How do you chose what fiction book to read?

I have a Pinterest board of interesting looking books. I only read Kindle books on my iPad mini so if I see one that looks interesting I look at the Amazon synopsis to see if I might be interested. Then I read the reviews. Finally then I request a free sample and if after I read that and like it, I actually buy the book.

I agree with most of your "not for me" descriptions. Except "a dysfunctional extended family of upper middle class Americans who all resent each other and are about to implode on a weekend in the Hamptons" - sounds like my ideal read!

May I introduce to you the Japanese word tsundoku... It was invented for people like us 😄

Publishers aren't daft. They know how to create cover art that will signal the right things to readers in terms of the genre/tone of the novel.

Have you seen the covers of modern romance novels? They look like cartoons drawn by 6 or 7 year olds. They are completely off-putting.

Close my eyes and pick from the bookshelf.

Honestly, in most cases, a cover is a reliable indicator of what a book will be like. Publishers aren't daft. They know how to create cover art that will signal the right things to readers in terms of the genre/tone of the novel.

For example, if a book has a moody, grainy black and white photo of a house in a middle-class suburban street, lit to look slightly eerie, maybe with a single window slightly illuminated and has a title like 'THE OTHER FAMILY' or 'WATCHING YOU' in yellow block capitals, all of those things are signalling to the reader that it's a domestic noir psychological thriller in the Lisa Jewell / Louise Candlish / Paula Hawkins style. And if that's not the kind of thing you like, you can tell from the cover that it's not going to be a winner for you.

I read the blurb on the back and decide if I'm interested or not. Though to get to the blurb I have to first decide to pick up a book and that tends to be based on either being a familiar author that I like, an interesting title, or an interesting cover. Or if I'm in a second hand shop then there's usually very few books in English so I just take them all and hope they're good.

It's amazing how I'm swayed to either buy or not buy by the cover. Which might mean I'm missing out on great reads. And vice versa.

Great way of weeding out books @BauhausOfEliott! 👍😄

Different ways of choosing.

Sometimes just walking around in a bookshop and seeing what attracts me.

Sometimes I use websites that can suggest what I might like from a short questionnaire.

Quite often I come on here and see what gets mentioned. If it sounds interesting I might have a quick look on amazon or similar to see the general idea of the book, if it looks a good one, I stick it on my amazon wish list. So now I have a very long list. Then, when I'm in the market for a new book, I look through my wish list and see what still looks good, suits my mood.

If they're not available on amazon I look at good reads or eBay or somewhere else and make a list in my phone's notes app.

I mean, there are options available that sit somewhere between those two extremes, but I can't fault you for knowing what you like!

I actually find it easier to be clear on what I won't read than what I will read. For example, I know a book definitely will not be for me if:

• It's got a title that goes 'The [twee business/hobby] In [idyllic location]', eg 'The Little Yellow Cake Shop By The Sea' or 'The Cornish Ladies' Sock Knitting Society' or something.
• It has a cover with a helicopter on it and is called something like OPERATION BULLET or NIGHT COMBAT and is probably about the SAS
• It's a crime novel about East End gangster families
• It's got a picture of a slightly impoverished but spirited girl in a Victorian mill town on the cover and is called something like 'Tuppence For Luck' or 'The Weaver's Girl'
• It has the USP of being set in Auschwitz
• It's a romance where one of them has a terminal illness
• The blurb describes it as 'A lyrical meditation on' something
• The blurb describes it as 'An unflinching account of' something
• The blurb describes it as 'A searing indictment of' something
• The blurb describes it as 'A modern fable of' something
• It's a romance where the characters are a couple of teenagers
• It's about a dysfunctional extended family of upper middle class Americans who all resent each other and are about to implode on a weekend in the Hamptons

Does it have robots, explosions and lasers? Probably will read.
Is it about one of Henry the Viii's concubines getting run though by 80% of the royal court? Probably won't read.

I read the blurb, and if it is interesting, I read it. Ta-da!

Surely not all the classics! Are you including, say, all of Fanny Burney, Richardson, Smollett, Sterne, all of Dickens, Edgeworth, all of Thackeray. Woolf, Conrad, all of Hardy, all of Forster, all of George Eliot, all of Henry James, Edith Wharton, Elizabeth Bowen, Maugham, Lawrence, Joyce, Faulkner, Beckett, Flann O'Brien, Somerville and Ross, Naipaul, etc etc?

What about Irish classics? Or classics in translation?

Thank you! So it's not just me. I have tried really hard but given up. It's so much navelgazing and life is too short for tedious books. I have no problem with "difficult" books if well written and an interesting story but when reading feels like a chore it's time to put the book down.

classics, but I'm running out of them now as I went wild reading them all in my youth
The classics are often worth a re-read. As an older person, you come to them with a different level of cognition and understanding.

I'm really fussy. This is because I don't find much time to read and when I do I don't want to waste time on a rubbish book. I'm really fussy about the quality of the author, so it has to be very well written or I'm not interested (I'm not a snob about anything else but description and character development really matters to me)
So I tend to stick to certain authors, often I'll get put onto an author by booker prizes etc. Sometimes I ask chat gpt for similar books or authors to ones I've enjoyed and then I'll look up reviews. I'm probably more like your friend!

JohnTheRevelator

I think men and women write very different crime books- your recommendations probably send you to women because you were reading women’s books?

I’m a charity shopper like you. I don’t know where you are finding 10p books though must be a very small/local charity?! Oxfam won’t sell anything less than £3. Most are a good bit more.

I have a mental list of ones to look out for as I pay attention to prize long lists etc. I know a bargain when I see one!

A bit of both really.

I have a to-read list of books that consists of books that I’ve heard of / had recommended to me that look interesting and that I’ve researched enough to be fairly confident that I’ll like them. If I’m heading off to a bookshop etc to buy a book at full price it’ll almost certainly be something off that list.

But then on the other hand, I also visit the local library frequently, and often pick books up on a whim. Sometimes I like them, sometimes I don’t and I ditch them after the first chapter, but it’s free to borrow them so I’m happy to take a chance on a library book.

Forgot to say depends what vibe I'm in the mood for. It's usually a pattern of -

• well written literature with lots of description particularly if it's about nature
• holiday reads for when I need a brain break
• classics, but I'm running out of them now as I went wild reading them all in my youth

I usually read books on Amazon Kindle,so if I've read one and enjoyed it I look at the recommendations that come up for books in a similar vein. I've discovered quite a few new authors this way. Incidentally,why is it that the type of fiction I like (crime thrillers/mysteries) are practically always written by women? There are a few exceptions but I'd say that about 90% are by female authors. Is there something about this genre that makes women better writers?

I scroll through them on kindle or look through my books like I’m in a bookshop and then one jumps out! Yes, is kind of the fun part!!!!

I pick what appeals. There are one or two genres I don't read, so steer away from them, otherwise I just choose whatever I like the look of. I've read some great books, doing it this way!

I read the blurb, first page and a random page in the middle. To see if I like the style of writing. Obviously the thing that first grabs me is the title or cover but I put it back if the blurb doesn't grab me.

I usually only borrow from the library or by from second hand book shops. I wouldn't be wasting my time or money on full price books just in case they are utter pants.

The other day I was browsing the online library catalogue, looking it up on goodreads and then reserving it if it sounded alright. Only because I knew I didn't have time to browse the library during opening hours, so I did my browsing virtually in the evening.