5 Things You Need To Do Before You Buy That Book

5 Things You Need To Do Before You Buy That Book.

As a bookaholic I have often found myself buying books out of the blue without even planning for it. Usually a pretty cover does it for me. It‘s my weakness and I always find myself buying such a book.

I’ve learnt the hard way that a good cover does not always equal a good book. In fact it really doesn’t. I have dozens of books with pretty covers (that decorate my shelf) which I will never read because I couldn’t get past the first boring chapters. Nowadays, since I’m trying to act like an adult  I am making more informed choices when it comes to buying my books. Now before I buy a book I have to do these 5 things.

1.  Check The Book’s Rating.

You can do this by checking in sites such as Amazon, Goodreads and Barnes & Noble. You can also check the rating your favorite book blogger has given the book if they have read it. A book’s rating gives you an idea of what people think of the book without having to read any reviews.

Consider getting a rating limit. For example I only read books with a rating of 3.7 and above. I have read some with a lower rating but few have impressed me.

2.  Check to See If Your Friends Have Read It.
 What are they saying about it? If you are in Goodreads, chances are that one or a couple of your friends have read it. Read their reviews or leave a comment asking them what they thought, if there is no review. It is always good to read the review of someone who has the same reading tastes as you just to be sure.

3.  Check If You Have Read Any of The Author’s Books.
Unless it is a debut novel most sites such as Goodreads feature other books by the author. If you’ve read another book by the author ask yourself the following:
~Is the book of the same genre as the one you had read?
~Did you like the previous book?
~What is it that you liked about it? Here you can think of the writing style, the plot and the way the characters were written.
 If the answers to these questions are positive, read on:)

4.  Read Reviews On The Book.
This is obvious like duh!
Right? Not really many people usually go in search of positive reviews. You know, those with too many memes which have you rushing to go and buy the book because it‘s so AWESOME!!!!!. Please don’t fall for it. Try this instead. Bypass the five star reviews and read those with one or two stars. They are there, no matter how awesome the book is. ou just have to dig deeper to find them.

I have found out that five and four star rating reviews are always the same but one star reviews are always different plus more interesting to read. I love a good rant.  It makes more sense to read a one star rating after all the bad parts of the book are what you should be concerned about.

You get to find out what you are up against and if you can tolerate it. Sure some are usually mean and written with ill-intent but most of these reviewers raise good points that you need to consider before you read the book.
NB// This is how I decided I would not be reading A Court Of Frost and Starlight. Sorry SJM but this is not for me.

5.  Tags, Tags.
Tags are important and they tell you what the book is all about in a few words. Check for words that describe the kind of books you read. For example Humor, Women’s fiction, New YA, Young Adult, Fantasy etc.

So those are five things you need to do to avoid buying a book that might disappoint you. Take your time to go through all this things. Trust me, the book is not going out of print. A fast Google search will help you get all this information and spare you the pain.

Happy reading.