2y ago

What criteria do you use to determine whether a book is worth your time?

It is not possible to read all the Sci-Fi books out there. So you must have a process for selecting what you do read. Reading a book is an investment in your time. Your time is valuable. No one wants to waste that time reading unworthy books.

I have never codified my criteria. And it has changed and evolved over time. I suspect it will continue to change moving forward, as who I am tomorrow is not who I was yesterday.

What is your criteria to date?

Mine is that it must meet ALL the following criteria, some objective and some subjective.

it must have at least 1,000 reviews
it must have at least 70% 5-star reviews
if after reading about it I get the suspicion that it's a romance disguised as Sci-Fi, I automatically reject it no matter what
if it's YA, it really needs to be exceedingly compelling to choose it
Space Opera also needs to be exceedingly compelling
if I get the feeling it's trying to preach I'll reject it
if i get the feeling it has (messaging, strong opinions, or political overtones) about today's societal issues, I probably won't choose it. Not judging; I primarily read for escapism.

I guess that's about it. There's probably more but I just haven't put that much thought into it yet.

I'm very interested in how y'all decide to choose a book to spend your valuable time reading.

42 comments

I agree it’s not possible to read everything, but I promise that if you are a habitual reader, you will run out of truly excellent books to read really rapidly. Both because there just aren’t that many and because everyone’s tastes are different.
These days my criteria is: if I heard of the book and it sounds interesting to me I’ll try it. If it fails to capture me within a chapter or two I’m putting it down.
I have a strong preference for queer books (especially queer scifi) and will totally overlook even dramatically negative reviews to read those. But that’s the only bias I have in my selection.
- What does queer Sci entail that's different from inguess hetero Sci fi?
  
  Queer authors and/or characters and themes. There’s a fair amount of scifi like this as people have used the genre to explore gender and sexuality basically from the start. Historically, think Ursula Le Guin in Left Hand of Darkness. For more recent examples, consider A Memory Called Empire by Arcady Martine or Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir.

That is quite a restrictive list.
I generally go for:
Is it by an author I like? Is it well written? (Judging by samples).
Then I start to read. Normally I will make it to the end, even if some way in I decide I don’t like it that much. Sometimes I will just give up, if it is too tedious, or too many characters/plots I can’t keep track of, or it turns out to be badly written after all.
- Too restrictive? Yes maybe so. There are always exceptions which I haven't verbalized in my post.
  Nevertheless, I fear if I used your method, in total I'd spend years reading samples. It's good it works for you though.
  I read so much, I just don't have time to invest in reading samples.
  UPDATE: I've been wondering why the down votes. I suspect there is tone in my response which I did not intend. I get a lot of recommendations I want to weed through to find something I'm interested in. I couldn't possibly read all the samples. That's all I'm saying.

The cover
- Does the cover have a painted Fabio?
  No Fabio, no read!

First off the concept, as introduced on the back of the book, or in book-yakking circles (like this) or such must be something that interests me in some way. This means that if the books seems too political in focus ("left" or "right"), for example, I don't engage. That's not what I read SF books for.
Second, if the concept intrigues, I have to get a hint that it isn't just a rehashing of something I've already read. I need to read a new take on a concept, not Yet Another Evil Empire Cut Down By Rebels space opera, complete with laser swords, say...
Third, if it gets to this stage, I'll find a free ecopy somewhere and I'll read the first 50 pages in a "try before you buy" thing. The author has to grab my interest in 50 pages, no more. If by page 50 I'm not sufficiently intrigued that I'm willing to shell out money, I don't shell out money. The ebook is deleted and the book is put into my mental "do not enage" bin alongside books whose very concepts don't interest me.
If, however, by page 50 the book intrigues me, I'll start the difficult task of hunting down hardcopy and buy it when I find it.
- I understand and agree regarding a stale take on an existing trope. It is hard to find a new take on a concept, but just as you, that is exactly what I'm looking for too.

If I'm interested. I open it up to a random page. And read a paragraph. And look at the tone of the author, the quality of the writing, on the quality of their content. And then I make a determination if I'll read the rest of the book

I read the back cover and open the book on a random page and start reading. If that page doesn't make me want to read more, then its not for me.

I check cover and blurb, maybe see if there are other books by the author, and give it a chance.
1000 reviews? Nah. I like to read new authors with fresh ideas.
- If it's only 999 reviews, don't expect me to be the 1000th reviewer.

Strangely I don't choose based on any set criteria and my choices often change with my mood. However, I have a threshold that the book must cross to be kept, so that at some point I will reread it knowing what mood im in and looking for that style, otherwise I donate it.
- What's the threshold? Can you articulate it, or is it more of a feeling to match your mood, or something like that?
  
  Mood, absolutely. For example if I want something lighthearted & somewhat whimsical I'll pick up J. Scalzi or Hamilton, books, usually during our busy season when I just need to unwind) When when I want something to ponder over, have more time on my hands (slow season) I'll pick up A. Reynolds or S. Baxters. When I'm in a shit mood and want to know someone is having a worse time it'll be G. Bear, or a couple other single titles (ship of fools, an exchange of hostages, armour, etc) And then there is absolute space trash for pure escapeism, usually the horus heresy.

I'm a newbie when it comes to reading novels. But I realized that a lot of movies or series I've seen are based on books. It's far easier to get through a book if you already have visual references for the characters and scenes. It's also nice to go back and experience the story from a diffrent perspective. It's like reading with training wheels.
- Understood. I like seeing the movie or series after reading the book, for some reason.
  
  @nkiruanaya @LouNeko I love reading the book after because it is almost always even better than the movie… more detail, richer character development, bonus extra scenes, 😁.
  Where the reverse is rarely true. If I love a book, someone is going to butcher that book when they make a movie about it.

I like the front cover and it doesn't have an obnoxious sticker on it.
Edit: the 1k review thing isn't bad but the 5 star thing is. I'm too jaded with people giving 5 stars because the item was delivered quickly...
- "I haven't read it yet, but it arrived two days faster than I expected, and the box was really pretty. 5 stars!"

After a couple hours of reading, do I still care?
I know I may miss some gems this way, but my reading list is longer than my available time.

Honestly I just read the biggest classics and hits. Usually they're classics for a reason, and even if it's not to my liking, at least I learn something new and can cross it off the bucket list.
Now that I think about it, scifi is somewhat monocultural - is that a word? - this way. The consensus what's good and what's not, and why, seems to be higher than in real world fiction.
I do listen to more audioshows than books and it's kinda the same. If something becomes very popular, it's likely to be better than average. Although I've found some sleeper hits too, and nothing really bad. Producing an audio show is probably harder than writing a book.

My criteria aren't as complex. I usually read the summary or the first sentences and if there is an idea that sounds new to me I will read the book. If it annoys me in the first 100 pages I give up.
- That's nice and easy. I didn't say it in my post, but I too will commit to reading the first 100 pages before deciding whether to go on or abandon it.

I look at something and decide to read it. If I enjoy it, I keep reading. That's my very strict criteria.
You said nobody wants to "waste time" reading "unworthy" books. But if you enjoy it, it's not wasted time. I didn't even read your whole post, because it seems to me like you spend most of your time trying to find something perfect and very little time enjoying a book. That doesn't really appeal to me at all, but you do you.
- Of course if you enjoy it, the time is not wasted. Worthy to me, means I enjoy it. I'm sent dozens of book recommendations each week from various sources in which I subscribe. I have to weed them out because I certainly don't have time to read each one. The longer my queue becomes, the stricter my criteria becomes. I read almost every night for hours before bed, so not sure why you think I spend very little time enjoying a book. What an odd thing to say.
- lol my standards for fiction are basically "does it catch my eye?", "is it available on my library/scribd apps?", and usually "if it's a series, is it book one?". If I like it I go through the series. I like a broad variety (though a lot of mysteries).
  Nonfiction I definitely have stronger standards. If it's not well sourced it's too much noise vs signal.

I just check out the tv tropes page and if I like it I read the book.

Well, when the award nominee lists come out, I jump on those if they sound like books I’d like. And of course, new books by past authors I like. And generally books that I start seeing a lot of people reviewing favorably or just getting a lot of buzz I will at least evaluate.
- My method is very similar! I don’t read a lot of sci-fi anymore, but I pretty much ran out of classics to read in my teens. Now it’s either recommendations from irl friends (they know what I like and it’s always a hit) or award winners. Sometimes, some recommendations from there internet hit home with a good elevator pitch, but doesn’t happen often.

One reason I love libraries is that I can ask random strangers for suggestions.

You have very strict and specific criteria! I feel like there's just not that much good writing out there, and that I really have to search for it. Of course by "good" I mean in the subjective sense, good to me. There are very well-received books that I didn't enjoy at all, and some pretty awful light reading that I can't stop thinking about, Reviews and ratings really mean very little to me, so I mostly ignore them. That's especially true on Goodreads and BookWyrm where people seem to want to tell you that the book they liked wasn't THAT great.
I just read the blurb, and if it sounds interesting I'll check it out from the library. It's almost always available as an ebook or an audiobook, and even if I have to place a hold I can read a sample. I usually know within the first few pages if I like the style, and if I'm willing to continue. I drop many, many book, and I'm not worried about missing out on anything.
If one of my friends recommends a book I usually give it a shot, but I'm not afraid to drop those either. There are a couple of people whose recs always work out (thank you Cristina!), and those I just jump into right away, but that's only literally two people. Most of my friends don't really read in order to discuss what they're reading, and some don't even read at all 🤷🏻‍♂️
- I understand, thank you for your input,

My decision is primarily based on if the concept of the book appeals to me, and general reviews, but reviews don't make or break the decision. If a book is for YA but sounds like an interesting concept, then I'll go for it!

Do I crave to read it today? If that happens every day the book is good. If it feels like a chore the book is trash.

Needs to be at least a 3 book series, but preferably 5+.
I like the sound of it from the blurb.
It's on Smashwords.

You really only ever know that after the fact, right?
Anyway - mainly from recommendations from either people I know personally, or online people that I know I often share taste with.

42 comments