How do you find books?

[Boston]

In order:
1. Brick and Mortar Bookstores (still my favorite place)
2. Bestseller Lists
3. Known Authors
4. Boston Pubic Library
5. Recommendation from Friends
6. Web-site recommendations (reader or vendor)
7. Mentioned in a magazine or newspaper

I usually make note of the title/author and go on-line to read reviews before buying.

Not a big reader of science fiction, fantasy or suspense which seems to be very popular amongst ebook readers.

I find myself less inclined to jump on a book because its free or cheap anymore. I find myself spending too much time reading books that are just ok and not something I would typically buy...just because many are fast reads. The drawback is I'm not getting to the books I would normally read.

[JSWolf]

Boston, do you know that the Minuteman Library Network now supports Overdrive eBooks? They don't have a lot as they just started. But it is a start.

[Boston]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Boston, do you know that the Minuteman Library Network now supports Overdrive eBooks? They don't have a lot as they just started. But it is a start.

Wow..Gotta go dig out my minuteman card...haven't used it in years

[Ridley]

I still have my BPL card and keep meaning to try out Overdrive. The north shore consortium doesn't do ebooks, only audio.

I'm a busy romance reader - I read 5+ titles a week - and get my recommendations from blogs (SmartBitches, Dear Author), message boards and Goodreads.

Goodreads is an excellent resource because it's half social media, half book database. Like Amazon, nearly every book is on there with an accompanying star rating. What's better though, is that you can compare your bookshelves with others and see if their ratings agree with your own. It gives a helpful context to book ratings.

[astra]

Mostly forums.
Such as:
A Song of Ice and Fire (Powered by Invision Power Board) There is a general literature subforum.
sffworld.com
Then I check Amazon's reviews but very carefully. People who reviewed only 1-3 items are ignored.

Goodreads is quite good too and it is free as opposed to Librarything where you can add only the first 200 books for free, after that you have to pay.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by AgentBEATS

,,,

For me I am a member of librarything almost primarily for there recommendations. ,,,,

I just ran across librarything yesterday and signed up, mostly for the same reason.

Mostly I look for any and all recommendations and reviews in the areas I enjoy (almost everything) and will check out reviews on Amazon or other sites, read excerpts and then either purchase or put on wishlist or to be read list...

[AgentBEATS]

Sorry to revive such a dead topic, but I never did get around to reading all the posts here until recently.

Anyways thanks a lot everybody, I've learned a lot of new ways to find books that will benefit me greatly in my unending pursuit of new things to read.

I've started using Goodreads because of this thread and found it to be much better than Librarything, although I wish it had a similar sort of recommendation system.

[Daephex]

Kenny-- Ha! I saw your Tarkus pic-- I was JUST listening to that earlier.

Everyone-- Personally, I'm rather disappointed in how few older books (i.e., those between "Dan Brown" and "Project Gutenberg") that I've been able to find. Luckily, I have a lot of PDFs and classics piled up that I'd been meaning to get to... but eventually, publishers need to get in gear and trot out the dusty stuff!

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by Daephex

Kenny-- Ha! I saw your Tarkus pic-- I was JUST listening to that earlier.
...

.

[JSWolf]

I find eBooks on the internet.

[SimonSays]

I have a horrible way of picking books. I go to the book store and hit the paperback sections and run my fingers along the spines as I skim the shelves. When I see a book that is thick enough that I can't complete it in a day or two, I then pull it out. If I don't even like the cover image, I place it back. If I like the cover, I read the back page to see if I am interested in the book. I usually end up walking out with at least 5 books that way though

[kilohertz53]

My public library has a monthly newsletter on hand called BookPage with quick reviews of the latest and greatest. I think all the same content is available on the website:

http://www.bookpage.com

My "to be read" list is ever growing.

[lilac_jive]

Originally Posted by kilohertz53

My public library has a monthly newsletter on hand called BookPage with quick reviews of the latest and greatest. I think all the same content is available on the website:

http://www.bookpage.com

My "to be read" list is ever growing.

My library has that as well. Pretty nice, especially for free.

[Shayne Parkinson]

In no particular order:
- book reviews on the radio (Radio New Zealand has them most days)
- browsing the library shelves
- browsing bricks-and-mortar bookshops, new and used
- browsing e-book stores
- Goodreads
- recommendations on various message boards

[guyanonymous]

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

I read a lot of fanfic, and that's got a much better rec system than most ebooks. I know how to find good fanfic even in a fandom completely new to me; finding good ebooks is harder.

I've never read much fanfic - any sites you'd recommend as a starting place? Western and Romance has little appeal...besides that, I'll read it all (well, almost).