Book readers!

[nicola]

Book readers! <3 Can I ask you for a few questions? It's for a research project at work. Please, at your leisure, comment answering the following questions:

a) How do you usually decide what to read next?
b) What influences you to pick up a book?
c) Does the cover influence you?
d) Are you swayed by reviews/recommendations/bookprizes?
e) How did you discover your favourite book?
f) Are there types of books you will only read, or refuse to read?

You'd really be helping me out!! <3 <3

Nic xx

[postscript]

Jan 5, 2012 9:50:01 GMT nicola said:

Book readers! <3 Can I ask you for a few questions? It's for a research project at work. Please, at your leisure, comment answering the following questions:

a) How do you usually decide what to read next?
b) What influences you to pick up a book?
c) Does the cover influence you?
d) Are you swayed by reviews/recommendations/bookprizes?
e) How did you discover your favourite book?
f) Are there types of books you will only read, or refuse to read?

You'd really be helping me out!! <3 <3

Nic xx

Hello Nicola.
a) How do you usually decide what to read next?
It usually appears under my nose. I don't have time to leisure read and decide what I would like to do. From that viewpoint I have re-accessed my set of Dickens and intending to plough through them all... but given up on Oliver Twist as it has just been shown on TV. I usually read two or three books simultaneously, depending upon where I am. I leave books in locations to cover time-reading contingencies.

Currently a vast tome: Biography of Pushkin in the car for covering 'waiting' periods. What to do when Someone Dies somewhat out of date. Originally bought to cover family deaths for which I became responsible but it emerged during a clear out and I referred back to one or two pertinent matters relating to my own demise--my body will be donated to science but it highlights aspects on which I need to update myself in sorting my own Will. Discovered Hayley's biography and auto-biography so once again dip into them. Unearthed half a dozen volumes of favoured poets which have been placed more prominently to one side so I can re-dip into them too.

b) What influences you to pick up a book?
As above.

c) Does the cover influence you?
If eye-catcing from a design point of view possibly--I'm a printer and therfore instinctively appreciative of typographic design.

d) Are you swayed by reviews/recommendations/bookprizes?
Of interest in that they "made it" but remember J K Rowling was rejected by several publishers for perfectly rational trade reasons, none of which applied in reality to what actually sold!

e) How did you discover your favourite book?
Don't have favourite anythings. Life is too richly diverse.

f) Are there types of books you will only read, or refuse to read?
As above applies equally.

Peter S.

Edit: I removed the auto-generated "Read more" link from this post.
Richard

[Ross]

(a) Generally if I get a book as a present or while browsing in a book store I find something interesting.

(b) If it is from an author I like, it is on special or in a second-hand store, or the cover looks interesting.

(c) The cover can influence me.

(d) Generally not influenced by reviews.

(e) I discovered The Hitchhiker's Guide To the Galaxy from the radio show and then being a TV series.

(f) Mainly war books or some Sci-fi books. Don't read love stories.

[comet]

a) How do you usually decide what to read next?
I have several lined up, by author or subject matter.
b) What influences you to pick up a book?
Available time or curiosity
c) Does the cover influence you?
Yes
d) Are you swayed by reviews/recommendations/bookprizes?
Occasionally, but taste differs and some reviewers are wafflers
e) How did you discover your favourite book?
In a bookshop
f) Are there types of books you will only read, or refuse to read? If there is only one book available and not much else to do, I will at least glance over a few pages. I am pretty quick to decide to put it down again.

[Elliot Kane]

a) How do you usually decide what to read next?

What I'm in the mood for, basically. It's pretty random.

b) What influences you to pick up a book?

If I like the author, if I like the first paragraph or two while reading in the shop (Or preview pages on Amazon), if I think the story sounds interesting, if a friend has recommended it to me... Tons of things.

c) Does the cover influence you?

Yes. A good cover will at least get me to look closer at a book, by attracting my initial attention. I won't actually buy a book for the cover, though.

d) Are you swayed by reviews/recommendations/bookprizes?

Not even slightly. If anything, I find that prizes are a sign of low rather than high quality, as they are mainly given for pretension over actual ability, in my experience. Critics similarly have a bad habit of trying too hard to impress rather than judging the book on actual worth.

e) How did you discover your favourite book?

One single favourite book? I don't think I could ever reduce it to that. I've read too many. Couldn't even list a favourite series.

f) Are there types of books you will only read, or refuse to read?

Not really. I'll try anything that looks interesting to me. I suppose you could count 'stuff that is poorly written on uninteresting to me', but that's all.

[frenchie]

a) How do you usually decide what to read next?
By what I'm interested in reading and what I'm in the mood to read. I have an ongoing "Books I Want to Read List" in my head, and I choose from that list and what I'm in the mood for at the moment. For example, I want to read an action and chick flick book right now-not to mention to finish up a series I started several months ago- so I will be starting to read the next book in the Stephanie Plum series. Check them out!!! But like during Christmas, I really felt like reading Dickens' Christmas Carol because it really gets me in the Christmas mood and it is the best representation of what Christmas should be (at least for me anyways ). So I read Dickens. I also read another Christmas book that had an interesting cover, and then was recommended by the librarian during the Holidays.

I also tend to read a book that I don't care for/ know much about when I join Book Clubs with the idea of expanding my "Reading Interest". I hope that makes sense. I have found over the years that some of my fave novels are ones that I would never in a million years pick up off the library selves and read. For example, the Holiday book I just mentioned was for a Book Club, and I laughed my bottom off reading it since it was that funny! Another is a couple years ago, I read a play that was really good and made me renew my interest in plays bound in book format.

b) What influences you to pick up a book?
As above.

c) Does the cover influence you?
Yes to a certain degree. A cover helps me "zoom in" on a book, and pick it up and notice/examine it. But it's the back cover/teaser summary they attach with my personal approval/heighten interest that makes me check out a book from the library. Unless it's already on my "Books I Want to Read List". Sometimes I don't read the teaser summary because the book is assigned like in school/Book Club or the book has recommended favorably by someone I feel has a lot the same interest in books as I do.

d) Are you swayed by reviews/recommendations/book prizes?
I am swayed by recommendations as I explained above quite a good bit. When I was younger, book prizes help me decide on what books I wanted to read, but not so much these days. I think there are so many book prizes with very little publicity that I don't know what is being rewarded today. Book prizes mattered when I was in elementary and middle school, but the teachers were constantly talking about prized winning books that it was hard not to know about those things. Not to mention there were posters hanging in the English classrooms and Library about certain prestige book prizes. Reviews...not really.

e) How did you discover your favorite book?
Too many to name, so I can't tell you.

f) Are there types of books you will only read, or refuse to read?
Yes. I have found that I really enjoy the Classics, mystery novels particularly "who-done-it" novels, Historical fiction, some fantasy as long as it's not too out there, and lite chick-flick novels. I don't like gruesome descriptions about murders, guts, etc so I tend not to like novels that are heavy in that aspect. Same with romance scenes. I also don't like "formula" based authors who can release 3-4 books a year, but the books boil down to be the same plot. I don't like Sci-Fi because it makes no sense to me.

I hope this helps your survey!!! i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif
Alicia

[martindn]

OK I'll bite..

a) How do you usually decide what to read next?
It is the page after the one I just read . I usually have a backlog of books and magazines, and plough through them in my reading time. But current stuff, like newspapers or the internet (and HWI) tend to get priority because they are er.. current.

b) What influences you to pick up a book?
Uusually one of those interminably boring programmes that my wife likes to watch on TV. Or a medical drama, I can't usually stand to be in the same room when one of those is on - unfortunately Sue loves them. Or going to bed and not feeling tired I can pick up a book at read until 3am quite easily.


c) Does the cover influence you?
The title on it, and possibly the author's name do. Otherwise no!

d) Are you swayed by reviews/recommendations/bookprizes?
No! I prefer to make my own judgements.

e) How did you discover your favourite book?
There are some I come back to again and again! I think the Bible must be my favourite, you can study that one for a lifetime and still not fully appreciate or understand it. As to how I discovered it - I was too young to remember.

f) Are there types of books you will only read, or refuse to read?
I don't read much fiction. Perhaps only classics and science fiction. Most of my reading in non-fiction, which I generally prefer. I find the real world far more interesting than somebody else's imagination.

Martin D

[nicola]

Wow! More answers! Thanks guys - I'll add this to my research! <3