Strategy for finding new books

[poohbear_nc]

Amazon's "other people who bought X also bought Y" and "based on your browsing history" work the same way, i.e. letting me know what else is out there to take a closer look at.

As noted above (by Yapyap) - I find Amazon's suggestions often quite interesting - if you're willing to click off the first few suggestions into the ends of lists you can discover some little known gems.

[victauria]

[QUOTE=SteveEisenberg;2036312]I have some reservations about this web site, but it is definitely one worth knowing about:

http://www.literature-map.com/

Thanks for this...love it!

[victauria]

One way I have found new authors is by reading anthologies. I first read several of my now buy-it-sight-unseen authors in various mystery or sci-fi fantasy anthologies.

[Yapyap]

Originally Posted by poohbear_nc

As noted above (by Yapyap) - I find Amazon's suggestions often quite interesting - if you're willing to click off the first few suggestions into the ends of lists you can discover some little known gems.

Another thing I've found is that it's sometimes well worth it to check the "other customers who bought X also bought Y" lists on both Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk - the UK results are often very different from the main site. Between the two, I often find something that sounds at the very least interesting enough to put into my wish list (I have so many bought-but-not-yet-read books on my Kindle that I try to not buy everything instantly).

[Apache]

I have found a lot of new books and authors by reading the Mobile Read forums.
Apache

[PepSnick]

I used to pick an author and just read everything by them (I prefer series to standalone novels), but lately I've been trying to be more open minded and reading more people and genres.

I tend to get "stuck" after a really good series, because it's hard to find something that can compare in greatness, I also like to change topics frequently now (If I read a book on vampires, I won't jump right into another vampire book .. i'll jump to a different topic).

I just joined goodreads at the end of 2011 and that place helps me A LOT with the recommendations, so that's what I use. I just start out reading a few books and wait until something grabs me. However, when I turn down the others I try before I pick one, I don't write it off or anything .. it's just not what I wanted right then.

[caleb72]

There's quite a few ways I find new books/authors to read:

1) I run an indie review site and people email me with requests to review. This puts a book right in front of my face in a way and I can peruse the sample and see if I'm likely to enjoy it and if the grammar/spelling isn't totally ghastly.

2) Freebies. I have a couple of email subscriptions to ebook freebies/deals and I also scan the relevant forum here for deals going on. I "purchase" much more than I buy, but I do sometimes see something that interests me and that goes on the list to read.

3) Book Clubs. What people nominate and what gets chosen to read in book clubs can quite often interest me. I don't participate in every book club, but I do often look at the books that are nominated/selected and these can quite often end up on my list to read.

4) Buzz. By this I mean what people are talking about - in forums and in everyday life. People talking and writing about specific authors will quite often get my interest. The amount of natter about Lois McMaster Bujold on this forum in particular led to me downloading a bunch of books she's written. Admittedly, I haven't read anything yet - but I'm quite likely to when the opportunity presents itself.

5) Author's self-promotions. I don't read through all of these in detail, but if something catches my eye I might give it a go. I've found some great authors this way.

6) Bookstores. Yep - still a nice place to find a new book/author to read. Although I never actually purchase anything there, it still provides some inspiration from time to time.

7) Amazon's referrals (Customers also bought - you might like etc..). Occasionally, I find something this way.

With me, once I've written an author off, I very rarely look closely at anything they write going forward. It usually takes a book club or significant buzz to get me paying attention again. Conversely, once I like an author, I will usually pay attention to every book/story that comes out.

So if you hook me once, it's easier to keep my attention going forward. If you've disappointed me once (or I've made some arbitrary decision that I'm not interested - eg Terry Pratchett), it's really hard to get me interested again. Grammatically incorrect blurbs from indies will usually mean I won't even look at anything else from that author (harsh but true).

Genres are also an easy filter for me. It's much harder to grab my attention with romance, erotica and paranormal romance. Urban fantasy, vampires and werewolves are now getting limited attention from me unless they are clearly horror-based and I'm pretty picky with YA these days as much tends to fall into the above genres/sub-genres.

[russianfiction]

That's true. The best way to find a good book is from recommendations. However, beware that the taste of the referral could differ from yours. That's when you do additional research for the book you would like!

[Badandy]

I find the majority of the books I read are discovered through this forum. I also take into account reviews on Amazon.

[jbcohen]

One interesting method of finding new great books is fantasticfiction.co.uk where the authors of books that you have read in the past point out other authors that are similar to themselves and other authors that they respect. This might be an interesting method.

[stonetools]

Originally Posted by Shack70

I use GoodReads to find books as well. I also use it to keep track of what I've read and my progress as I read

How do you use Goodreads to find books?Do you just browse the site or do you have a particular "workflow"?

Other good review sites:

BNReviews

TheMillions

SFSignal

Downloadthe Universe

SFSite

There are really tons more. You might want to try the book review pod-casts on BBC and NPR as well.

[ppowell002]

Given what a techno lover I am and hater of having paper around the house, this is kind of funny but I subscribe to three print versions of newspapers and find almost everything I want to read through newspapers and the magazines I pick up at the kiosk. NY Times Book Review, the Globe and Mail book section and their daily book review. The Canadian literature scene is so remarkable with endless choices and my next favorite is British authors. I search the Giller''s Prize, the Governor General's list and the Man Booker prize list. I do search online but mostly to find classics or older books I have missed reading.

I am also a member of GoodReads and their book of the month club but don't find that much there I want to read because it seems to be mostly pop fiction which is not my interest.

[Yapyap]

Originally Posted by stonetools

How do you use Goodreads to find books?Do you just browse the site or do you have a particular "workflow"?

I can't answer for Shack70 (obviously!) but for me, Goodreads is good in several ways:

I see what my friends are reading and what they've thought of the book they've read. Chances are that I have a fairly good idea about their tastes (and how they overlap with mine), so seeing what they're reading and what they've added in their to-read list is always interesting and often helpful.

I see what lists my friends have been voting on. There are many lists and I often take a look at the "books we're most looking forward in 2012 in [insert genre]" or "best [insert genre] books read in 2011" etc lists just to see what's newly released / currently "buzzing" in the genres that interest me. I can easily click to the book pages with blurbs (and reviews) from those lists.

Goodreads recommendations. This was a bit useless when I first started out, but now that I've added over 200 books there and have a lot of "shelves", there is often something new and interesting to me in their recommendations based on my shelves / the books I've read and rated.

[Rtturvwsxmavpduc]

Friend's recommendations, plus Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert and Bill Moyers as well as Audible and Amazon serve as the primary impetus. We (my wife and I) also follow a sort of homegrown guide to keep things fresh. Our strategy is to revolve between the US and overseas as well a loose pattern of fiction to non fiction. On top of that we impose no authors or narrators back to back and avoid similar topics in sequence. It makes for an eclectic experience and a really interesting digital library to lend.

[yukii]

I make time to go to a Bookstore and check their best selling/most recommended books. It may be superficial, but I sometimes tend to take book with interesting covers.

Book recommendations here in mobileread are also good too