I am a person who visits the bookstores every time I go to a mall. If there are 2 bookstores in the mall, you will see me in both; if there are 5, I'd still enter all of them, just because they are bookstores. Haha. To be clear, my definition of bookstores is places that sell real books with pages and stories. Those that sell magazines and comic books are not included.
Many people wonder, and some came and asked me: how do you choose a book? For some people, they are lost whenever they enter a bookstore because there are like hundreds and thousands of books in front of them and they do not know where to begin with. Hence here I am to tell you how not to be lost in a bookstore. If you hate books and nerds, and you prefer dramas and video games, this post is not for you.
So, the first thing before you enter a bookstore, you ask yourself, do you have a target, a book that somebody introduce to you or a book you want to buy. If there is a target in your mind, it is very easy. Bookstores usually arrange and keep their books according to genres. Find out the genres of the targeted books, and search for them under the particular genres. If you have no idea what genre that you like, and you just feel like you want to get a book to read, this is my suggestion.
1. Go to the Promotion/New Arrivals/Popular shelf
I usually go to the promotion shelf because I am kiam siap. Haha. But hey, you would be surprised at what you can find there. I have found a lot of good books on the promotion shelves over the years.
2. Pick up your favourite genre or the book with the best cover
In my case, I judge books by their covers. Literally. I pick up books with nice covers that attract me first, then only I look at the genre and the story outline on the back cover of the book. If the story outline interests me, I move on to the next step.
3. Take out your phone and click into Goodreads or any online book club
In fact, I have a Goodreads app so I just click into the app. Then I search for the book that I pick up just now. To be a nerd, I suggest that you join at least an online book club because you can know a lot of info about books from there. Eg. Goodreads. I get book reviews, ratings, recommendations, and new releases on Goodreads.
4. Look at the average ratings and book reviews
I usually refer to the book reviews written by readers because the rating for the book might be misleading. There are some authors who are the members of the book club, so the high ratings might be given by the authors themselves or their fans. From my experience, a lot of average ratings are biased, and I had been cheated for many times in the past.
5. Decide whether to buy the book
If I see readers give the book 1 star on page one of book reviews, then I will put the book down. If there is no 1-star reviews, and I see a lot of 4 to 5 stars, I move to the next step.
6. Read the first page/prologue
This step is necessary so that you know if you like the writing style of the book. A book with a good story is not always a good book for you because writing style matters A LOT. If you do not enjoy the writing style, no matter how interesting and thrilling the story is, you will hate the book. Like, for me, The Faults In Our Stars by John Green. The story is good and the book is so famous that almost all the readers rated it a 5-star, but after I have read it I rated it 1-star because I loathed the author's writing style. I got so tired of rolling my eyes and yawning after every chapter, and I was really, really glad when I finished that book, I actually cheered. Then I quickly sold the book to Novel Hut with 1/4 of the original price. I didn't want to see it on my book shelf. I just couldn't tolerate the sight of it. Screw it. Screw John Green.
That's the way I purchase my books. It was hard at first but after a few months you will feel at ease in a bookstore. The reason I write this post is that I was once very lost, and that situation lasted for about 2 to 3 years. I had nobody then to teach me how to choose books. That time, the books I bought all suck so bad I stopped getting myself books unless people introduced books to me, because books aren't cheap and I didn't want to waste money buying trash. Then slowly, I discovered this method, and now I seldom get shitty books. When I am free or feel like it, I read book reviews and remember the title and the cover of the books that got good reviews. That way, I don't have to always decide in the bookstore. I can just search for the books and pay.
Happy book shopping and Happy reading!
Many people wonder, and some came and asked me: how do you choose a book? For some people, they are lost whenever they enter a bookstore because there are like hundreds and thousands of books in front of them and they do not know where to begin with. Hence here I am to tell you how not to be lost in a bookstore. If you hate books and nerds, and you prefer dramas and video games, this post is not for you.
So, the first thing before you enter a bookstore, you ask yourself, do you have a target, a book that somebody introduce to you or a book you want to buy. If there is a target in your mind, it is very easy. Bookstores usually arrange and keep their books according to genres. Find out the genres of the targeted books, and search for them under the particular genres. If you have no idea what genre that you like, and you just feel like you want to get a book to read, this is my suggestion.
1. Go to the Promotion/New Arrivals/Popular shelf
I usually go to the promotion shelf because I am kiam siap. Haha. But hey, you would be surprised at what you can find there. I have found a lot of good books on the promotion shelves over the years.
2. Pick up your favourite genre or the book with the best cover
In my case, I judge books by their covers. Literally. I pick up books with nice covers that attract me first, then only I look at the genre and the story outline on the back cover of the book. If the story outline interests me, I move on to the next step.
3. Take out your phone and click into Goodreads or any online book club
In fact, I have a Goodreads app so I just click into the app. Then I search for the book that I pick up just now. To be a nerd, I suggest that you join at least an online book club because you can know a lot of info about books from there. Eg. Goodreads. I get book reviews, ratings, recommendations, and new releases on Goodreads.
4. Look at the average ratings and book reviews
I usually refer to the book reviews written by readers because the rating for the book might be misleading. There are some authors who are the members of the book club, so the high ratings might be given by the authors themselves or their fans. From my experience, a lot of average ratings are biased, and I had been cheated for many times in the past.
5. Decide whether to buy the book
If I see readers give the book 1 star on page one of book reviews, then I will put the book down. If there is no 1-star reviews, and I see a lot of 4 to 5 stars, I move to the next step.
6. Read the first page/prologue
This step is necessary so that you know if you like the writing style of the book. A book with a good story is not always a good book for you because writing style matters A LOT. If you do not enjoy the writing style, no matter how interesting and thrilling the story is, you will hate the book. Like, for me, The Faults In Our Stars by John Green. The story is good and the book is so famous that almost all the readers rated it a 5-star, but after I have read it I rated it 1-star because I loathed the author's writing style. I got so tired of rolling my eyes and yawning after every chapter, and I was really, really glad when I finished that book, I actually cheered. Then I quickly sold the book to Novel Hut with 1/4 of the original price. I didn't want to see it on my book shelf. I just couldn't tolerate the sight of it. Screw it. Screw John Green.
That's the way I purchase my books. It was hard at first but after a few months you will feel at ease in a bookstore. The reason I write this post is that I was once very lost, and that situation lasted for about 2 to 3 years. I had nobody then to teach me how to choose books. That time, the books I bought all suck so bad I stopped getting myself books unless people introduced books to me, because books aren't cheap and I didn't want to waste money buying trash. Then slowly, I discovered this method, and now I seldom get shitty books. When I am free or feel like it, I read book reviews and remember the title and the cover of the books that got good reviews. That way, I don't have to always decide in the bookstore. I can just search for the books and pay.
Happy book shopping and Happy reading!
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