New Book Trailer Discoveries

I love movie trailers. Back in February I saw a trailer for The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and was hooked. It stuck in my mind as a “must see” movie, one I finally got to see this past weekend. But I’m not just a fan of movie trailers, I’m also addicted to book trailers.

Whether they’re created by readers or professional firms, I can be endlessly entertained by a good book trailer. I know some readers disagree. Over three years ago Jane posted here about her dislike of book trailers. Book trailers work differently for me than movie trailers. I rarely see a book trailer until after I’ve actually read a book. Every few months I find myself checking out YouTube for new – or previously undiscovered – book trailers by some of my favorite authors.  I thought it might be fun to share with you some of my new favorite trailers.

I love this trailer for C.A. Belmond’s A Rather Remarkable Homecoming. It begins with some gorgeous video of scenes where the book was set. It then moves on to a bit of text describing the characters and the plot. That’s it. It’s short, but the background music and everything about it fits with the book.

I’ve recently discovered a number of trailers for various books by Kristan Higgins. This trailer for Somebody to Love is a series of cute photos with words that tell a bit of the storyline. It’s okay, but I like this trailer for Until There Was You much more. Once again, it’s a series of photos, but has an engaging narrator.

I’m a big fan of Deanna Raybourn’s Lady Julia Grey series, and was excited to discover this trailer for her third book, Silent on the Moor. It’s atmospheric, with great opening scenes that evoke the remote area of Yorkshire where Lady Julia travels to track down Brisbane.

I like this trailer for Amanda Quick’s The Perfect Poison. In a short period of time it conveys the romance and mystery of the story, as well as effectively conveying the time period. And I love the first image of Caleb Jones.

I like this reader-created trailer for Gail Carriger’s Soulless. I’ll have to admit I didn’t think of Richard Armitage as Lord Maccon when I read the series, but it lends a whole different flavor to the books. And the scenes in the park could be straight out of the books.

This is a marvelous trailer for Laurie R. King’s The Language of Bees, one of the recent books in her Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes series. It’s much longer than many of the other trailers, but has high quality video, a marvelous narrator, and is true to the book.

There are some wonderful trailers for the Flavia de Luce mystery series. This trailer, for the author’s latest, I am Half Sick of Shadows, is rather stylish. One of my favorites is the trailer for the audio version of the first in the series, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie. The trailer features an excerpt from the audio book which is narrated by Jayne Entwistle. Completely different, is the Norwegian trailer for the book, which features real actors.

But most exciting for me, is that after years of looking I’ve finally discovered a fan-created trailer for Crocodile on the Sandbank, the first in Elizabeth Peters’ Amelia Peabody mystery series. It features some great photos from the period, with a few quotes and Amelia Peabody sayings imposed on top. I hope this is the first of many fan-created trailers for the series.

What about you? Do you like book trailers or hate them? If you like them, what are some of the features that make a trailer particularly enjoyable for you? And have you seen any recently that you’d like to share with us?

– LinnieGayl AAR