A Book by it's Cover (Reblogged)

Everyone know the old saying “do not judge a book by it’s cover”, we all use it. We use it to remind ourselves that people can be different than what we judge them as, and we use it to make sure we try something unexpected. As much as this can be true in the more general sense of the term, today I want to discuss how we do (usually) end up judging the book by it’s cover. Mainly, in the giant list of literary possibilities,how do we finally choose that book. What makes us pick it up, buy it and read it. (image: Creative Indie Covers)


A Recommendation

We’ve all been there (at least those of us who read frequently). A friend or co-worker starts talking to you about a book that they have recently read and absolutely loved. You search and find it or borrow it from a library or the friend that recommended it. Or, you get into a conversation about books and start listing off your favourites as they list off theirs. Either way you get the recommendation from someone else that you trust has the same interests as you. This sometimes works out well! You become a fan of a new (or old) author and start collecting, which also allows you to have a whole new series of conversations with those friends that enjoy the same author.

Which ever way you go a recommendation tends to be one of the most frequent ways I pick up new authors or new to me series. There is always something nice about a recommendation because you can pre-screen the book to your taste that way. You will know if it’s for you or not, especially if it’s a good friend doing the recommendation. Everyone has triggers and things they don’t want to read. A recommendation will usually allow you to go “Hell No” before you’ve spent the time and money on that book and then stopped halfway because you couldn’t finish it.

A Favourite Author

Another way you pick up new books is by sticking with a tested author. There are certain authors that you are never or seldom disappointed with. These are great because you see the book, and you straight out buy it. No worries, no fears or stresses that you’ll hate it. Often in this case you are excited to revisit a world or verse that you haven’t visited in a while.

The Cover

Yes, the cover. I walk down the Sci-Fi/Fantasy or Young Reader aisles a lot. I just wander down them grabbing books that look interesting… you hear that? They look interesting. There are so many books in that section that I literally SEE what books I may want to read. I’m not the biggest into space ship books so I tend to pass the ones with giant space battles on the cover. I love the ones that have an alt history or steampunk or dragons and wizards… but they need to have a stronger female character involved. I don’t want the whiny "the boy left me so I’m going to kill myself" types of characters. I want the “the boy left me and now I’m going to become a ninja and kill him in his sleep” types of characters. How do I know that the books ‘might’ be something I like?? The Cover. Yes I judge the book before I even read it. Before I pick it up to turn it around and read the synopsis on the back… it is judged. It is judged as to whether or not I will even bother to pick up the books.

So next time you think about “not judging a book by it’s cover”. Really think about it. Have you had any preconceived notions before you even picked up the book. I’m sure you have. Heck, how can you be disappointed in a book if you didn’t have an idea of what you thought it should be like?

Until later, Angie
This post has be reblogged from Awesomness of Everything (Originally posted on August 17th, 2015)