Yesterday, I wrote about unfinished books. But it occurs to me that one of the best ways to finish a book is to make good decisions about which books to start in the first place. Particularly, this is an important question if you are buying the book. How does one figure out what to read in the first place? A few thoughts, and I’d be glad to hear how other readers think about this.

1. Many e-books will allow you to download a preview for free. This is usually just the first chapter and no guarantee that the rest of the book will be as good or better. This is “try before you buy.”  This is a good idea if the author, or genre is new to you.

2. Of course, another way to try before you buy is to borrow the book from the library, physically or electronically. It is always a greater disappointment to put down a book you’ve paid good money for.

3. Generally, books you find in the bargain bins are more likely to be ones you will lay down. They are usually there for a good reason!  But there are always those wonderful exceptions. Generally, if a book is selling at or close to retail (unless you are buying it secondhand) that’s an indicator that sales are such that they aren’t trying to unload surplus stock.

4. Are you entering a particularly hectic season of life? If you think you will have to lay a book down unread and then have a hard time picking up the train of thought without re-starting the book, you might do just as well to wait until a time when you can read your way through the book without long interruptions.

5. Why are you interested in reading this book in the first place? If it is simply because everyone is reading this book, or you liked the cover, you might take time exploring the table of contents a bit further or ask yourself, “am I really interested in the history of the American Whig Party?” (my family will get this one!).

. Different seasons of life call for different books.  I might really enjoy a spy thriller or a mystery at the beach or at an airport. I might take an interesting biography or a more serious novel for quiet evenings on a fall getaway. Cold winters’ nights might be a good time to wade through that multi-volume history of the Civil War. The early hours of the day are best for me to read thoughtful books on faith-related subjects. The beginning of spring training or World Series season is always a signal to me to read a good baseball book.

7. I have friends (and some reviewers) whose reading tastes seem close to mine. If they’ve liked a book that I think I’d be interested in, then I feel more assured in picking it up and starting it. Of course, not all the things my friends are interested in are the same as my interests!

Those are a few thoughts. It is not a sin to put down a book. Sometimes we will start out on a book when we are just not ready for it. I’ve come back to books years later that I’ve put down and found that for whatever reason, I’m now ready to read them. And if we gain insight into our book choices through the books we lay down as well as the books we finish, that is valuable.

How do you decide when to buy or read a book?