Page 8 of 12
Re: How do you pick a book?
Posted: Sep 13th, '16, 22:42
by Akili Li
I've finally found a few more people to recommend for me. Huzzah!
Re: How do you pick a book?
Posted: Oct 16th, '16, 17:34
by Alizard
I find choosing books hard. on the one hand, I want to read "good" books, on the other, it limits my perception of what "bad" books are like. and prevents from shaping my own taste.
goodreads have been of some help lately thanks to detailed reviews. it's easier to see what exactly you may or may not like about the book, but then of course, you have to keep an eye on it while reading, in case it's not true
Re: How do you pick a book?
Posted: Oct 16th, '16, 18:04
by Akili Li
I find that goodreads does not usually tell me about the things I care about in books. It is tricky, because what people judge a book by varies.
I wish I knew of a site that routinely listed things like, how tightly written is it? What point of view is it in (or if it changes and has more than one, how often does it change and which are the varying points of view)? Does it have a prologue? Does it end on a cliffhanger? How emotionally intense is it? What kind of proportion does it have, of dialogue/description?
Re: How do you pick a book?
Posted: Oct 16th, '16, 18:11
by Alizard
some reviewers actually mention those things! of course it's not routinely, but sometimes you see that people are annoyed by the same things you are, and that helps. you may want to find a reviewer you can trust, not just on goodreads, a person or a few people who pay attention to those aspects
Re: How do you pick a book?
Posted: Oct 16th, '16, 22:56
by Butter
The look of the cover doesn't matter much to me.
Yes, I do read the summary but sometimes don't find them useful as I may I have already decided to buy or read the book before I ever get to the summary inside it.
Try not to skim for the words inside, I do skim for any photographs if there are any.
I don't read books solely because they are recommended, sometimes but not always.
Prefer Non Fiction Mainly, so I look for book in the NF Genre.
Movies sometimes influence me in choosing a book. Books always seem to be better than the movies though.
Re: How do you pick a book?
Posted: Oct 16th, '16, 23:26
by Azrafil
I look at the title and the original cover first online, since I learned that sometimes the original covers just fit better. If the summery is than fitting for my taste and the first 5 sentances are written well, I buy it.
Re: How do you pick a book?
Posted: Oct 17th, '16, 00:12
by Prince Jalarian
I look at the cover, then I read the summary. If I like it, I will see if it's at my local library.
Re: How do you pick a book?
Posted: Oct 17th, '16, 06:21
by Eaving
Nowadays I will pick up most anything. Romance, biography, poetry, history, economics, science fiction, historical fiction. Working in a bookstore broadens your tastes, I think.
It has to look like it will have something to say, for me. A lesson or some kind of knowledge, probably about people.
Re: How do you pick a book?
Posted: Oct 20th, '16, 07:00
by ikiteru
Largely I find new books based off recommendations by friends I trust. Or, whatever happens to be blowing up my tumblr atm. This has had very mixed results with some books that I can't imagine having lived without and never would have found (The Raven Boys) and some.... that I'm not going to mention because I wasn't even able to get through the first chapter.
Re: How do you pick a book?
Posted: Oct 23rd, '16, 05:39
by Live_Evil
First the title has to catch my attention then if the summary gets me interested I'll read the book, if not then I move on to the next book.