Six Steps to Choosing a Good Book

She could have married a bibliophile instead, but he spent hours upon hours wandering aimlessly through the book store looking for something to read. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

We book readers can spend hours at a book store or a library searching for the perfect book.  There are a lot of reasons for this.  Maybe there are no good books to be found (very unlikely).  Maybe there are so many good books available that it’s tough to pick the right one(s).  Maybe there are non-book distractions that keep us from focusing.  Maybe we’re feeling indecisive. 

Choosing a book can be time consuming, but it doesn’t have to be.  By following six quick steps, any reader can find a (probably) good book in a matter of minutes.

 *****

1.  Set the timer. 

A time limit is important in choosing a book.  Without that self-imposed limit, readers can waste valuable time searching and over-thinking possible book selections.  Every second wasted picking a book is less time that we’ll have to read that book.  We readers often leave a store with a stack of books that we’ll never get to.  Setting a time limit will make that stack smaller while giving us more time to read.

DISCLAIMER:  If you enjoy wandering through the book store or library just for the sheer joy of wandering through the book store or library, then disregard Step 1.  Choosing a good book might not be your top priority.

 ****

2.  Look for books with interesting titles. 

Reading titles (while ignoring authors and book covers) means we can scan aisles of books very quickly.  Each person has different criteria for what makes a good book title.  I think I’ve been attracted to books with prepositional phrases in them.  Talking to the Dead, The Power of Habit, The Lord of the Rings, Fifty Shades of Gray, A Game of Thrones, A Feast for Crows, A Clash of Kings, The Sword of Shannara, Love in a Nutshell, Rules of Civility, State of Wonder… 

I haven’t read all the above books; I just initially gave them a second look because of their titles.  I’m a sucker for prepositional phrases. 

*****

3.  Make sure the author is not on the DO NOT READ list. 

Every reader’s DO NOT READ LIST is different.  I don’t read more than three books by any author.  I don’t read books in a series if the series hasn’t been finished yet.  I rarely give (famous) authors a second chance if I disliked the first book of theirs that I read.  And (as I pointed out last week) I don’t read books if there’s a hot chick with cleavage on the cover.

*****  

4.  Read the book jacket. 

Everybody knows that reading a quick explanation of the book can be helpful, but it’s just as important to ignore any reviews that are on the jacket.  The reviewers could be friends of the author.  The reviewers could have been paid by the publisher.  The reviewers might not have even read the book.  Or the reviewers could have bad taste in books. 

Readers are better off glancing at the plot summary and then moving on to the next step (if we choose).

*****

 5.   Read the first page (at least). 

No explanation needed. 

*****

6.  Choose a random page and read (the dialogue). 

I like to choose a random page just to verify that the quality of writing doesn’t deteriorate too much as the book continues.  Some books start off strong but fall off quickly, and we readers are cheated.  Perusing a random page might not prevent that from happening to us, but at least we give ourselves a chance. 

I also check for dialogue on a random page.  If the dialogue is unrealistic or too clever to be true, then I probably won’t read the book.  Dialogue is important to me.  Sometimes authors use dialogue to show how clever they are instead of using it to reveal their characters’ personalities. 

Readers who don’t care about dialogue can still choose a random page and check the descriptions or exposition, or even the punctuation.  The important thing is to make sure that the quality of writing meets our expectations throughout the whole book. 

***** 

Ever since I have begun this six-step process, I have spent more time reading books and less time searching.  This doesn’t mean that every book I’ve picked out has been great.  I’ve still chosen a couple disappointments that I didn’t finish.  However, I feel less frustrated with a disappointing book now (unless I paid a lot of money for it) because I know that I didn’t waste time looking for it.  And I still have a (smaller) stack of back up books that I have more time to read. 

That’s the great thing about books.  Even when a book sucks, there will always be a better one out there to replace it.