What's your decision process when considering books by authors unknown to you?

[Boneman]

On principle I don't/won't buy on Amazon, so mostly it's browsing in Waterstones and I'll look at any auther, read a few pages, and if I find I've read a chapter or two, then I buy it. I do catch up on backlog at the Library - ours has an amazing service to get books for you. Invariably, at the airport I'll buy a book for a flight and that's about the nearest I get to impulse - but I still read a few pages.

 

[Lady of Winterfell]

If the author is completely unknown to me, the only time I would buy it is if it was at our library book sale. I go on half price day which makes a paperback $0.50 and a hardcover about a $1. I usually find new authors when I go to those sales because it is hard to find a specific book and much easier just to look through them and find something that looks interesting.

Sometimes I will go book browsing through Barnes and Noble, and I will write down books that look interesting to me. Then I will go online and see what people think about it. If it looks good at that point, it goes on the To Be Read list and then I either try to find it used, or ask for it for my birthday or christmas.

 

[Bick]

Toole's A Confederacy of Dunces struck my interest because I'd long ago heard of it in some context before and know the title as a Swift line and the description of a comic Louisiana book drew my interest. I came across it in the used store recently and read, "A green hunting cap squeezed the top of the fleshy balloon of a head. The green earflaps, full of large ears and uncut hair and the the fine bristles that grew in the ears themselves, stuck out on either side like turn signals indicating two directions at once." I laughed. I turned to the back: 415 pages. I bought. I probably won't read it for years and may not end up liking it, but all that was enough for me to pick it up.

It is excellent J-sun, don't worry - I read a couple of years ago, and would recommend it without reservation. Its not that long at all. My Penguin modern classics edition is 350 pages, and that's with an intro. I read it in about 3 days...

 

[J-Sun]

It is excellent J-sun, don't worry - I read a couple of years ago, and would recommend it without reservation. Its not that long at all. My Penguin modern classics edition is 350 pages, and that's with an intro. I read it in about 3 days...

Thanks, good to know.

 

[MontyCircus]

There's a few things that get books on my radar:
- Top book lists
- Amazon recommendations (I have over 1,000 books on my WishList, so Amazon knows me pretty well)
- Recommendations from friends & family, mostly through GoodReads

If I'm at a bookstore and something catches my eye, I go home and research it. Read Amazon & GoodReads reviews, check top book lists, etc.

 

[Moggle]

I look at the negative reviews on goodreads. They give you a very good sense of the book. If you see multiple people complaining that a book is very slow and dull, or that the ending is incredibly stupid, etc. it's a good sign to stay away.

 

[Vertigo]

For new authors I mainly go on recommendations from here and from Goodreads, along with certain 'lists' like the SF Masterworks series. I don't trust reviews on Amazon or other book selling sites. At least on Chrons and GR I can check or already know the reviewer's opinions on other books and see if they seem reasonable to me.

So far this has been more than enough to create a TBR list that'll keep me going for a number of years!

 

[Christopher Lee]

Usually goodreads. Occasionally I'll look it up on Amazon to see the 5 star ratings. Most have proven to not be true, but occasionally it works. When I read one that turns out to be bad, I just follow it up with a Stephen king book. Always makes me feel better.

 

[Heather Myst]

I purchase my books from Amazon and they have a look inside feature that lets you read a sample of the book. I can usually tell by reading the first chapter if I am going to enjoy a writers work.

 

[oddhero]

Anything that does not have a cover that is embossed, extruded, metallic or with a lizard with a machine gun is a good start: I'm dismayed by how many covers might think they're aping a golden age of pulp, or might not, but are just badly done. That might also be cause I'm getting older and last time I got on a plane with one, the businessman next to me took one look, said "my son likes that book" and raised an eyebrow. I made sure he got no share of the arm-rest for the whole flight.

 

[Southern Geologist]

Anything that does not have a cover that is embossed, extruded, metallic or with a lizard with a machine gun is a good start

Haha, this is definitely a good start. I also generally refuse to buy anything without checking out reviews on Amazon to get a feel for what the public thinks of it; exceptions will be made if I get the feeling about that book or I get a recommendation (or command ) from someone whose taste I trust.

 

[GOLLUM]

Like a lot of people here I go by comments on this forum, particularly by those people whose tastes consistently match those of my own.

I also tend to do research on authors, specific books etc. but when I discover an author I like, especially when they have produced work that I like over a period of time in those cases I'll buy the book without thinking about it e.g something new form Tim Powers Christopher Priest, Gene Wolfe, Neil Gaiman etc..

I also read reviews on the 'net', stuff from TLS, NYR etc. book podcasts e.g. Bookworm in the US and Arts and Books Daily in Australia and wiki is useful for me as a starting point when researching specific works or 'literary' movements etc. plus reading academic articles. attending book festivals, talks and so on.

As my reading interests extend well and truly beyond SFF and Horror I've also found over the years to trust books associated with specific imprints/publishers like Harvill, Pushkin Press, NYRB, Penguin (black) classics, Norton, Library of America, Oxford University Press, Dedalus, Alma Classics, OneWorld classics etc. I also pay attention to specific 'awards' like the Nobel Prize as problematic as that can be/is as I've found generally speaking the authors still tend to be of a fairly high quality, certainly worth investigating and some SFF awards like The World Fantasy Award are pretty good indicators of books worth investigating.

Similarly in SF and Horror, as I have a tendency to collect entire series, I've followed the Masterwork series (SF and Fantasy), Wordsworth Horror series plus some specific perennial anthologies.

All in all I've found this approach has led me to reading and acquiring a library of which over 90% of 'stock' I'll probably never end up recycling.

I don't tend to be swayed by swank marketing promotions, what the latest 'hottest' read in bookshops or popular press appears to be, the appearance of a particular book cover etc.. my interests lie much more in the quality of the content.