Comments on: Why that book?

By: Jackie Kessler

Jackie Kessler — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 23:15:06 +0000

“The reason for buying is often word of mouth.”

Absolutely. This, and whether I know the author, are the two main reasons I will buy books. Of course, I know a lot of authors these days. So I tend to buy a lot of books. (As my credit card statement will confirm.)

By: Cameron Lowe

Cameron Lowe — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 22:00:09 +0000

I read most books based on the back cover or inside flap descriptions. I’m not really too particular about book descriptions, but it has to hook me somehow without revealing all the plot twists. Nothing will make me toss a book on a shelf faster than immediately knowing exactly where the book will head and who will double-cross who.

I’ll also pay more attention to well-written reader reviews as opposed to critic reviews. I find that I tend to enjoy a lot of popular fiction. Well, that and I much prefer a sample of reviews by an assortment of people from different walks of life.

I still try to finish every book I open, but sometimes, it just doesn’t happen. I find that I don’t have the patience for certain noves, which is both frustrating and liberating. It’s been a long time since I haven’t finished a novel, though, which speaks volumes about the great quality of a lot of recent novels.

By: Blue Tyson

Blue Tyson — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 15:49:10 +0000

Don’t really care about random reviews, or covers, just what actual people think about it that are likely to know something about it.

LibraryThing very useful for this, and blogs/forums etc.

A good point on the authors though, if some can write multiple books in a row you like quite a bit, fair chance the next one is sampled almost regardless. Authors like this are rare finds, usually.

By: Lisa

Lisa — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 22:13:48 +0000

I request a lot of books from the county-wide library catalog, and most of those are by word-of-mouth. But I also tend to browse when I go to the library–I’ve picked up real gems and real stinkers that way. These days I don’t have much time for hit-or-miss books, and I’ve been disinclined to give second chances. If it’s a book that I bought, though, I try to at least skim through to the end.

By: Steve Buchheit

Steve Buchheit — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 19:55:59 +0000

I’ll echo the recommendations part. Failing that it has more to do with the summary than anything else, although a bad cover will turn me off. And lastly, it’s like dowsing water, I’ll divine a book out of the blue (although at that point I’ll read the summary and see if I think it’ll be good).

By: Karen Wester Newton

Karen Wester Newton — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 14:56:54 +0000

The single biggest reason I buy a book is that I read other books by that author and I want to read more.

But for that first purchase, when I’ve never read the author before, my primary motivators are: 1) recommendation from a friend who shares my taste in books, 2) review that sounds intriguing 3) browsing and I see title/cover combination that sound intriguing enough to pick up and read the first page.

I agree that really thick books are sometimes so daunting that I don’t buy them because I’m afraid I’ll never read them. And I’m now old enough that if the book doesn’t hold my interest, I don’t feel compelled to finish it.

Mindy Klasky recently did a poll on why people buy books on her blog.