This or That – 17/04/2017

This or That is a meme hosted by Rae at Bookmark Chronicles.

This week’s question…

When you’re in a book store how do you decide which book(s) you will buy?

You know what you’ll buy before you get there ~ Bring (a portion of) your TBR and narrow it down ~ Pick the cheapest ones so you can buy the most with the money you have on you ~ Buy the ones written by authors you know you like ~ Pick the pretty covers ~ Browse and read the descriptions ~ Look up their Goodreads rating….or anything else?

Rae has kindly allowed us two options for this one. So for me there’s two different types of occasions I’ll be in a book shop:

1. I’m going in for a specific book so I know what I’ll buy before I get there –  it’s either something that’s just been released, or something that’s been on my TBR for a bit but has just been recommended and bumped to the top of the list
2. I’m browsing – and this is where it gets messy and potentially expensive. I’m definitely not organised enough to have my TBR with me, and rarely do I remember I have the Goodreads app on my phone. If a book is on offer – like Waterstones buy one get one half price, I might be more willing to take a chance on an unknown book but it wouldn’t be my primary motive for choosing a book. I will often buy books by authors I know I like, but this tends to fall into the first category, of books I’ve specifically gone in to buy. While I am a sucker for a beautiful book, I wouldn’t buy it just too look good on my shelf (until the day comes I’m a millionaire and can afford to waste money on books I’ll never read) so I guess the main way I choose a book when I’m randomly browsing is by picking up things that look interesting and reading the descriptions – I’ve stumbled across a few new, to me, authors who have gone on to become firm favourites this way.

What about you? How do you decide on which books to buy when you’re out? Let me know in the comments!