Buy the Book?

They say "Don't Judge a Book by its Cover", but let's be real, how else does one choose a book?  This is how it works for me: I go in the store, see a book, maybe with nice cover art, pick it up and read the back.  Cover.  The back cover.  If I'm lucky, there's a blurb with a hint of what to expect.  If I'm not, I'll have to work a little harder, maybe even open the book.  *Gasp*

Now, I don't know about you, but I hate trying to choose a book.  But there is nothing better than the smell and feel of a new book.  In fact, I buy books just to own them.  It's called being a Bibliophile. Not nearly as dirty as it sounds.  But I love books, from cover to cover, and usually buy them new.  Which is expensive, especially if the words inside just don't work.  (Also, my uncle used to say library books gave you Polio - but I'm pretty sure he was teasing.)

If I look around the (bed)room where I sit, I see no fewer than 7 books, positioned on various surfaces, waiting.  Some are finished, a few are mid-read, and most are waiting for their turn.  And have been waiting for quite some time.  And might wait forever.

So how do you choose a book?

Author?  I have some favourite authors...Gillian Flynn, Miriam Toews, Alice Sebold are a few...but I don't find this to be foolproof.  Just like baseball, every at bat can't be a home run.  And not every book is worth reading.  The Lovely Bones was lovely.  The Almost Moon was almost good.  But not that great.  I was hoping the heroine would die and that can't be a good sign.  At all.

Subject? In the Spring, I got super interested in True Crime and read a whole bunch about famous murders and kidnappings.  I know, not the warmest topic, but kind of interesting in spite of myself.  Now, I'm not sure where they find the folks to write these books, but some of them couldn't pull off a "Dick and Jane".  I actually didn't finish a few.  And THAT is totally against my OCD.

Recommendation?  I trust most friends, some critics, occasionally my kids, but I'm so fickle my interests change faster than a tequila sunrise.  Yeah, that doesn't make sense, but I'm out of cliches.  I've had good suggestions and bad suggestions and ones that got me caught in a series.  Some blurbs are decent and some are just bullshit, and it's not like I'm on a first name basis with anyone reading books for a living.  John Green is okay but teens are annoying.  Which makes this method not reliable enough for me.

Oprah?  No.  Nevermind.

How do you choose a book?

I look at the cover.