Top Ten Tuesday: Things That Make Me Pick Up a Book
Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.
This week’s topic is Things That Make Me Pick Up a Book!
Characters
If the characters sound interesting or relatable to me, I’m more inclined to pick the book up.
Synopsis
I like synopsis, especially book perusing, that give just a hint of the story without giving away the whole plot. Usually if one element of the synopsis hooks me in, I’ll add it to my TBR.
Cover Art
I don’t like to judge a book by its cover, but I do think the cover has to catch my eye in order for me to pick it off the shelf. It’s doesn’t have to be over the top, but have enough color to catch my eye.
Title
I love catchy titles and sometimes the cheesier it is, the more I’m likely to pick it up. I love when they are a play on words or references to pop culture.
Diversity
The more, the better! I know the danger of telling a single story like (Chimamanga Ngozi) Adichie says, and I like to not only see myself within a story, but learn about other experiences to expand my worldviews.
Author
If it’s one of my favorite authors, I’m more likely to read a book.
Nostalgia
I love books that are throwbacks to classic novels, or pioneer books in that genre. I also love books that are influenced by other favorite novels I’ve enjoyed.
Reviews
If I’m a bit iffy about a particular book I look to see what reviews are saying to see if it’s something I really want to add to my TBR.
Press Buzz
If I see a book that has a lot of positive press buzz surrounding it, It intrigues me to learn more about the book and the author.
Being Featured in a Top ” ” List
I love to read top ” ” lists or recommendation lists because if I’m looking for more books in that genre or ones like the book I just read, I find similar books to pick up immediately.
What things do you have on your own list? Share your thoughts in the comment section below. 
These are the factors I consider when choosing my next read too, except for buzz. For some reason, I’m less inclined to read popular books (until the buzz is gone). The most important factors for me are whether the synopsis is appealing and whether the book has interesting reviews (even a “bad” review can get me to pick up a book).
I do pay attention to some book buzz to see I like the books they are talking about, but I usually don’t buy them until after the hype is calmed done (which sounds contradictory, lol). I agree with “bad reviews”, sometimes they get me to pick up a book as well.
Yes, diversity is very important.
My post: http://www.lydiaschoch.com/top-ten-tuesday-things-that-make-me-pick-up-a-book/
And the more diversity in the book, the better. 🙂
I have many of your items on my own list.
https://ddominikwicklesromance.wordpress.com/2019/04/02/top-ten-book-hooks-that-work-for-me/
Thanks for visiting my post! 🙂
It’s interesting — I’ve seen lists today that says hype is one of the big things that make them pick up a book and just as many saying hype is a huge turn off. It’s somewhere in the middle for me.
Happy TTT!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
I think you’re right about that. Book hype used to turn me off from reading certain books, but now that I’m a blogger I tune into some of bookish news to at lest keep on the up and up with some of the newer releases.
I love seeing how many bloggers put title on their lists. Even though we’re not supposed to judge a book, I guess we all secretly do 🙂
The title I think is what catches the eye for most of us, especially when shopping for books on a shelves. Eye catching titles definitely, peak my interest. 🙂
I want to like, make a pie chart of all the elements that influence me when I’m trying to decide if I want to pick up a book. I think that friends reviewing it would be the biggest slice of the pie, and after that, I have to admit that cover is probably the second-biggest. I love a good cover! I love that we’re living in a golden age of cover art!
I agree! After joining the book blogging community, it opened my eyes up to many new types of books. And cover art has come such a long way. Even the covers with simple calligraphy can be so eye catching! 🙂