I stumped upon this question on Quora - How do you decide which book to read? There are some more questions which requires same answer:How do you decide which book(s) you want to read?There are so many books in the world. How do you decide which book to read?How do you determine which book to read next?
My first response to the questions above was – By Instinct. When I gave it a thought, below are the pointers which make me purchase a book or download it on my Kindle or read it:
1. Goodreads – I take a look at my Goodreads home page and see that one of my friend has rated a book or marked it to his/her to-read list:a. Sometimes, I add it to my to-read list without even looking at the blurb. That’s when I like the cover or the title. I know they say that “never judge a book by it’s cover:” – but then, accept it or not, the cover does make a difference sometimes!b. If my friend has rated the book high and it belongs to the genre I read, I sometimes check it’s blurb and add it to my to-read list.c. Goodreads also recommends some books based on one’s read list.2. Book store – Now-a-days, there are two types of book stores – a store and a stall (I think both have existed ever since).a. I pass by a stall – Book stalls are a book lover jackpot points. Believe me, if you happen to cross one, do not ignore it. Carry your to-read list with you (it’s easy in present era – just an app in the mobile and show it to the seller. Chances are that the seller would have at-least one book from the list on sale! That’s what I do.There are times, when I just ask for a recommendation from the sales person. Romance is the genre that comes to my mouth at this time.b. I spot a book store – I try and avoid entering a book store. Reason? I get lost in there! I love it, but my time does not. At a book store, I either just go and ask for any book that has been on my mind for some days.I also browse the children section a lot and pick a book or two for my kids.3. Received for review – Some books on my shelf also belong to this category where either the author/PA/publisher/agent approached me for a review.4. My Book Shelf – I have a lot of books in my shelf which I seriously need to pick and read. Many times, I just pick one of them when I am done with my current book.
I visited my to-read list on Goodreads and surprised myself when I saw I had a long list!