How to choose a good book to read?
“Don’t judge a book by its cover.”.
What is a metaphor, a popular saying, for us readers – and for those who are just starting out – may be a primordial tip for choosing a good book to read.
Between us, there is not a single way, the most correct way to choose a reading. Each reader has his or her own methods, and it is paramount to remember that the main factor of choice will still be personal taste.
But then, what are we going to talk about in this text? We are going to bring you some tips that can help you choose good books. These are suggestions of things that we have done or still use to choose our readings.
Referral from friends
A friend who is a friend always has good advice, right? Or, at least, we always trust their advice. So why not look for that friend you always see with a book under his or her arm?
You probably have an acquaintance or relative who is a library rat. Talk to him about his reading, ask him about his favorite book, ask him about authors, ask him to suggest a good book for you. And, of course, ask him why.
If you have a hint, start by talking to close friends with whom you have a greater affinity. The chance that they will suggest a reading that you like will be much greater.
Consult your bookshelf
One way to choose a good book for your next read is to visit your reading past. What did you read last? What were the genres of your last readings?
Some readers like to delve into a certain theme or genre and work their way through several authors.
For example, the last book I read was a crime thriller and I really liked that niche. Now, I’m going to look for a thriller written by another author. The chance of having a good read is greater, because I already know that the theme is to my liking.
This tip can also work the other way around. If you have a favorite author, you obviously have a favorite literary genre. Why not give other authors of the same style a chance? Do you like Stephen King? How about looking for other horror authors? If you like Tolkien, look for an author you have never read, but who also writes about fantasy.
The only “problem”, so to speak, is that with this tip, you may end up stuck in a monothematic reading cycle. Now, if you like to diversify, like to be surprised, you can choose to try a totally different genre than what you have been reading. For example, get out of detective thrillers and into a good poetry book, why not?
Read the “outside” of the book
Back to judging a book by its cover. It is inevitable, there is no way: we pick up a random book on the shelf, look at the cover, turn around to see the back cover, sometimes we even evaluate the spine.
If it does not please our eyes, we will hardly choose this book to be our next read. A very serious mistake.
Reading the cover to know who the author and the publisher are can already give us some hints about the theme of the book. After all, we have publishers that are geared to a single niche of readers. On the back cover, we can find reviews about the work, some notes related to the author or any other relevant information to choose a good book to read.
But beware, the best way to do this is to read the back cover critically. In many cases, the text was commissioned by the publisher, so let’s say that there is a certain bias in this text.
And don’t be embarrassed to choose a book by its cover, literally. Sooner or later, every reader will experience this. Which does not mean that we will not find good books to read, judging only by the cover.
“I’m just having a little look”
The next tip for finding a good book to read is to skim the first few pages and the titles. Then, when the salesperson asks you if you will take the book, answer calmly that you are just looking around. That won’t be a lie.
Book titles usually have details about the author or the work. A quick read to find out what the book is about can either encourage or discourage you.
Before the salesperson insists that you take the book, read the first few pages of the story to get a feel for the author’s writing, the narrative, and to get a preview of what is to come. And then you can feel whether you are in front of a good book or not.
Do it all over the Internet
You can follow all our tips without leaving home. After all, today we have everything we need right there on Google. Of course you can get excellent tips for good books to read by surfing the Internet. You just need to know where and how to filter the information.
Just as we can easily find content with numerous tips, we also find a lot of bad things. So, here are some tips for a good research:
- Always look for information in specialized sites and blogs;
- YouTube has many good people, with less fame, but with super valuable tips;
- Read the critics (don’t take their opinion as an absolute truth, but as a suggestion);
- Visit the publishers’ sites;
- Follow the social networks of authors, critics, publishers and
- Others related to literature;
- Read the book reviews on the sites;
- Read the reviews of other readers;
- Some sites make a preview of the book available for “tasting”.
These tips have been very useful to me several times when I didn’t know which book to read. Have you used any of these or do you have another way to choose a good book? Share your tips with us.