How do you choose the books to read?

[masterlibrarian]

Hi
I'm curious about the path you follow to choose your readings.
How do you choose an author or a book?
Do you always find what you are searching for in a book?

[PeterL]

Hi
I'm curious about the path you follow to choose your readings.
How do you choose an author or a book?

I choose either the author or the book. If I am looking for something specific, usually non-fiction, I will look for a book. If I am looking for a kind of writing, I will look at authors, especially ones that I know.


Do you always find what you are searching for in a book?

Alas, no, I don't always find what I want, unless I am rereading something for a specific detail.

[Idril]

Sometimes I just wander the aisles of Barnes and Noble with no plan or idea of what I'm looking for, just looking for a pretty cover or an interesting name but most of the time, I'm looking for either an author or a genre, like Victorian Lit or Russian Lit. I actually do most of my book shopping online from amazon and they always give you suggestions based on your prior purchases and most of the time they just suggest things I already own but I've gotten lucky with a couple of them so far. And no, I don't always find what I'm looking for but those few gems I do find are worth all that searching. :D

[Eagleheart]

I am usually tempted to read what I am told not to...Some of my surroundings have developed the habit of rejecting books openly which is a valuable guide as most of my experience shows that I appear to like writings not appreciated by them...A valuable source I must say...The natural way is to keep reading the books of an author who has already impressed me...

[Jean-Baptiste]

I often rely on the books that I read to suggest what I'm going to read next. James Joyce gave me a fifty page list of books to read in Ulysses alone. I like the idea of reading the books that an admirable author thought valuable enough to mention or discuss in their own works.

As for finding books, I'm well acquainted with my library, and have been since long before I started working there. So far I've been fortunate in my searches for obscure books. The WorldCat consortium has been a great friend to me. There has only been one book that I was unable to get. They said there were only to copies extant, both housed in the British Museum, and they weren't going to send one to me. :bawling: :D

[Poetess]

I either choose the book due to the cover, or the title. If it`s mystic, dark, contaning strange faces, attractive icons..

I take the author in consideration, but in rare cases..

[higley]

Interestingly, some of my favorite books I have discovered simply because their pretty covers caught my eye... ;)

But mostly I search by genre. I browse titles in that section and whenever one catches my eye I pick it up. Also, my library has an excellent online catalog. I will look up a subject of particular interest to me, find a likely-looking book and reserve it.

[mtpspur]

Truthfully I read less and less these days. I tend to read series characters. Currently reading Benard Cornwell's 21st Sharpe novel, Sharpe's Fury--almost done. I concentrate on certain authors who have the disconcerting habit of dying on me within 3 books after I discover them though John Mortimer (Rumpole of the Bailey) keeps avoiding the Grim Reaper. John D. MacDonald, Adam Hall, Bruce Alexander all gone after I started collecting them.

[Erna]

For me there are a lot of ways to start a book:
- Mostly they are suggested by a friend or I read a interesting review in the newspaper
- Sometimes my mother bought something and then I will read it too (also happens vice versa).
- Just strolling around in the bookstore, not specifically searching, just looking what's new and interesting :)

[grace86]

I think it is funny how most of us already mentioned we buy a book based on its cover. I don't think we are supposed to do that per se, but oh well :D

I tend to wander around a book store (Barnes and Noble as well Idril) and just pick up something that catches my eye. I often am there for hours reading the backs of the books for a little more information.

But I also am reading reviews online and I check out what other people bought along with what I am looking at.

Hmm, but I do like to stick with authors I particularly enjoy if I can help it.

No, I do not always find what I am looking for in a book - sometimes its better. :D

[Shannanigan]

Usually I just grab something off the fantasy shelf of the local bookshop, but my academic and non-fiction readings are usually recommended by professors whenever I mention interest in a particular subject...I have professors that care about my education :)

[grace86]

...I have professors that care about my education :)

That's always a good thing. My lit and english professors were always suggesting things to read as well.

[Vedrana]

I often buy 'classic' literature (i.e. Victorian, English, sometimes classic Australian). Generally speaking, if I've heard of it and like the sound of the plot, I'll buy it. Sometimes I'll buy it because I happen to like the author. And I will admit that if I'm in the local op shop and I see a $2 copy of Madame Bovary or The Juvenalia of Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte, I grab it regardless, because I can't resist a bargain. And in fact, I am really enjoying Madame Bovary so far.

I agree about pretty covers...I am often attracted first to books with interesting pictures on the front. I'm also attracted to older books, like a copy of Presuasion and Northanger Abbey which I found in the op shop, which was from around 1960 and had the previous owner's notes and scribblings on it (from when they were studying it, no doubt). Not that they're antiques, but for some reason, I like the feeling of 'history' they have. Do I sound too sentimental?

[Adudaewen]

I love wandering around a book store. I usually have to set a time limit when I go in one (and a budget) because I could truly stay there all day long. I usually just wait for a title or author's name to catch my eye. Then I read the first few sentences of to book and go from there. I also recieved a book list from a teacher about 10 years ago (ug that makes me sound old) that had about 300 classics listed on it. And I've slowly gone from that list and whatever catches my attention. Also if they make a movie out of a book, I like to pick up the book first and give that a read before I go see the movie.

[kathita]

I usually read books other people reccommended, or the ones i'd seen as movies.

No, i don't always find what i'm searching for in a book, but i always finish them hoping there would be something interesting in the end ><

[Obdurate]

I'm basically the same as kathita. I tend to find forums where there's a lot of book conversation, and I just read what people say and if they can sell a book well (not by saying what genre it is, I hate genre talk), then I'll try to find it eventually.

And I've never read a book I didn't like, even the books I was forced to read in school I ended up liking at least a little bit. I guess I'm lucky in that way, or I'm just easy to please.

[masterlibrarian]

Well, thank to all of you for your answers.
I believe that, since we choose casually many of the book to read, we also miss many other masterpieces, only because they didn't come in our hands in the right moment.
What do you think about that?

[THX-1138]

recommendations,but recently i don't because i had some that i ended up hating the books so mostely i follow the genre that i like which 20th centurey classics and mostely the popular ones.

[certiorari]

I usually just look around the bookstore or library until I see an interesting title (or author, usually title though), I read the back and inside cover if it's a book like that that. Read a few pages and if it keeps me intrigued I'll buy it.

Some of my friends lend me books sometimes too. I'll pretty much always read them.

[Nick Rubashov]

I remember reading a list of "the top 100 books ever written", and decided to take that list and start reading. Then before I started reading I though "well, why don't I just make my own list?" So I did...and I've only read maybe one or two books off of it. I always get sidetracked to something else I never knew existed but looks intensely interesting. Basically I try to come up with a system, but just end up reading whatever I feel like.

[Rosalind_May]

Recommendations from a couple of friends and my English teacher, 'if you like this then try...' affairs, reviews, nice covers, because it's cheap, etc. I buy loads in charity shops so I tend to pick stuff up just for the sake of buying a book a lot of the time, and I'm quite often pleasantly surprised by what I end up with.

[PeterL]

Well, thank to all of you for your answers.
I believe that, since we choose casually many of the book to read, we also miss many other masterpieces, only because they didn't come in our hands in the right moment.
What do you think about that?

That may be true, but it doesn't make much difference. People will read for pleasure what they like whether it is a masterpiece or trash, and most people don't know the difference. Publishers don't help, because they publish based on their concept on what will sell.

[dramasnot6]

I have spent hours and hours of time at a bookstore, prefferably second hand, browsing through books. There are so many techniques in choosing a book, and i try to use as many as possible. Choosing and interacting with a book is like interacting with a person, they all come from different contexts and have different personalities and therefore need to be treated in ways best suiting them. I could go for any combination of techniques, reading the backs, the titles, the review extracts, the authors description or preface, reading the first few pages, picking a random spot of the book and read from there, etc.

[Tasartir]

I read recommendations from friends and relatives. If not, I go to amazon.com and just read some of the reviews of books, as well as those "lists" that people make recommending books to everyone and writing down why people should read them. Yeah, that's basically it. Plus, I study English so pretty much whichever book the teachers assign and other books by the same authors if I liked them.

[Annamariah]

Sometimes I read books recommended by my friens, relatives or teachers.
Sometimes I choose a random book from library, if it has an interesting plot summary on its back cover.
Quite often I choose a book because I've liked some other novels by the same author.

Edit: I almost forgot, I also get a lot of books as birthday- or Christmas presents, and of course I have to read them all :D

[Scheherazade]

After reading books randomly for years, about two years ago, I decided to be somewhat more systematic and read with a purpose because I realised that I ended up reading similar things book after book.

So now I read the books chosen by the Book Club and am also trying to read all the books in BBC's Big Read list (top 200). It gives me a wider range of choice and a chance to try different genres and authors I would not do so on my own.

After completing the BBC's list, I might to move onto Pulitzer winners... Or another similar list.

More information on BBC's Big Read and the discussion thread (http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3711&highlight=bbc&#37;27s+read)

[Stieg]

Book reviews.

Book lover recommendations.

Author recommendations via review or discussion (otherwise not always reliable because some times authors are just blurbing each other, no don't go by bookcover blurbs, all that can amount to is professional etiquette).

Author's originality/impact/influence.

Author/book reputation and/or hype.

Taking a gamble.

[beat wanderer]

The way i find best find great books it to use amazon. The reviews are good, it seems like alot of english majors write reviews as well as the general reader so it gives a good contrast. The lists that various people put on there are a great help as well, its good to see additional reccomended titles from someone who has similar tastes to yourself. I also like reading most of the other quality titles from an author once i enjoy one of their works. I haven't really gone wrong yet doing this.

[hyperinsomnia]

I started off with one book, which had references to other books, which I then read, which mentioned other books... I'm currently reading twenty-eight books... On and off.

[kandaurov]

I go for the classics. I guess that I figure that if it is eternal it must be good. I play safe because choosing a horrid book costs me precious euros (I'm portuguese, heh) and, more importantly, precious hours. By classics I mean Wilde, Yeats, Nietzsche, Poe, Dostoyevsky, Kafka, Homer, you get the idea.

Reccomendations from literature teachers from my college is also a good source.

I avoid Dan Browns and the like. Usually they are only after easy money. I also avoid people who write compulsively, and light-lit writers.

If you have no idea of what you are after, the title, I'm a bit ashamed to admit, does help a great deal. In a place with thousands of books, a catchy title may make the difference.

[optimisticnad]

Books choose us. Not the other way round.

I can't really say to be honest. I don't know. Sometimes I read classics and other times its just so random. I really do read anything and everything, Or at least the first ten pages and then decide whether its worth carrying on. I don;t know. My head hurts too! And i do believe books choose us.

[Aiculík]

I usually walk around bookstore, randomly choosing books with interesting names, covers or familiar authors. (Usually they are books by young authors. Classics like Dickens or Austen... are too ordinary and predictable to spend my money on them.) Then I look at the back cover, read what's written there, if it sound good, I open book on few places and read some bits. If I like it... I usually go buy capuccino (that's why I like big bookstores) and read first chapter, or two and if I still think it's worth it, I buy it - or put i on my list of after-salary-comes things. :lol:

[Bakiryu]

Mostly I read the back cover, then the ending, if i like it, I'll buy it.

[JJLuke]

I usually walk in different sections of the book store. Pulling out books randomly, or with interesting title names. Look at the cover to get a mental image, read the back, and if I am still interested then I buy the book. Thing is a I have a narrow range of subjects that I find interesting, so its not like I walk out with bags full of books. :p:lol:

[Stieg]

Mostly I read the back cover, then the ending, if i like it, I'll buy it.

The ending? Don't you ever feel cheated?

Personally, the book's cover the spin design and coverart has more limited value to me than the description. Author blurbs aren't to be wholly trusted either, sometimes that is only etiquette between writers (scratch your back you scratch mine principle).

[Bakiryu]

The ending? Don't you ever feel cheated?

Nope! Because usually when I begin reading I forget the ending and get surprised! Same when I re-read the book 3 months later (I have really bad memory).

[quasimodo1]

My method of choosing a book: First it must be non-fiction or sometimes classical fiction but always the fiction I must believe to be masqueraded fact. Also certain specific topics of non-fiction like psychology, books on psychiatry that an advanced layman can understand, history of course and not the kind necessarily written by the victors, biography if the personage is interesting and sometimes wild sci-fi that with some limited imagination might one day be science fact. quasimodo1

[Mortis Anarchy]

I have a little composition book that I always carry with me. I have lists of books in there, although, normally I don't choose a book out of it...:p

If a book catches my eye its either because of the title, the cover or if I'd read something and it was similar...or by people recommending them to me. I really like researching books and finding ones that are similar or if a writer that I really enjoy recommends a book, I'll normally take a look at it. Sometimes the descriptions of books don't match the story...same with the covers, etc.

[hedbanger]

I read nonfiction. XD

[Liocha]

I usually go to a bookstore, and spend some time there. I usually buy both books that I haven't read from authors that I like and also one or two books for unknown (to me) writers.

[applepie]

Mostly I read the back cover, then the ending, if i like it, I'll buy it.

:lol: :lol: :lol: I do the same thing and it drives some of my other literary minded friends mad when I do. I only do this with my fiction, no brain power reading. Normally I will just choose a new author from a list of classic authors, or I will search out something by a personal favorite that I haven't ever read before. I have no real method, I just make sure it is something new.

[Dori]

I read everything and anything that I can get my hands on (well, it takes a while, but you get the point). For non-fiction usually if it has something to do with anything before the 19th century, I will look into it. Warfare is the topic I tend to favor as far as history goes. Sometimes I buy books like Sun Tzu's Art of War or Herodotus's The Histories. Philosophical treatises often find their way onto my shelf too.

When I look for fiction, they are often classics. First of all, because they are cheap. Secondly, they are good reads for the most part. If it's not a classic, it's historical fiction for me. Rarely I choose a fantasy. Most of my choices are based off of recommendations.

[Elinor Dashwood]

I usually try to remember any reviews iv seen in newspapers, and i tend to choose books that are prize winners or books from authors iv read and enjoyed before.

[aabbcc]

In the most ordinary and the craziest of ways ;)

There are a couple of people I know - great bibliophiles - whose recommendations I not only appreciate, but also take seriously; and even though I will not, as "diligent student", run to the next library the moment I walk out of their apartments (well... most of the time I will not, there are exceptions :)), I will always have their recommendations somewhere in the back of my mind and find myself picking those books off the shelves of bookstores and libraries.

The next way to discover something new is internet (included this forum), online bookshops and alike - not that I ever buy anything off those bookshops, but when I have the leisure I browse them, waiting for something to catch my attention.

There is always the "random" factor, a book or an author which simply finds you, and which you borrow/buy at random, not knowing precisely what it was. Once in the library I borrowed books on the principle "I will close my eyes and five books which my fingers will feel something special about go with me" :D I tend to do such random stuff, or borrow books off their covers, or give my library card to friends and tell them to surprise me with their choices. You would not believe how many interesting books I found randomly.

A part of my readings is influenced by school, I attend a school with awesome literature curriculum (both in native and in foreign languages), which is rather broad, so I do my best to read the books off that list as well. I also find online other schools' and other countries' similar "to-read" lists, and sometimes decide to try something off them.

Most of the time, it will be dependant on my mood and what I feel like reading, and most of the time I have at least some vague idea about what I wish to read (at least I know what periods I wish to read, which authors, etc).

[grace86]

Mortis...I like your little composition book idea....I've got post it notes and lists everywhere!

[Stieg]

Mortis...I like your little composition book idea....I've got post it notes and lists everywhere!

I have legalpad full of different lists, somethings I've purchased (and subsequently cross out), somethings I can't afford yet for various reasons but mainly lower on my choice reading, and things I probably wont ever get around to reading but dont want to scribble them out just in case.

[Bakiryu]

Me too, I have a lot of books from trilogies and quartets and series and such and you see me making little book lists everywhere! List of books by the same author. vampire book list. faerie book list.

ONE DAY the LISTS SHALL KILL ME!

[grace86]

ONE DAY the LISTS SHALL KILL ME!

Oh dear I hope not, it's kind of nice having you around. ;)

To think, keeping a small notepad with you and writing down the books that come to you seems so obvious and common sense, it's kind of silly to not have thought of it before. :blush:

[Stieg]

Me too, I have a lot of books from trilogies and quartets and series and such and you see me making little book lists everywhere! List of books by the same author. vampire book list. faerie book list.

ONE DAY the LISTS SHALL KILL ME!

I surely hope not. ;)

Oh, btw, have you've read Nightlife or Moonshine by Rob Thurman? And how is he? I hear he is pretty funny.

[Dickens59]

I follow recommendations of people I trust. I read classics because I tend to enjoy them. I also wander around my local used bookstore and just pick up something that looks interesting. As far as nonfiction goes, I pick up a lot of books about movies. Just can't get enough.

[Behemoth]

I go pretty much by the blurb, but i'm also drawn, like a magpie, by shiny and brightly-coloured covers and artwork :p

[Bakiryu]

I go pretty much by the blurb, but i'm also drawn, like a magpie, by shiny and brightly-coloured covers and artwork :p

Yes, shiny-ness is an attractive factor. Books sit on their cases like brightly colored paper flowers and call us with their bright colours. I read the back flap of course, but I love the top covers :lol:

[ClickForth]

okokok

[THX-1138]

i usually search in a specific genre and i buy the most popular ones in this genre like for example 1984 in the dystopian novels ,i used to buy my books based on recommendation but all of them were waste of my time so i stopped doing that.i never bought a book for it's cover but if there were diffrent covers for the book i have in mind i would take the best cover,i always search any book and read reaviews about it before taking it.

[Bakiryu]

I read wikipedia all the time and I also have a few favorite authors also.

[Walter]

According to my mood and what I think the book will contain, duh?
I'll buy and read almost anything, except some topics and some authors.
Am I always satisfied? Not always with my purchase, but then the book is simply put aside. Most often I am satisfied with the books I do choose to read. I'm attracted on impulse, but browse carefully.