Selecting a book is serious business. I want to make sure the likelihood of me enjoying it is high so that I won’t waste my time. There are four important steps I ALWAYS follow while picking a book to ensure prime reading quality that is perfectly catered to my tastes.
Upon entering the media centre, I always make a beeline to the “Quick Reads” rack. Usually our wonderful librarian, Ms.Isaac, will have a bunch of interesting books for me to snag. I scan through the summaries and determine whether I like the description or not. The reason why my first stop is at the “Quick Reads” is because Ms.Isaac always sets out quite a few great novels that fit my tastes. Many of the books I have read this past year are from here. Usually, my hunt for a book ends here because I find a book I like. However, in the case that I don’t, I move on to the second step; book recommendations.
In school, we learn to ask for help when needed. This also applies when looking for a book. I’ll approach my peers, usually girls, and ask for good book recommendations according to the genre I feel like reading. If they don’t happen to have a recommendation or I have already read the recommended book, I move onto the third step; browsing.
I find that browsing for clothes is a very similar experience to hunting for a book. I always start from either end of the bookshelves and make my way across, scanning for interesting titles or eye-catching colours. Oftentimes, the title can tell you a lot about the book, whether it’s quirky, spooky or, my favorite, romantic. After I pick out a few noteworthy titles, I continue on to the next step of reading the complimentary summary.
I cannot stress enough the importance of reading the overview of a book. It is the key to knowing whether you the book is a steal or a bust. I like to read the summary and scan a few pages of the book; if there are additional comments at the back, I read those as well. After this, I am left with a book that I won’t put down until I’m finished reading it.
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