How many of us read books from the New York Times Bestsellers list

[dgillette.rm]

Like many commenters I think you should have a choice for I might but I do not know as I do not pay any attention to any best seller list.

[jgaiser]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

I don't seek out books because their on the list, never have, but occasionaly a book I've read does end up there (like the Wool Omnibus).

The Wool Omnibus is on the Best Seller list?? Cool.. Maybe i should start paying attention.

So, no. I don't deliberately read books on the list but occasionally my luck runs out and there i am. Part of the great unwashed. The last one I read (before Wool) was Water For Elephants.

[Tattncat]

Only by coincidence.

[Nyssa]

I voted "No", not out of purposeful avoidance, but out of a lack of importance/attention. I don't ever check to see if a book I'm reading is or has been on the New York Times, or any other literary list.

[mikeayers]

much more likely to get a book from the Gutenberg Top 100 list

[Yapyap]

I'm certainly not going to go out of my way to avoid NYT Bestsellers, and if any of the books I do read ends up on the list, I'm very happy for the authors, but as I largely read genre fiction, there is relatively little overlapping between my reading lists and the NYT bestseller list.

[Marrella]

Books I read sometimes show up on bestseller lists, but I don't read them because they are on such lists. As I mostly read science fiction and fantasy, this isn't too often the case.

[Penforhire]

I'm hearing some anti-bestseller snobbery in this thread.

Seriously, you guys never read David Baldacci, John Grisham, Ken Follett, John Sandford, Michael Crichton, Tom Clancy, Vince Flynn, George R. R. Martin, Jonathan Kellerman, Patricia Cornwell, or James Patterson? Because those folks and more are on the current NYT paperback bestseller list (http://www.nytimes.com/best-sellers-...back/list.html ).

[dakini]

I fully admit I look at best seller lists and I also pay attention to what gets short listed for prizes such as Man Booker, Orange, Whitbread/Costa .... haven't liked everything, but have found some books and authors I've really enjoyed that way.

These are all ways to find what's new and getting attention, just like the table displays at Waterstones.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by dakini

I fully admit I look at best seller lists and I also pay attention to what gets short listed for prizes such as Man Booker, Orange, Whitbread/Costa .... haven't liked everything, but have found some books and authors I've really enjoyed that way.

The Man Booker shortlist is my personal reading-suggestion cornucopia machine. I've rarely (if ever) been disappointed by one of those titles (given that the subject matter appeals to me, naturally).

[Yapyap]

Originally Posted by Penforhire

I'm hearing some anti-bestseller snobbery in this thread.

Seriously, you guys never read David Baldacci, John Grisham, Ken Follett, John Sandford, Michael Crichton, Tom Clancy, Vince Flynn, George R. R. Martin, Jonathan Kellerman, Patricia Cornwell, or James Patterson? Because those folks and more are on the current NYT paperback bestseller list (http://www.nytimes.com/best-sellers-...back/list.html ).

I've read some Patricia Cornwell books, maybe ten years ago or so, but lost interest at some point.

Others named here - no. Not because they're bestsellers and thus beneath me, but because nothing by those authors (the ones I've heard of - some names ring a vague bell but I can't say I know what they write) has ever sounded like my cup of tea. I'm just not into thrillers or historical fiction or epic fantasy, for starters.

(I also looked at that mass market bestseller list and... nope, haven't read any of them. *shrugs* I don't think what I read is any more high-brow, for what it's worth, being largely urban fantasy, various speculative YA and cosy mysteries these days; it's just stuff that doesn't make it to bestseller lists most of the time.)

[spindlegirl]

I wouldn't call it snobbery, just I like what I like. My reads would likely be laughed at in literary "book clubs". From time to time I've seen a book described as a NYT (or other) "Bestseller", and borrowed it, and more often than not it didn't grab me.

I like some chick lit, a lot of classics, Margaret Atwood, but in general my tastes are hard to nail down. I don't focus on whether or not is a best seller as a deciding point. If I like the blurb and like the way the author writes, then bingo.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by Penforhire

Seriously, you guys never read David Baldacci, John Grisham, Ken Follett, John Sandford, Michael Crichton, Tom Clancy, Vince Flynn, George R. R. Martin, Jonathan Kellerman, Patricia Cornwell, or James Patterson? Because those folks and more are on the current NYT paperback bestseller list (http://www.nytimes.com/best-sellers-...back/list.html ).

Uh, nope.
Not a one.
No SF on that list.
George R.R. Martin wasn't a bestseller when I read him (WildCards era) and I'm not touching SONG OF ICE AND FIRE until after he finishes the series. (If ever.)

It's not snobbery; just life as a genre specialist.
Good SF, Fantasy, and Science Fact books rarely make the bestseller lists.

[SteveEisenberg]

Originally Posted by Penforhire

I'm hearing some anti-bestseller snobbery in this thread.

Seriously, you guys never read David Baldacci, John Grisham, Ken Follett, John Sandford, Michael Crichton, Tom Clancy, Vince Flynn, George R. R. Martin, Jonathan Kellerman, Patricia Cornwell, or James Patterson? . . .

Not that I recall, and certainly not in recent years, although I've read most of those by Kellerman's wife.

I think the list exists because what Americans like to read is newsworthy. It certainly is not intended, or I think used, as recommended reading.

[Nyssa]

Originally Posted by Penforhire

I'm hearing some anti-bestseller snobbery in this thread.

Seriously, you guys never read David Baldacci, John Grisham, Ken Follett, John Sandford, Michael Crichton, Tom Clancy, Vince Flynn, George R. R. Martin, Jonathan Kellerman, Patricia Cornwell, or James Patterson? Because those folks and more are on the current NYT paperback bestseller list (http://www.nytimes.com/best-sellers-...back/list.html ).

I was in no way snobbish in my response; and no, I have never read anything by any of those authors.