To Read or Not To Read (How To Choose A Book)

I have it on pretty good authority that there are more books in existence than it’s possible to read in a lifetime (still, CHALLENGE ACCEPTED). Since I apparently can’t live forever (pffft), I tend to be a bit choosy about the books I pick up. When I pick up a book and decide it’s THE ONE, I have reasons. Okay, sure, some of them may be shallow or silly reasons (hey, I’m not without my faults), but I have reasons, darn it!

Let’s face it, everyone’s judged a book by their cover at some point in their life, even if they know they shouldn’t do it. Or at least that old adage tells us we shouldn’t, but what do they know? The truth is, the cover is oftentimes what catches my eye about a book I haven’t heard of before. IT’S IMPORTANT. Not the most important thing about a book, of course, but it’s right up there, sandwiched somewhere between words and basking in your reader’s tears. I like a whole range of covers, but if there’s something about it that catches my eye, I’m much more likely to pick it up off a shelf, and when there are hundreds of books equally vying for attention, that can make all the difference.

      

This can play a major factor. Have I read something from this author before? Did I enjoy it? If the answer’s yes, I’m probably going to buy something from the author again. In many cases, if I really liked it, I’ll actively stalk follow the author to see what else they’ve got coming out. Especially if the book is a series, because who only reads book one of a series they enjoyed and ignored the rest? There are plenty of authors who I’ve found first on social media, liked their personality, and THEN sought out their books, so there’s something to be said for, you know, being yourself? As long as you’re awesome.

 

 

I feel like this goes without saying because this literally exists to entice people to read a book. And sometimes it works? I’ve picked up books that didn’t look interesting to me in any way solely because the blurb promised something interesting, whether that be murder, psychopaths, stabbing, or warm feels. If I like the tone in the blurb, I assume I’ll like the tone of the novel. Makes sense, right?

Around the world, black hand prints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil’s supply of human teeth grows dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherworldly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real, she’s prone to disappearing on mysterious “errands”, she speaks many languages – not all of them human – and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she’s about to find out.

— Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

Now, this isn’t a make-or-break moment for me. Some books open slowly, and if I’m hooked by any of the previous things mentioned, I’m willing to take that ride. That being said, if I’m hooked by none of the previous things or on the fence about any of them, this becomes all the more important. I’ve bought books simply because the first paragraph was irresistible and I knew I was going to want to finish reading them.

Witches aren’t invincible. And despite their legendary longevity, nor are they immortal. That said, there was no earthly reason for Lilith Hazelwood, the most powerful witch in Oyster Cove, to meet her doom at the tender age of ninety-two. Her natural lifespan should have guaranteed another thirty years.

Admittedly, Lilith had been struck by a bolt of lightning. And to the naive eye, she simply seemed like the victim of cruel chance. The coroner would later rule it to be an accident, and why not? Why wouldn’t it simply be an accident, or back luck?

Because accidents and bad luck were things Lilith Hazelwood created for others.

— The Witch’s Heart by Iris Kincaid

This is where it becomes handy to know other bookish people, because other bookish people, SURPRISE, tend to have good book recommendations. (You were totally surprised, weren’t you?) If someone else reads and enjoys the same books I do, I’m much more likely to pick up a book solely on their suggestion. And not only because I’m guaranteed to have someone to fangirl with. I mean, it’s basically the whole engine behind Goodreads, and I’ve added probably too many books to my TBR list this way, but I HAVE NO REGRETS.

Some places I go for my bookish recommendations:

Goodreads | Paper Fury | Fictionophile | Pages Unbound | Spellbound Librarian

I take these with a grain of salt, but there are some good reviews out there. Some are entertaining to read, and some are quite detailed in what they liked and disliked. Star ratings don’t do me a lot of good at this point, because they don’t really tell me anything or help me make a decision about whether I want to read the book or not. I tend to dismiss five-star reviews, because they’re often just blatant praise (though, I might read some that actually detail what they liked), and I might glance over the one-star and two-star reviews, but I mostly just assume they’re from people who maybe weren’t in the target audience for my book. The three- and four-star reviews are where it’s at. Generally, they tend to be more neutral and expand on what they liked and didn’t like.

How do you decide what books you read? Is there a process you go through or one aspect you rely on more than the others to make your decision?