Did you ever read a book without reading a summary first?

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Eevia White
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Did you ever read a book without reading a summary first?

Post by Eevia White »

Whether intrigued by the cover, or knowing it was a generally good book because someone recommended it, did you ever just pick up a book and delved directly into the story without looking at a summary online or the one at the back of the book?

If yes, did you find it more mysterious and stimulating than when you read the summaries first?
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Post by rave_2 »

I've not really read the summaries for most of the classic books I've read, but still found them amazing.
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Eevia White
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Post by Eevia White »

rave_2 wrote: 15 Mar 2018, 17:11 I've not really read the summaries for most of the classic books I've read, but still found them amazing.
Oh wow, really? That sounds amazing, I should give it a try sometime! Good luck with your reading goals!
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Post by tvess »

I already have so much on my "to read" list that I don't feel comfortable adding to it unless I know something about the content. Even with recommendations, I have very different tastes than the people I know that I would value the opinions of. Usually what happens, though, is that I add something to my list based on something I like in the description, but totally forget why I added it by the time I get around to reading it, so it's still a bit of a surprise.
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Eevia White
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Post by Eevia White »

That is a very logical thing to do! I liked the last bit where you forget the content after some time :P Congratulations on having such a long reading list :)
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rave_2
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Post by rave_2 »

Eevia White wrote: 16 Mar 2018, 01:08
rave_2 wrote: 15 Mar 2018, 17:11 I've not really read the summaries for most of the classic books I've read, but still found them amazing.
Oh wow, really? That sounds amazing, I should give it a try sometime! Good luck with your reading goals!
Thank you! Same to you. :)
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Post by Sakilunamermaid »

I pick up all kinds of books. Either I like the author, I'm a fan of the genre, the title or cover is interesting. I have a great love for books, if I'm really unsure I will read a review/ summary/ synapse.
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Post by seymmarc »

I usually read everything that's on a book. I'll scan the back and read about the author, read any reviews that might be on it, and so on. To me, it's kind of like that first "handshake" when meeting the book ;)
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Eevia White
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Post by Eevia White »

Sakilunamermaid wrote: 18 Mar 2018, 21:05 I pick up all kinds of books. Either I like the author, I'm a fan of the genre, the title or cover is interesting. I have a great love for books, if I'm really unsure I will read a review/ summary/ synapse.
That is something to live by! Just pick up a book and start reading! Congratulations on that :tiphat:
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Eevia White
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Post by Eevia White »

seymmarc wrote: 19 Mar 2018, 12:21 I usually read everything that's on a book. I'll scan the back and read about the author, read any reviews that might be on it, and so on. To me, it's kind of like that first "handshake" when meeting the book ;)
I like the way you think :D wow you really dissect a book before even reading it! Nice!
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Post by kina »

I'm a picky reader in recent years, so I definitely have to have some sort of summary to pull me in and want to read a book. I've picked up books just for their covers or titles before and have been sorely disappointed with them, so I rely on summaries more than anything now. Usually genre doesn't matter to me since I love almost all genres.
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Post by holsam_87 »

When I did an author study in college I didn't read the summary of any of the books that I read. What prompted me to read them was based on the titles of the books and the book covers. Since I read books by Kathryn Lasky, I got to see a lot of brightly colored covers since she has written several books over the years for children, young adults, and adults. On her website, you can see what book series she has written and they are all well written. Check it out here: http://www.kathrynlasky.com/.
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Eevia White
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Post by Eevia White »

kina wrote: 19 Mar 2018, 22:09 I'm a picky reader in recent years, so I definitely have to have some sort of summary to pull me in and want to read a book. I've picked up books just for their covers or titles before and have been sorely disappointed with them, so I rely on summaries more than anything now. Usually genre doesn't matter to me since I love almost all genres.
Yes! That is one of the things that scares me the most... judging a book by its cover sometimes proves to be disappointing! It seems that summaries are extremely important after all.
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Eevia White
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Post by Eevia White »

holsam_87 wrote: 19 Mar 2018, 22:32 When I did an author study in college I didn't read the summary of any of the books that I read. What prompted me to read them was based on the titles of the books and the book covers. Since I read books by Kathryn Lasky, I got to see a lot of brightly colored covers since she has written several books over the years for children, young adults, and adults. On her website, you can see what book series she has written and they are all well written. Check it out here: http://www.kathrynlasky.com/.
I checked the books out! You're right, they are very tempting to pick up and read. I might give it a try someday, just picking up a book without reading summaries first :techie-reference:
Thank you for your reply!
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Post by holsam_87 »

Eevia White wrote: 20 Mar 2018, 04:20
holsam_87 wrote: 19 Mar 2018, 22:32 When I did an author study in college I didn't read the summary of any of the books that I read. What prompted me to read them was based on the titles of the books and the book covers. Since I read books by Kathryn Lasky, I got to see a lot of brightly colored covers since she has written several books over the years for children, young adults, and adults. On her website, you can see what book series she has written and they are all well written. Check it out here: http://www.kathrynlasky.com/.
I checked the books out! You're right, they are very tempting to pick up and read. I might give it a try someday, just picking up a book without reading summaries first :techie-reference:
Thank you for your reply!
You're welcome. Sometimes it just takes picking up a book and reading a random spot to see if you become immersed or not. I have had the pleasure of making college friends that are as big into books as I am, so sometimes I just take a leap of faith and trust their word if its a book that they recommend to me. If I hadn't I would have never read the graphic novel series, Maus. :)
Samantha Holtsclaw

“We’ve all got both light and dark inside us. What matters is the part we choose to act on. That’s who we really are.”

—J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
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