Quote:
Originally Posted by QuantumIguana
If you are not at all influenced by other people's opinions on books, then how do you winnow down the all the books? I'm skeptical that anyone is completely uninfluenced by other people's opinions of books. If that is actually true for you, then you are a decided minority. I'm not going to buy a book just because someone recommends a book, but depending on who that person is, their recommendation might persuade me to take a look at the book. It depends on the person, of course. My tastes are my own, but few if any person's tastes are totally unique. Some people's tastes are more akin to mine, and I give some weight to their recommendations. Other people have tastes so different from mine that I can only nod and smile at their recommendations.
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I have authors I trust and download new books "sight unseen" from them, without even reading the summaries. I also search in the specific genres I like, and read the summaries, and possibly an excerpt, of authors I am unfamiliar with.
I religiously read reviews on Amazon for other types of products, but have never even glanced at the reviews for a book. Too often when talking to a person whose tastes are similar to mine about a book we have both read, I am confronted by a diametrically opposite opinion. There are a couple of authors who write in genres I read, and sell millions and millions of books. Their plot summaries seem interesting to me. But when I read their prose, it sounds like the writing of a 7th grader. Reading the entire book would drive me batsh!t crazy.
I think a plot or storyline is something that could maybe be recommended, but the appeal of the way the author uses the language is too personal, to me. And while I could read a poor plot if "written well", I can't take a great story with poor writing. So, recommendations don't interest me. I wouldn't trust them.
In the opposite direction, if one of my favorite authors put out a new book and every single opinion said it was terrible, that wouldn't cause me to not read it. So I see no reason for recommendations that are positive to entice me.