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Violanthe
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Joined: 24 Jul 2003
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PostHow do you size up a book?

Posted: Tue Aug 14, 2007 10:17 am
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How do you decide whether to read a book? Do you make a decision at the book store? Do you research it online? Ask friends?
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Violet "Violanthe" Kane
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Queen Of The Abyss
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Joined: 04 Apr 2006
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Location: Saskatchewan

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Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2007 5:17 am
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I make most of my decisions at the book store. A combination of the title, cover, and synopsis moves me to buy a book or place back on the shelf.
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Chupacabra Hunter
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Joined: 21 Aug 2007
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Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2007 6:50 pm
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I pretty much do the exact same thing. There really isn't much in the way of research though I will occasionally seek something out based on someones recommendation or a review that caught my attention.
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NotAgain
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Joined: 23 Oct 2006
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Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2007 7:57 pm
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I usually pick a book based on the author. When I venture outside of my "comfort zone" I go on recommendation for someone I trust or on an intriguing blurb on the back.
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Violanthe
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Posted: Thu Aug 23, 2007 10:26 am
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I pick books almost solely based on recommendation.
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Mervi
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Joined: 29 Aug 2006
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Posted: Thu Aug 23, 2007 11:23 am
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I agree with Violanthe; I also pick up books very much based on recommendations. I'm on several e-mail lists about various authors so people there tend to have at least somewhat similar tastes to mine. I also tend to pick up new translated fantasy books unless they've been throughly bashed in reviews or on Finnish websites.
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Violanthe
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Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2007 10:21 am
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Newly translated into Finnish?
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Mervi
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Joined: 29 Aug 2006
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Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2007 6:20 pm
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Yes. The only languages that I know well enough to read literature with are Finnish and English. I've yet to see any English language site that would recommend SFF newly translated into English and all of the classics, such as Jules Verne, have been already translated into Finnish.

Well, there are actually two Finnish SF books that have been translated into English from Finnish but I haven't read the English versions.
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Violanthe
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Posted: Tue Aug 28, 2007 3:16 pm
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You do translation from Finnish to English, yes? Or the other way around?
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Mervi
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Joined: 29 Aug 2006
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Posted: Tue Aug 28, 2007 6:17 pm
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So far I've only translated from English to Finnish and I hope it stays that way. I certainly don't feel qualified to translate into English.
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Nik
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Joined: 07 Dec 2006
Posts: 805
Location: UK

PostA glance inside...

Posted: Tue Aug 28, 2007 9:19 pm
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I don't trust cover piccy or blurb to do a book justice.

Unless I'm grabbing a series, I glance inside.

Sometimes the first paragraph puts it back on the shelf.
Usually I'll give it 10~~15 secs while I read the first page.
If I turn the page, a minute or two puts it in basket or back on the shelf...

And, yes, I do sample the rest of the book: I've been fooled by 'Excerpt & Outline' stuff that went off the boil after 50k...
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Epitarc
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Joined: 18 Sep 2006
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Posted: Wed Aug 29, 2007 7:21 am
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I read a lot of online reviews, authors blogs and so on.

Found authors that way i never would have heard of and certainly not seen in my local bookstrore.( As everything has to be imported a lot gets left out and I sometimes have to ask for things to be orderes just for me)

Writers I know / have followed previously is pretty much a buy, although that sometimes backfires.

New or unknown authors: the blurb, the cover, mayby the first page.
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Violanthe
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Posted: Sat Sep 01, 2007 2:52 pm
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Online is definitely the way to go. I get all my best book recommendations that way.
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