How to Tell if a Book is Right For You?
From the overwhelming peer pressure on BookTok/BookStagram/BookTube to the slough of reviews on Amazon and Goodreads, it can be hard to know when a book is right for you. Here are our five tips on how to decide:
Do you like the genre? Trying a new genre is fun, but it can also lead to disappointment. Before you embark on a new journey into a book, it’s important to decide how many things you want to leave up to chance. For instance, if you don’t really like suspense (or you get scared easily) Stephen King may not be the author for you. If for instance you love romance novels, 100 Promises by Meliá Grasska may be your perfect next read.
Can you try a sample? Trying a sample of a novel is a great way to find out if that book is going to be for you. It’s a low pressure way for you to feel it all out and see what you like (or don’t like) about it. Kindle is a great way to do this or if you’re in a book store, read the first few pages. Author’s expect this and the first chapter should suck you in.
Why are you drawn to it? Is it the fancy pages? The cover art? Or was it the synopsis? Pretty books are soooo fun to look at but they’re not always fun to read. While it can be fun to shop with your eyes, be sure that you’re being drawn to the book for the right reasons, otherwise you could DNF and it may lead to a slump.
Take the reviews with a grain of salt. Everyone’s entitled to their own opinions and people have their own rating systems that don’t necessarily correlate. Look out for big red flags in reviews that don’t align with your own tastes, but don’t take overall ratings too personally. Readers pride themselves on being stingy with five star reviews.
Dive in. If you’ve decided you want to try a book, dive in and give it a good shot! Read a few chapters, make it fun, and give it your best attempt at finishing it. Sometimes you really can’t judge a book by it’s cover and the only way to decide if you like it is to finish it… or not.
Happy reading!
If you’re looking for your next book, 100 Promises by Meliá Grasska has big SWEET HOME ALABAMA x The Notebook energy and may be a perfect next read for you!