What Makes Me Pick Up A Book?

Recently, well, a while ago to be honest, my good friend Charlotte atWonderfully Bookish created the What Makes Me Pick Up A Book Tag. I find it so interesting to see why people pick up books and their reasons for reading books. I think i’m pretty basic to be honest and my answers for this will be quite standard, but we shall see how i fair against everyone else!

Do you judge a book by it’s cover?
I want to say i don’t like everyone else, but i definitely do. I use the cover to determine a lot of things about a book, mostly about it’s genre. If a book looks too fantasy or too sci-fi, i just won’t bother picking it up. It works the other way for me too, so if a book has a lot of images that i love, illustrated people, floral front covers and drawings, i will be more likely to pick it up. If a book generally has a bad cover (we KNOW what a bad cover is) i just won’t be interested at all.

Focusing just on the cover, what attracts you to pick it up?
Illustrated covers with pastel colours are something that really attracts me to a cover. I really love simplistic covers also with block colours. I think they look much more pleasing when you’re reading a book, and honestly if we’re not thinking of the Instagram post with the book are we even bloggers?

Do you read the synopsis first, or prefer to go in without knowing anything about the book?
This is one that hugely depends on some factors for me. If it’s a book by an author that i really love, and have loved in the past, i will probably go in to the book not knowing very much about it. I like to be surprised sometimes by a book and go in knowing nothing. Alternatively, if it’s a sci-fi or fantasy book, i really want to know what i’m going in to before i do. If it’s a genre that i’m not entirely comfortable with then i think i’d want to know more about what i was approaching. I will also pick a book up without knowing the synopsis if it is highly recommended. For example a book that is talked about or in the fiction charts, i will often pick it up and see what the fuss is.

Do you have any auto-buy authors?
I actually have probably too many auto-buy authors. If i liked one of the authors books, i’m more likely to keep picking up their books. Some of my auto-buy authors are:

• Simon James Green
• Becky Albertalli
• Patrick Ness
• Angie Thomas
• Akemi Dawn Bowman
• Alice Oseman
• Becky Chambers

I have plenty more, but as i said it’s quite easy to get on my auto-buy authors list.

Are you more likely to pick up a book if it includes specific elements/themes?
I am definitely more likely to pick up a book if there is a certain theme. For example, i will happily take home everything in Gays The Word because i know everything in there is going to have at least a touch of LGBTQ+. I have quite a few buzz-themes for books, them being LGBTQ+, mental health rep, disaster, soft space, memory loss, enemies to lovers. Just so many catagories i know i’ll love. It’s equally as easy for me to be turned off by a book. If i have never heard of a book and the first line of the synopsis doesn’t catch me, it’s an instant no.

Do you ever read a book that has generally negative reviews just to form your own opinion?
This isn’t something i do often, but i have done it in the past. There are some absolute book treasures that are being hidden away by bad reviews. I always check the Goodreads page of a book before i buy/read it, however i have lowered my standards a little bit. If a book has above a 3.1 rating, i will generally pick it up still if it’s a plot that i think i’ll enjoy. I used to have my standard set as 4 stars, but i’ve missed out on so many books i’d have loved because the rating was lower. I have also read a few books just to see how bad they actually are (Girl Online by Zoe Sugg) and can confirm, they are as bad as expected.

Do you ever buy a book because a book blogger or booktuber has talked about it a lot or reviewed it?
I do this more than pick up books on my own accord. I want to find things i know i’ll like, and i think i have enough bloggers around me to trust their opinions on reviewed books. I tend to mostly pick up things that have been reviewed by people i know, or watch online.

Is there anyone who’s book reccomendations you will always trust?
Yes, i have quite a few people who i’ve found have a similar reading taste to me and i will definitely trust their recommendations, and honestly i think you should probably trust them too:

• Sophie at the other half of this blog
• Lois at Lois Reads Books
• Jaz at Travels In Fiction
• Charlotte at Wonderfully Bookish
• Lily at Lily Eleanor Reads
• Lauren atNorthern Plunder
• Kayla at Books and Lala
• Whitney at Whitty Novels

Thank you so much Charlotte for creating this tag and generally being wonderful. I really enjoyed diving in to why i read books and what draws me to them. If you want to do this tag, please join in on your blog or YouTube channels!