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.  Click on the link for more info and to find out about future topics.

This week’s theme is:  Things That Make Me Pick Up a Book.

I am a mood reader/impulse reader through and through. I generally keep a pile of books on hand (either bought or borrowed from the library), and depending on my mood pick up something that suits me.

That said, there are many things that prompt me to buy or borrow a book in the first place, and here I am listing them all down.

1. Award winning books – I like to add a little depth to my reading, so I always watch out for any award-winning or nominated books that sound interesting. I particularly enjoy books from the Man Booker list, and I always make sure to have some book from the list on hand.
2. Tried and tested authors – I have a few favorite authors whose books I always turn to. Some fave authors are George R. R. Martin, Sarah Waters, Gillian Flynn,
   John LeCarré, and Amitav Ghosh. There are many more, but these are the ones that currently come to mind.
3. Favorite genres – I love good historicals, thrillers, and fantasy, and am always happy to discover new books in this genre. Of late though, I have had more duds than hits with genre fiction. Currently, I am contemplating picking up the Shardlake series by C.J. Sansom, which combines both mystery and history. I haven’t seen much on the internet about this series however. Have you read these books? Do you recommend this series?
4. Pretty covers – A pretty cover can suck me in very easily. But, after some horrible reading experiences (Twilight, Fallen), I’ve become very suspicious and have reduced such impulse buying a lot lately.
5. Classics – I have a long list of classics that I want to read. Depending on the mood I am in, I”ll pick a book from that list.
6. Book blogger hype – If a book is hyped a lot on the net, I might pick it up to see what the fuss is about. Sometimes, the book lives up to the hype (The Hate U Give), sometimes not (The Woman in the Window).
7. Random browse through – Sometimes I randomly browse a book in the library or at the book store, and there may be something that makes me want to drop everything else and read it. It doesn’t happen often, but when it does, it’s magical.
8. Books personally recommended by other book bloggers – There are some bloggers whose recommendations I can trust blindly. Nearly every recommendation that I got from Karen (who first got me interested in Man Booker reads) or Jenny (who got me into The Secret History and many other great reads) has turned out to be a good read.
9. Occasionally books recommended by IRL friends – Most of my friends in real life don’t read very much. Sometimes though they will press a book on me. Often, they are not very good (Shantaram).
10. What doesn’t influence me? Bookstagram – I don’t care about pretty books artfully posed and booktubers (don’t have the patience to watch videos).

What makes you pick up a book? Please tell in the comments!