Here are the four criteria I always consider when shopping for a new read:
Author recognition
We all have our favorite authors, and when I see that one of mine has a new book out, I'll almost always buy it without too much thought. Jeff Lindsay just released a new Dexter book? Sold! Jeffery Deaver has a new Lincoln Rhyme novel out? Sold! I'm a loyal reader, and supporting the authors I love is a no-brainer.
Cover Art
I admit it, I've been known to take a chance on a book simply because I liked the cover. I'll use Fangland by John Marks as an example of this. I knew nothing about the author or the book, but the cover was wonderfully creepy. It reminded me of a movie poster, so I bought it (which turned out to be a good decision – I loved the book).
Back cover/jacket flap blurb
Quite often I'm enticed by the blurb – and that's exactly why it's there. Consider this from the jacket flap of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins:
"In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV."I had never heard of Suzanne Collins. The book cover didn't do much for me. And at that point, I hadn't really read much YA. But this blurb? Those two sentences sent me straight to the cash register.
Personal recommendation
There's nothing I appreciate more than a book recommendation. Now, please don't confuse this with book reviews, which are a different animal. I love it when someone I personally know, who knows my tastes, tells me there's a book I really need to read. My mother recommends (or not recommends) books to me all the time, and she's almost always right about what I'll end up enjoying.
What I don't take into consideration when buying a book?
Anonymous reader reviews, like the kind you find on Amazon.com. I'm wary of listening to the advice of somebody I don't know. Which isn't to say they're without merit, it's just that anonymous reviews don't sway me personally one way or the other.
What about you? What makes you decide to buy a book? What makes you decide to put a book down and keep looking?
18 comments:
Very wary of those amazon reviews too. Their recommendations for you feature is pretty handy though! I trust people who I know and know me and what they recommend. Amazing cover art is hard to resist too, you're so right.
Twice I've bought books without consulting their online reviews... they were awful. One was a recommendation, the other one was a new series with the characters that I had been reading in the before series. That was last last time I bought a book that was not a classic just for fun.
As for the back cover, usually it doesn't make sense to me. If you've ever read the back covers for literary fiction, they don't have very much about the story, or they're very vague.
All in all, if amazon.com has a lot of reviews for a single book, then the average of all the people's reviews is likely how I feel about the book. I tend to get books that have gotten a 4.5 or 5 star, sometimes other books get a chance because of their cool cover or an interesting plot line. The two books that I mentioned earlier got lower than 4.5 stars.
I have yet to find a living author that I like that much to follow his/her every book :).
Usually it's all connected. A writer likes another one and draws inspiration from him, then I want to check him out. Sometimes it's about having the feeling of an era. For example. Reading Hunter S. Thompson made me want to read Mailer, Wolfe and Capote.
Sometimes it's about a personal hunch too...
I tend to crack a book open and skim the first couple of paragraphs or pages to get a feel for whether I like an author's voice and/or style.
As an author, I hope most people don't shop for books that I do myself. Without a personal recommendation, a personal acquaintance with an author, or previous exposure to the author's writing (e.g., through a library or a website), I will never, ever plunk cash down for a book. Never. I haven't once and I probably won't. Too gosh-darned expensive.
But, I hope most people aren't as stingy as I am when I have a published book sitting on the shelves.
I am selective about buying books too. I've bought books after I found out they were made into movies. Or if they are on the bestseller lists. Or if the blog/forum world are chattering about them. I've also bought books after I've read them at the library.
Mostly I buy books from authors I already love. I'll read the first couple of books via the library, and from that point, I buy them cause I don't want to wait my turn.
Impatience prompts me to purchase more than anything. :o)
Umm, I am slightly embarrassed to admit that my criteria is not as refined. I too go by author recognition and personal recommendations, but to be frank - that is it.
I do trend to particular genres, but more or less by the ones I avoid, rather than the ones I read. And my rules are not etched in stone, but rather akin to being carved in warm jello on a summer afternoon.
The drawback to being so loose about selecting books is that I have learned to drop a story because it is not a good story. And I have put down many an unfinished read.
I love a good story, short or long. I have as many short story compilations as hard novels on my shelves. I'll finish a fantasy genre (all types, but prefer low, urban fantasy) and follow it with an animal story (my wife has a nose for that sort of read). My Kindle, as well as my book shelves, are packed, and rare is a day that I do not read.
I do not consider myself well-read. There are millions of stories and thousands of good ones. I have only scratched the surface of great reads.
I have been known to buy books on a whim, and then kick myself when it is a dud.
Another thing i am learning to look at is that section that say pple who bought this book also bought this one I might look at those to see if they catch my fancy
I go a lot by mood. If I'm looking for something to read slowly I might pick up a classic or a literary novel. If I'm feeling impatient it's going to be a thriller or horror. But everything I pick needs to come with a good recommendation, either by Amazon reviews (I don't go by stars - I read a few in-depth top reviews and a few bottoms to see what people are saying) or by someone I trust. Hubby and I share books on our iPhone Kindles, so he's gotten me into Sci-Fi and I've gotten him into YA. We're never lacking for books to read! Great post!
First it's the genre, then cover, then the first sentence, then the first paragraph.
Anonymous reviews don't sway me because I like to make up my own mind. I don't care much about a book's cover either because I know that often the book cover has nothing to do with what the author really wanted.
The blurb entices me. Also, the first chapter or so.
Jai
Yep - author recognition and personal recommendations. That's about it.
There have been a few times where a movie has come out and I think, that would be a really good book, I'd rather read the book first.
Just goes to show how unread I am! :) :)
The cover grabs my attention first and the title. I read the back and if it's good, I skim the first few pages. Reading fast helps. If it grabs my attention, then it's sold.
Or someone tells me it's really great and I HAVE to read it. Depending on the person, I usually give it a shot.
Yes, the title! I should have put that on my list, too. A good title can be a very strong selling point.
And somebody mentioned mood -- this factors in for me as well. A book that doesn't sound appealing one day might very well be something I HAVE to buy on another day.
It's such a subjective process.
I don't really care about author recognition myself. I def go for the blurb. A cover is a BIG factor for me, too.
Pretty much the same thing here. I have come to enjoy goodreads. I find readers who enjoy the same genres and read their reviews. If we liked the same things, I try a book they recommend.
Goodreads! I need to get more active there. I have an account but I never update it. Thanks for the reminder, Holly!
I'm on Goodreads all the time and am fortunate that when my TBR is over 550 that my library is only a block from work and I go there on my lunch hour a bunch. I am very selective of what I buy too, but what I buy is because my library is so small and our budget is almost non-existent that I get what they don't so that when I am done reading it...I donate it to them for others to enjoy.
I look at them as my huge bookshelf and they take care of and store my books and I can go get them whenever I want to read them. Plus it makes me feel really good.
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