You’re not supposed to do it.
It’s supposed to be what’s inside that counts.
Unfortunately, your life isn’t long enough to allow for a detailed study on the inner beauty of every single book in the shop.
Have you made all the right calls? You’ll never know for sure. But you’ll have the “judging a book by its cover” merit badge and all the time you could’ve spent hunting for ugly ducklings that were secretly swans in which to enjoy it.
Part of the merit badges for readers series. The badge may be posted on your site or blog. Tell us why you’ve earned (or will never earn) it in the comments.
3 Comments
This one so counts for picking up music too. I’ve purchased some real crap music based off of album covers/titles.
I confess… I’m all about shiny book covers. If the cover doesn’t grab me, I’m not likely to pick up the book unless A) someone has recommended it to me, or B) I already know the author. Sad, but true.
I prefer to think of it as an encounter with peripatetic books. When I walk through a brick and mortar store, books simply jump into my shopping bag. They just do. All the covers are bright and shiny. They all have pretty (or strange) pictures. Because the books choose me, there is seldom a dud in the batch!