Other forum sites often have a dedicated thread(s) called: "Books you may be interested in", "Books and video recommendations" or some such.
The thread is then recalled and added to as new additions warrant.
At this site, if we have a separate forum for recommendations, I would never visit it. If I am interested in composting (for example), I don't want to wade through recommendations for good books on shade gardening to find something on composting. Conversely, EVERYONE who visits the Shade Gardening forum will benefit from shade gardening book recommendations. It is my opinion that such recommendations be placed in their corresponding, preexisting forums.
I'm not fond of long lists of stickies, either. Sticky or not, if we don't want a recommendation thread, perhaps a "Recommend in this forum" button can be considered. This would be unique to each forum, only visible on that particular forum's page (not in the left sidebar). I might also suggest this not be in thread discussion format. Rather, a design similar to the already existing vendor recommendations could be appropriate. Whenever a new recommendation is added, the button could change color, flash or do something that could attract attention until viewed, just like a thread.
