How do you chose what fiction book to read?

[ItsaCATnotalabrador]

I buy most of my fiction from a charity shop that sells books for 10p-50p so I go in every so often and stock up on ones with covers I like and titles that appeal. Sometimes I'll recognise the name of the book or the author. I dont put much thought into it because at 10p it doesnt matter if I give up after the first few chapters.

My friend however enjoys the process of picking a book almost as much as reading it. She puts a lot of thought and even research into each book she reads.

How do you select a book?

YANBU - Just pick one that appeals
YABU - I enjoy my reading time so want to get the most out of it as I can so no crappy books please.

I enjoy my reading time so want to get the most out of it as I can so no crappy books please.
This is me. There are so many books out there and only so much time!

I have enough crappy books forced on me by Book Club and I don't need any more, tyvm. I tend to go for tried-and-tested i.e. are they still popular years/decades after they were first published? I ignore the hyberbolic blurb on modern books. And I definitely ignore modern prize-winners; the judges and I have very different parameters.

I choose books by authors I've read before and liked or ones I've heard of, or based on reviews, or threads on MN where people recommend their favourite books, or ones friends and family recommend.

I never choose books by browsing in a bookshop or charity shop, as I find it time-consuming and very hit and miss! I do have fairly fixed ideas about what genres and types of books I like, which helps narrow it down.

It's not that deep. Buy second hand if you prefer, or go to the library, but if the book is really crap - or you just don't like it - you don't have to finish it, give it away or sell it on.

All sorts of ways

browsing in bookshops very much judging by title/cover
authors I have previously enjoyed new book
reading reviews in Sunday newspapers or recommendations in interviews.
seeing things on Amazon
friend's or relatives' recommendations

I read the blurb to see if I like the storyline. Read the first page to make sure I like the writing.

I pick based on genre, title, cover artwork, recommendations from Kindle / Facebook, I usually read the blurb, authors I recognise, length of series (I like a 3 - 4 book series, too long and I find they tend to get dull or too unrealistic / repetative - although there are lots of great series that buck this trend)... I mostly read on Kindle Free library so it doesn't matter if they are a bit rubbish as they are free. I read a LOT and most of it is not very highbrow. I am hyper-literate and my reading speed is considerably above average so a big weekend of reading will often eat up 10 - 12 paperbacks. My average on a slow week is 4 paperbacks a week. If I find a series I like I'll pay to continue it if it drops off Kindle library. I usually then chase down and read everything that author has written and follow recommendation crumbs to new authors.
I like Sci Fi and Fantasy, Dystopian fiction (can't beat a zombie), Crime and Forensics, Action and Adventure and sometimes a bit of fluffy romance / feel good, mild smut. I've trawled my way through all the classics at one point or another and whilst I loved some (George Orwell, Solzhenitsyn) I really didnt get on with the Brontes. I have no room in my life for Biographies / AutoBiographies.

My favourite topic, I need a new book for this evening. Last night's was Dome 6 which I did enjoy - a bit reminiscent of Logan's Run I felt. However I wasn't interested enough to read the next in the series. I enjoyed Sarah Beth Durst's Spell Shop and even paid for that but the next in the series is £11.99 even on Kindle and I am too tight to pay that. I'd be bankrupt in a month if I bought books at that price.

Blimey, I usually avoid books that have won literary prizes, they can be so dreary. Though I am reading one that was shortlisted for a prize though I’m reading it in spite of that, not because of it. Exceptions are genre awards, like the CWA for crime writing.

(I used to work for a literary publisher, most literary fiction is unreadable pretentious wank, to be honest. A few honourable exceptions - but not many!)

I love browsing in bookshops and could spend hours doing it. I'll always browse the whole of the general fiction section and just pick up things that have titles/cover designs that interest me or things that I've heard of, and once I've done that I'll go to the genre sections and browse the Crime & Thriller, Horror and Fantasy sections.

I also spend ages clicking around my Amazon recommendations etc and buy lots like that too (I read hard copies and e-books, happy with either).

In addition to that I talk about books loads with my friends and family and we recommend stuff to each other. I'm also on Goodreads and Fable and follow quite a few book/author accounts on social media, so I see a lot of reviews and recommendations and book chat. And I read the Books section in the Guardian and also watch and listen to various book shows on radio, TV and podcasts.

Among the things that might make me pick up a book and buy it are:

• Author - is it someone I've read before and know that I like, or someone I've heard others talking about?
• Title
• Cover design
• Subject matter
• Blurb / quotes from other authors on the cover
• Reviews, either from professional critics or other readers
• Genre
• Shortlisted for prizes, could be general or genre-specific

Basically I spend most of my spare time reading books, learning about books, talking about books, writing about books and shopping for books.

Agree with this. There are a billion books out there that I'll never have the time to read in my lifetime as it is, so I'm not going to waste my time on something I'm not enjoying. Reading is meant to be an enjoyable pastime for fun, not an extended dose of slightly bitter-tasting medicine.

If someone or something recommends a book I look it up and read the synopsis. If I see a book that looks interesting I'll read the back. If it sounds ok, I add it to my wish list. If there's a book I like, I'll search the author and add others to my wish list.

When I run out of things to read I go and order a batch from my wish list.

I log what I’ve read on good reads. If I enjoy a book I will look for other books by the same author, I have a list of want to read books and also look for books on the website. I’m also on fantastic fiction who email me when a new book from a author I’m following is out.

i get all my books from the library.

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.

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 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 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?

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

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.

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!

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 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!

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.

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.

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?

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

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.