How to Weed Out the Good Books from the Bad Books?

[lamp]

When you look for new books how do you weed out the good ones from the bad ones?

 

I've figured that I can not trust Amazon reviews anymore. I got disappointed with some books, which I bought based on good Amazon reviews.

 

I'm trying to figure out a new way to research books before buying.

[Stefan-CoA]

Hey there

 

The best way to figure this out is to look at the blurb on the back of a book. Don't trust all the fancy things written on front like "Best Book Ever - New York Times" as these are mostly bullcrap.

 

Then it depends on what you are actually looking for.

 

Fiction/sci-fi/fantasy - What I found usually helps is you read about two pages from the front, a few in the middle and then one or two in the back (not the end) just to give you a feel of the author's style and progression as well as a hint of the story. This is why real bookstores are better than internet-based ones. IMHO.

 

Biographies - Well, it's mostly about if you find the person interesting, read a wiki page on them first if you don't know them.

 

Science - It's a tough one, I recommend the approach that I used with fiction, but also look at publication date, and if possible research the author a bit before buying to see what people generally have to say about him as a scientist (i.e. Marc Hauser scandal). Try to pick, if there are several books on the topic, the author you feel most comfortable with reading, as a lot of authors tend to rehash the same old story over and over again (as with evolution).

 

Hope this helps

[Cap'n Refsmmat]

I find the most illuminating strategy is to look specifically at negative reviews of the book on Amazon. If the book draws some controversial conclusion, you can look through the negative reviews to see what problems people have with it. If their problem is primarily "this guy's an idiot and totally wrong!", you know he's just controversial; if they have substantive complaints about poor organization, factual errors, or editing problems, you know there are actual problems with the book.

[Phi for All]

I go to the library and take my chances. If the subject is interesting or the jacket blurb intrigues me, I grab it. I grabbed four books the Saturday before last. One was OK, the second is starting to get good and the other two turned out to be crap.

 

I only purchase books from authors I've read and liked before, and then only if I think I'll re-read the book later. I do the same thing with movies. Some movies are great but I don't need to see them more than once. Others I can watch over and over again.

[Bignose]

I find the most illuminating strategy is to look specifically at negative reviews of the book on Amazon. If the book draws some controversial conclusion, you can look through the negative reviews to see what problems people have with it. If their problem is primarily "this guy's an idiot and totally wrong!", you know he's just controversial; if they have substantive complaints about poor organization, factual errors, or editing problems, you know there are actual problems with the book.

 

I agree with this, and that above puts my own strategy into words. A well written negative review usually means something.

 

Along those lines, you may want to go back to the books you disagreed with the average on, and find the reviews that match your personal feelings. Then, see what books those people who matched your thoughts liked or disliked. In other words -- review the reviewers to find the ones that match your personality.

 

Also, reading the sample chapters and table of contents goes a long way.

 

Or, Phi has got a good idea, too. Most libraries will do an interlibrary loan for a nominal fee. My city library charges a mere $1 to got any book in most any library in the country. My school library does it for free. Get the book for several weeks and decide for yourself.

[CaptainPanic]

I love secondhand bookstores. All the useless marketing is gone! They don't have contracts that say that some books must be on the central tables, or the middle shelves, and some only at the bottom shelve in the back of the shop. A secondhand bookstore is just a real mixture of all that literature has to offer: good and bad. And very often, you can also find great classics by pure chance, which might be difficult if you allow a person or a computer with a commercial interest to guide you.

 

I choose by title or author, then I read the text on the back, then I pick a few pages at random and see the style. After I found a few books like that, I make a final selection based on a feeling (which I cannot define). 9 out of 10 books are really good. And if a book sucks, I only paid 20% of the new price anyway.

 

Of course, it helps to start searching in the right section of the shop.

[Marat]

The table of contents and the index are the best guides.