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Do you read the inside flaps that describe a book before or while reading it?
That depends. When I’m browsing the library or bookstore and checking out a book that I’m not familiar with at all, I’ll definitely read the jacket flap. I want to have some idea whether it’s something I enjoy. If I’m grabbing a book that I’ve learned about from my bookish friends, both in real life and online, I take it for granted that it’s something I’ll like and avoid reading any kind of synopsis. I generally prefer to have zero expectations going into a book.
Do you read them? You can share your answers here and at Booking Through Thursday.
9 Comments
It looks like I'm sort of in the minority here! Like I said, I do read them if I don't know anything about the book.
Diane, you're only the second person I've ever found who skips the prologue. The other person said, "If it was important, they would call it Chapter 1." Is that how you feel? I read prologues, but I definitely skip introductions. Those tend to be full of spoilers. I've always wondered why they don't save them for the end.
I always wind up reading the flapper! 🙂
I'm definitely a flapper. 🙂
Alayne – The Crowded Leaf.
I am a flap reader. No prologues for me though for some reason??
Almost exactly like me! 🙂
I always read flap when I am at the library….As for buying, I tend to buy ONLY the author I've already known
I do enjoy it at the library. But I remember reading one where they used the wrong word–they got ancestors and descendants mixed-up–and I just put the book down and walked away. I know it probably wasn't the author's fault, but it didn't speak well for the quality of what I would find inside.
Its fun to spend time reading the flaps at the library even when I now I won't be checking it out.
No library?!? That's terrible!
I either get my books for $1 or $2 at library book sales or borrow them from friends or the library. The ones I pay more for are usually either authors I love or books I've already read somewhere else and just have to own myself.