Judging a Book

I’m about to reveal a secret. I judge books by their cover and/or title. I know shocking, and not necessarily the best way to learn about books. However, sometimes I’ve found that I read the most entertaining and interesting books, because the cover of the book grabbed me, or the title seemed interesting. On the completely other side of the spectrum, I have made errors about what I believed a book may be about due to the title.

Embarrassingly enough, the book I misjudged was The Mysteries of Pittsburgh. A close friend of mine recommended the book and thought it was well written. I had remembered hearing about the book, and said “Oh yeah, a crime/mystery novel.” Clearly, not what the book was about. Michael Chabon writes a coming of age tale about a young man named Art, who begins to discover his sexual identity, has to face his father and decide what he wants to truly do in life.

 

With this next book, I was a little closer to the mark. Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley, in my opinion is a wonderfully written book, about the struggles of sexuality and how different people may handle different situations. The book is set during the Civil Rights Movement in Virginia. It is about beliefs, and knowing what is right and wrong, and it was a truly moving book. When I first picked the book up, I assumed it was about keeping secrets, and I was pretty close. I loved this book, and would highly recommend it.

This last title, I have not read yet….but here is my guess. The book is about a girl struggling through ballet school. She wants to be a great ballerina, but with that comes a great many challenges. Pointe by Brandy Colbert is a book that has been on my TBR list for a little bit now, and I’m very excited to finally be able to read it. I’m also curious to see how close my guess is….and what else the book entails.

Sometimes judging a book by its cover and title is exactly what draws a person in, and it gives the reader the opportunity to find some hidden treasures. However, I try not to make this a daily practice, are there any books that have surprised you in what they were about? Have you ever judged a book by its cover?

-Abbey