SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

I'm curious fantasy lovers. What compels you to try a new title out? Is it accolades - i.e. Hugo Awards, best-selling lists, etc.? Family, friend or fellow reader recommendation? As long as it's in your preferred genre (s)/ subgenre(s)? Something that you saw that's hot on social media? You saw the movie / TV series the book was based on first, then decided to give the book a whirl? What gets you to put it in the TR bin, or delve into it right away?

My Want to Read shelf here on GR is way out of control! I put a book on it if I read a review by a top friend (that is, someone whose updates I see first) and then the blurb catches my interest. I will only buy a book if it is a group read that interests me sufficiently or if enough of my friends here on GR have rated it highly. First consideration is if it’s by an author I already like or if the premise fascinated me.

Diane, I think that's a sound methodology. You hit at the heart of why I made this inquiry. I'm a relative newbie to Goodreads. As you know you can go down so many rabbit-holes when it comes to reading. I want to be choosy with limited time to read, yet I don't want to be narrow minded and miss out on something new that I might regret. I know I can't read everything, but the blessing of Goodreads is its curse! Lol. So many books to read, so little time. I want to know how the readers in the group, who seem very savvy and discerning, are coping with balancing being selective about choices versus reading great new stuff, get some strategies! Thanks for the input!

authors I like
mention on boingboing.net site
showing up on recommended on Amazon
part of a listing here

How I come to see a book in the first place is not something I can nail down. Sometimes it's articles, sometimes it's mentions from someone, other times it's suggestions based on what I've read, sometimes it's me searching for something more or less specific.

What drives a purchase is pretty systematic, though. I'm excluding authors that I've read and liked, those are generally no-brainers for me. But for authors I'm unfamiliar with my process goes like this:

TLDR: the cover/title has to attract me, the blurb has to make me curious enough to delve further, and the sample text makes or breaks the sale (as long as the price is right).

1) Book cover and title draw my attention. If the cover is bad/amateurish/overly cliché then I generally don't go farther than a glance. The book's title MIGHT make me look closer, or it might put me off.

2) Blurb. The synopsis has to be well written and sound interesting, inventive, or appealing in some way.

3) Reading sample. I usually buy Kindle books, so I use the Look Inside feature. I can generally tell if the book is worth reading in the first few pages. Bad writing shows up immediately. This sample read won't entirely tell me if I'll like the book but it'll at least let me know if I like the author's writing style and more or less the mood/style/flavor of the story.

4) Price. I won't pay much more than $9 for a Kindle. Especially if it's not from an author I don't know. Seems ridiculous to me to think an eBook should cost as much as a physical book.

I will look at reviews, but not for what people think. I tend to look at the 1 star reviews to gauge the kind of reader the book does not appeal to. It's rare for me to buy a book based on reviews, but sometimes the negative reviews will give me a little nudge to buy -- a reverse barometer. If all the reviews are complaining about the book being to politically correct, then I think "well if it pisses off people who get all huffy about so-called Social Justice Warriors, then it can't be too bad."

Hehe.

Micah wrote: "well if it pisses off people who get all huffy about so-called Social Justice Warriors, then it can't be too bad.""

This is delightful, Micah! Solid reasoning.

I generally pick books for my TBR list in a few ways:
An author I know I like
Recommended by an author I respect
A group or buddy read
Several Goodreads friends rating it highly
Someone recommends it to me directly
It gets recommended in a thread as similar to something I like

Which ones I ACTUALLY get around to reading is way less organized of a process. Involving variables such as mood, buddy read timelines, library availability, the phases of the moon, the price of tea in China and the direction of the breeze. ;)

CBRetriever wrote: "authors I like
mention on boingboing.net site
showing up on recommended on Amazon
part of a listing here"

CBRetriever that is very interesting! I was wondering how much of a determining factor Amazon / Goodreads made on decisions, and / or what other sites / mediums might be at play. Sometimes part of me feels like, as amazing as Amazon / Goodreads is, what about the authors who AREN'T on there? It seems like basically if you are not part of that juggernaut, your book potentially might not be considered as relevant as those who are on those platforms. Should I be scouring other platforms, where even there might be some redundancy (authors on multiple platforms, including Goodreads) so as not to miss out? Wow! Thanks for your salient input. Greatly appreciated.

Phew, totally situational for me.

Sometimes it's by recommendation, either by a friend or by the GR-algorithm.
Sometimes a cool cover gets me interested.
High ratings and reading some reviews might also get me to pick up a new book.
And sometimes I just goolge books that might be similar to something I already read.
Ah yeah, and if Mark Lawrence praises a book, it's usually a good indicator that I might like it :)

Micah wrote: "How I come to see a book in the first place is not something I can nail down. Sometimes it's articles, sometimes it's mentions from someone, other times it's suggestions based on what I've read, so..."

Great points you make! I agree, especially in that, as all the research supports, that gorgeous cover and scintillating synopsis will get me every time! I've been disappointed before going off this, but probably less often than not. You are also spot on in that there is no magic bullet, no specific formula to determine why you chose a book. Hey, sometimes it just "calls to you', lol. Yes, you are correct as well in that I will give authors I have trust a mulligan even if they haven't hit the mark with me for their last book, and still buy the next new one hopefully, believing the last bad one was a one-off, because of an established track-record for greatness, over taking a chance on a new entry that looks amazing. Thanks for the feedback! It really helps!

Hans wrote: "Phew, totally situational for me.

Sometimes it's by recommendation, either by a friend or by the GR-algorithm.
Sometimes a cool cover gets me interested.
High ratings and reading some reviews mig..."

Thanks Hans! Yes I'm a big Mark Lawrence fan, even though I thought I never would be! So funny I've loved the work of several "Grimdark" authors like Lawrence and Abercrombie and yet I still stubbornly, hypocritically claim I am not a big "Grimdark" fan, that I treasure more uplifting, less graphic, less gloomy stuff. Lol. Anyway, yes, totally agree influencers can make all the difference if they endorse the new book. Thanks again for the input! Means a lot!

Kristin B. wrote: "Micah wrote: "well if it pisses off people who get all huffy about so-called Social Justice Warriors, then it can't be too bad.""

This is delightful, Micah! Solid reasoning.

I generally pick book..."

Yes great stuff by Micah and you too Kristin B! Kristin B, you mentioned mood. Do you find that your mood tilts toward a particular sub-genre sometimes of different genre altogether at times? I.E. you just get weary of reading fantasy, or a particular type of fantasy (i.e. taking a break from "Grimdark", want to read something lighter)? Or you find you're reading predominantly the same authors (not on purpose) but you just want tried and true after a couple of disappointments trying new stuff. I was stuck in that mobius loop for a while. Kept going back to Gwynne, Lawrence, Jemisin, Cornwell, Saunderson, etc. and not venturing too far from them. It was hard to break out, but I did, thankfully. Anyway, thanks again for the input, it was great!

PL wrote: "KDo you find that your mood tilts toward a particular sub-genre sometimes of different genre altogether at times?."

Honestly, it's not even that specific. It's more like if I've just finished a brick of a book, I want something with a low page count for my next book. Or if I'm having a tough week, I want something that's likely to make me laugh. Genre is kind of irrelevant. Lately I've been feeling nostalgic, so I just reread a bunch of things I know I love. Both SciFi and Fantasy. It's less about genre and subject matter than what I expect the tone of the book to be.

PL wrote: "Sometimes part of me feels like, as amazing as Amazon / Goodreads is, what about the authors who AREN'T on there? "

I do buy/download from:

Humble Bundle
Baen
Story Bundle
Tor
Gutenberg
Bookview Cafe (rarely)

but the problem for me, with other sources, since I read mostly digital books, is that I need to know about them. And somewhere I need to run across a reference to the book. Too many sources, like their is now, means that a lot will fall through the cracks for me.

I don't use Smashwords (I think that's the name) because of too many bad experiences with self-published books and as I already have over 400 books in my TBR pile, I don't go actively looking for books anymore.

My current book choosing method probably seems bizarre to most people, except maybe to a few members of this group. :)

I had a late start on discovering I loved SF&F, so I have a lot to catch up on. Our group shelf has been a great way for me to get a good sampling of all the stuff I had been missing out on. It doesn’t have everything of course, but there’s a good sampling of many different SF&F subgenres from different eras -- tried and true classics and newer, buzzier stuff.

I’m not a mood reader, the main thing I want is variety, and I hate spoilers, so it’s fun to to me to choose a book blindly off the group shelf with only the title and cover to give me a clue what it’s about. I especially love it if the book goes somewhere I didn’t remotely expect. Since most of my GR friends are in this group and have also read a lot of these books, there are usually friend reviews to read and compare notes with after I’ve finished posting my own review which is also fun.

My progress through the group shelf is slow though, because I’ll read the rest of the books in the series right away if I liked the first book from the shelf. I also occasionally fit in other things that aren’t related to anything on our group shelf – usually something by an author I really like or else a book that went on sale after it had already been on my radar as something I’d probably enjoy.

mmmmmm.... samples, just like at Costco

I have a huge TBR pile. I don’t even consider most things that have a goodreads average rating below 3.75 with at least 500+ ratings.
There’s too many good books I haven’t read yet to waste time on mediocre!

I find potential candidates from using the recommender systems on Amazon, FantasticFiction and Goodreads. I mostly read genre fiction: mystery/thriller, science fiction (space opera), epic fantasy...

If I find a book that's up my tastes, I consider it. Thus, the blurb matters the most. Then, reviews (if it has any) to see if there are any major issues.
Awards don't matter for me at all. High amount of ratings is, above some point, actually against it: the more known a book is, the worse my expectation management is.
And, honestly, I don't really believe in the awards being about the most-important part - the story - today, when I saw how much politics and political correctness get into this (Oscars, Eurovision, ...).

Side-note: there are a few books that have exactly one rating and review on GR, and that's mine, so I'm not at all against testing the uncharted waters - provided the book is interesting enough for me.

PL wrote: "Thanks Hans! Yes I'm a big Mark Lawrence fan, even though I thought I never would be! So funny I've loved the work of several "Grimdark" authors like Lawrence and Abercrombie..."

Well, to be fair, Mark Lawrence doesn't just do Grimdark. Actually, I would really only put The Broken Empire Trilogy in that category. Even The Red Queen's War Trilogy, which takes place in the same world and during the same period of time, has a much lighter note to it. And the Impossible Times trilogy is outright uplifting.
I guess the reason I tend to follow his recommendations is not just because I like his own writing, but because he writes such diverse tales within the Fantasy and SciFi genres and I like that kind of variety. For example, I discovered Senlin Ascends through his recommendation and it totally blew me away.

Someone also mentioned mood as an important factor. And YES, I absolutely agree. Actually, for me it's one of the most important factors when I choose what I read next. I wonder how I forgot to mention that. Sometimes I want to read something funny and rather lighthearted and when I have enough of that, give me something dark and gritty ;)!

Sometimes I even got an outright craving for stories that scratch a rather specific kind of itch and thus can be pretty annoying to find if you've already read the most obvious choices.

Some examples might be:
London-based Urban Fantasy with an emphasis on the city itself
Fantasy with influences from Irish mythology and with heavy use of dialect
Horror with influences from Scandinavian/Slavic mythology in a wintery setting
(Crime) Thrillers with a hint of the supernatural taking place in and around Maine

Hans wrote: "PL wrote: "Thanks Hans! Yes I'm a big Mark Lawrence fan, even though I thought I never would be! So funny I've loved the work of several "Grimdark" authors like Lawrence and Abercrombie..."

Well, ..."

Hans, you are right, I should not pigeon-hole Mark Lawrence, who doesn't just do Grimdark. It's just that in my head, though I have read most of his stuff, I will always associate him with Jorg and The Broken Empire Trilogy, which was a game-changer for me (and a lot of us) in terms of the fantasy landscape. You are so right, Lawrence is so engaged and supportive of the writing community and what he does with SPFBO is incredible and adds so much value for everyone. I did not realize he was such a prolific reviewer until I got on GR - wow, he's really active with that as well! I admire him for that...


As for me re: the elusive "mood", I find that more and more I crave the uplifting stuff, whereas up until a few years ago I was much more willing to read more dreary fiction - maybe a sign of the times, with all that is going on in the world, or just getting old, not really sure....I want to be informed, and educated, and not hide from / face and be aware of unpleasant things, things that are important to be faced, relevant issues, etc. that's who I think I am, but recently I just want to "feel good" at the end of a book.

Tomas wrote: "If I find a book that's up my tastes, I consider it. Thus, the blurb matters the most. Then, reviews (if it has any) to see if there are any major issues.
Awards don't matter for me at all. High am..."

Tomas, I can't help but get sucked in by accolades these days. I know that they are often fraught with a lack of objectivity, or in some cases even rather unscrupulous / suspect aspects to the whole process (i.e. people essentially "buying" their way onto the "New York Times Bestseller List"). That being said, I rarely read hopelessly "bad" books if it's got some sort of acclaim behind it, so those books that garner awards like are getting more and more of my attention these days. I have been betrayed by the well-crafted blurb more and more these days, so I find I am starting to rely on those authors who have hardware (or close to it, i.e. nominated or finalist) than those who don't.

I go by the classic blurb/cover combo. Recommendations from friends may lead to a consideration, but the popularity of the Fast/Furious movies prove my friends can recommend stupid things. I'll still need a neat premise in a blurb to agree to turn to page one.

Kristin B. wrote: "PL wrote: "KDo you find that your mood tilts toward a particular sub-genre sometimes of different genre altogether at times?."

Honestly, it's not even that specific. It's more like if I've just fi..."

Kristin B, I hear you. I'm pretty well stuck to fantasy and historical fiction right now. For me, I find I can't even read anything over 500 pages well anymore. I used to say the bigger, longer, more epic for me, the better, bring on GRRM and a 1000-page brick that I can lose myself for days in! Well, it's not like I'm NOT going to read "Winds of Winter", etc., but it's a rare beast now that will get my read if it's +600 pages. I was able to read i.e. Evan Winter's "The Rage of Dragons" which was just around the 600 page mark because it was a non-stop thrill ride, but if it's a slow burn (love those books too) it needs to be a bit shorter for me.

Don wrote: "mmmmmm.... samples, just like at Costco"

LMAO! Yes, the sample chapter can be a really good tease and suck you in - if it's like "I have to read the rest of this, find out what happens next" after reading the nominal 3 chapters, I will probably buy it. Excellent point Don!

MadProfessah wrote: "I have a huge TBR pile. I don’t even consider most things that have a goodreads average rating below 3.75 with at least 500+ ratings.
There’s too many good books I haven’t read yet to waste time on..."

MadProfessah, I can only imagine what your TBR pile looks like, lol. Do you read a lot of academic / non-fiction stuff, or mostly fiction / escapism? Yes, I'd mentioned earlier how accolades are starting to guide my reading decisions more and more, and I think I can safely start adding reviews and GR ratings onto that. It is really all about being selective and using your time wisely isn't it?

CBRetriever wrote: "PL wrote: "Sometimes part of me feels like, as amazing as Amazon / Goodreads is, what about the authors who AREN'T on there? "

I do buy/download from:

Humble Bundle
Baen
Story Bundle
Tor
Gutenber..."

I wish could get away from physical hard copy books but it's hopeless. I'm too old fashioned, too old I guess, or just simply my preference. I can do sample chapters online, even read a couple of books electronically a year, but I struggle with doing audio. I will check out some of those other platforms you suggest though, thanks! Other than Google I have not been doing much online reading recently.

YouKneeK wrote: "My current book choosing method probably seems bizarre to most people, except maybe to a few members of this group. :)

I had a late start on discovering I loved SF&F, so I have a lot to catch up o..."

YouKneeK, does not sound bizarre at all to me! I often curse myself for not reading successive books in a fantasy series. It really allows you to get into the story, and get invested in the characters, and immersed in the story. So I like your methodology!

It's neat that you have lots of friends on the group, so I'm sure especially buddy-reads are good option for you, if you enjoy that.

But of course, if you are reading awesome but plodding-series-finishers like Rothfuss or GRRM, you can't reasonably wait for years and read nothing else until their next book is released. So you have to move on, I would think, before you can properly finish a series.

Nothing wrong with arriving late on the scene with fantasy!
I hope you are finding it stimulating! There's nothing like being taken to somewhere like our world, but not our world.

I started out in life loving fantasy, got away from it, and read mostly thrillers, police procedurals, and more self-help, or topical, issue-of-the-day type of stuff, and lot of biographies, through my twenties and thirties, with the little time to read I had back then. But in my forties and fifties, fantasy and historical fiction is 85% of what I read.

CBRetriever wrote: "PL wrote: "Sometimes part of me feels like, as amazing as Amazon / Goodreads is, what about the authors who AREN'T on there? "

I do buy/download from:

Humble Bundle
Baen
Story Bundle
Tor
Gutenber..."

This sounds just like me. But I also go in phases or authors. Currently on a horror kick so Gutenberg was great source for older classics like Dracula, Frankenstein, Turn of the Screw. Next month is Brandon Sanderson's starting with The Way of Kings and the rest so I am ready when the latest is released late November.

Good question. How do I go about new books?

I guess there are several different approaches for me:

1.) Challenges - I always try to sign up for some challenges a year and the prompts there give me sometimes new directions to look for books.

2.) The SFFBC book shelf - I have the high ambition to read at least 75% of the books on the shelf (started with 100%, but encountered some authors I don't necessarily want to read another book of)

3.) Here on GR I found several folks who have similarities to my taste, so I often go for books that they liked.

4.) Authors I trust I will always read new books of.

5.) Several times a year I look up lists of newly released SF&F books on several sites and go through the titles. Since I try to avoid reading blurbs, I only read the first or the first two sentences and more decide on cover presentation and title. A good example for this year was "To Sleep in a Sea of Stars" by Christopher Paolini - I didn't know the author, I had no idea what the book was about, but I felt completely drawn to the beautiful combination of cover and title (and luckily for me it was a very satisfying read as well)

PL wrote: "I wish could get away from physical hard copy books but it's hopeless. I'm too old fashioned, too old I guess, or just simply my preference. I can do sample chapters online, even read a couple of books electronically a year, but I struggle with doing audio."

I seldom do audio but i love digital books. I'm going to be 70 next year, so I wouldn't say age has anything to do with it for me except for the fact that I can adjust the font size if needed. Then there's going on vacations where I small Kindle can carry enough books to tide me over and my suitcase isn't as heavy....

I'm actually buying more books since going digital as so many bookstores carry just the mainstream SF&F and I was starting to find that I could go into a bookstore and not find a single book amongst the new releases that I wanted to buy. Most bookstores just carry the major publishers and not the small independent presses (not talking about the self-published authors who call themselves indies here).

I often try a new author when I heard about his/her books by other people, sometimes this happens by accident too, like with Silvia Moreno Garcia. I just got a Netgalley arc of Prime Meridian and I liked her writing style even if the book's story wasn't exactly what I expected. So I plan now to read all her books.

I browse lots and lots and LOTS of books. So first is that it has to be somewhere notable. Not necessarily Kirkus or something like that--I spend a lot of time on "best of" sites, GR lists, Reddit, Wiki award winner lists, and new book lists put forth by most of the larger distributors (and some smaller ones).

I think for me it's a combo of how appealing it seems (subgenre, cover, synopsis, GR rating), how people I'm friends with/have similar tastes with feel about it, and availability. I only buy books if I know I love it or am trying to support the author...or I'm fairly confident I'll enjoy it and it's under $5.

Started reading SFF in the late 50's/early 60's via my local library (they let me in the 'Adult' section early!) - when there really wasn't much to choose from! Heinlein, Bradbury, Dick, Asimov, Clarke etc etc - so I just read what was available.

By the late 70's/early 80's the whole genre had blown :) and there was rather a lot of it! Fortunately I found a magnificent SFF bookshop in Bristol who imported all the "new" stuff from the US: so Anthony, Sheffield, Zelazny, Harrison, Wolfe, Eddings etc etc.

Nowadays, SFF is only about 25% of what I read (yes, I read other stuff too!) but there've been some rather tremendous books over the last 10 yrs or so - I'm totally spoilt for choice!
:)

Carole-Ann wrote: "Started reading SFF in the late 50's/early 60's via my local library (they let me in the 'Adult' section early!) - when there really wasn't much to choose from! Heinlein, Bradbury, Dick, Asimov, Cl..."

Carole-Ann it's so amazing that you have seen the evolution of fantasy from very niche / obscure genre to one of the most popular ones! What a transformation. I think fantasy has the potential to be the #1 selling genre (I think romance rules right now) in the world! It's really exploded! I'm glad you (and all of us) have a much greater selection to chose from now!

Allison wrote: "I browse lots and lots and LOTS of books. So first is that it has to be somewhere notable. Not necessarily Kirkus or something like that--I spend a lot of time on "best of" sites, GR lists, Reddit,..."

Allison, I totally agree with you, and I mentioned in an earlier post that I was leaning more and more towards authors who are decorated, best-of-lists, etc. Its harder now too frankly because of the onslaught of excellent self-published works. More and more amazing break-out authors are not coming from the big London or New York houses, but are Indie writers. And the gap, I think, is narrowing on quality of the publications. There are some truly legit Indie authors, and lots of them. Re: friends, well I have started creeping the choices of people in this group, for example, and adding them to my TR bin, because I trust their tastes / savviness to pick winners, lol. I think that will become more and more the case for me as I dive deeper into GR, and groups such as these.
e

Leticia wrote: "I often try a new author when I heard about his/her books by other people, sometimes this happens by accident too, like with Silvia Moreno Garcia. I just got a Netgalley arc of [book:Prime Meridian..."

Leticia, I envy you as I wish I stumbled upon more books simply "by accident" lol. Although now I'm active on Twitter again after many years absence, I have inadvertently found a couple of gems. I would love for someone to send me an ARC! It's an honour, and very exciting, I think, to be one of the "first ones" to read someone's work (even if its in exchange for a good review, or merely an honest one). But I foresee some of those coming my way soon because of my Twitter activity. Can't wait!

CBRetriever wrote: "PL wrote: "I wish could get away from physical hard copy books but it's hopeless. I'm too old fashioned, too old I guess, or just simply my preference. I can do sample chapters online, even read a ..."

CB Retriever, so strange, I love vacationing in tropical places, and for me I dream about being on the beach with a physical book in hand. I'm not as practical or sensible as you, lol. I usually pack at least 5 or 6 books in my carry-on, and my wife does the same.

I think there will come a time when only major releases will grace bookstore shelves, if physical bookstores still exist outside of major cities. You can go to Indigo and buy blankets, a latte, XMAS cards, toys, just sit and browse magazines, etc., so I think they will be around for a while, but what will stock their shelves, not entirely sure?

Phillip wrote: "I go by the classic blurb/cover combo. Recommendations from friends may lead to a consideration, but the popularity of the Fast/Furious movies prove my friends can recommend stupid things. I'll sti..."

What's wrong with the Fast and Furious? Lol. But seriously Phil, I hear you. All the research say that's what hooks readers the most, cover /blurb. But I've been seduced before, and led astray, unfortunately, by the sexy cover and alluring blurb. Normally, not always, a great cover / blurb means professionalism, and professionalism means a good book / writer. Oh well, you have to take chances in life. No fun if you don't.

PL wrote: "YouKneeK, does not sound bizarre at all to me! I often curse myself for not reading successive books in a fantasy series."

The part I figured would sound bizarre was the part about using our group shelf to choose books at more-or-less random, without reading blurbs, checking friend reviews, seeing if it won awards, etc. :)

PL wrote: "But of course, if you are reading awesome but plodding-series-finishers like Rothfuss or GRRM, you can't reasonably wait for years and read nothing else until their next book is released. So you have to move on, I would think, before you can properly finish a series."

Since there are so many standalone works and completed series that I’m interested in, I’ve been avoiding the incomplete series for now. I haven’t read the Rothfuss series although it sounds interesting to me. I did read the first A Song of Ice and Fire (GRRM) book several years back when I picked it up at random from the library pre-Goodreads and liked it, but then researched it and realized it wasn’t likely to be finished anytime soon so I didn’t continue.

In the unlikely event I ever catch up on everything else, then I might consider some of the incomplete stuff. I do like the immersion you mention that comes from reading successive series books, and also being able to better catch all the plot nuances from book to book since I remember all the details better.

John wrote: "CBRetriever wrote: "PL wrote: "Sometimes part of me feels like, as amazing as Amazon / Goodreads is, what about the authors who AREN'T on there? "

I do buy/download from:

Humble Bundle
Baen
Story..."

John, I really have to look into those other platforms! Thanks for that. I hope you love "The Way of Kings" like I did! Brandon Sanderson is an incredible fantasy author!

Gabi wrote: "Good question. How do I go about new books?

I guess there are several different approaches for me:

1.) Challenges - I always try to sign up for some challenges a year and the prompts there give m..."

Gabi, I like that idea, #5, a lot! I think I will start doing more of that, going to those sites for new SF releases! Thanks for the great direction!

It would seem the consensus amongst the group, so far, based on the feedback, is that a combination of approaches to trying out new books is what works for most people. Those approaches can be very random, or very specific and formulaic. As long as it works, it's all good! All this input has been so helpful!

YouKneeK wrote: "PL wrote: "YouKneeK, does not sound bizarre at all to me! I often curse myself for not reading successive books in a fantasy series."

The part I figured would sound bizarre was the part about usin..."


Actually, using the group book shelf does not seem bizarre to me, in light of checking friend reviews. Personally, since I'm hearing many are friends on this group, I think the book shelf will become a good resource for me too as I make GR friends here on this group, just as good as checking friend reviews. Based on the astute advice I have gotten here in this thread from everyone, I definitely trust the group in helping guide my decisions already.

Re: incomplete series, that has always been a tough one for me, but if it's too good to resist, I will start knowing I might not see the next book for a while. I read other things in the meantime, and whenever that next book comes out I snatch it up.

Totally concur with you on being able to better catch all the plot nuances from book to book when the details are still fresher in your mind, with reading consecutive books series. I don't like when authors have these large multi-year gaps (let's say more than 4 years) between books.

I know oftentimes that is due to circumstances beyond the author's control (i.e. publisher sets and arbitrary deadline and says "hey, don't release that too quickly, our data shows make the reader wait for it to drive up the hype, increase sales, or delays with print on publisher side, etc.).

Still, like you said, you have to almost go back and re-read the previous book just to remember where the story line left off from the last book. Not every author provides a synopsis of what happened in the previous book at the beginning of the new one, or is slick with interspersing a re-hash of what happened before in the new book, in a manner that does not seem too obvious.

That being said, I'd feel if I was missing out if I did not read someone like Rothfuss, who is taking a while to finish his next book in the series. I recommend him to anyone. He is already considered fantasy royalty, based off only 2 books. FYI, last I heard the third book is expected this coming Summer.

PL wrote: "I'm curious fantasy lovers. What compels you to try a new title out? Is it accolades - i.e. Hugo Awards, best-selling lists, etc.? Family, friend or fellow reader recommendation? As long as it's in..."

I don't keep track of releases or anything like that. I occasionally go the library (not for many months, obviously) and see what they have, so it can be pretty hit or miss. Most of the time it's miss, as my reading preferences aren't matched by most of the books I find available. A shelf full of titles all by the same author with very similar cover art is more likely to turn me off, unless I know the author beforehand. I spend most of my time writing my own, since I'm more likely to find something I want to read that way.

Most books get my attention because GR friends liked them. Pre-covid, I'd also browse the new releases shelf at the library, or notice something adjacent something that I was pulling from the shelf. I also grab everything that looks interesting when I bring books to a Little Free Library; I've discovered some random gems that way.

I put almost everything that tempts me on my lists, and then freely DNF any that aren't working for me. That way I don't miss so much by having a 'meh' reaction to a blurb or review and rejecting something out-of-hand that might actually be good.

To make a special effort to request or (gasp) buy a book, just about everything has to sing in its favor. Blurb, cover, friends' reviews, community rating, previous knowledge of author, etc....

Most of it already already mentioned (author, premise, friend reviews, mood, price/access/availability) but this year I also put recommendation from the virtual cons I attended into consideration, either from panels or their accompanying discussions. Most of which happen to be books written by BIPOC+ authors :)

Marc wrote: "PL wrote: "I'm curious fantasy lovers. What compels you to try a new title out? Is it accolades - i.e. Hugo Awards, best-selling lists, etc.? Family, friend or fellow reader recommendation? As long..."

Lol...I hear you Marc. I wish I was more of a library person. My wife is. Libraries are the most inexpensive and easiest way to get books. But something about always having to go to the library in University, maybe, traumatized me. Lol. I love libraries, especially touring older ones, but for some reason I can't go there to do work, nor do I typically go there to browse (of course as you noted with Covid this is all moot). My wife is a big audio person and I must say libraries where I live have lots of great audio books, it seems, a very wide selection. If I ever really get into audio I think libraries will be the way to go for me to find some great books.

Silvana wrote: "Most of it already already mentioned (author, premise, friend reviews, mood, price/access/availability) but this year I also put recommendation from the virtual cons I attended into consideration, ..."

Cheryl between you and Marc you have me wishing I spent more at the library. Lol.

Putting more and more on the WTR list is great but also daunting. I find I look at the list and realize periodically how much I want to read, but realistically won't ever get too. Then comes the inevitable choices one needs to make in terms of cutting bait. Kinda like organizing the junk drawer, lol, not a stimulating task, but necessary.

Sounds like you are very careful with your purchasing choices, and the stars all have to align. I wish I was more discerning sometimes. Sometimes I just take that impulsive leap of faith. But I'm headed in your direction, slowly, lol.

Silvana wrote: "Most of it already already mentioned (author, premise, friend reviews, mood, price/access/availability) but this year I also put recommendation from the virtual cons I attended into consideration, ..."

Silvana, thanks for your response! Yes, it seems like a holistic approach seems to work best. Question, I am interested in the virtual cons. Do you find them very worthwhile overall?

PL wrote: "Silvana wrote: "Most of it already already mentioned (author, premise, friend reviews, mood, price/access/availability) but this year I also put recommendation from the virtual cons I attended into..."

Very much! I think it is because there are lots of interesting panels and I am also quite selective in choosing them, so I know that the topic is something I'd enjoy and/or want to know more about so the panelists and watchers (who are very active during chats) are more or less in the same mindset.

So as to easily track them, while watching panels I also put the recommended books in separate Goodreads shelves based on the conventions, e.g recs-fiyahcon, recs-futurecon, etc.

@PL I’ve discovered the joy of using the app Libby to borrow ebooks from my library. Have you considered that? It’s a very well-designed app with a good search function, and very user-friendly integration with your library’s catalog.

Anthony wrote: "@PL I’ve discovered the joy of using the app Libby to borrow ebooks from my library. Have you considered that? It’s a very well-designed app with a good search function, and very user-friendly inte..."

Hi Anthony! No, I'd never heard of that app! Thanks for pointing me in that direction! I'll look into Libby! Much appreciated!