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Old 12-08-2009, 12:59 PM   #32
Moejoe
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Posts: 5,100
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Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: South of the Border
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT View Post
How do you make up your mind what to read, then? You have to rely on someone's description of the book, surely, and at least a person who's actually read it is likely to have a more "informed" opinion of it than someone who hasn't.
How? I read the blurb, which is neither a recommendation or a review, but a description (albeit written in a way to entice). I also look at the cover art, or I'll search under particular genres I like already (I call this mooching). Your recommendation 'might' make me aware of a book, movie or an album, but it will in no way attract me to the work at hand. And your opinon of it I neither need nor want to know to make my decision. I don't care if Cory Doctorow recommends X book, if that book doesn't attract 'me' then I'm not reading it, I'm probably not even going to give it a chance.

To illustrate, here are the last 5 books I read:

Johnny Got His Gun - Dalton Trumbo (located after seeing a Metallica video and wondering where the video images came from. Video images led to film, film led to original novel. Novel read)

One Rainy Night - Richard Laymon (re-read after the Zombie thread here reminded me that I hadn't read it in awhile)

The Godwulf Manuscript - Robert B Parker (Started re-reading the series after I finally got my hands on the first series of Spenser For Hire TV Show)

The Thief Who Couldn't Sleep - Lawrence Block (Read a writing instructional book some time ago and a series of detective novels featuring Matthew Scudder. So I thought I'd give his Evan Tanner series a try)

A Russian Journal - John Steinbeck (been looking for this book for a long time, now I have it and I will definitely re-read it again in the future)

Not once did I read a review, take the advice of a friend or gain a recommendation for any of these books.

Last edited by Moejoe; 12-08-2009 at 01:08 PM.
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