Breathe To Read

Breathe To Read

Tuesday, April 2, 2019

Top Ten Tuesday - Things That Make Me Pick Up A Book

Top Ten Tuesday is brought to you by That Artsy Reader Girl.

I don't have 10 things that make me pick up a book.  I don't go into that many bookstores, sadly.  I will admit that most of my books come from Amazon based on the fact that it is just cheaper.  If I had more access to used bookstores, then I would shop more outside of online delivery.  But I don't, so there you are.

When I am in a bookstore, something that makes me pick up a book are the following:

1) The Cover
         Do you have beautiful art on your book cover?  Then I am going to be drawn to it.  It might be a subject I would never consider reading about, but I see a beautiful cover, and I am at least going to pick it up.  Sometimes I am actually disappointed when I find a beautiful book, and realize that it is a story I could never get in to.  Becuase I still kind of want it - just for it to sit on my shelf.



2) The Title
        I feel like all of these are going to be obvious.  I am sure 99% of the people who pick up an unknown book is because a title draws them in.  There are some truly clever titles out there where, again, even if I don't know anything about the book a good title will cause me to pick it up and flip it over.  A lot of times, I am pleasantly surprised that this amazing title is attached to a book I would be interesting in reading. Clever titles can lead to clever books.  True story.



3) The Size
        This can go two ways.  I have picked up very short books in the recommended reading section of a bookstore and wondered how they can tell a story in such a small amount of pages.  I have quite a few novellas that are great, and I am still always surprised that authors can pack so much into a few pages.  Kudos.  Also - a GIANT novel always gets my attention.  My favorite series is Game of Thrones, and it is nothing for those to be 1000 pages.  I think - do you need that many pages to get your point across?  Answer is often YES.  But I love to pick up a big book, especially if it is a hard cover, and just marvel at the work.

   

4) Popularity
       I feel this is also a given.  I follow many book lovers on instagram and online, and books showing up over and over are going to get my attention.  Without the access to many bookstores, I do end up looking those books up on Amazon more often or not, but if I am in a store, I will use that opportunity to check it out.



5) A Known Author
       There are authors we all love.  Sometimes, even if I have just read one book that was amazing, I will go back to the store (or online) and see what else the author has written.  Fredrik Backman is a good example.  I read The Man Called Ove, and was hooked.  The writing was amazing, so I wanted to see what else he wrote.  And now I have read all of his books.  Did I love them all?  No.  But 9 times out of 10, I have found another book by the same author just as good.



6) The "Blurb" about the book
          If I have a lot of time to stroll around the bookstore, and I am just looking randomly, OR I have seen a book title online that sounds interesting, but I know nothing about the book, I will read the blurb and even if the title wasn't great, or the picture on the book didn't draw me in, this might do it.  It isn't my first reason to pick up a book, but in the end, it is exactly what I need to get me to read or purchase a book.



That is what I could come up with.  Not a full 10, but I think these are the main points that just about anyone would use when walking through a bookstore.  Or - I could have totally misunderstood what was meant by the challenge.  It could have meant what makes me pick up a book I ALREADY have, and read it.   This is just my interpretation of the challenge.

What makes you pick up a book?  Do you frequent bookstores, or is Amazon your go to move when you want to buy a book?

5 comments:

  1. I am a sucker for those Barnes and Noble editions, I want to buy them all for their pretty gilded and leather covers. But, I also will buy a book if it's cheap which leads to me sometimes donating a lot of those at the end of the day lol, I enjoyed reading your answers, and I too will want to pick up a book based on cover or sometimes size!

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    1. oooo - YES to Barnes and Noble editions!

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  2. I couldn't agree more with these six factors on what makes one choose a book. Hell, it's what I do! Great post!

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    1. ha ha - I know!! I couldn't think of any othe reasons "outside of the box"

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  3. Good post! Covers are pretty important to me too and I agree on known authors, but I rely more on reviews and friends' recs than popularity. I have been burned before...

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