I was reading on somebody else’s blog about how they chose a book based on its cover. She didn’t like chick lit, so avoided covers with shopping bags, high heels and lipstick images. Fair enough, I mostly avoid those as well, despite having once enjoyed chick lit before it became such a saturated, predictable genre.
This got me thinking about both how I myself choose books as well as how my reading habits have changed over the years. I started reading at an early age and excepting a few very stressful times, I have always had a book going. I prefer fiction to non ~ I have always enjoyed escaping into another time and/or place, getting caught up in somebody’s story. When someone says to me “I don’t like to read”, I want to say “I’m sorry” ~ as if they have a debilitating condition or something.
As a tween, I loved ghost stories and I still have a large collection of Alfred Hitchcok short story books. I also read everything Edgar Allen Poe wrote (oddly, I tried to read him again a few years ago and couldn’t get into it at all; heck, I could barely understand it!). As a young adult I read mostly genre fiction that featured murder, mystery (read all of Lawrence Sanders, John D. McDonald, James Patterson, etc) and/or the paranormal (Dean Koontz , Stephen King & Anne Rice were favorites). I also worked my way through all the Harold Robbins, Jackie Collins books and anything set in Hollywood. I think back then I chose books based on whatever was the latest best seller. I’ve never been a romance reader unless you count that stretch of time I was hooked on Nora Roberts. The woman does know how to write a sex scene!
Then, in my mid-30’s I started mixing in weightier books like Angela’s Ashes and the like. If it was endorsed by Oprah’s book club, it was likely something I was interested in reading. However, with respect to Oprah and her choices, some of those books were just plain boring. Now in my 40s, I still read basically the same type books (with occasional breaks for something fast & trashy that I don’t have to think about too hard :-), however I avoid the bestseller list genre-based books entirely. Which is not to say that some of the books I read are not best sellers ~ they’re just not the usual top 10.
So how do I choose a book? Why, based on its cover, of course,…sort of. I can’t say a particular style appeals to me, but here are a few that grabbed me from the shelf for cover appeal.
While all of these books are very good, The Time Traveler’s Wife is an exceptional read and I would suggest reading it before seeing the movie. Movies are a dime a dozen, but a really good read is a treasure and sometimes hard to find.
So once the cover has my attention, like most everybody else, I skim the description. There are certain subjects/themes/settings, such as but not limited to: war, Nazis, woman finding herself adrift after years of marriage, China, child abduction, etc. that will have me dropping the book immediately. If the book is still in my hands after reading the description, I turn to the first page and read. If the reading is accessible, then great, but did that first page grab me or at least the writing was good enough to promise to grab me? Anything set in Paris will usually make it into my bag.
This book (The Crimson Petal and the White) grabbed me so forcefully, I stood in Barnes & Noble, right next to the display and read the entire first chapter. Then I went home and read it again. It was that well written ~ and despite its rather hefty size (894 pages!), I was sorry to see it end.
And, of course, if I find an author whose writing I like, I will just pick up something else by them without even seeing what it is about. I also trade books with a couple like-minded friends.
But one of my favorite ways to get a book is the “blind pick”. I get most of my reading from the library these days unless it is something I really want to read and can’t find it there. I troll the “new” section before hitting the shelves & my list of books to look for and when a cover appeals to me, I grab it and stick it in my check-out bag. Nope ~ don’t read the description, the first page, nothing. I do the same sometimes when perusing the shelves ~ I grab a book whose title appeals to me and I barely look at it before dropping it in my bag. Then at home, the blind pick has to be the first book out of my bag that I read. Still ignoring the description, I dive right in. Now and again, I have stumbled on a jewel and just often the blind pick goes right into the return bag after one chapter. But it is a fun game that doesn’t cost a dime. I think I should start grabbing a book where the cover does nothing for me and see where that takes me…
Here’s my latest blind pick that is happily turning out to be a jewel. Fantastic writing that grabbed me from the first paragraph…I’m looking forward to reading it on the boat this weekend.
Hey ~ if you made it all the way through this longer-than-intended post, you deserve something…or at least a chance at something :-) Leave a comment answering at least 2 of these questions below and I’ll put you in the drawing for a set of fat quarters from one of my most recent fabric collection, SoHo.
How do you choose a book? What do you like to read? Have you always read the same kind of books? How have your tastes changed? Do you have a favorite book? What are you reading right now?
