How do you guys find good books to read?

[Kyle B]

I'm on Spring Break this week, and even though I'm working, I haven't had to deal with school work. So great, now I have the opportunity to maybe read a book that isn't half footnotes. Let's fire up the Kindle and download me a book. Oh wait, I don't know what to read!!!!

Any suggestions on how to look for good books? I've googled and such but still have trouble finding one that interests me.

 

[Niamh]

I usually go for books that friends recommend. What type of books do you like?

 

[satinbutterfly]

Well typically Amazon recommends books based on my buying history. Sometimes I get recommendations from fellow geeks. Also, GoodReads.com is definitely a good place to go if you want recommendations.

 

[KLD1019]

i get recommendations from friends, Amazon.com's Kindle discussion board, Amazon's recommendations from my past reads/orders, Goodreads.com, shelfari.com

 

[Springsteen]

You firstly have to figure out what type of books you enjoy, autobiographies, historical, fiction, non fiction etc etc. Go from there. Then break a particular category down, the world ain't lacking for Autobiographies for example, depends if you like them I guess.

If I enjoy a particular author then I generally look for books by them, as well as having linked interests on amazon to books I've read.

 

[Kyle B]

You firstly have to figure out what type of books you enjoy, autobiographies, historical, fiction, non fiction etc etc. Go from there. Then break a particular category down, the world ain't lacking for Autobiographies for example, depends if you like them I guess.

If I enjoy a particular author then I generally look for books by them, as well as having linked interests on amazon to books I've read.

Yea, that's my problem I guess. I just browse around on the web or at the store and read the synopsis of books to see which ones interest me. I don't have a particular genre that I constantly go to.

 

[Abcinthia]

Ahhh you're like me, any genre will do as long as it's interesting. I pick books based on cover, blurb, title, friend recommendations, reading challenge books (I am doing some on another forum), mood and goodreads recommendations (if you type in a book they will usually have several books that other people have enjoyed in a similiar genre)

What genres do you NOT like? What authors do you like? How do you feel about classics?

 

[HK]

If I like the cover, I'll give it a try.


Doesn't always work, I avoided Terry Pratchett for years because the covers freaked me out

 

[Darrell]

If it has Clifford or the Bernstein Bears on the cover, I know it's money. :tooth

 

[hart]

I like particular genres.....

 

[Kyle B]

Ahhh you're like me, any genre will do as long as it's interesting. I pick books based on cover, blurb, title, friend recommendations, reading challenge books (I am doing some on another forum), mood and goodreads recommendations (if you type in a book they will usually have several books that other people have enjoyed in a similiar genre)

What genres do you NOT like? What authors do you like? How do you feel about classics?

Pretty much: trashy erotica and mystery novels. Other than that I'm game lol. I love classical books, and have read a lot of them. I'm a fan of John Grisham and James Patterson (nullifying my former point )

If I like the cover, I'll give it a try.


Doesn't always work, I avoided Terry Pratchett for years because the covers freaked me out

Yea, I'm guilty of that too. I'll look at the title and cover, if it doesn't really look all that appealing I'll just skip over it, having no clue what the book is actually about.

If it has Clifford or the Bernstein Bears on the cover, I know it's money. :tooth

Bernstein Bears are freakin' AWESOME. I had 50+ of those books at one point. I want a house like theirs.

 

[HK]

Yeah.... I walk around bookstores looking at covers, if it doesn't look appealing then I don't pick it up.

Have you read The Tooth Fairy by Graham Joyce? That's a good book.

 

[Abcinthia]

Have you read The Sisters Brothers by Patrick DeWitt

Hermann Kermit Warm is going to die. Eli and Charlie Sisters can be counted on for that. Though Eli has never shared his brother's penchant for whiskey and killing, he's never known anything else. On the road to Warm's gold-mining claim outside San Francisco -- and from the back of his long-suffering one-eyed horse -- Eli struggles to make sense of his life without abandoning the job he's sworn to do.

DeWitt spins a violent, lustful, hung-over and humorous odyssey through the underworld of the 1850s frontier. Doffing his hat to the classic Western, he then transforms it into a comic tour-de-force with an unforgettable narrative voice that captures all the absurdity, melancholy, and grit of the West -- and of these two brothers, bound to each other by blood and scars and love.

Film rights have been sold to actor John C. Reilly's production company in a major deal, with Reilly to play one of the brothers.

It's not normally my genre but I liked it.

 

[freakofnature]

Most of my favourite books I've found just by browsing in book stores. If the synopsis on the back cover sounds interesting, I'll buy the book. That's how I found the Sword of Truth series (which has become one of my favourites) and my novels by Ted Dekker (probably my favourite current author).

 

[satinbutterfly]

Most of my favourite books I've found just by browsing in book stores. If the synopsis on the back cover sounds interesting, I'll buy the book. That's how I found the Sword of Truth series (which has become one of my favourites) and my novels by Ted Dekker (probably my favourite current author).

That's how I found the Sword of Truth series as well. I actually started with the 4th book, but then had to go back and read all the earlier ones.

 

[Kyle B]

Well typically Amazon recommends books based on my buying history. Sometimes I get recommendations from fellow geeks. Also, GoodReads.com is definitely a good place to go if you want recommendations.

That GoodReads site is awesome. This is just the type of thing I need, lists with books lol. That makes it easy.

I'm surprised with how many of the "most popular novels" I've read.

I decided to read Water for Elephants a recent NYT bestseller one. I forgot to mention that I always check the NYT bestseller list, but the list often disappoints me.

 

[freakofnature]

That reminds me...sometimes if I really enjoy a movie and then discover it was based on a book, I'll go buy the book. Jurassic Park, The Princess Bride, The Notebook are a few I've found that way. The book is almost always better.

 

[satinbutterfly]

That GoodReads site is awesome. This is just the type of thing I need, lists with books lol. That makes it easy.

I'm surprised with how many of the "most popular novels" I've read.

I decided to read Water for Elephants a recent NYT bestseller one. I forgot to mention that I always check the NYT bestseller list, but the list often disappoints me.

It is pretty awesome. :thumbup

 

[Abcinthia]

That GoodReads site is awesome. This is just the type of thing I need, lists with books lol. That makes it easy.

I'm surprised with how many of the "most popular novels" I've read.

I decided to read Water for Elephants a recent NYT bestseller one. I forgot to mention that I always check the NYT bestseller list, but the list often disappoints me.

Yeah I love Goodreads. It's added loads to my wishlist on amazon/book people and whenever I buy or get a book out the library, I check what goodreads reviews has to say about it. The reviews on there are heaps better than on Amazon.

 

[brieze]

I recommend Dan Brown books since you're a history buff