Thursday, January 14, 2010

BTT: Book Flaps

It's been a while since I have participated in Booking through Thursday. I think the holidays signal time off from most routine activities. But we are now in the middle of January and it is time to settle back into comfortable - and not so comfortable - schedules.

Today's Booking through Thursday asks:
Do you read the inside flaps that describe a book before or while reading it?
For some reason I feel like I am in the middle of one of those Dr. Pepper commercials -- "be a Pepper - drink Dr. Pepper".....well, "I'm a Flapper, a read-a-book-Flapper"

I love to do research, and I hate surprises. Those two reasons make reading book flaps absolutely essential for me. In fact, I not only read the book flaps, but I read the back cover, the Table of Contents, and the first page or two before I decide to take it home. I don't want to know the ending - in fact, I cringe if the resolution is given away before I even begin the book - but I do like to know what I am in for. I want to know the general plot, the main characters, the basic theme(s). Ideally, I would like to know the degree of foul language as well, but that is another topic for a different day.

In fact....and this will show you how much I enjoy research, I will often go to one of the online book websites and read the summary and reviews before making my purchase decision. I will also use the book bloggers review search engine to read reviews of trusted bloggers. The more I can find out about the book in question, the less likely I will be disappointed when I begin reading it for myself. Or at least that has been my experience so far.

So how about you? Are you a flapper?


11 comments:

  1. We are very different, except the bit about reading the end, I cannot and will not skip ahead in a book. My Answer: http://www.rundpinne.com/2010/01/booking-through-thursday-14-january.html

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  2. Me, too. I like to have as much info as possible about a book before I decide whether or not to read it. So I've usually done so much online research that I don't really need to read the jacket flap. But if it's a book I don't know much about, I always take a look at the dust jacket descriptions.

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  3. I am a flap reader, but I dislike prologues for some reason....not sure why.

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  4. You know, if it is a book I know nothing about, and it is just sitting there in the bookstore, I might. But often they spoil the crap out of the stories on those flaps. If it is a book that I've won or know got good reviews, I'm better off usually ignoring those things!

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  5. Nice answer, you do lots of pre-book work!
    Alayne - The Crowded Leaf.

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  6. Oh, I definitely read the flap! Front and back.

    First the cover and title capture my attention, and the author's name. If it's an author I know and love, there's very little that would dissuade me from the book, but I read anyway. I want to know if the book is something I'll enjoy.

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  7. I actually only purchase books when I've read them before and know I want to again. But for books to add to my staggering TBR, I'll often read extra reviews as well as jacket and flap copy, to see if it's worth searching for (at the library).

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  8. I am somewhat of a flapper who reads to the point when the blurb reveals too much of the plot. I would peruse it more carefully if I am deciding whether to buy a book or not at the store.

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  9. I can certainly picture you reading the flaps - isn't that funny? I usually don't because I don't want to know too much about the book.

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  10. I am a flapper. I do all the things you listed in your answer too. My post is here.

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  11. I'm a flapper too. Whenever I try not to read it, I always end up going back to read it within 10 pages of starting the book.

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