How do you find the books worth reading?

[HomeInMyShoes]

I would say looking at the best-seller lists is probably the worst method of finding books. You might find some good books, but you'll find a lot of just marketing schlock.

I just research and research and research and then research some more. I come up with a theme for books I want to read and then just keep searching. It's not always a success, but reading through the years, through the alphabet and now around the world has made my reading fresher than ever and I'm always finding something crazy good in the obscurist places.

[xstitchfan]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

Like some of the others, it's a combination of things.
1) first group is the set of authors that I've read over the years and tend to get whatever new book comes out.
2) Books that friends recommend (friends is kind of a loose term for people that I've met in person or on line who I have known long enough to have an idea if we have the same taste in specific types of books )
3) Online Book Reviews.
4) Books on subjects that I'm interested in.
5) Amazon reviews

Hi, I am so enjoying this discussion. I wanted to point out that all the recommendations and reviews won't help if you don't trust your gut about your choices. You know what you like to read, trust yourself when you read the description and reviews. I love mysteries - all kinds from forensic to cozy. However, I have learned to avoid books about murders of children, cases involving rape, and anything with gang wars. I usually can't finish the book. So, now I don't start them in the first place. I want to read what I'll like.

I don't have this trusting my gut problem with books, just sometimes with movie rentals. My husband will say, " I know you'll like this movie if you try it." If I've formed a dislike for a movie from reading reviews, watching trailers, and viewing interviews about a movie, I know I'm going to hate that movie. A few times my husband has rented the movie anyway and said "just try it". I usually last 10-20 minutes before he's watching it alone. After this happened 4 times, I told him he must respect my judgement - especially when I say, "I don't want to watch it". He can rent the movie anyway, but don't expect me to sit and watch. Like I said - Trust your gut. And enjoy your reading! Joan

[Catlady]

I'm surprised that some of you seem to put so much effort into choosing a book. Seems like the time devoted to choosing could instead be spent reading!

[SteveEisenberg]

Originally Posted by Catlady

I'm surprised that some of you seem to put so much effort into choosing a book. Seems like the time devoted to choosing could instead be spent reading!

The problem is that it usually takes me a good amount of time reading a book to figure out if it is worth it. I abandon so many after several chapters, and I don't like that. If I didn't read professional reviews first, I'm sure it would get worse.

I recently abandoned The Manchurian Candidate, which I picked because of its famous title, without further investigation. The book turned out to have a brainwashing theme that was, to me, psychologically preposterous. Maybe if I would have read some good reviews, I would have known better.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by SteveEisenberg

The problem is that it usually takes me a good amount of time reading a book to figure out if it is worth it. I abandon so many after several chapters, and I don't like that. If I didn't read professional reviews first, I'm sure it would get worse.

Even though I spend very little time picking books to read, I almost never abandon a book. (Every once in a while I'll pick up a classic that I feel I should read, and I'll find myself putting it aside ... again.) I'm not forcing myself to finish something I hate, either.

I recently abandoned The Manchurian Candidate, which I picked because of its famous title, without further investigation. The book turned out to have a brainwashing theme that was, to me, psychologically preposterous. Maybe if I would have read some good reviews, I would have known better.

I haven't read the book yet, but the original movie version is terrific. If a story's good enough, I'll happily suspend disbelief.

[David Munch]

I usually pick up books here, and check their rating on Goodreads. If it is not above 3.5, then I won't read it.

I don't have much time to read, so I have to be picky.

[bevdeforges]

Originally Posted by Catlady

I'm surprised that some of you seem to put so much effort into choosing a book. Seems like the time devoted to choosing could instead be spent reading!

At least for some of us, it's not a matter of putting in time and effort. Living in a country where your native tongue is not spoken means that you have to seek out interesting titles rather than just stumbling onto them in the shops. The libraries here don't have anything but a few classics in English (and don't want the donation of any of my already-read collection), so options for finding books can be a little bit limited.

[HomeInMyShoes]

Originally Posted by Catlady

I'm surprised that some of you seem to put so much effort into choosing a book. Seems like the time devoted to choosing could instead be spent reading!

I have two loves. Reading books and finding books to read. Finding books to read is almost more fun sometimes.

[HomeInMyShoes]

Originally Posted by David Munch

I usually pick up books here, and check their rating on Goodreads. If it is not above 3.5, then I won't read it.

I don't have much time to read, so I have to be picky.

Not sure I'd subscribe to that, but when there's so many books around it probably doesn't really matter.

[BearMountainBooks]

I do waste a lot of time selecting books. Usually that means reading a few chapters. I am a terribly picky reader and the older I've gotten, the more time I spend on choosing rather than reading. I don't like spending time with a book that starts out 5 stars and is down to 3 or 2 stars by the end. Of course, I don't like starting 5 books for every one I finish either...

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by ForsCream

...I always feel anxiety about if the book I am reading is a waste of time...

So how do you find the nice books which worth reading?

Define "worth" and "waste of time".
Is reading Stephen King, John Katzenbach and other fiction books a "waste of time", since they don't broaden your horizon?
Does "worth reading" mean, you have to have an enigmatic life-changing experience?

Or is something "worth reading", just for being entertained?

If the latter is your point of view, I have a simple rule of thumb:
If I want to be entertained, it has to happen early in a book.
I found: If I'm not into the book after a few pages (actually, most of the times after the first paragraph already) I rarely am afterwards.
So I simply start reading and either go on or forget about the book after a few minutes.
I simply buy all the books that seem interesting and certainly fail in 2 out of 3. But even if I consider the price of 3 books for each one read, reading still is an extremely cheap hobby.
€ 30 for, let's say, 10 hours of reading.
Even if I include the price of the reader over 3 years, I end up with less than € 5 per hour. Probably even way less.
That's why I'm quite careless about my budget for books and usually buy maybe 10 every week on average. Still cheaper than going to a restaurant only once...

If, on the other hand, it's not only about being entertained, but gainings something from reading a book, I focus on reviews and recommendations.
Then my hitrate is way bigger than with fiction books.
Maybe in the range of 75%.
Mainly because I'm more patient.
If I want to gain some knowledge or insights from a book, I'm willing to "fight" through some pages or chapters.

I don't care about NYT (or in my case German Spiegel) rankings.
I don't mind, if the book I'm interested is new or had been sold originally 10 years ago and doesn't appear on any lists anymore.
And often I find the most recent books entangled in some strange type of trends: Ah, the next book about the 5 secrets to learn before you die. Oh no, wait, this time it's 7 secrets, entirely different story then...

[xg4bx]

Facebook and author sites. I see what the authors I enjoy are reading, who they're friends with, who they recommend, etc.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by xg4bx

Facebook and author sites. I see what the authors I enjoy are reading, who they're friends with, who they recommend, etc.

I'm rather puzzled by why you think it's important who an author's friends are. Do your friends share your tastes in reading? Mine don't; heck, very few of my friends read at all!

[Dazrin]

I was wondering that myself. The couple authors that I follow, when they mention friends who are authors, mention friends who write in completely different genres rather than the ones they write in and that I enjoy.

[applesauce]

All of those below. Plus I use goodreads. I select a book I love then read the reviews for that book. I then select those reviews I agree with and check out the reviews of other books they have reviewed

applesauce

Originally Posted by HarryT

I use various means:

Favourite authors: there are certain authors that I know I enjoy, and I'll buy anything they publish. Eg Peter Robinson in the crime genre, and Stephen Baxter in SF.

Favourite publishers: I buy all Baen's monthly bundles, because I know that I'll enjoy the overwhelming majority of what they publish.

Recommendations: I buy a lot of books based on recommendations I see here at MR. Eg I'm currently reading (and very much enjoying) Andy Weir's "The Martian" after seeing recommendations for it here.

Deals: Amazon often have great deals that are hard to resist.