How do you choose your books?

[Mandapanda]

Sorry for the dumb question Neko but what's '4chan's /lit/ board'? Is it another group and can you give us a link?

[neko]

No, no, not a stupid question at all. I'm just so used to talking to friends who are already aware of it and so I didn't think to explain or provide a link. 4chan is a pretty (in)famous imageboard. As long as you stick to the /lit/ (literature) board it should be cool, but there are a few other sections that focus on 'adult' content and the like.

I'm... not sure that it's the sort of forum that you fine and upstanding denizens would be interested in frequenting, but I guess you're perfectly capable for making that decision for yourselves.

Here's a link straight to /lit/ for you ---
http://boards.4chan.org/lit/

[Mandapanda]

I checked the lit board out and the discussions are great. Except for that guy who said that The Dying Earth by Jack Vance was a RIP-OFF of Dungeons and Dragons!? Arrgh! JV is one of my all time fave authors. I know the guy was probably just stirring but it still made me mad. >:(

Anyway loved the site but you're right, stick to the 'lit' (short for literature) page if you're looking for short (sometimes 'deep & meaningful' and sometimes argumentative) book reviews that make you want to jump in and yell at someone!! The rest of the site might be a bit AO for those who don't like that sort of thing!

[neko]

Hahahah! He was just trolling, relax. I caught that thread earlier today and had a chuckle about how silly a claim he was making :) In fact, I was the guy complaining about how terrible the available covers are for Tales of the Dying Earth.

[Mandapanda]

Thanks for the link Neko, it's a real laugh.;)

[Capsguy]

>>IMPLYING LITERATE AUSTRALIANS EXIST IN THIS SHITHOLE.

That's what you'd expect to see in 4chan from time to time. :D

[neko]

You don't consider even yourself literate, CAPSGUY?

EDIT: How did I miss the second line of your comment!? Disregard that.

[Capsguy]

Not really, I'm still a beginner, as I never really had any passion, or interest at all for literature whilst in high school.

[[deleted user]]

neko wrote: "You don't consider even yourself literate, CAPSGUY?

EDIT: How did I miss the second line of your comment!? Disregard that."

Because he edited. It wasn't there originally. I was thinking 'What the.....???'

[neko]

Gail "cyborg" wrote: Because he edited. It wasn't there originally. I was t..."

OH THANK GOD. I thought I must have been going insane :p

[[deleted user]]

Capsguy wrote: ">>IMPLYING LITERATE AUSTRALIANS EXIST IN THIS SHITHOLE.

That's what you'd expect to see in 4chan from time to time. :D"

I am really glad you edited it Capsguy. The original certainly made a splash entry for a first post. :D

[Capsguy]

:D

[Murray]

Gail wrote: "Like Murray, I also tend to reread favourite books (many times). I'm also leaning towards an ebook reader of some sort. I do most of my reading on the train, an ereader would be more convenient. I haven't decided which one to get as yet. I am still researching and talking to people."

Perhaps this deserves its own topic, but I've avoided the Kindle because of its proprietary format. Anything I bought had to support ePub. If I only wanted to read books, I'd have jumped at the Kobo, which has just the right feature set, quality and price. I wanted to be able to edit my writing and uni notes, so I ended up with the Sony Reader Touch, which I love despite its minor defects.

[[deleted user]]

Murray wrote: "I wanted to be able to edit my writing and uni notes, so I ended up with the Sony Reader Touch, which I love despite its minor defects...."

I don't think the kobo has dictionary feature. If/when I buy an ereader I would like that feature. What are the identified defects of the Sony? You are right this probably does need it's own thread.

[Capsguy]

Heard Sony's batteries suck. Check up on that.

[[deleted user]]

I have just added The Arrival to my to-read shelf.

I was looking at the books on display when you open the group 'Aussie Reads' and I was intrigued by its cover. On furthur investigation 3 of my goodreads friends who I trust, have read it and given it 5 stars.

[snapp]

Gail "cyborg" wrote: "I have just added The Arrival to my to-read shelf.

I was looking at the books on display when you open the group 'Aussie Reads' and I was intrigued by its cover. On furthur invest..."

Gail you won't regret reading The Arrival. It is FANTASTIC! I've used it with the students at school too and they keep going back to look at it because there is so much in there.

[Peta-jane]

I tend to read up on books that other authors give reference to in their books, if I like a particular story and they quote someone elses work, I'll then try to find out about that book! It's good when you want to learn more about a story you love, and if I love the original author I tend to like the books that he or she got their inspiration from! I also tend to look on listopia for books with good reviews!

[[deleted user]]

Anna wrote: "Gail you won't regret reading The Arrival. It is FANTASTIC! I've used it with the students at school too and they keep going back to look at it because there is so much in there. "

Thanks Anna, I haven't looked into Graphic novels previously I am looking forward to the experience. I am glad the first venture is going to be with an Australian author.

Thanks to Mandy for high lighting it.

[Jacqueline]

I used to buy Mobipocket books through companies like Fictionwise, but unfortunately Amazon (currently my bête noire) bought Mobipocket out, and now other ereader producers have to pay a hefty licence fee to use it. It is being withdrawn from my ereader (Bebook) meaning that if I upgrade the software I automatically lose the ability to read the Mobipocket books I already have. God bless Amazon. Maybe I should give up and kowtow to them. I just wish they weren't so, well, capitalist.

[[deleted user]]

Curse you Amazon. Monopolistic? Well I think that's what they are aiming for. I hope you aren't forced to up grade anytime soon Jacqueline.

[Emma]

There was a little article in The Age's A2 on Saturday about the whole system of choosing the books you read by page its 69: Don't judge a book by its page 69. You open the book at page 69, read it, and decide whether you'll read the book based on that or not.

I'd never heard of this but apparently it's like some whole book-choosing craze with a blog and everything.

Does anyone use this technique?

[Neko]

^ I've never opened a book to page 69 to see if I like it or not.

I'm pretty much all over the place when it comes to picking a book to read. When I used to travel to Melbourne, I'd quite often find a discount book shop and pick up a book only for the COVER ART. I'd gloss over the blurb and still usually buy it. I wasn't spending much so I didn't worry. I've done that quite reccently with a few books, the cover art I was thrilled with. It might have something to do with my graphic design/art background, I'm not sure.

Otherwise, I'll sometimes just take a gamble on an author who has writen many books..I figure, they must be somewhat good if they've been able to write so many books and people keep buying them.

Then I'll get recommended books to read from family or friends..But I'm just starting to find my 'style/taste' in books seems to be different from theirs. Still, it is interesting to see what people read.

I also pay attention to online book stores and see what the place will recommend like Amazon will state, 'People who bought this book also purchased these...'

Then sometimes I just walk into a bookshop feeling the urge to pick up some book and just buy it. However, with book prices in Australia not being so cheap, I tend to do this less often.

[Mandapanda]

Emma wrote: "There was a little article in The Age's A2 on Saturday about the whole system of choosing the books you read by page its 69: Don't judge a book by its page 69. You open the book at page 69, read i..."

That idea is just quirky enough to gain a cult following. Unfortunately I only read off my Kindle now which doesn't count pages, only 'locations' so I don't get to test this charming theory.:D

[Kurt]

I like to pick up a book and flick to a page about halfway through. If I like the sound of the writing I buy it. This can be a little hit and miss but it has put me on to some great authors. (It's how I got into Terry Pratchett and Bill Bryson)

[[deleted user]]

Hee hee I am prepared to test the theory, I still buy paper books occasionally.

[Murray]

Mandy wrote: "Unfortunately I only read off my Kindle now which doesn't count pages, only 'locations' so I don't get to test this charming theory.:D"

What?? That's another reason for me to avoid Kindle. I need to reference the page numbers of anything I quote. Perhaps referencing will change to something more electronically supportable in the future.

[Bea]

I open books to the first paragraph and if they seem interesting then I'll give them a go. More often than not they turn out to be something I love! I'm very lucky as where I work is my own library as we have a bookborrowing system at work so I can read books without buying them. The if I like them I more often than not buy them to add to my very large and growing collection of books! My house is essentially a library of its own these days!

[Cheryl]

Emma wrote: "There was a little article in The Age's A2 on Saturday about the whole system of choosing the books you read by page its 69: Don't judge a book by its page 69. You open the book at page 69, read i..."


I like this idea. I pick up too many books based on cover, description, and first paragraph(s). Reading a bit further in would help me put down books that aren't really worthy, I bet. I'm not sure about a magical number page 69 though - I'll adapt it to 1/5 through. Oh, and I won't join the website - GR is plenty time-consuming!

[Bronwyn]

I usually pick my books by the synopsis on the back cover, but I also look at the reviews on Amazon and now on Good Reads and also I look up Fantastic Fiction to see if it is part of a series or not. Once I start reading a series I like I try to read all of them in order if I can. My library is pretty good at getting books from other sources or buying them if they don't have a copy. I have to pick 5 books I would like to read from a list our library has for book club books - I am going by name at first, then I will review it. It will be interesting to see if the name fits.

[Tracey]

Can't believe I missed this thread. For me I either buy authors I know and love, like Terry Pratchett or James Rollins lately. Then it depends on whether I'm in a bricks and mortar store or on Amazon. B & M I tend to look at covers that catch the eye, if the blurb sounds good I'll grab it, or go by certain recommendations but I have to know I have similar tastes to the person recommending. With Amazon I tend to look for favourites I want to replace or for cheap reads [my book habit is very, very expensive] so I'm still caught by the cover but I'm usually searching by genre and if I like the cover, the blurb, check out a few reviews and the sample, then I'll buy it. I've found some really fabulous Indie authors through sites like this or Kindleboards too and have yet to be disappointed. [Well once but I won't mention that as the writer's kind of a friend]

[[deleted user]]

Tracey wrote: "Can't believe I missed this thread..."

We deliberately hide threads so you don't see them all at once. It keeps you coming back for more. :)

Well that isn't quite true, but some of the older threads get pushed out of sight and only get seen if someone is keen enough to dig them up again.

[Cheryl]

I find a lot of non-fiction in the bibliographies of the NF books I find by other means - and sometimes it even chains. When it's recursive it's not so much fun.

(That is, when I read book A, it references book B. I read book B, and it references book C. If book C referencess book D, great. If it references A and B, I begin to wonder if anyone is using original source material or new research at all.)

[Adhityani]

I should have spotted this thread sooner! Generally I go by award winners and bestseller lists... but I also read the first few pages of a book first before getting it. I like reading excerpts and reviews before I make up my mind. Covers don't lure me into buying the book BUT a tasteless one could be a major turn off. So could a badly written blurb.

I also like to pick up similar books at one go. I don't know, this is a bit strange of me, but I like to buy pairs of books of the same theme. For instance, if I get a Booker Prize winner, then I would either get a shortlist of the same year OR a winner from another year OR a book by the same author. Leaving the bookstore or library with one book feels weird to me.

[Neko]

Cheryl wrote: "I find a lot of non-fiction in the bibliographies of the NF books I find by other means - and sometimes it even chains. When it's recursive it's not so much fun.

(That is, when I read book A, it ..."

Books that make lots of references to other ones will tend to lose my interest as well. Comics have a very bad habbit of doing that. This problem actually drove my interest away for comics for a long time besides their horrible prices.

[Cheryl]

Laura, I'm talking about non-fiction, about learning all I can about a subject, comparing different authors' takes on it. I *like* lots of references - what I don't like is when they reference each other because then I've run out of recommendations for that subject!

[Adhityani]

Cheryl wrote: "Laura, I'm talking about non-fiction, about learning all I can about a subject, comparing different authors' takes on it. I *like* lots of references - what I don't like is when they reference eac..."

Cheryl, I agree with you. This is the case in academic research as well. Gotta take a closer look at the biblio and if you find that they're referencing each other, you're bound to ask yourself if there's any original material at all. Reports published for the popular audience, like the UN does, tend to obscure the original research and then these reports get quoted and reference to quite heavily and at the end you can't track it to the original scientific research results (in case you want to rebutt the arguments based on them). So yea, it can be pretty annoying especially when you're learning about the subject (in my case, studying/researching about the subject!).

[Adhityani]

Laura wrote: "Books that make lots of references to other ones will tend to lose my interest as well. Comics have a very bad habbit of doing that. This problem actually drove my interest away for comics for a long time besides their horrible prices. "

I remember a few years back I wanted to read "the longest novel every written in English fiction" that is, Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace. After flicking a few pages I decided to drop the plan--the book was littered with footnotes! Just glancing at them freaked the hell out of me...

[Cheryl]

"This is the case in academic research as well. Gotta take a closer look at the biblio and if you find that they're referencing each other, you're bound to ask yourself if there's any original material at all"

Oy, yes, I'm comforted that my interest in non-fiction is purely for personal 'fun' so if I run into that tangle at least I know I'm not going to be taking anyone else with me.

I like end-notes better than foot-notes, unless it's Terry Pratchett. :)