How do you get to hear about books?

I guess for most ministers, books are constant companions. But how do you get to know about them? How do you discover what's out there, let alone what's worth reading?

Years back, I'd hear about books in magazines. I'd browse a bookshop and, later, the college library. Maybe someone would mention something they'd been reading. Just occasionally I might get hold of a catalogue or two. And that was about it.

Now things are so very different. I still see book reviews in the occasional magazine but they're not often new to me or they tend to be a little too obscure. Bookshop scours are far rarer, certainly Christian bookshops. Ditto for theological libraries. Far and away the most extensive exposure to books is online.

But that needs to be broken down further. Blogs are a large source of information of what's new and what's helpful. And when a book is mentioned, it's only a few clicks to check it out on Amazon, read some reviews and add it to the wish list.

And then there's Amazon itself and Kindle - looking at what other customers have bought; clicking on an author's name and instantly seeing what else by them is available. Sometiems it's by personal recommendation but far and away it's the personal trawl and discovery.