Poll

I chose to read Bear Grylls book (before he starred on Man v Wild) based on his picture on the cover. The book was awful; I didn't finish it.

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

Me, too! :)

I do it all the time...if the description sounds good then I'll read the book. If not, I usually won't give it a try unless I read the review & it sounds better.

I picked my last 10 selections based on the cover & author, with no idea of the content.

Covers do draw me in, but the description is the kicker. If it sounds interesting, I'm there!

Its hit or miss when i just judge by the cover. Its there is a better chance of liking a book if i read the description. One thing i will never do again is read a book just because it has a catching title.

I choose my books this way. I will only look at the review if I am unsure if I want to take the chance. A book has to have a good cover and an interesting description...which had BETTER not be misleading.

I think it's kinda fun to read a book that we don't really know the content, its like opening a gift. :)

I have purchased and read books solely based on the cover in the past and have found some really interesting gems. And some not so great reads, but that can be part of the fun!

All. The. Time. I like pink covers.

You never know, you could always come across a hidden treasure! It's a fun gambling game where you can't really lose too much lol!

Yes, I do it most of the time! If it sounds interesting, I buy it! If it's by an author who is my favorite, I just buy the book anyway. Rarely am I disappointed.

I like the surprise as the story unfolds. Some I have not cared for but forced myself to read and after a slow start I enjoyed it!

usually thats all i pick it on cover and discription. usuall i turn out to love them- thats 99% of the time

I have done that many times over my life time since I bought my first book at 14.

Unfortunately I have many books I didn't finish because once I got into them I found them lacking or I disagreed with the author so much it wasn't worth the waste time.

Maybe. If the description sounded like something I'd like, then I might take a chance.

Sure. But that's let me down a lot as a book selection process (Swamplandia, anybody?)

This is a common thing for me to do and I have read many wonderful books this way!!

Anna wrote: "No - I tend to try and read the first few paragraphs and see if I get on with them first. It's not an infallible method ..."

Jack wrote: "Exactly"

Anastasia wrote: "This is how I make most of my book purchasing decisions, lol. :D I've found some really good stuff this way, too!"
Me, too, 100%

Not so much the cover, but definitely the blurb.

Ursula wrote: "All. The. Time. I like pink covers."

I love it!

I almost always do this. I've discovered some of my favorite books this way.

yes, probably why I read so many... books I end up not liking that much.

I do this all the time. A lot of times if a cover is aesthetically pleasing and the premise peaks my interest, I'll absolutely consider reading it. You can find some excellent reads this way.

I agree. I almost think sometimes a cover can help or hurt sales. I look at a lot of British magazines and their book reviews. I am surprised when they change the cover, must have something to do with attracting a different audience.

Laura Lee wrote: "I agree. I almost think sometimes a cover can help or hurt sales. I look at a lot of British magazines and their book reviews. I am surprised when they change the cover, must have something to d..."

It is not the first time that I have inadvertently bought a book I have already read because the cover had been changed and I thought it was a new one!! I have a terrible memory but some of my friends have complained of the same problem so it obviously works for the publishers!

I was just talking about that today, new covers on old books! Gotta check the year written.

I do this lots. If I'm not sure by reading the description, I might turn to the first page and see if the lead grabs me.

I do it all the time, I've found many new favourite authors this way. That's kind of the whole point of the cover, to catch your eye and make you interested.

Sure, if it was in the library or on offer in the store as long as it really grabbed my attention and the description sounded interesting - Although when I'm planning a purchase and paying full price I usually like to read a few recommendations and reviews first.

All the time !!!!!!

I kind of thought we all did that! Is this not so? If I like the blurb and the cover its usually a yes from me. Of course some of those decisions have been big fat raspberries but isn't that part of the joy of reading?

Sure... who doesn't do that??

I do it all the time!!! Sometimes, you win. Other times, not so much.

All the time. And that's how so I found most of my favorite books. Normally I go to a book fair and look at the books there, checking for the title, the cover and lastly the description. If they satisfy me, I'll buy that book. In some cases(quite often) the title may be decisive. For example, I bought Magyk by reading the title and not paying any attention to the description (because it was blocked by some sticker) thinking it is a book about magic(the occult sort...) and it turned put to be the best fantasy book I ever read.

I think that a cover highly affects the chances of someone buying the book. I look at the covers and read the descrption, if they captured my attention since the beggining, I get that book

I always look at the cover and if its pretty I move on to the description but alot of times the cover proves me wrong a bad cover could mean the book is amazing soo I left out alot of great books I learn from my lessons now..

do it all the time... what can i say. i'm a sucker for good advertising and a great visual grabber..

I download samples first before I spend money, that way I avoid wasting time and money, neither of which I'm willing to just toss around on style over substance.

That's almost alway why I read a book. I walk through a bookstore picking up anything that gets my attention. I rarely look for specific reviews.

When i go to the library that is how i pick out books, if the cover and description appeal to me then i check it out and read it.

No offense to all of us, since a lot of us review books, but I generally don't pay too much attention to them. If I read a blurb and think I'll like the book, I go for it!

When you've read everything by all the creators--of a particular genre--that you like, but you want to read more in their particular genre, you're often left with little else to go on.

But I'll stop reading it if I discover it's not good.

This is how i read all my books.

That's exactly how I usually choose my book.

I totally always judge books by their covers. If it has a cool cover, I pick it up. Some books though, I judge by the description or read because a friend recommended it... it just really depends.

I do still do this a lot, but I must admit... I did it a LOT more before the advent of internet ratings and social media book websites. Nowadays I can't help but read reviews and look at ratings and measure that against my time/energy/interest... and I second-guess, and third-guess, and quadruple-guess.

When I was younger, I would simply head to the library and browse the shelves. I would look at covers and read the inside flaps or backsides or copyright pages of books for summaries... and if I was interested, I would just read the book. There wasn't any checking on Amazon, Goodreads, BN.com, etc...

It was a simple process of... looks good, sounds good. I'll read it!

Now, a little more "peer pressure" drips into my daily book perusing. For better, or for worse. :P

Like I said in my blog post, I judge books by their covers. If you want to read the post and more about my opinion on that matter you can check it out here:

http://2-b-read.blogspot.com/2012/06/...

What else are we supposed to go by? Ha ha! I really ignore blurbs and reviews, basically. Great question!