How we select books to read

Jo Zebedee

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Following on from a comment on another thread that the sooner publishing realises the traditional agent-publisher structure is no longer viable the better, I stopped to think how I choose books, and how much it relies on that structure (which, in the absence of any type of other quality assurance, I support as it happens.)

Anyway, I choose my books in three ways:

From bookshops. Often for authors I already want to try eg Neil Gaiman. Sometimes, I'll browse and select by covers.

From the library. I'll often take more risks with authors I don't know. I picked up Dark Eden from the library without knowing anything about Chris Beckett.

By reccomendation. I've just read Francis Knight's and enjoyed her series very much, and I picked up Bujold via recommendation.

I don't select from Amazon. I can't be bothered flicking in and out of books to see which one floats my boat. I don't trust reviews. Because Mr Springs gets half price books I don't tend to buy from Amazon but instead order through him. I don't, as a consequence, read much self-published as I prefer a paper book than electronic. I also don't have a desire to read much self-published as I simply don't trust the quality assurance of them, however fair or unfair that might be.

As a consequence, I buy most of my material from authors who've followed the agent-publisher route and the bulk of my reading is by established authors.

What about others? Is there a way of expanding my reading base which is more accessible than kindle/e-based and shopping by staring at a bank of titles with no idea where to start looking for something I might like?
 
I basically select books to read in ways similar to yours:

1. Favourite authors

I have a few authors whose books I will always buy. The moment their new book comes out, I will buy it because I know I will like whatever their output is and also because I want to support them.

This is a very small and select group which includes Neil Gaiman, Cassandra Clare, Jasper Fforde etc.

2. Recommendations from others

I've tried out authors based on recommendations from friends and other book lovers. That's how I've discovered authors like Gail Carriger, Benedict Jacka, Charlaine Harris, Maggie Stiefvater etc.

3. Annual book sales

We have very few libraries in this part of the world, but every December, there is a HUGE warehouse sale where books (remaindered stock) go for a song (i.e. no more than GBP3.00, usually GBP1.50).

I usually pick up a big stack of books I've been wanting to read (but never went on discount at my neighbourhood bookshop) or gamble on new authors. This is pretty much hit-or-miss but the low prices makes it easier for me to hand over the money.

4. E-books

I'm partially migrating to e-books soon as tablets are getting cheaper and I can get to read the classics and more free from Project Gutenberg and other such sites.

Plus, I am rapidly running out of bookshelf space...

5. The occasional whim

Sometimes, the neighbourhood bookshop has some good offers and discounts on some interesting-looking books in the genres/section that I usually read like Urban Fantasy and YA. I'll look at the blurb on the back and then buy on the spur of the moment if I know I've some funds to spare.

This was how I discovered Eoin Colfer and Cassandra Clare.

In short - there's no one route I'm taking with selecting authors to read. I do know, however, that when I find an author whose work I love, I usually stay a loyal reader and I will buy their books.

Note: They are, except for Susan Ee, all traditionally published authors. I came across Susan Ee via Goodreads but otherwise, I wouldn't gamble on self-published books unless the author is like Chuck Wendig who already is traditionally published and has diversified into self-publishing so as not to put all eggs into a single basket.
 
Ah, springs, this post has made me so nostalgic. Just a quick note! I, long ago, belonged to a science fiction book club in America, and was so thrilled each month when their newsletter and catalog would arrive in the mail, with their listing of new novels/story collections...sometimes I'd choose a new work from a well-loved author; sometimes a novel synopsis would sound so wonderful that I just had to try an author previously unknown to me (that's how I discovered PKD, and PJ Farmer). And then they'd often have classic SF that I'd heard of, but never encountered in a library. It was always such a joy to find a book by Asimov or Clarke, etc, that I'd never read before! (This was the 70s...availability was VERY limited back then, in my neck of the woods!) So one thought is:are there still SF&F book clubs around, that might introduce you to new material/authors...ones you'd never encounter otherwise (online, perhaps? Or via snail mail.)?

The nostalgia continues, as I am reminded of the great joy I used to feel when going to dingy secondhand bookstores, and finding legions of old, torn SF books to purchase for mere pennies, and then devour at home. I discovered so many new-to-me authors this way. So I wonder, are there used-books shops near you, that might give you the opportunity to discover older, out-of-print books that you wouldn't ever see anywhere else in the world? (Geesh, there were soo many cheap paperback SF&F novels printed in the 60s, 70s, 80s, it seems! Many-many have to be out of print now...many never to be reprinted, I would guess, and so extinct, except in their rat-eared used forms.)
Okay, gotta run! Looking forward to reading the rests of the the replies to your very interesting thread! CC
 
Gah, I just wrote a long response and then I somehow blew it away!! Oh well, try again!

I now have two main routes for choosing books:

My favourite authors. I have a good few authors whose books I can buy with a high level of confidence that I will enjoy them.

Recommendations. I rely heavily on recommendations both here and on Goodreads. Not necessarily direct personal recommendations but more watching what others are reading (monthly reading threads and discussions) especially when I know they have similar tastes. This is undoubtedly my main route to new authors.

I very rarely read self-published authors. I do 'look inside' occasionally and usually that's enough to make me run a mile when I see how they write. However sometimes... I have just picked up a self-published book that I saw recommended here, took a look on GR where it's ratings, that appeared genuine, were very good and, on 'looking inside,' I immediately liked the author's voice. But, sadly, this is very much the exception.

I no longer go in bookstores at all, except second hand ones. Most of my reading is now ebooks; I find them so much easier to read that when I do read a printed book now I JUST HATE IT. Sorry pbook lovers!

I no longer go to the library. I used to use the library a lot when I was first getting back into reading, after my long hiatus, but now I find that I am usually looking for specific books and for this my library is just useless. This is probably because I live out in the sticks and my library is not big. For example their SFF section is just two small book shelves with a total display area of about 2m x 1.5m.

When I started reading again after the aforesaid hiatus, I did use the library a great deal and I bought books in railway stations and airports based primarily on the cover and blurb. Not always successful by any means and the main reason I no longer use this method!

So my main mechanisms now are favourite authors and recommendations. Between those two I am reading about 70-100 books a year, currently own 78 unread books and have 236 listed that I want to buy and read. In other words my reservoir of books to be read is running at about three to four years worth, with a good number of new authors in there, so I figure it's working pretty well.
 
As a consequence, I buy most of my material from authors who've followed the agent-publisher route and the bulk of my reading is by established authors.

*ahem ahem ahem* Not all traditionally published authors have agents!

I'm starting to get a little sense that (not from you, because we've spoken about self-pubbing/agents/trade publishing before and I know you've considered, and helped me consider, all options) unless you have an agent, you're somehow not good enough.

I'm kind of of the opinion that if a book's been picked up by an agent, or editor, then it's had that quality control check and at least one other person who knows what they're talking about has said it's good enough. And, perhaps because of that, I don't read self-pubbed stuff.

I'll come across as a hypocrite, I know, because I have self-pubbed (a steaming pile of crap!) in the past and I'm planning on self-pubbing again. But, I'm also traditionally published, so someone somewhere has had faith in me - that I'm good enough to sell.

As for how I choose books - I'll consider reading a self-published book by someone whose writing I know (for example, I've looked at books by a few of the self-pubbers here because I know they're capable), but otherwise, it's trade only.

I only buy books on Amazon. I know that somehow makes me evil, but as I've said before, the nearest book shop to me is a half-hour drive away - by the time I've paid petrol and paid to park, it's not worth it, plus they probably won't stock what I like to read anyway.

So. I go to Amazon and I'll browse through like I would in a bookshop, only with Amazon, I can read reviews too (and I only ever pay attention to the one star reviews because, if the person has given a book one star for something that wouldn't bother me, I'll likely get the book anyway if it sounds like my sort of thing). I do the 'look inside' thing, I read the blurb.

My fantasy book buying is random, I'll read whatever takes my fancy (as long as it's a standalone!)

I have discovered that I'm way more fussy with the romance stuff. I've found that lots of MCs in romance novels have stupid-arse names, like Chase or Randy or Kade or Big Dog... just something that would constantly wind me up while reading, so I avoid those. I avoid BDSM. I don't (or haven't yet) read any fantasy romance, though I've got a lesbian urban fantasy on my Kindle to read (though it's from an author I love so...). I won't read any romance involving weird animal shifters. That stuff creeps me out. I won't read any romance where there's a cat and/or kitten on the front cover. I much prefer to read romances set in the UK written by British authors - I've picked up a couple of ones set in the UK but within the first few sentences, I've been able to tell that the author is (usually) American. I have nothing against an author being American, but I find it irritating when things in novels aren't correct (like we all do here!) and the dialogue is, I have found so far, always wrong (I don't think I'd ever attempt to write an American character unless my mates from the US have beta'd my dialogue for me!)

Um. If I know, or have got to know, an author, I'm more likely to read their stuff. Like, I had Brynn Stein on my blog recently, and as I said above, usually I won't read romance that's not set in the UK. But as she's an American writing an American-based romance and her novel sounds interesting (the MC is an amputee who breaks his one remaining leg - I'd like to see how she handles that) then I'm going to check it out. Even though there's a child on the front cover. ;)
 
Not at all my intention, Mouse, and the reason I put the - in rather than said agent to publisher route. :) I have no probs either way although I think agents can open some doors to the bigger publishers.

Thanks for the answers, all. V. Interesting!
 
I hardly ever select from bookshops now. Borders (in Leeds) sadly disappeared, and whilst Waterstones is good it's over a fiver just to go into town and come back. The last time I was there I did see the excellent Legionary Unofficial Manual (which I later bought, along with others in the series).

Time/money's an issue for me now, so I often go for things by authors I know I like, or by checking on Amazon and seeing what else people bought if they bought a book I really enjoyed (Red Country, for example).

For history I'll usually search for a specific topic or occasionally books (if recommended by a friend).
 
I hardly ever select from bookshops now. Borders (in Leeds) sadly disappeared, and whilst Waterstones is good it's over a fiver just to go into town and come back. The last time I was there I did see the excellent Legionary Unofficial Manual (which I later bought, along with others in the series).

Time/money's an issue for me now, so I often go for things by authors I know I like, or by checking on Amazon and seeing what else people bought if they bought a book I really enjoyed (Red Country, for example).

For history I'll usually search for a specific topic or occasionally books (if recommended by a friend).

Border was a great store , but they are no longer around .:(
 
I know, it was a real shame when it went. The shops were making money, it was due to the tightness of credit at the height of the financial crisis.
 
I always value recommendations on chrons, and I always use Amazon's "Look inside" feature to quickly decide if this is something I might enjoy or not.

I'm miles from any decent book shop, so Amazon's the place I shop.
 
Cool thread idea.

I have a decent list of authors that I read everything by, soI have a years worth of preorders on their new stuff coming out. That probably accounts for 50+% of my reading.

I have not went to a library since I was a kid but if I ever get my TBR pile down, I plan on using my local library.

As for brick and mortar bookshops, I rarely go in to any now. There is only one option here in my part of the world and that's Chapters Indigo. They seem to have more kitchen accessories and kids board games than SFF nowadays.

So . dum..dum..dum...I shop 95% of my book buying at Amazon. I do like being able to browse a lot of titles from the comfort of my home.

I honestly have not tried much self-pubbed either. I am still a paperback/hardcover guy but I do want to start reading more ebooks. I have too many books and its harder to get rid of the ones you don't want these days. Second hand stores just don't want them.
 
It's interesting how many people automatically name/go for Amazon for online shopping. They are by no means the only ones and, certainly in the UK, they are not always the cheapest. I always check about 5 or 6 different online stores and only buy from Amazon if they are significantly cheaper. My usual online stores are:

Amazon - But, for personal moral reasons, they are my last choice.
Waterstones - Often as cheap as Amazon, sometimes cheaper.
The Book Depository - useless for ebooks but sometimes cheaper for pbooks.
Kobo Books - ebooks only
W H Smiths - can have good prices for pbooks - redirects to Kobo for ebooks.
Abebooks - for secondhand. Almost always better prices than the Amazon secondhand vendors.
 
Vertigo, I also use Abebooks for second hand books sometimes. Agree entirely on the good prices.

Waterstones in Leeds is great, but a fiver before I've even bought anything (plus travelling time) puts me off. If I happen to be in the city anyway it may be another matter.
 
Vertigo, in Canada we don't have a lot of options if you don't want to pay freight. That's why I use them.
 
Well that's fair enough, Ratsy. Here in the UK there are quite a few online stores selling books that don't charge freight, or if they do I include that in the comparison. That said I mostly buy ebooks which don't have freight anyway! :D
 
My approaches to finding new books'

1) Favourite author - tried and tested method by many!

2) People talking about books - this typically comes from places like Chrons and Goodreads. Basically if people are chatting about something then I'll hear of it and from there at least check out the basic synopsis and reviews of the book.

3) Reviews on Goodreads/Amazon - like any reviews they have to be read or at least glanced at. Something brand new with 5 top score reviews only is more likely to be friend/paid for reviews whilst something with 500 reviews is more likely to be mostly honest consumer reviews.
I also tend to glance at the negative ones - get a feel for what really made people hate a book. It's also important on Amazon because something's its not the story but the product that gets slated (eg book was badly damaged on arrival etc..) - which is important to check as sometimes Amazon has different vendors and version all under the same title and with the reviews all linked together.

4) "Recommended based on your reading" Basically things in Goodreads and Amazon that look at previous reading/buying history and suggest similar things. It won't always work, but it can be a good way to get a few new ideas.

5) Browsing at the shop - this is a lesser used option I find as many shops just don't have the stock on the shelves to have a huge variety. Where I do find bigger or better stocked stores its always worth having a snoop around (Knottingham has a particularly large fantasy section in Waterstones).


These days I also try to aim for series where one or two books at out or the whole series is released. I'm not opposed to jumping on a new series just being published, but will typically hold off unless the author already has well established and favourably reviewed works - or their book is very cheap.
Taking a chance on new authors in today's market - especially with self publishing and ebooks being so easy, is more of a risk than in the past. More of a risk of getting something written very poorly or which only starts out well (the first few chapters of a lot of books can be pretty good, but cna quickly fall apart in latter chapters.
 
Reviews tend to do it for me. The reviews need to be from certain authors, or to put it another way if I see a positive review from an author I dislike I will not got for the book. Sometimes the cover will just attract my attention or a friend recommended a certain book. That is generally how I end up reading books from other genres than SFF and HF.

Also this site is a big help in picking new books to read.
 
Partly for professional reasons as well as more personal ones, I read quite a bit of classic literature, but that is, in fact, so huge a category that I still have much deciding to do. Still, there's been a "pre-selection" process already when the time comes to choose and the choice is between (say) Dickens or Austen.

What could be called collateral reading is an important factor with me. As J. D. Worthington will track down and read books that H. P. Lovecraft read, I'll track down and read books that Tolkien or C. S. Lewis read. This has brought me to some books that once were well-known, such as George Borrow's Lavengro, but also to books that probably never were well known, such as Bohun Lynch's Menace from the Moon.

If I had a good experience with an author, I'll tend to try more by the same writer. I was introduced to lots of good writers when I was an undergrad!
 

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