Boxall's 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die discussion

Hey everyone! My name is Ada, I’m a literature enthusiast and a marketing student at the University of Southern Denmark. I’m currently working on a class project that focuses on online ethnographic research. I would really appreciate it if you could take a minute to help me out.

Seeing the availability of amazing literature out there sometimes overwhelms me and often I find it difficult to choose which books I want. Not only are there many interesting stories to read, but also there are so many books with beautiful cover design. For example, when I discovered the Penguin English Library books with Coralie Bickford-Smith’s amazing cover design, I felt that my interest in reading classical literature actually grew and I started collecting those books!

This got me thinking about the factors that affect the purchasing decisions that we make when choosing a book. So I have decided to conduct a little research for my school project on these questions:

How do readers choose which books to read? What role does the cover of a book play in the decision making process? Is the book cover more important if the book is bought, rather than borrowed?

Your participation will of course be kept strictly anonymous, but if you would like, I would be more than willing to cite your contribution.

Thanks! :)

Since you posted this in the "Boxall's 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die" group, you won't be surprised when a lot of people here mostly read books from the 1001 books list.
My decision to get a book is usually a monetary one. I often buy used books, you can get good deals on ebay or amazon (I just got 8 Henning Mankell books for just 2,99 for all 8 together). The cover is not important to me, there is only sometimes a picture of the book when you buy used books online. Once the book is on my shelf I can't see the cover anymore anyway. Same with the library, if you browse the shelves there, you can't see the book covers.
The only times where I pay attention to the cover/edition is when I get a book that is part of a series, as I like books within a series to match.

How do readers choose which books to read? I choose books based on a lot of things. I like to read authors who have proven themselves worthy of my time and money. I like to read classics - even those I don't like so that I can contribute to or understand references to them when in a discussion and I like to read books about subjects that interest me regardless of the author or the cover.

What role does the cover of a book play in the decision making process? The cover does not matter a lot to me when I'm determining what book to read. I do get annoyed sometimes when the cover of the book doesn't appear to have anything to do with the book.

Is the book cover more important if the book is bought, rather than borrowed? I do tend to like leather bound copies of classics and the condition of the cover means more when I'm purchasing the book than when I borrow it from the library or from a friend.

Hi there! There are a lot of reasons why I choose to read a book. Sometimes it's because I've read something else by the author and liked it or sometimes someone has recommended the author or the book to me. Sometimes it's because I read about the book somewhere and it sounded interesting or maybe there's a movie being made and I want to read the book first. And sometimes it's just a random book I picked up that had an interesting summary on the back.

Beautiful cover designs definitely catch my eye. If I'm in a bookstore or a library and see a beautiful book I almost always read the summary on the back. However if the book doesn't sound like something I would like I don't read it. I don't read books just because of the cover.

For me covers are very important if I buy books. I buy books because I like the story itself but since I'm actually spending money on it and plan on picking it up from time to time to read it again or at least skim the pages I want it to look nice. So if I want to buy a book and I see it in a bookstore but don't like the cover, then I'd rather wait for a nicer cover. If I'm borrowing a book then the cover doesn't matter to me at all.

Carol wrote: " I do get annoyed sometimes when the cover of the book doesn't appear to have anything to do with the book."

This is a very good point! I'd say I don't look at covers much, but I do notice when I'm done reading a book and a look at the cover tells me the cover artist didn't know what the book would be about. This seems to happen especially with fantasy/sci-fi. It's like the cover artist only gets told that it's a sci-fi story, so he thinks "Sci-fi? Must put a spaceship on it!" when there isn't a spaceship in the whole story...
This is a bit annoying, but won't influence my book buying decisions, since I only notice this after I've read it.

For me books are much like people, the cover may attract me at first but there must be substance there in order for me to take it home :)
Generally speaking I choose 1001 list books or books by authors that I have already enjoyed. I do the majority of my buying/borrowing online so sometimes I don't even know what the cover will look like until I receive it. I will say though, I avoid buying movie tie-in covers if I can and I really don't want an Oprah stamp of approval on the cover. I suppose the snob/self-conscious reader in me wants my books to have a more sophisticated look.
I also realized long ago that I was judging science fiction very much by its cover. I'm not sure who designs the cover art there but I find it a huge obstacle when considering buying a book. I just don't want to look at my bookshelf and see ugly, busy, (spaceshipy) books there.

I tend to choose a book simply on if the reviews or the jacket synopsis catches my attention if I am out & about. I also adore used book stores, & browsing the shelves at various thrift stores in my area. I'm an odd one in that sometimes I keep a hand written list of titles I'm looking for in my purse too when I go. I could have smacked myself earlier this week, I passed up a 1963 hardcover of Gone With the Wind when I spotted it in one, but I'm holding out for a 1936 hardcover (the year it was first published). I found both Emma & The Count of Monte Cristo free through one of the e-reader apps on my new iPad Mini that I got for my birthday a few days ago too, so going to give that a shot. Still don't think it'll be as good as turning real pages, LOL.

Book covers only matter for me if I have little to no previous knowledge of the author or his work. I usually get recommendations from authors I like (who they were influenced by and so on), friends and various social media.

If I'm browsing in a book store then the book cover might catch my eye, but otherwise not.

If I'm just browsing through a store, a lovely book cover will have me pick up the book and read the back. However, it doesn't make me buy the book - the description or a sample page or two I read inside does.
Just looking at covers has introduced me to new authors before- picking up something b/c it drew my eye has more than once resulted in me looking at an author I've never heard of before.

Unnur wrote: "Hi there! There are a lot of reasons why I choose to read a book. Sometimes it's because I've read something else by the author and liked it or sometimes someone has recommended the author or the b..."

I would second Unnur's thoughts on this.

Covers are a work of art-- so while I don't buy a book solely because of the cover, it will entice me to read the synopsis and it can push me over the edge to actually purchase.

One other thing-- I never buy a book with the Movie cover!

Thiloma wrote: "One other thing-- I never buy a book with the Movie cover!"

I'm with you on that point!

I just came across an Oscar Wilde quote in a book I'm reading: 'The public is largely influenced by the look of a book. So are we all. It is the only artistic thing about the public.'

Covers only matter to me if it's an author I collect - for example I only buy the vintage editions of Haruki Murakami books - or if it's part of a set/series. I can't bear it if one book in a collection looks out of place! These are also the only books I tend to buy new.

Book decisions tend to be made by availability and price. I'm more likely to borrow from the library and I tend to buy second hand books or books for the kindle if it's cheaper. I'm a bit of a skinflint when it comes to spending money on books so the cover doesn't matter much to me!

Thank you all so much for taking the time to reply to my post, I really appreciate it. Your inputs are great and I’ve really enjoyed reading them :)

Kirsten wrote: “For me books are much like people, the cover may attract me at first but there must be substance there in order for me to take it home :)” This is so well said and it really sums up the whole discussion - it seems that we all agree on this… the cover can spark our interest, but in the end there has to be some substance :)

Carol and Sandi mentioned that they don’t like it when the cover doesn’t have anything to do with the book. I totally agree on this! Can you think of any examples of this?

Kirsten, Thiloma and Linda said that you don’t like books with the movie cover. Why is that? And there was also a mention of the Oprah stamp of approval, which for some people seems to turn into it’s opposite and people actually avoid those books… what are your thoughts on that?

Kat mentioned that the cover matters more with books that she’s collecting… this makes me wonder, what makes a book worth owning, and when is it enough just to borrow it?

Like Sandi rightly said at the beginning, the members of the group are reading the books on Boxall’s 1001 list… that’s also what I am doing, although not exclusively, but I do like to use the list as a guide. What made you decide to follow the list?

Thanks so much again, I’m so looking forward to hearing more of your opinions and also hope to hear from more group members :)

PS. Kirsten, I really like that Oscar Wilde quote!

I think the reason I don't like movie covers is because I don't want to think of the movie while reading the book. I would rather imagine the characters for myself and immerse myself in the novel's world. I prefer not to have a reminder of which actors played which role every time I pick up the book. Plus...usually non-movie covers are prettier.

I don't like movie covers either, maybe because subconsciously I don't want people to think I only picked up the book after it became a fad and EVERYONE was reading it? Especially for a classic like Lord of the Rings, or The Chronicles of Narnia, both of which my parents read to me as a child, and I love the beauty of the old illustrations books USED to have. Maybe I feel that there is more "scope for the imagination" when it's an illustrated, somewhat vague cover, that doesn't have the actual, photographic image of a person or place on it? I'm not really sure, I just know that I tend to like "older" covers.

And I'm glad I'm not the only one who gets really bothered by books in a series that don't match! I have a nice special edition of the first Harry Potter book that my parents, I know, spent way more money on than they should have for a Christmas present one year. It was such a sweet gift, but it's taller than all the others and just doesn't fit! I would never get rid of it though, of course :) I collect the old Nancy Drew books, but only the ones with the black-edged pages. I don't know why, they just look better to me.

And I'm with everyone else: a nice cover won't make me buy a book, but a really interesting one will sure make me pick it up to look at! I'm much more likely to purchase a book (that looks interesting to read) if it will also look good on my shelf. And I'm a sucker for the "aged" looking covers that mimic older-style bindings.

As far as picking what to read, though? I varies every month. Sometimes I just want to read what people in my groups, like this one, are reading, so I can have the discussion with them. Sometimes I've just finished a heavy subject book and just need something light and ridiculous for variety. Sometimes I'm in the mood for some brain material and pick up a heavy classic, others I go back to an old childhood favorite. It really just depends on what's going on in my world at the time.

Alana wrote: "Alana (alanasbooks) | 34 comments I don't like movie covers either, maybe because subconsciously I don't want people to think I only picked up the book after it became a fad and EVERYONE was reading it?"

Ha ha! Yes, that is definitely in my mind when I'm picking out a book and am trying to stay away from movie covers. :)

One of my main upsets with covers is for Terry Pratchett's books. The original illustrator (Josh Kirby) did wonderful, complicated covers that showed little moments from throughout the story. I absolutely love these covers, but unfortunately he passed away in 2001.

I am now stuck with the dilemma - do I keep the covers I love, and get the new books that don't match, or do I re-purchase the whole series?

Nostalgia won, and I am keeping the old books, but the different look on the shelf gets me every time!