How I Decide to Read a Book

August 2, 2016 / Nicola @ Thoughts on Fantasy / 14 Comments

Photo by Rob Tolomei (CC BY-NC 2.0)

Last week I listed the ways a book can get my attention. I looked at how things like awards, recommendations and online lists can help a novel to stand out from the crowd for me. However, once a book has my attention, it usually still needs to jump a few extra hurdles before it becomes something I want to buy and read.

So this week I thought I’d analyse all the little factors that come into play when I’m investigating a book to see if it’ll go onto the “to-read” list, or even straight into the shopping basket. Continue reading →

How a Book Gets My Attention

July 25, 2016April 18, 2017 / Nicola @ Thoughts on Fantasy / 10 Comments

Photo by Nicola Alter (CC BY SA 4.0)

I’ve always been fascinated by how books are discovered – by how a person ends up finding and deciding to read a particular novel amidst the ever-growing sea of books swirling around them. Since starting to write myself I’ve become even more fascinated by this process, knowing I may one day have a book out there that I hope to get into readers’ hands.

Sadly I don’t have the expertise or the data to analyse how most people find the books they read. However, I do know my own habits and behaviours as a reader, so for interest’s sake I thought I’d take a look at how a book can stand out from the crowd for me and make it onto my “to-read” shelf. Continue reading →

How Did You Read Your Books Last Year?

January 12, 2015July 28, 2016 / Nicola @ Thoughts on Fantasy / 13 Comments

Photo by Nicola Alter (CC BY SA 4.0)

This is going to be a very brief and non-very-fantasy-focussed post, but I’m curious to hear about other people’s reading and book buying habits.

For interest’s sake, I decided to work out stats on what format I read my books in last year (with the help of Goodreads). Here is the spread: Continue reading →