franzen
13. The Templar Concordat, by Terrence O’Brien
14. Ender’s Game, by Orson Scott Card
15. We Interrupt This Date, by L.C. Evans
16. A Season To Be Sinful, by Jo Goodman
17. Sizzling Sixteen, by Janet Evanovich
18. Favorite, by Karen McQuestion
19. The Boy Who Came Back from Heaven, by Kevin Malarkey
20. Ascend (Trylle Trilogy, #3), by Amanda Hocking
21. Ender in Exile, by Orson Scott Card
22. Crossing Oceans, by Gina Holmes
23. Shiver, by Maggie Stiefvater
24. Firefly Lane, by Kristin Hannah
25. The Accidental Highland Hero, by Terry Spear
Posted in Most Wanted List
I have tried to loan the hunger games 3 (and the other 2 in the trilogy 2 times each) times now. It’s very frustrating. I don’t know if people are not whitelisting or not declining the loan if they already receive it. I also wish amazon let you revoke an invitation instead of waiting the 7 days.
I agree with @Rick, there should be a few take back rules allowed… e.g. “I’ve read it, thanks”, “I changed my mind”, “I bought it – couldn’t wait”, “lent to me in error”, etc.
Accidents take time and or the entire lend away from others. If the book is lent and it needs to be returned for a re-lend to someone who actually wanted or could use it, there should be a way to take it or send it back with no problems or questions asked.
You can loan it to me! I have been waiting for three weeks and no one has loaned it to me 🙁
Great idea! However, I think you have a supply & demand problem. Here are some thoughts to fix (which I also posted on my blog):
1. Create a rule that you cannot borrow until you lend.
2. Give “credits” for lending based on popularity and / or price of book. Remove credits when borrowing in the same way.
3. Sort available books into categories for easier browsing.
Good luck! Amy
http://productgirl.me
Hi Rick and thecolor: I agree, it’s super frustrating when a loaned book is not accepted by the borrower. We are working hard on getting the message out to people about whitelisting. Unfortunately, Amazon doesn’t provide a way for a user to decline a loan or send a message about why they are not accepting – it would be nice to see that functionality. That part of the lending/borrowing process takes place on Amazon’s platform and it is out of our hands.
Yeah a few more features by Amazon would be great.
It also seems like Amazon is either having issues or delays sending the invites. A few personal loans i have sent didn’t show up for a few days. My profile also shows that a book has been lent to me but i don’t have any requests as of yet and I have white-listed and check the spam folder.
Oh well, it will get better.
That’s interesting feedback on the invites delays … I think Amazon must be working hard to smooth out the edges on the process.