Poll

i do it all the time - forget the old "dont judge a book by its cover" saying!!!!! its how i choose 99% of my books!

Pretty much the only way I decide what to read is through browsing!

Actually, it's the only way I decide. I'm not gonna do a full research for a book before I read it.

One of my favorite pasttimes is browsing bookstores and finding new authors to read in this way!

I do that all the time. I'll see a book & if the cover looks interesting or the title catches my eye then of course I'll read. I don't really rely on someone else's opinion of a book because that doesn't always work out for me and I often find that if someone else says they found it to be a good or a bad read doesn't mean I will.

I've found some of my favorite books this way!

All the time, although, I read the description too.

Thats the only way I choose a book! lol

The only reason I picked up Velocity by Dean Koontz is because of its amazing cover. And I am so glad that I did.

Come on...Risk is my middle name *bwahhaha* lol.

It's how I choose most books!

I actually never did that before last Summer.

But then in July 2011 there was a book sale for 1.49 up to 3.49 € per Book, so I bought 5 Books just because their Covers caught my eyes.
And I did borrow from our Public Library a few Books, too, because of their Covers.

And surprise, surprise... they were all from mostly gorgeous to at least very entertaining reads.

This is one of the only ways I pick books from the library. Either they've been recommended to me, or I wander around library aisles and look for something that just seems good.

I tend to make a mental note of books that look interesting, and then look up reviews on Good Reads or Amazon before purchasing :-)

I think that a book cover tells alot. If a book looks boring I refuse to read it.

I like different genres than most of my friends, so the description is sometimes the only thing I have to go on.

Speaking as an author, I've been absolutely devastated by a couple of covers selected by my publishers, as I felt they did the writing no justice. An author has no input on their cover in traditional publishing houses, and it's quite likely the cover artist never reads the book at all. ...reading these comments reminds me how sad I am for those books with bad covers. :P

Well for me, my vote of maybe is based more on the book description than the cover.

I am really attached to some of my classic books' covers. I don't like the newer covers if I've read a book edition with the original cover.

Jordan wrote: "Speaking as an author, I've been absolutely devastated by a couple of covers selected by my publishers, as I felt they did the writing no justice. An author has no input on their cover in tradition..."

Do you mean that, let's say, your book is of bees & flowers... it might happen that the covers has apples & snakes???
:(

Nesrin wrote: "Jordan wrote: "Speaking as an author, I've been absolutely devastated by a couple of covers selected by my publishers, as I felt they did the writing no justice. An author has no input on their cov..."

Yes, something like that. hehe :)

Yes, if not looking for a writer or specific title, its the first thing you see, then you read the back cover or inside flap. A built in bookmark will also always draw my attention.

One thing I like to do with Science Fiction Novels is compare the different covers for different countries go to FantasticFiction.co.uk

I do it also most of the time ;-)

Lemme take the chances, and then make a review for those who don't. I'll tell whether there is treasure or trash inside. Proof? www.fireheart.tk and http://fantasindo.blogspot.com (and Goodreads of course)

I need the book to have an attractive cover to get my attention, a description that is also attractive, and then I will research online and with friends before committing to the book. My list of too-read books is so huge that if I am to add to that list, I need to know for certain that it's worthwhile.

That's how I always choose books. The cover and description are usually a better indicator of whether I will like a book than anything else.

Sure why wouldn´t I ?

I have read so many good books this way. I generally troll the library shelves looking for interesting looking books.

This is how I normally end up reading books. I go to my library and get books that either 1) are new books in a series that I love 2) are from authors I love 3) were recommended to me or 4) this is the way I normally do it, a book looks interesting so I pick it up. ^^^thats the poll

That is the only way we ever had to choose a book before technology took over...so, yes, of course.

I work at the library. I haul home oodles of books that just kinda looked interesting, and I read a fair number of them. I am gradually learning that if I don't like it I don't have to finish it! (Is this somehow related to being told to clean my plate when I was a child?).

I also take lots of chances on audio books. I listen to them when running or doing housework, and get them all from the library. So my options are somewhat limited, and sometimes when I'm in a hurry to get something, I'll just download the first thing that looks at all good. If I switch to listening to the news before I finish the run, I don't bother finishing the book!

Rebecca wrote: "I work at the library. I haul home oodles of books that just kinda looked interesting, and I read a fair number of them. I am gradually learning that if I don't like it I don't have to finish it!..."
Wow,sounds wonderful to work at the library,lucky you!

I do this all the time - it's how I've found most of the authors that I love!

I know you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but they can be soooooo pretty. :) I do it all the time too, if it looks really wicked and the description is good I am all in. :D

Maryann wrote: "Rebecca wrote: "I work at the library. I haul home oodles of books that just kinda looked interesting, and I read a fair number of them. I am gradually learning that if I don't like it I don't ha..."

I have frequently thanked my stars that I got work at the library, and not a bookstore. That one would have been a financial disaster!

If you're not taking direct recommendations from people how else would you do it? Even recommendations fail sometimes.

Cindy wrote: "I do it all the time!"

Me too!!

What else is there to go by, really? Recommendations from friends, of course, but many of the books I've ever read have been because the summary sounded good and the cover caught my eye.

i dont even look at the description sometimes... if it has cool cover ill try it out :)

I have found the best books this way! :)

Nope. I usually read the first page. If I like it, chances are that I'd like the whole book. If the first page doesn't particularly catch my interest, I flip to the middle and look at the writing style. If it still doesn't interest me, won't buy it. That's usually if I have to buy the book, though. Obviously I'd take the chance if I was borrowing it from a friend or something. But I'm quite stingy with my money :(

That's pretty much the only way I read. No one else has taste as good as mine ;-) (except for you guys of course)

Absolutely! Nothing ventured, nothing gained. I've been horribly wrong (not often; I'm rather picky) but I've more often been right.

Covers grab me before titles in book stores.

Of course. Isn't that what everyone used to do before it became so easy (and trendy) to publicly express opinions and critique everything from books to food to social events?

I've always taken recommendations from my friends, but most of the time I make decisions on what to read based almost entirely on the information provided by the book itself, not people who have already read it, because I find that people are notoriously hard to please when it comes to literature (and dining and going out).

i don wanna get fooled by the cover !!

Of course, if you're buying online (kindle-type or paperback) there's always the 'look inside' feature. Is that part of the 'cover'? Philosophically speaking, I think so...

“If you only read the books that everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking.”
― Haruki Murakami, Norwegian Wood

How are you supposed to pick books out at the library if you don't just read the descriptions? Actually I just read one a while ago that I picked out because the title was cool. I didn't even bother to read the description at all.

I do this a lot too. :)

I do it all the time and have, by doing so, discovered some of my favorite authors. e.g. Pynchon, Richard Russo, Richard Powers just to list a few.