MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - How do you choose which self-published works to read?

chlorine · 10-30-2009, 03:04 PM

Thanks for the answer (and sorry for the delay, I've done little else besides working and sleeping for almost two weeks).

The idea of sampling a chapter or two to see if I like a book is interesting, but I don't know if it's the right thing for me. In many ways this discussion reminded me of the thread here about finishing books or not. Though I do not have much trouble in dropping a book that doesn't interest me, I'm picky about which books I read, and I start each book with the expectation that I will like it.
I'm not sure I'd be very comfortable in starting books just to see whether I would like them or not.
Another thing that I'm trying to do instead is to try and read short-stories written by authors of novels that look interesting. Even though it's not a sure sign that I'll enjoy the novel, I feel more comfortable judging the author's style by reading a whole short-story than reading only one chapter of a novel.

Off-topic:
another thing that reminds me of the discussion about whether to finish a book or not is the importance of recommandations. Neilmarr, personnally I'd be much more likely to go on with a book if I found the first chapter awful if some people had told me it was worth it than if I had no outside opinion on this book.

10-30-2009, 03:04 PM	#25
chlorine Addict Posts: 276 Karma: 100000 Join Date: Jan 2009 Device: Kindle paperwhite 2	Thanks for the answer (and sorry for the delay, I've done little else besides working and sleeping for almost two weeks). The idea of sampling a chapter or two to see if I like a book is interesting, but I don't know if it's the right thing for me. In many ways this discussion reminded me of the thread here about finishing books or not. Though I do not have much trouble in dropping a book that doesn't interest me, I'm picky about which books I read, and I start each book with the expectation that I will like it. I'm not sure I'd be very comfortable in starting books just to see whether I would like them or not. Another thing that I'm trying to do instead is to try and read short-stories written by authors of novels that look interesting. Even though it's not a sure sign that I'll enjoy the novel, I feel more comfortable judging the author's style by reading a whole short-story than reading only one chapter of a novel. Off-topic: another thing that reminds me of the discussion about whether to finish a book or not is the importance of recommandations. Neilmarr, personnally I'd be much more likely to go on with a book if I found the first chapter awful if some people had told me it was worth it than if I had no outside opinion on this book.