6 Points that Make Me Read a Book

This post lines up with the post I published yesterday. However, I wanted to talk about the next step, so to say, after borrowing or buying a book: actually reading it.

There are so many factors for me that influence me to pick up and read one book over another. These also help me decide when I buy or borrow books, but these are also specifically for when I pick up a book to read. So here are 6 points that make me pick up and a read book.

Point 1: The title.

It's often the case that the title is very telling on what the book will be about. This doesn't always happen, but I'd say that it happens 8-9 out of 10 times. It won't give you the entire story, but it'll give you the main point. Think of Anne Rice's The Mummy duology or Markus Zusak's The Book Thief: these titles don't give you the entire story, but you get an idea of what it's about.

Point 2: The cover.

We all know the phrase "don't judge a book by its cover." We all do it, though, and there's a good reason for it. Similarly with a book's title, a book's cover can be telling as to what it'll be about. You'll get less detail than the title, but you'll still get clues about a book's storyline, characters, or otherwise.

Point 3: The setting.

As I've mentioned in past posts, I tend to steer clear of war/military history, WWI historical fiction, and WWII historical fiction. The only time I'll consider these books is if the author, title, or hype is something that makes me look forward to the book. (Although, in these cases, I'll probably borrow the book initially rather than buy it.) Otherwise, what setting I want to read is highly dependant on my mood.

Point 4: The hype.

Hype is a strong point that makes me want to read a book. If a book is getting a lot of hype, then I will consider, at least, reading the book. However, if I feel like it's overhyped, then I'm less likely to read it.

Point 5: An anticipated read.

I've had quite a few anticipated reads over the past 1-2 years, and I will automatically want to read it once I have it. However, if it's a book I bought/own, I do wait a couple of weeks before I pick it up so I can get through a few other books.

Point 6: The author.

Whether it's my favorite author or a new author, I also tend to pick up books while considering the author. This one is dependant on the other points, though, because I do consider everything else as I think about the author.