Where Do You Find Your Books?

one way that i love to get a good recommendation is from authors. for example, a while back i posted Craig Clevenger's Top Ten. And you know a guy that writes like he does is gonna like some fucking good books.

A bunch of the books Chuck recommends are great, too.

so, yeah, authors you admire are a good source. read the stuff the love. i do the same with music.

1. Read blurb + read random page: if I'm interested, buy or put on list to look again next time I'm in the store.
2. recommended by author I like? - I used to use this, but for some reason, lately every book I got that Chuck, Neil Gaiman, or China Mieville raved about I wasn't so keen on. But I use this to see if I should apply technique #1
3. Did Derek like it?
4. Does it feature sparkly vampires?

The Cult and browsing around at the bookstore.

also, sometimes nice covers get me in. then i generally apply Mike's first rule.

ain't nothing better than just reading the first chapter and seein if you dig it, or feel you may be able to dig it.

I get weird in bookstores and just start grabbing things off shelves, like a raven going after shiny things. Whim, impulse, random twitches guide my hand.

When I want a specific book, I order it off the computerthingy.

Total and utter chaos!

I have no rhyme or reason to my madness...

Certain authors I like,
Author recommendations,
maybe I heard a recommendation here,
maybe I'm trying to find the type of story I'm in the mood for,
sometimes it's the cover,
a blurb,
amazon sends me a good recommendation sometimes,
Mirka,
"What are you reading/buying" and other threads here,
(recoently) goodreads.com - I know who's taste I like, so I watch these people

Sometimes I avoid a book because of popularity. That's been extremely helpful when it comes to Twilight or The DaVinci Code. But sometimes it backfires. I've passed up some really good books when they were popular, to come back later to them and find they are actually pretty good.

I keep a running list of books I hear referenced by authors I admire. I would listen to friends more if they actually gave decent recommendations here and there.

This pretty much sums up my method as well. I also go to Goodwill/St. Francis and buy any author I've heard of that I may have any slight interest in (their books are $1).

umm...

...sooooo

yes. cheap books often bring out a greedy side to me. i'll pick up any damn thing that i even think i've heard of.

Matthew, how do you keep doing that? You're the only one who does it.

yeah, sorry about that. it's because my damn internet has these moments were it gets caught and goes slow and then in an impatient rage i click on the 'post comment' button furiously. oh, and sometimes i'll click 'post comment' quickly see i misspelled something, or left out a comma or something and the page hasn't disapeared yet, so i quickly add it and then click 'post comment' again.

oops.

I'm also a sucker for good cover art, but that only gets me in range to apply Rule 1.

There are far too many unread classics to start looking for books from authors I've never heard of. Small-minded, I know, but whatever.

I'm about the same.. I think its good to pull reccomendations from as wide a range as possible.

Goodreads is a pretty nice resource, and a great way to keep track of a 'to read' list - I used to have post it notes and little pieces of paper all through my purse and I would inevitably lose them. I also like to check out reviews on there if someone reccomends me something (like Tyler, i don't really trust word of mouth. I know maybe 2 people I'd take recc's from without doing further research)

Lately I find myself just browsing in bookstores and picking up things that I think look or sound interesting from the cover or title, maybe read a few pages. Sometimes I just impulse buy them on the spot or other times I'll note the title and author and do a little research at home before buying the book.

The Guardian books pages also have some good reviews too.

Nate I like the new avatar. Way to not jump on the "free six" bandwagon. lol

I have read every book under the sun. Every single one.

I usually read by topic. Most of last year I was reading Western/American Indian history, case law, and fiction. Then I read like three Michael Pollan books in a row, then I think maybe five Vonnegut books, then seven Sookie Stackhouse books. I glut myself out and move onto the next thing, which is usually influenced by current events, the recommendation of friends, and whatever's available to me (monetarily, things I can swindle people into letting me borrow, etc.)

I have actually read EVERY book out there.

list them or it's not true.

^Like she said.

I only have one friend I take recommendations from though. We usually swap classics and Daphne Du Maurier novels. A lot of my friends read crappy WHSmith bestsellers and I've learnt not to trust them!

Sometimes I just buy books to have them. Classics mostly. I'll read them eventually, but I just think they are good to have.

1. By publisher. If I'm looking to be published, for instance with the Fantasy thing, I looked up the top three or four publishers who accept unsolicited manuscripts, and then for a few months only read from companies like TOR, ROC, BAEN.

2. Reading lists. Harvard's, top 100, cross reference five or six top ten horror novel lists for the top five duplicate entries.

3. Recommendations from those whose opinions I respect which are, yet, vastly different from mine. If I knew somebody who only read Sci-fi, I'd ask them to make me a list of five or ten books that they had to read forty or fifty to find.

4. Browsing the library. I only do this when I'm lost, I just walk around picking stuff up, reading covers, opening chapters. I found Jason Starr, Daniel Woodrell, and Kaui Hart Hemmings this way--all great authors.

5. Forums. I never try to remember an author's name when its mentioned here, and I read from an author when I end up, despite trying not to, memorizing the name, seeing it too many times, and then I assume its important and I'll check it out at the library.

I've done this. I rediscovered Moby Dick, and Crime And Punishment this way.

That's the problem with eReaders. Before you could see somebody on lunch break, or on a subway reading a book, see the cover, and make a mental note of what's being read. I discovered Jim Thompson this way.

Now its harder and harder to do.

I use the Cult to find my books mostly. So far this year Ive discoveed Dan Chaon, Josh Bazell and Jillian Weiss amoung others.

My favourite bookstore in the city have good recomendations. Yesterday they gave me an ARC of I am Number 4. A book written by James Frey under an alias.

Other than that I read the synopsis on Amazon and if it intrests me I order it.

Well, summer is coming and some of us will have a bit more time to read.
Can we do "recommend a book to other cultie" thing again?

I buy most books after reading the first couple of pages, then a random page.

I get a lot of recommendations from people here, and from Amzazon's recs based on my buying history. Random House sends us boxes of random (teehee) books and that's how I discovered 'Await Your Reply', Steig Larsson's 'Girl' series, and THE GARGOYLE!

My sister is an infallible book recommending source.

#1. The Cult
#2. Book store - I pick out the ones with an interesting cover/subject/description on the back of the book
#3. My boyfriend

I roam the library and keep the open and experimentative mind. But I'm a reading slut.

I typically find books the way people find spare change. And I've found some amazingly random books that way.

you find books under the couch?

that's interesting. i sometimes see books left in places - on the train, on a park bench, at a bus station, etc. but i'm never sure if someone has left them there on purpose for someone else to discover, or if they're just absent-minded.

I usually look up an author on amazon and then look at what others also bought. Very helpful. And then when I go to a library or bookstore, I just go through every row and pull out what ever title, author, or cover speaks to me. Classics are my favorite sections to peruse.