Judging a book by its cover

Have you ever heard the old saying "Don't judge a book by its cover", well I have a confession. I often judge a book by its cover, especially when I'm just browsing a bookstore (which I do quite frequently).

When I'm in a bookstore, I just stand by, looking at the covers and see which ones jump out at me, which ones are appealing enough to make me want to take them down and have a look at the blurb on the back. To me, I believe the back cover - as well as the title of the story - is the most important element to get a potential reader to want to pick up the story. Don't get me wrong, the story is also a crucial element, but the reader won't know how good the story is without a good cover to entice them to pick up the book.

I think we live such busy lives and there are so many books available vying for our attention that it becomes simply impossible to read the blurb on the backs of all of the books and choose through the story rather than the looks.

Are you guilty of judging a book by its cover? What makes you want to pick up a book to buy/read?

Top 100 YA Novels

This is a list that is making its way around the blogs at the moment. I found it at Becky's Barmy Book Blog and thought it would be fun to see which books I have actually read.

1. Alex Finn – Beastly *
2. Alice Sebold – The Lovely Bones
3. Ally Carter – Callagher Girls (1*, 2, 3, 4)
4. Ally Condie – Matched *
5. Alyson Noel – The Immortals (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
6. Anastasia Hopcus – Shadow Hills *
7. Angie Sage – Septimus Heap (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
8. Ann Brashares – The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (1, 2, 3, 4)
9. Anna Godbersen – Luxe (1, 2, 3, 4)
10. Anthony Horowitz – Alex Rider (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
11. Aprilynne Pike – Wings (1, 2, 3)
12. Becca Fitzpatrick – Hush, Hush (1*, 2)
13. Brandon Mull – Fablehaven (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
14. Brian Selznick – The Invention of Hugo Cabret
15. Cassandra Clare – The Mortal Instruments (1*, 2, 3, 4)
16. Carrie Jones – Need (1, 2, 3)
17. Carrie Ryan – The Forest of Hands and Teeth (1*, 2*, 3*, 4)
18. Christopher Paolini – Inheritance (1, 2, 3, 4)
19. Cinda Williams Chima – The Heir Chronicles (1, 2, 3)
20. Colleen Houck – Tigers Saga (1, 2)
21. Cornelia Funke – Inkheart (1, 2, 3)
22. Ellen Hopkins – Impulse
23. Eoin Colfer – Artemis Fowl (1*, 2*, 3*, 4*, 5, 6, 7)
24. Faraaz Kazi – Truly, Madly, Deeply
25. Frank Beddor – The Looking Glass Wars (1*, 2*, 3)
26. Gabrielle Zevin – Elsewhere
27. Gail Carson Levine – Fairest
28. Holly Black – Tithe (1*, 2, 3)
29. J.K. Rowling – Harry Potter (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
30. James Dashner – The Maze Runner (1*, 2)
31. James Patterson – Maximum Ride (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
32. Jay Asher – Thirteen Reasons Why
33. Jeanne DuPrau – Books of Ember (1, 2, 3, 4)
34. Jeff Kinney – Diary of a Wimpy Kid (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
35. John Boyne – The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
36. John Green – An Abundance of Katherines
37. John Green – Looking for Alaska
38. John Green – Paper Towns
39. Jonathan Stroud – Bartimaeus (1, 2, 3, 4)
40. Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl – Caster Chronicles (1, 2)
41. Kelley Armstrong – Darkest Powers (1, 2, 3*)
42. Kristin Cashore – The Seven Kingdoms (1, 2)
43. Lauren Kate – Fallen (1, 2, 3)
44. Lemony Snicket – Series of Unfortunate Events (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
45. Libba Bray – Gemma Doyle (1*, 2*, 3*)
46. Lisa McMann – Dream Catcher (1, 2, 3)
47. Louise Rennison – Confessions of Georgia Nicolson (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
48. M.T. Anderson – Feed *
49. Maggie Stiefvater – The Wolves of Mercy Falls (1, 2, 3)
50. Margaret Peterson Haddix – Shadow Children (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
51. Maria V. Snyder – Study (1*, 2, 3)
52. Markus Zusak – The Book Thief *
53. Markus Zusak – I am the Messenger
54. Mark Haddon – The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time *
55. Mary Ting – Crossroads
56. Maureen Johnson – Little Blue Envelope (1, 2)
57. Meg Cabot – All-American Girl (1, 2)
58. Meg Cabot – The Mediator (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
59. Meg Cabot – The Princess Diaries (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
60. Meg Rosoff – How I live now
61. Megan McCafferty – Jessica Darling (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
62. Megan Whalen Turner – The Queen’s Thief (1, 2, 3, 4)
63. Melina Marchetta – On the Jellicoe Road *
64. Melissa de la Cruz – Blue Bloods (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
65. Melissa Marr – Wicked Lovely (1*, 2, 3, 4, 5)
66. Michael Grant – Gone (1, 2*, 3*, 4*)
67. Nancy Farmer – The House of the Scorpion
68. Neal Shusterman – Unwind *
69. Neil Gaiman – Coraline
70. Neil Gaiman – Stardust
71. Neil Gaiman – The Graveyard Book
72. P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast – House of Night (1, 2, 3, 4, 5*, 6*, 7*, 8*)
73. Philip Pullman – His Dark Materials (1, 2, 3)
74. Rachel Caine – The Morganville Vampires (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
75. Rachel Cohn & David Levithan – Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist
76. Richelle Mead – Vampire Academy (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
77. Rick Riordan – Percy Jackson and the Olympians (1*, 2, 3, 4, 5)
78. Rom LcO’Feer – Somewhere carnal over 40 winks
79. S.L. Naeole – Grace (1, 2, 3, 4)
80. Sabrina Bryan & Julia DeVillers – Princess of Gossip
81. Sarah Dessen – Along for the Ride
82. Sarah Dessen – Lock and Key
83. Sarah Dessen – The Truth about Forever
84. Sara Shepard – Pretty Little Liars (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
85. Scott Westerfeld – Leviathan (1, 2)
86. Scott Westerfeld – Uglies (1, 2, 3)
87. Shannon Hale – Books of a Thousand Days
88. Shannon Hale – Princess Academy
89. Shannon Hale – The Books of Bayern (1, 2, 3, 4)
90. Sherman Alexie & Ellen Forney – The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
91. Simone Elkeles – Perfect Chemistry (1, 2, 3)
92. Stephanie Meyer – The Host
93. Stephanie Meyer – Twilight Saga (1, 2, 3, 4)
94. Sue Monk Kidd – The Secret Life of Bees
95. Susan Beth Pfeffer – Last Survivors (1, 2, 3)
96. Suzanne Collins – Hunger Games (1, 2, 3)
97. Suzanne Collins – Underland Chronicles (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
98. Terry Pratchett – Tiffany Aching (1, 2, 3, 4)
99. Tonya Hurley – Ghost Girl (1, 2, 3)
100. Wendelin Van Draanen – Flipped

* On my bookshelf, just waiting for me to get around to reading.

Okay, so I have more on my bookshelf than I've read. I've really got to get around to reading all the TBR pile that keeps growing and growing and growing. I think they need to stop putting out new, fantastic books so I can catch up.

So, how many books have you read from the list? Which books are you dying to read but just haven't gotten around to?

What makes you wanna read it?

I'm very impulsive, especially with books. My TBR list constantly builds because more and more books gets released. But, there are a couple of things that must appeal to me before I even consider purchasing a book.

1. If it's from an Author I've read/Part of a series
   If I like the author I'll probably get other books that they've written, and I'm a sucker for series. Even if I only somewhat enjoyed the first book in a series, I just have to read the rest... it's something about leaving it unfinished that I can't do.
   
2. Author I've heard about
   The blogging community is great. They've introduced me to a whole lot of stories that I wouldn't have imagined I'd pick up on my own accord. If I read a review on a blog that's positive, I'll probably be tempted to read that book (so yes, book blogs are a really big help with giving me suggestions of books to read).
   
3. The Cover
   Now, this is where the actual book comes in. I've been told I'm very distracted by "shiny" objects. I can't help it. If I like a book cover, I'm going to pick it up. If I haven't heard anything about the author, the book cover is probably the most important aspect. I don't care about the "Don't judge a book by it's cover", it's definitely the cover that makes me take any notice.
   
4. The Blurb
   If I like the cover, then I'll read the blurb. I've got to like the sound of the book in order to be that one step closer to buying it, even if the cover is eye-dazzling fantastic.
   
5. The First Page
   
   The last factor for me to buy a book is the first page. I'll browse through the first couple of paragraphs to see if I like the writing style. If it's something I like then I'm sold with the book.

So, how do you choose what books you read? What is the first thing that attracts you to a book?

How do you get your books?

There has been a lot of news about the trouble book stores are in on the television at the moment. I don't know whether it's coincidence, but the day after Borders in the US announces they are in trouble, the Borders stores in Australia (as well as our other big book store, Angus and Robertson) announces that they are also in trouble.

They are blaming online book stores and e-readers are the main problems for people not buying enough books. And, I can see why. I was so happy when a 2-level Borders opened up just around the corner from me, but that excitement is wearing off because most of the books in there cost $20-$30 or more... most of the ones I want are on the upper price.

Since I can't live without my books, I really have to start looking at the prices. In a supermarket the books are around $10 (not as big a range as Borders, but still cheaper).

At the moment most of my books come from :

• Netgalley... I don't mind reading on my computer
• Kindle... I read on my iPhone, so I have a book wherever I am
• Audible.com ... what would I do without audio books? I can drive while reading, that's fantastic
• Amazon... here's a fact; it costs less to ship a book from the US to Australia than it does to buy a book in Borders. I also follow a lot of international authors who's books don't release here quick enough.
• Book depository... I just started shopping here. Free worldwide delivery, there's nothing wrong with that.
• Australian supermarkets (mainly BigW... think Target)... when I really need a book and it's on special for $10.

So, I can definitely see that I do a majority of my shopping overseas. But, in all honesty, there are some books that I can't wait the additional year for it to be released over here that I just need to.

Where do you mainly get your books from?