I realized recently that of the books I finish, the vast majority of the time I go in knowing something about the plot or having expectations of what the book's going to be "like", or in the "blindest" case I will at least know that the consensus on it is that it's good or that someone I know says it's good. I can't remember ever just reading abook title and sporadically picking the book up and reading it all the way through. Is that something anyone does? What's the "blindest" you're wilking to go in – for me I'd day just as long as someone whose taste I trust says it's worth reading and it's got a genre I'm feeling down for, I might read it. But without knowing how anyone rates it, what it's about, or what the genre is, it's hard to bring myself to.
by Striking-Speaker8686
10 Comments
I read the blurb, and maybe a couple of pages, and make my decision from that. I never read reviews before buying a book; they’re too subjective to mean anything to me.
If I’m reading for fun, I want to at least know the genre. I don’t need to know the synopsis or big themes, sometimes I won’t even read the summaries at the front/back before starting.
If I’m reading for learning and new info, then I want it to be on topic!
I do the first couple chapters in Braille
I went completely blind into Piranesi by Susanna Clarke. Knew nothing. Not genre, not plot, not even that it was fantasy. Friend just said “trust me” and handed it over.
First fifty pages I was confused and almost quit. Then it clicked and I had the most immersive reading experience of my life. No expectations meant every reveal hit harder.
Now I try to do this once a year. Pick something highly rated but avoid all summaries. It’s like the book version of arranged marriage. Scary, sometimes fails, occasionally magic.
Worst blind pick was a horror novel I thought was literary fiction. Did not sleep for three days. Still worth it.
Haha I completely misunderstood you title and thought you meant like how dead to the world do you get when reading: one time I was reading and wasnt paying attention, turns out my aunts got into a fight and ine ended up pulling off the other wig and tossing it into the pool, and I saw nothing.
For your actul question, it depends, usually I go into books with a general idea of the plot
But a few times I picked up a book without even knowing the title
I’m currently reading Linden Hills, which I am deeply enjoying, and which is a book I picked up just because I used to live on Linden Street.
Knew absolutely nothing else aside from the title going in!
I often read pretty blind. Often I’m just going off of a cover or a title. Sometimes it pans out, sometimes it doesn’t.
Yeah that’s about the same for me too, I will say I just stopped reading author blurbs entirely and I’ll read forwards/introductions after the book itself.
I read off my physical tbr a lot, which is huge, so sometimes the only info I have is that my past self thought it seemed good lol. Sometimes I’ll pick something up if I feel like one time I heard someone recommend it (I have a good enough memory to trust this instinct lol). I’ve done blind dates with a book where it’s a short pitch/description and that’s all I knew.
Requiring braille 😎
At best Ive heard of the author or read them before, and read what’s in the jacket description
Depends where I’m getting it – it can be as blind as “oh, an author I like wrote that” or just knowing the genre and liking the cover art, if it’s free or a used book. If I’m buying a new physical copy of a book it’s usually something I already know I like, whereas if it’s a kindle book, I’ll generally read the blurb, maybe the top three reviews, then chuck it on a wishlist so I get an alert when it’s on sale – *then* I’ll scoop it up.
My family also likes to foist boxes of old books on me when they do a clean out – and boy do we have different interests. If it’s already on my shelf, I try to read it, regardless of what it is or where it came from.
I feel like I go in mostly blind on at least half my book purchases, and I’ve ended up reading things I never would have otherwise, and finding new things I like. I used to joke if anything sat still near me long enough I’d read it, and that’s still pretty true.