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What criteria do you use to determine whether a book is worth your time? (lemm.ee)
submitted 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) by nkiruanaya@lemm.ee to c/books@lemmy.world
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Cross-posted to !sciencefiction@lemmy.world

It is not possible to read all the Sci-Fi books out there. So you must have a process for selecting what you do read. Reading a book is an investment in your time. Your time is valuable. No one wants to waste that time reading unworthy books.

I have never codified my criteria. And it has changed and evolved over time. I suspect it will continue to change moving forward, as who I am tomorrow is not who I was yesterday.

What is your criteria to date?

Mine is that it must meet ALL the following criteria, some objective and some subjective.

  • it must have at least 1,000 reviews
  • it must have at least 70% 5-star reviews
  • if after reading about it I get the suspicion that it’s a romance disguised as Sci-Fi, I automatically reject it no matter what
  • if it’s YA, it really needs to be exceedingly compelling to choose it
  • Space Opera also needs to be exceedingly compelling
  • if I get the feeling it’s trying to preach I’ll reject it
  • if i get the feeling it has (messaging, strong opinions, or political overtones) about today’s societal issues, I probably won’t choose it. Not judging; I primarily read for escapism.

I guess that’s about it. There’s probably more but I just haven’t put that much thought into it yet.

I’m very interested in how y’all decide to choose a book to spend your valuable time reading.

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[-] jordanlund@lemmy.one 9 points 2 years ago

I grew up prowling bookstores and you get a general feeling by reading the back cover and the first few pages.

You know what you like, and there will often be quotes from other authors or comparisons to other works.

[-] dresden@discuss.online 1 points 2 years ago

I would sometime read a back cover, and sometime I won't. Then when I was reading White Tiger, reached a point in first few chapters (don't remember exactly when) and there was a moment where I went "what!?" Read the back cover and that "what!?" was written in big letters. So I was glad I didn't read the back cover or I wouldn't have gotten that surprise moment. Since then I have strictly stopped reading the back cover. Now I only read it once I have read more than 50% of the novel.

Same thing in so many other books. It's not like they spoil the ending or anything, but they allude to things that can be a good surprise, sometime even as far as 25-30% of the book.

this post was submitted on 28 Aug 2023
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