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I originally answered that I don't read reviews but prefer samples. Still true, but now that I actually have my reader in hand, I find that when there are informative reviews, they do influence whether I'm interested enough to even look for a sample. The information I'm looking for in a review relates to subject matter, accuracy of research, and with novels, plot and character development.
Then reading a sample tells me how quickly, or even whether, I can become absorbed in the book. There are not many authors for whom I'm willing to slog through beginning chapters that are slow and dull. When I used to wander through physical libraries -- and could still see well enough -- I would look at the first chapter to see if it grabbed me. If not, the book went back on the shelf.
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