How Do You Pick What Books You Want to Read? #Discussion #ReadingTastes #ReadingTips

I don't know about you all, but for the most part, I have a pretty good handle on knowing what I like to read. Because of that, the majority of the books I read end up being 4 or 5 star reads for me on Goodreads. Of course, every once in a while, I do get a book that I expect to love, and then when I go to read it, it falls flat or there's just something that rubs me the wrong way. For the most part though, I love almost every single book that I read! :)

I thought that today I would tell you all how I pick what I'm going to read, or what I use as the deciding factors on whether I want to add a book to my ginormous (and ever-growing) to-read pile! 

So, how do I pick what I want to read? 

Sometimes it's pretty easy. I look at the cover, read the blurb, and just KNOW that I'm going to either really enjoy or love a book. Other times, I have to look into a book a bit more, and then I'll decide if I want to take a chance on a new book. 

I do have a few main things that I look at to help me decide though.
 I'll list them below. :) 

THE COVER

The first thing that I use to pick out books is definitely the most judgmental one...and it's the one that breaks that rule that so many people have. I judge books based on their covers. Yes, I do, and I'm not ashamed to admit it.

Now, I don't use the cover to actually decide if I'll read a book, but often, the cover is what initially catches my eye. So, covers usually draw me to books, and I know I'm not alone in this. There's a reason covers are so important, and it's because they really do make a book stand out.

I find this is even more important to me now than it was than before I started blogging. I read more ebooks now, and when I'm looking for new ebooks to try, I find that the cover is extremely important. When ebooks come up as recommendations or in lists, there are just so many to choose from that the ones with the best covers always catch my eye first...ALWAYS! And even in book stores, with so many books all over the place, a shiny cover can definitely draw me in.

THE BOOK DESCRIPTION

Once a cover has captured my eye, or if I'm looking at publisher catalogs where sometimes there aren't any covers yet, I'll take a peek at the book description. The book description is usually my deciding factor.

There are certain elements that I know I'll love in a book, so if it has those, it usually goes on my list IMMEDIATELY! For example, I know I love romance, so I tend to gravitate towards books with at least a little romance. I also know I love fairy tale retellings, and I love Pride & Prejudice, so if a book has either fairy tale or P&P elements...I'm usually on board right away. Sometimes though, I do like to mix it up, so I'll go for a classic or I'll go for a humorous book, or I might go for something literary that is completely different from what I typically read.

The biggest thing I look for is a story that intrigues me though. If the book description doesn't catch my attention, then I usually pass on it. Sometimes I'll go back and revisit it if I see that some of my friends really enjoyed it, but for the most part, if I'm pretty sure I won't like something, I just move on.

EXCERPTS

If I'm checking out a new author for the first time, or if I read an author's previous book and didn't absolutely love it, sometimes I look for excerpts or check out the previews available on Amazon or the samples on Kobo to see if I'll like a book. If I'm drawn in right away, I usually end up buying the book that day, but if I've spent a little too much money on books lately, I'll add it to my wishlist and go back later.

I always find that excerpts or samples are the best way to check out a book and a new author if you're unsure! Personally, I can be a bit picky with how dialogue is written at times. If there's a popular book that has me intrigued with a unique way of presenting dialogue, I'll often check out excerpts to see if I'd enjoy it...or if the style would drive me crazy!

REVIEWS / RECOMMENDATIONS

One of the best parts about blogging is that you usually make a few friends or follow bloggers who have extremely similar reading tastes to your own. I have a few friends and bloggers whose recommendations I ALWAYS pay attention to. However, sometimes even with similar tastes, I might end up loving a book that one of my friends didn't like, but it's always nice to have someone whose opinions can help you decide if you want to read a book.

For me, I usually use this method when I've been hearing very mixed things about a book...that way I check to see if people with similar tastes to my own have been loving or hating it...and if they're hating it, and I've checked out a sample and didn't like it either, then I'll pass on a book. I also love to check out Goodreads reviews for this same reason. :)

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So, those are a few of the different ways that I decide which books I should read.

Now, some tips for you!

I think the most important part is that you have to learn what kind of books you like. 

If you keep trying to read books in a very specific genre and you just hate them all, or if you've read five books by one author and couldn't stand any of them...well, I think it's time to decide that those books, that genre, or that author just aren't for you. And that's okay! Not every person will like every single book. We're all different, and we all have very different reading tastes.

You need to trust your judgment and choose books that interest you. If you don't like the biggest best seller at the time, that's okay! If you don't like classics, that's okay, too! Don't let anyone else's opinions make you feel bad about what you do like to read. It's okay if you don't like the same books as other people, so if you find a series, a genre, or an author that you love, but someone said something judgmental about it...ignore them! Read what you love! :)

Look for books that catch your attention, and don't be afraid to try something new! There are just so many books out there, and more are published every single day, so there really isn't any sense in reading what you don't enjoy when I'm sure there are TONNES of books that you WILL enjoy! So, go find them! :D Try new genres, read excerpts, and check out reviews! Do what you need to do to find books that you love to read, and soon enough, you'll get to know your reading tastes better, and you'll find that you're actually enjoying every single thing that you read!

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How do you pick what you want to read?

Do you have methods that help you choose?
Or, do you tend to just pick up whatever catches your eye?

And what do you think of my methods?
Do you do them already, or are you going to try them out?

Discussion: Procrastination! How Do You Keep Yourself Motivated?

So...this is my very first self-professed "discussion" post on my blog. I have done a few discussion-type posts previously, but I'm going to try to do them more regularly starting now. :)

For my first big discussion post, I'm going to go with a topic that I'm sure most of us can relate to:

PROCRASTINATION.

I don't think anyone can really say that they've never procrastinated before, and I guarantee there have been times where you've put things off until the last minute. I even thought about procrastinating with this post...oh, the irony.

Since we've all procrastinated once...maybe twice...or maybe even many, many times (but who's counting really :P), I was wondering what everyone else does to keep themselves from procrastinating. 

How do you keep yourself motivated?

Personally, I'm pretty bad at not procrastinating.

I try to do things early, but sometimes I feel like I need the pressure of the deadline to get motivated enough to finish something. I can motivate myself better when I plan though, and I like to make to-do lists so that I have a reminder of what I need to do. Sometimes, I still manage to procrastinate though, or I just make myself feel really pressured because of all of the things I have to do.

I think the biggest problem that I have with procrastinating is that my school deadlines often end up really close together, so even if I try to get ahead on one of the assignments, the ones closely following the first quickly catch up to me! I also just seem automatically start to procrastinate whenever I have something I need to do right away...technically, I'm procrastinating right now as I write this because I should be reading Frankenstein for one of my classes, but instead I'm writing this post.

Sometimes, I even find it hard to determine what's procrastinating and what's just a hobby, or necessity. There are certain situations where I really do wonder, like these ones:

• If I have a book to read for class, but I get hungry and need a break from reading...does cooking myself dinner become procrastination itself? 
• If I'm getting really frustrated while writing an essay, is taking a bath or having a snack also procrastinating? 
• Are these rhetorical questions yet another way for me to procrastinate? 
• Am I finding Frankenstein so boring that I just keep asking myself questions? 

That last one I will answer....it's yes. Fingers crossed it picks up soon. :P

I find that when I'm doing work, my brain works MUCH better if I do take breaks, so I don't really consider those procrastination...that's why I usually fill my study or essay-writing breaks with things like food and bathing...they're essential, so I don't feel guilty about using them for breaks, and I'm fulfilling the things I need to do every day for survival and comfort. It's a win-win!

This discussion is getting super ramble-y, and I've probably told you all way too much about myself, so I'm gonna end it there!

Any fellow procrastinators out there?

Do you have any good tips to get motivated and NOT procrastinate?

Also, just because I posed that weird rhetorical question and made myself super curious...do you consider taking breaks while doing a big task or project to be procrastinating, or do you think the breaks make you work better?