TTT: Things That Make Me Pick Up a Book

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.  There is a new topic each week for bloggers to join in with their own top ten. If you’re looking for some new or different book blogs to read, hop on over to her site and check out some of the links.

There are many things that make me pick out the books I decide to read.  For this week’s TTT I’ll be telling you what those things are.  But I’m not telling you ten things, just five t his week.  I don’t always have a specific order to my TTT lists, but this week I’m putting my reasons in order from the most important to least important.

1. First and foremost is the author. Not to say I haven’t read plenty of books by authors that are new and even unknown to me.  But if a book is by one of my favorites, it will automatically go on my TBR list.  I’ve been known to go back and read an author’s library from first published work to the most recent if I read enough current work that impresses me.

 

2. It’s part of a series I’m already reading. I have a huge issue marking any book I start as a DNF.  Turns out the same can be said for any series.  Luckily, the urge to do so doesn’t happen often.  But I have been known to stick with a series (I’m not going to mention any names) even when I’m thoroughly annoyed with the writing and author.  I have to see how things turn out for all the characters involved.  I’m getting better about that though.  There are far too many wonderful books out there for me to waste my time on something I know I probably won’t enjoy.

 

3. Recommendation from an author I love. If I’m reading a story that name drops another author or book, I always add it to my list.  My thought is that if I enjoy this author’s work, I’m going to enjoy what they like to read also.  This has led to me finding many wonderful authors I may not have gotten around to if left to my own devices.  I also take their recommendations in other ways, be it through Twitter or their newsletters or some other sort of cross promotion.  Again, I hold out hope that an author isn’t going to laud another author’s work if they are not already a fan.

 

4. It may seem weird that I take a beloved author’s recommendation before a friend or family member, but that’s the way it is. I do take suggestions from loved ones into consideration, but not all those close to me have the same taste in books.  Since I read a lot of different genres and enjoy most of them, I never dismiss a recommendation.  But in the grand scheme of things, these more personal recs come after favorite author recs when I’m choosing a book.

 

5. The blurb can go a long way in getting me to pick up a book. I can think of books I almost passed on because I found the cover over-the-top cheesy or otherwise unappealing, but decided to take a chance once I read the description.  Recently, I decided to give an author I haven’t had much luck with another chance because the blurb intrigued me and sounded like a story I would enjoy. 

There ya have it.  Five reasons that I pick up the particular books that I do.  There are more reasons, to be sure, but these are the main things that will get me reading a story.