Choose Me!

I assume that most of you are readers. How do you choose your books? Recommendation? Author? Genre? Price? Cover? Back Cover/Reviews? Amazon rating?

Where do you get your books? Library? Amazon? Used bookstore? Brick and mortar new bookstore? Other online seller? Big box store? Friends? Yard sales or thrift shops?

I get most of my books these days at the library on recommendation from sites that send me emails (mostly Bookbub I think) or, occasionally, friends or even something I hear about on television or YouTube.  I usually will look up the book’s rating on Amazon before putting the book on hold at the library. And I will check if perhaps the book is “free” with Kindle Unlimited, which is generally not the case, especially with fiction. When I go into the library to pick up my books that are on hold, I will sometimes look at the new releases, which are always in a conspicuous location. I can pretty much pick out the books in genres I like by the title and cover art. I will then look at the back cover to see what people have said about the book.

Amazon sells a lot of books, so I would assume many of you get them there. It is easy to find all the books by one author if you are a reader who likes to read everything by an author you like. Amazon is also good if you want to read an entire series of books. Frequently, authors will make the first ebook in a series free, so that people will read it and just have to continue the series — which of course you have to pay for. Do you research the new books in your favorite genre on Amazon? Do you look at the bestsellers in a specific genre? Do you search for certain words? (And that is why Amazon is one of the most popular search engines!)

Do you have Kindle Unlimited? I get some books  — mostly nonfiction  — on Kindle Unlimited by doing a search for the topic and limiting it to the Kindle Unlimited books. I don’t like to pay for books, although Kindle Unlimited is about $12.99 a month, and there is a limit to how many books you can have out at once, but it is plenty!!!! I have Amazon Prime, and I think they have some free books to select from each month. At least, they used to. I have not really taken advantage of that,  but I probably have some books that have been on my Kindle for years that I got that way.

Some of us love to just browse through used bookstores or the bookstore at the library – or a library book sale. You can get some great buys there, especially on paperbacks in certain fiction genres like romance, fantasy, and sci fi. Just look until you find something that grabs you by the cover or the title or the author. These books are so inexpensive, it usually doesn’t matter if you don’t end up loving them. 

Do you prefer indie or chain bookstores? They are organized by genre, but usually have the new books in a separate section and on tables. I think we all are drawn to the  new books. Will you buy a new book you haven’t heard of because of the title? cover? author? genre? back cover?

I buy almost everything I buy on Amazon, but there are many other online booksellers, both for print books and ebooks — and audiobooks, although I don’t indulge in those at this point. I have even seen the books I have written on such sites as Walmart and Target. 

Walmart, Costco, Target, and other big box stores have books, mostly bestsellers and often  discounted from retail, but you probably will get a better price on Amazon. I would think the books that sell in these stores are impulse buys for the most part, or books bought by people who don’t buy a whole lot of books. But I could be wrong there.

Lots of people borrow books from their friends and lend books they love to their friends.  And of course lots of people belong to book clubs, where they might get the book from the library or buy it if the library has run out of copies. Belonging to a book club allows you to read books you probably wouldn’t ordinarily read. And to read books you might not enjoy!

Yard sales and thrift stores have well-worn books for cheap. They cost so little you can try a genre you usually don’t read. 

I will buy certain books, usually hardcovers, that I know I want to keep. Usually, these are nonfiction. And I used to go to quite a few book readings, where I would buy a signed copy. And since I am an author myself, I have bought or traded some books with fellow authors as well.

When I was a copyeditor, I got to read all kinds of books. And because it is proper etiquette for a self-published author who hires someone to copy edit their book to gift a signed copy to the editor, I have quite a few signed books.

So where do you get your books, and how do you choose them? Obviously, genre is probably important. Do you like to read all the books by a certain author? Do you love series? Do you judge a book by its cover? Do you rely on reviews on the back cover or Amazon or Goodreads.? How daring are you? Will you take a chance on a book that looks good?

Finally, what book format do  you prefer? Hard cover? Large print? Paperback? Kindle? Other ereader? Computer or iPad? Audiobook? I like print books, but lately prefer to read large print (old eyes!!).  I don’t like reading on the computer or iPad. Hard on the eyes. I do enjoy reading on my Kindle though. And I just cannot get into audiobooks. To me audiobooks are not reading (don’t yell at me!); they are more like listening to a podcast — and there is nothing wrong with that.

Whatever you read and why you choose it and where you get it — Reading is awesome!