For me there are multiple routes to a book that it is my destiny to read
- If it is of quick-read category, like romance, then I will read the backcover text (or description, if I am online) to see if the setting is something I would enjoy.
- If it is literary fiction, then usually recommendations or award nominations take me to the book. I'd still read about the book before picking it up so ensure that I would like it.
- Non-fiction reading typically starts with a need to read. So, at one point of time I felt interested in reading about philosophy. Internet search and Amazon reviews led me to Story of Philosophy by Will Durant, which turned out to be a very good choice. If I need to delve deeper into a subject about which I have read, I tend to look up Amazon's recommendations. I also read reviews of a book I have just finished, because reviewers often give great suggestions for alternate, or further readings. That's how from Story of Philosophy, I reached to A History of Western Philosophy by Bertrand Russell.
- I am probably not a visual person. I rarely pick up a book based on cover in a bookstore. Titles do play a role for me though.
- Stumbling across reviews, or book names while on Internet also plays a role in picking up a book for me.