The Extra Cool Group! (of people Michael is experimenting on) discussion

I was thinking about the "how has GR changed the way you read" thread and realized that one way it has changed my reading habits is that I almost never read a book that I know nothing about. Almost everything I read has been on my to-read list, or a book I've read about on GR.

Do you still read books you know nothing about? Something you come across at a bookstore or the library that looks good? Please share what these books are here. I am wondering if this is even possible anymore.

I definitely read fewer books these days that I know nothing about, but it does happen. The most recent books I can recall reading with no prior knowledge are Ali Shaw's The Girl with Glass Feet and Susan Hill's Simon Serailler novels. In both cases I saw them at the library and thought they looked intriguing. I am frequently drawn in by cover art and the feel of a book, as I was with Shaw's novel.

I am certain that I've picked up other books with no prior knowledge recently, too, but I'm not sure what they are off the top of my head.

I have so many authors & publishers that I like plus a lot of good friends here on GR, so I would never have to read a book I didn't know anything about. I do, though. I get offered free reads from first time authors here on GR on a fairly regular basis. I knew little to nothing about them, just the genre, & was pleasantly surprised by most. They ran the gamut from a mystery taking place during a historic baseball season in Brooklyn, RED CHASER, to a really odd paranormal story that tripped between Uzbekistan & LA, Almaty-Transit. Neither was my normal read & both were great fun.

A lot of free Kindle books fall into this category for me. Most recently, I'm reading Boob Tube... it's not keeping my attention really well, but I read a couple of chapters about once a week.

I almost never read books these days that I know nothing about. Even before I joined GR, I researched the living hell out of a book before cracking it open. GR has just made it easier to do that.

Ironically enough, I picked up The Reader today from the library without researching it at all. A friend recommended it to me & I thought "What the hell?" Other than her saying that it was controversial & hearing something about Kate Winslett acting in a movie based on it, I know dick about this book. It's kind of...freeing. Mama, I have wings now!

yeah I do it all the time. there are several books I read because the covers were white. the book I'm currently reading. Fated by browne I decided to read because it looked terrible (it is in fact not at all terrible) and was sitting in a pile of books to put away when I needed to find a book to buy.

I've read a few books recently without ever even reading their blurbs, let alone knowing anything about them.

That's due entirely to the few groups I belong to here picking monthly books that I've never heard of before.

Air(ugh), Night Watch(enjoyed it enough to read the rest of the series) and The Sirens of Titan(enjoyed it) are the most recent ones.

anxiety and depression by scott king (impulse buy at the counter at st. marks)
thomas the imposter ($4 at strand)
the lovers dictionary (amazon recommended it)
how to fail (karen handed it to me)
the girl must die (it was green)

I am fairly impulsive

Jasmine wrote: "the girl must die (it was green) "

ahahaha, love it.

I guess it depends on what "nothing" means. I almost never buy a book for myself without at least flipping through it or reading the jacket or blurb copy, even if I was initially attracted by the cover or I already like the author.

Here's what January looked like:

The 14th Dalai Lama: A Manga Biography: Tetsu Saiwai--A gift, so I knew nothing about it (other than that I already knew his life story).

An Abundance of Katherines: John Green--I saw reviews on my GR feed.

Extreme Hotels: Birgit Krols--A gift, so I knew nothing about it.

Falling Off the Map: Some Lonely Places of the World: Pico Ayer--Purchased at Daedalus so I knew the basic content from a 1-paragraph blurb but that was it. I'd wanted to read something by Iyer for a while.

The Guinea Pig Diaries: My Life as an Experiment: A.J. Jacobs--Purchased at Daedalus because I am interested in Jacobs even though he's never as good as I hope. I knew the basic content from a 1-paragraph blurb.

Oracle Bones: A Journey Through Time in China: Peter Hessler--knew from reading River Town and reading GR and Audible reviews of River Town saying it was better than Oracle Bones, but what can I say? I liked River Town so I read Oracle Bones and thought it was better in the main.

The Fire Cat: Esther Averill--A re-read of a childhood favorite, so I knew it. Received as a gift so I re-read it.

The Mind's Eye: Oliver Sacks--I like Sacks. I read the Audible blurb.

The Red Pyramid (Kane Chronicles #1): Rick Riordan--I read blurbs for this and his other new series and picked this.

Homer and Langley: E. L. Doctorow: I read the reviews on GR first and decided I was likely to enjoy it for some of the reasons some other people didn't.

Heart of Fire: Senait Mehari--I knew only that the author was Eritrean, and since I needed an Eritrean author, that was sufficient. In full disclosure, I'll acknowledge that a certain frivolity or cavalier attitude toward previewing world authors when the country is the main criterion has occasionally brought me memoirs that are fabrications (such as Honor Lost: Love and Death in Modern Day Jordan) or dreadfully dry tomes (such as (The Emergence of Qatar: The Turbulent Years 1627--1916).

Weeding the Flowerbeds: Sarah Mkhonza--It was, like, one of two possible books for Swaziland, so why bother to read about it if Swaziland one must have?

A History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters: Julian Barnes--Read the blurb because what I wanted was Flaubert's Parrot but Audible didn't have it.

Suzuki Beane: Sandra Scoppettone--A childhood favorite that I re-read because I adore the illustrations.

There are times I'll read a free e-book or pick up a book someone has left lying around, but these are pretty rare. I read an e-book about venereal diseases in New Zealand about a hundred years ago that was pretty good.

yeah I'm the only person who doesn't bother to read blurbs a majority of the time

I'm currently reading Dracula, just because it's a classic and I figured I might as well. Technically I know it's about a vampire that doesn't sparkle, but that's about it!

Sho wrote: "I guess it depends on what "nothing" means."

I never pull books off the shelf anymore, but I prefer to go into a book knowing nothing about it. All I want to know is that it got enough stars from either my friends or average ratings. Gratefully I get enough ideas from the site that I don't have to go by what grabs my attention on a library or book store shelf anymore.

this one:

a very impressive novel. not knowing anything about it or the author (didn't even have a back cover when i read it) made its mysteries even more compelling.

Oh, Patrick White is a very interesting author. I've not read that one.

That reminds me of a novel I read a few summers ago, knowing nothing going into it (it was also missing a back over)...will look for it now...

Percival's Planet: A Novel

I saw it on the library shelf last week after Rhyme Time*. I was proud of myself for reaching out, but the book was a bit dithery.


*A gathering of mums and kids and the librarian singing nursery rhymes.

Sure. I'm very bad to be caught by a synopsis or a blurb on the back of a book or a dust cover...but the book...and often wish I had looked up a few reviews on it (LOL). But yes. Reviews will influence me, but I'm still just as likely to be drawn in as I always was, before I found Goodreads.