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bif

(22,560 posts)
Wed Oct 30, 2019, 08:34 AM Oct 2019

My way of discovering new fiction

I've been doing this since I was a kid. I go to the public library and go to the fiction section. Starting with the "A" authors I look at the the books, read the descriptions, check out the covers and then take five books out at a time. I give each book about 50 pages. If it grabs me, I finish it. If not? Well, life's too short to read mediocre books. If the book is great, I look for other books by the same author. I work my way through the entire collection. I do this every couple years, and I've discovered some amazing books and authors in the process. I know, I'm a weirdo. Guilty as charged! Total book nerd since I was old enough to read.

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My way of discovering new fiction (Original Post) bif Oct 2019 OP
Have u gotten to C yet? alittlelark Oct 2019 #1
I'm on "Bax" currently. bif Oct 2019 #3
I did this a lot as a teenager and in my early 20's. lark Oct 2019 #2
My way of discovering new fiction PJMcK Oct 2019 #4
Nice! CrispyQ Oct 2019 #5
Used to do similar hermetic Oct 2019 #6
Librarians seem to have excellent taste in books. bif Oct 2019 #9
I troll the aisles too Backseat Driver Oct 2019 #7
I worked at bookstores back in the 80s. Aquaria Dec 2019 #12
Browsing the library shelves. PoindexterOglethorpe Oct 2019 #8
I find new fiction by reading the book reviews in the Washington Post. Nitram Oct 2019 #10
I get lots of good ideas right here. PennyK Nov 2019 #11
When I was a reader/editor for an online publisher Aquaria Dec 2019 #13
I have BookBub, Robin Reads and a couple of other ebook sources yellowdogintexas Dec 2019 #14
Our local library has a section for new fiction wnylib Jan 2020 #15

lark

(23,003 posts)
2. I did this a lot as a teenager and in my early 20's.
Wed Oct 30, 2019, 08:56 AM
Oct 2019

I'd go to the science fiction section and just pick out interesting sounding books, discovered some good authors. I'd also go to the "new fiction" display and get mysteries or historical novels from there. My issue is I hate to not finish a book, it just bothers me. There's maybe been 5-10 books in my 67 years that I didn't complete and I read tons - last week I read 3 books and am on my 2nd for this week.

For several years I went to Book Bub daily and bought free and really cheap books. I got up to hundreds of unread books on my Kindle and unsubscribed because I was afraid I'd corrupt my book with such a huge volume. I'm still working on those, 2 years later. They are sneaky though, they'll make the first book free but you have to buy the subsequent ones. Of course they hook me in on that all the time since I dearly love series.

Anyway, good morning to a fellow book nerd.

PJMcK

(21,921 posts)
4. My way of discovering new fiction
Wed Oct 30, 2019, 10:10 AM
Oct 2019

I listen to and read the statements from Trump and the Republicans. Pure fiction!

Sorry for the snark!

When I was younger, I spent hours at the libraries near our home: several public libraries (in neighboring towns) and a few local university libraries. This was way before the U.S. had so many (useless, IMHO) security issues. I would do my homework there and rummage through the stacks for reference materials.

I was mostly into non-fiction but your search principles work for that genre, too.

CrispyQ

(36,231 posts)
5. Nice!
Wed Oct 30, 2019, 10:57 AM
Oct 2019

I used to force myself to finish a book but finally adopted your attitude. My library has "Staff Favorite" stickers on some books & they are usually good.

hermetic

(8,258 posts)
6. Used to do similar
Wed Oct 30, 2019, 11:08 AM
Oct 2019

in the Mystery and Sci Fi sections. Now days I just come here every Sunday and see what others are recommending. That's working out quite well.

(Shoot! I meant this to be a reply to OP. Nothing against you, of course, CrispyQ. )

Backseat Driver

(4,339 posts)
7. I troll the aisles too
Wed Oct 30, 2019, 11:49 AM
Oct 2019

after the featured tables.

IMO, I'm a spoiled reader...read so many IMO (who else matters?) good authors that a lot of fiction "possibilities" get ruled out. Otherwise, I'm pretty eclectic about genres - what seems a really good story with great characterizations takes it home.

I used to be more random; therefore, I've got memories of books I read a long time ago, but I can't for the life of me remember their titles or authors to recommend them...one was about a hit and run accident (lies, evasions, investigation), another about lightening setting off an explosion that killed off nearly a whole town that read more like a documentary but wasn't, another about trying to stop some sort of threat that killed off the worms on up the food chain in a research area that threatened to go global with a scientist with a young son who tried to stop it; another I thought would surely be made into a tv series or movie - world leaders at some sort of conference on an ocean-going ship...Any help here?

True confessions? Trolling aisles in the library makes me fart...it's a family joke -- so if you see me - run! At least I'll have the aisle all to myself, lol.

 

Aquaria

(1,076 posts)
12. I worked at bookstores back in the 80s.
Mon Dec 16, 2019, 05:14 AM
Dec 2019

And in publishing in the 90s.

Which is why I know not to trust the featured table or section (different stores do it differently). It's usually whatever publishers are pushing the hardest to recoup sunk costs on a book, or because they want to appeal to the lowest common denominator. Maybe 10% of the books on that table are worth the effort of picking up, never mind reading. A lot of the best books come in almost unnoticed, unless the author is famous or a major prize winner.

Speaking of prize season, that's usually a good time to check the featured table in some stores. We did a separate table for the finalists in the major awards, near the front for the literary novels, or a big display in or near the genre section. Those are always worth checking out.

All of the major prizes now list their finalists online, and when the awards will be announced. The genre categories like mystery, sci-fi/fantasy and horror announce their prize winners at conventions open to the public, and that can be a ton of fun for fans of those books. I've been to some of them, and didn't get much sleep!

PoindexterOglethorpe

(25,750 posts)
8. Browsing the library shelves.
Wed Oct 30, 2019, 01:10 PM
Oct 2019

Of course.

However, not all books deserve 50 pages. I've been known to give up after a couple of paragraphs, depending on the book. Life is far too short to keep on reading something you don't find interesting.

Nitram

(22,671 posts)
10. I find new fiction by reading the book reviews in the Washington Post.
Wed Oct 30, 2019, 06:14 PM
Oct 2019

I never quit a book halfway through. Some of the best books I've read took 100 pages to really get going, and then they were fantastic. That's usually because the story required a lot of development to set up the characters and plot. But since I buy books before I read them, I have an investment in them.If its a bust, I trade it in for books at one of the used bookstores in town.

PennyK

(2,300 posts)
11. I get lots of good ideas right here.
Sun Nov 3, 2019, 02:08 PM
Nov 2019

And my library gets a monthly publication called BookPage, which is half ads and half reviews of new publications. My newest series was the 14th century detective Lord Oswald de Lacy, who I discovered through a review of the newest, The Bone Fire.

 

Aquaria

(1,076 posts)
13. When I was a reader/editor for an online publisher
Mon Dec 16, 2019, 05:29 AM
Dec 2019

I had piles of manuscripts to read, and only so much time in the day. So I had to weed stuff out. That's when I came up with my personal rule that a writer who couldn't grab me in three went to the reject pile. And here's what I meant by "grab me in three:"

Poems got three lines.

Short stories got three paragraphs.

Longer works got three pages or three chapters, depending on the length of the work.

Every now and then, I would have one that didn't exactly grab me, but the writing was good enough that I set it aside to see if it improved beyond the three. Most of the time, it didn't, but every now and then, I came across an inexperienced writer who needed to tighten up the intro (or even eliminate everything before, say, chapter 6 or verse 4) to make a work sing. It didn't happen often, but it did happen.

But most of the time my rule of three held true. If you couldn't grab me in three, your work was not up to snuff. I still use that yardstick to decide on books to read on my own time, and it works amazingly well.

yellowdogintexas

(22,119 posts)
14. I have BookBub, Robin Reads and a couple of other ebook sources
Mon Dec 16, 2019, 09:28 PM
Dec 2019

I get emails with recommended books, which are free or cheap.

I have found a lot of great series from these sources. My books are based on the genres I chose when I signed up.

wnylib

(21,146 posts)
15. Our local library has a section for new fiction
Wed Jan 15, 2020, 07:00 PM
Jan 2020

and non-fiction, separate from the stacks, nesr the entrance.

I also watch for new books from my favorite authors by checking their websites..

I used to discover books at the yearly fund-raising book sale. (Library no longer does that.) They weren't new, of course, but when I found one I liked, I would look up other books by the same author and then follow their new ones.

Now I browse sections by letter, but with no particular plan or method. Also listen to book reviews on NPR for fiction and non-fiction.

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