For the ladies only...?!
Question: When you are looking for a book to read at a bookstore or online, what makes you want to pick up the book to see what it is all about? Is there something about the title, cover, etc? Once you have the book in your hand, what helps you decide if you want to actually take it home and read it? What is it you are looking for in a work of fiction (preferrably fantasy)? Why would you recommend a book to female friends?
Answers: When you are looking for a book to read at a bookstore or online, what makes you want to pick up the book to see what it is all about? Is there something about the title, cover, etc? Once you have the book in your hand, what helps you decide if you want to actually take it home and read it? What is it you are looking for in a work of fiction (preferrably fantasy)? Why would you recommend a book to female friends?
You can't always see the cover of a book, so the font, choice of wording in the title, possible side art, all catch your eye first. After that the cover needs to be attractive and convey something I would be interested in before I even look at the back. After that it is of course how entertaining the book sounds.
Now, as for recommending to friends. That is really rather easy. Everyone knows what their friends like, and if you read something you think your friend would enjoy you tell them about it.
James Patterson!!!!!!!!!!
Just something that looks intriguing, or mysterious. A cover should draw the reader in. Usually I just look for something that gets my curiousity going.
Perfect book " he is just not that into you"
I don't read books at all unless they are recommended by a friend and it's a really funny commedy. Otherwise I would never pick up a book myself.
since I am younger what makes me want to look at it is that there is a cover that my mom is okay with ... no porn ... and and I like romance /fantasy.
because I can relate to it .. everyone has an imagination!!
well, if it has romance, & is touching, 4 one. or, i read totally exciting books with a mix of violence & love lol
I don't really have any female friends. Any of the Dragonlance, Ravenloft, or Forgotten Realms books I tend to enjoy. If they are my female friends then they will like those books too.
i look for books with eye catching atwork or illustrations that already tell you what the book may be about, and also the title. right now i'm reading"it's kind of a funny story" by ned vizilini. it has a picture of someone's head with a map drawn in it, which is the main theme of the book. my friends don't read so i don't ever reccomend a book to them.
i usually read the title, then if that looks good, i look at the cover, u can usually tell a lot about a book from the cover, then if i like the cover, i look at the back to read the little summary thingy.
as a girl, i like romances ( i think most girls do), and historical fiction, like queens and stuff, and horses... but that's just me.
well usually i look at the title. if it sound intresting i read to see what it is all about. if the book does sound good then i will take it home. i don't really care what the cover looks like i base it on the title...unless someone tells me to read it.
I afiction book i look for a romantic comedy type book but i will pretty much read anything.
Fantasy.... perfect for me. Cover's def. grab attention. So does the back of the book. The description of the book on the back needs to leave you wanting to read more. Sex. Sex sells. I just finished reading this book. Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown. phenomenal.
Sometimes the title alone will make me pick up the book. But I also look specifically for authors that are well-known and I have read their previous materials. The pictures on the cover don't appeal unless it a magazine and I know specifically what's inside. Then I read the back cover to get a gist of the story. If it sounds interesting, then I purchase.
I think I am the wrong female to be answering this questions, lol. I do not read any romance novels and am not even remotely interested in them. I like Thrillers. The title usually gets me but not always. I usually read the back and the comments. So far, I have been doing pretty good. All the books I pick I end up enjoying. None of my friends read what I read, lol. They think I am a little sick and twisted but that's ok. I did read happy go lucky books when I was pregnant because people told me reading thrillers wasn't good for the baby, whatever that meant, so I forced myself to read books that make you feel good and not paranoid, lol.
Primarily, the book has to be a topic of interest for me personally.
If it's a fantasy book, I read the little summary at the end of the book and if it's interesting, I'll take it.
If you're planning in purchasing a book for a friend, try to find out first what her interests are.
I look for something that sounds unique, not the same old hackneyed plot lines, you know the ones: Gorgeous red haired, green eyed woman who just happens to have a genius IQ and a black belt with a tragic past comes up against some insurmountable obstacle. Then while trying to solve her problem, she meets Mr. Right and they fall in love while solving her problem together and he heals her broken spirit in the process. Eeeww, I just made myself throw up!
What makes me want to pick up the book is generally the title, what the cover looks like, etc. The decider as to whether or not I want to take it home and read it is what it's about. I rarely do judge a book by its cover (though I've been guilty of it a few times lol) and find that the plot is most important. If I'm planning to read a fantasy book I generally like to read about strong female characters from some prominent historical period. Such as the 18th century or the Middle Ages. I normally read historical novels (like The Historian) or dramas (like Memoirs of a Geisha) or classics (like Jane Eyre) however I crave a good fantasy novel every once in awhile. I would recommend a book to female friends depending on the friend's personality. I have some friends that love to read and some that don't, so I'd base my recommendation on that.
I have my fav authors that I have read through out the years so I read their books I will only read an other author if a friend or family recommends it...
I love reading almost anything but ROMANCE books...
Most of the times i read fiction
what makes me pick up a book
is:
A)cover
i go for bright colors
so i know it's directed to y/adults
B)what the story is about
i don't read any thing just 'cause
i don't read stupid romance
'cause it's boring and predictable!
what makes me recommend the book to a friend?
if it's a page turner and addictive i recommend it!
usually i go for classics. its rare that i see a 'new' book that i want to read. and if it sounds old, like french leutinants woman... no books nowadays title sounds like that so i will automatically pick it up to see if the story line and genre is to my liking. love.
my fav books are usually in victorian times etc. like the noblesse oblige by helen archer, or edith wharton. but i like hemingway..... whatever ha ha you got the drift classics!
If it has a hot tough guy on the cover, or a really catch title, or it's pink.
I look and see if the covers interesting (dark colors, suspense/draw my eye) i also look at the title and then i read the back. If it sounds good i get it :) I reccomend the Twilight series.
good stories that have some semblance of truth but don't necesarily have to be non fiction. i like things where i can relate to the characters and things that make me feel good and accomlished after i read them like i didn't just waste my time.
Fantasy fiction?
Warning Signs...
1. Cover - if it's being marketed as a shirt-buster (well, the equivalent to a bodice-buster) on another planet/universe. Or if the artwork is overblown - commonplace.
2. Blurb on the back - Anything like 'this is the tremulous saga of immense dimensions spread out over...." oh-oh.
3. Reviews - numerous reviews from small publications, but nothing that would fall into the category of a nationwide paper's review.
4. Odd Title Fonts - if it's difficult to read the title of the book, that indicates no-one cared enough to point out the obvious at the early marketing stage.
Promising Signs:
1. Cover - not obviously aimed at the 'holiday read' market or 'love in another dimension/world' market. Possibility of something with a longer life-span. More restrained artwork - rare.
2. Blurb on the back - simple, straightforward, gives you a true notion or teaser as to the nature of the contents. Not storyline spoilers, but a decent taster.
3. Reviews - always nice to have a review from an established source, but not necessary if (1) and (2), or (2) are intriguing enough.
4. Fonts - readable & clear within the design of the cover.
5. Then open the book and read the first page or two (if I'm browsing in a bookshop).
Why would I recommend it, to another, later on?
a) Believable characters within the confines of the setting.
b) Good story which doesn't get bogged down and repetitious.
c) Enjoyable, OR makes you think.
e.g. Stephen Donaldson's Thomas Covenant books (the first 3) get major recommendations. But the newer covers are rather dodgy, and would have been off-putting were I buying it now.