Quote:
Originally Posted by BearMountainBooks
So does going to the bookstore and browsing. But I don't like reading the samples either. I don't know why. I think it hasn't worked particularly well for me, partly because sometimes the sample is great and the book isn't. Partly because sometimes there isn't enough there. Partly because of the time. My way around that has been Lendleme, but that doesn't work for trad books. I still try to sample those or if it's a new author get them from the library. I've been burned on the last two trads that I sampled and bought. One was a backlist that came back and it got totally lame midway through the book (lady didn't shoot through the window because a ghost told her not to, yet her sister was about to die. OKay there were some other issues before that.) But anyway, no method is perfect. Sometimes even word of mouth doesn't work. Tastes and moods simply do not align perfectly.
|
I'll check a sample for a cookbook, to see if the recipes are at my level of competence, if the ingredients are readily obtainable, etc. But that's about the only type of book I'll sample (and I wouldn't buy a self-pubbed cookbook).
I mostly use blurbs and quick summaries to choose books. I like mystery series, so my version of sampling is to read the first book in the series, and then either continue with it or move on.