Thursday, April 9, 2015

Let’s Make A Deal!

Yesterday, I (Bridget) talked about deal-breakers when it comes to the books I read. Now let’s talk about some dealmakers! Like I said yesterday, I’m pretty picky with the books and genres that I read, but there are a few things that will always inspire me to pick up a book!

1. Comparisons to books I like. I’m not proud of this, because I think comparing every new thriller written by a woman in the past few years to Gone Girl does everyone a disservice for a variety of reasons, but dang does it make it easy to pick books. I requested Above through NetGalley for its comparisons to Room and The Lovely Bones; I picked up The Glittering World in part because of its comparisons to TheOcean at the End of the Lane. I picked up The Never List and The SilentWife in part because of their comparisons to Gone Girl.

2. Published by a certain author. We all have auto-buy lists; mine, until recently has been pretty short, only consisting of Stephen King and J. K. Rowling. But in the past few years, I’ve added Gillian Flynn, Paula Hawkins, and several other authors to my auto-buy list. In the case of most of these authors, I’ve read several of their books and enjoyed them all; the only exception, currently, is Ms. Hawkins, whose debut novel The Girl on the Train was nothing short of amazing. I’ll definitely be first in line to buy her next novel, whatever it is!

3. Horror/thriller elements. I’m not going to buy every horror or thriller novel ever, of course, but having those elements definitely adds a lot of points in a book’s favor. It’s hard to say exactly which of these elements and in what combinations will always make me pick up a book, but here are a few that come to mind:

- disease pandemics a la The Stand
- “Race against the clock” type stories, a la Tick Tock, Ready Player One
- Man versus wilderness/impossible survival, a la The Martian

There are a lot of others, but they’re a little bit too nebulous to put into words. It’s sort of like that judge said about obscenity: I can’t define it, but I know it when I see it.

4. Good reviews by bloggers I know and trust. That’s not to say I’ll read every book any blogger I read ever likes, but blogging as part of a community means learning your fellow bloggers’ taste in books, and there are definitely a few whose reviews I almost always trust—especially because there are so few bloggers who review primarily non-YA, so when I find one, I almost immediately follow them. (Sorry, is that creepy?) I have a smaller pool to choose from than most bloggers, but it’s sort of nice because it’s not as overwhelming.

(I’d like to note that, at this point in writing, I was having trouble coming up with a fifth dealmaker so I asked my husband what he’d look for in a book if he was buying me a book that wasn’t on my wish list. After I shot down a few things he suggested, he got frustrated and said, “I don’t know why you like the books you like!” Me neither, friend. Me neither.)

5. Good covers. I know you should never judge a book by its cover, and I don’t usually judge by a cover on its own, but a good cover can definitely increase a book’s odds of ending up in my bag. Similarly, a bad cover can kill a book’s chances of ever ending up on my shelves. Again, it’s hard to quantify exactly what makes a good or bad cover, but I know it when I see it!



What are your deal-makers?

14 comments:

  1. I definitely have go to authors as well, Rachel Vincent is my main one for buying but I eventually get JK Rowling and Stephen Kings books as well.
    for me it has to have a good review on the covers by authors I enjoy because since I enjoy that authors writing then I figure I'll like this new book as well. Does that make sense?

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  2. Totally agree with #1 & #2 - I am so guilty of number #5 - I can totally get sucked into a pretty cover!

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  3. Definitely #3. If a book promises to freak me out, I want to read it.

    Aj @ Read All The Things!

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    1. Yes! :D I don't know how people stay so glued to books that aren't at least a little scary =P

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  4. Yes, yes and yes! I'm a sucker for a pretty cover and there are authors I'll read anything with their name attached.

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  5. We are kindred spirits! I've read all three of Gillian Flynn's novels, and I can't wait to see what else she has in store. I am also a sucker for a great cover. That's part of the reason why I picked up Nightingale by Kristin Hannah right now. The cover is so pretty!

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  6. Definitely pretty covers and good reviews!

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  7. Agree on all of those! I am a sucker for covers (terrible I know!) and have a got to list of authors where I don't even look at the blurb or cover, they are automatic wants. It's also great when you find a book reviewer whose taste in books gels so well with yours. Anything Angie at Angieville recommends goes straight in the basket

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  8. auto buy is my number one deal maker. And then what ever genre or trope that I am currently digging, I noticed that I will add a bunch more books that also deal with that theme or style to my TBR. And then when my current obsession changes I don't add as many of those old types to my TBR.

    Great post!

    Michelle @ Book Briefs

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  9. I agree with all of those but the first one. I don't really like comparison because most of the time I am let down with the book when they tell it's going to be as good as this author or that book. :( I am such a cover judge! :)

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    1. I've actually had pretty good luck with comparisons—but usually they're vague, like, "It'll keep you glued to the pages just like Gone Girl!" I can definitely see where they could go wrong, though. I've just been lucky :)

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  10. Yes to 2, 4 and 5. Like you J.K. is an auto-buy, but I also have Nicholas Sparks and Jodi Picoult to an extent (this has only come about recently). If I see a few bloggers reviewing a book I will definitely have a look into it at least. And a pretty cover will do wonders for me at least picking up a book if not buying it.

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  11. I agree with many of the points you make, including book covers and fav authors and recommendations by trusted bloggers. A blogger or two raved about Anthony Trollope and I bought a six book set of his (Chronicles of Barchester) and now I love his writing. Then other bloggers mentioned Angela Thirkell and now I plan to buy one of her books.

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  12. Covers, covers, covers. They sell me every time. I'm a slut when it comes to good-design.

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