I just saw this interesting pair of posts asking readers why they bought three recent books and reporting on the results. Well, somewhat late to the party I shall list why I bought the most recent 6 books (it doesn’t matter its the SAME reason for al…

2) Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman. He’s a long-time favorite writer.

3) Four and Twenty Blackbirds by Cherie Priest. This book was mentioned positively on a lot of blogs I read, particularly John Scalzi’s. (The sequel will probably be my next purchase.)

I haven’t yet bought Infoquake, but if I do it will be because of your posts on DeepGenre.

1. Sung in Blood by Glen Cooke – I’ve never read him, don’t know much about him, and the fact that Night Shade is bringing out something like 11 of his backlist in the coming year or so interests me, so I picked up this one because it was a) short and b) packaged in a cool Bob Eggleton cover. It’s length means I stand a reasonable chance of reading it in the next year; it’s cover means if I don’t, I still enjoy owning it.

2. The Demon & The City, Liz Williams – The Night Shade guys were cool enough to send me the first one, the cover of which I raved about. Now I have to buy the whole series. Haven’t read them yet, but god they are gorgeous. Will read soon(ish) because I have raved about them too loudly not to elsewhere.

3. Preordered the Jack Vance Treasury – I am underread in Vance (though really enjoy Matthew Hughes, who is often compared). I thought this was an excellent way to get to know Vance’s work and as a lasting, archival quality hardcover, it’s nice for the collection.

Yes, I tend to buy books that “look good”. As I said, I don’t get much free reading (for pleasure) time, so my book purchases tend to be collectable works. Also, I tend to buy books by writers I don’t know (yet) as opposed to ones I do. As an editor with a slush pile, it is hard for me to read someone whose work I already know that I don’t publish or am unlikely to work with in the near future, as that time is better spent broadening my knowledge base by reading people I haven’t read yet. So I sadly don’t read all the cool ongoing series that writers I love are publishing at other houses, but do tend to buy books from writers I don’t know and am curious about. When I am scouting for new authors to explore, though, I tend to read interviews (Scalzi’s Karl Schroeder has me curious too) and follow on from there. That’s how I discovered what a genius Adam Roberts is. Everyone who likes sensawunder should read his ON.

The next three books I plan to buy:

1. The Man from the Diogenes Club, Kim Newman – Monkeybrain publisher Chris Roberson tells me he’s already sold out of this one, so I need to pick it up from Amazon quick to have a first edition (though they are reprinting).

2. The Android’s Dream, John Scalzi – love Scalzi, this is certainly one of the “talked about” books of the year, and while I am still behind on his OMW series, the cover is calling to me everytime I’m in B&N.

3. Off Armageddon’s Reef, David Webber – I’ve never read Webber, but having two major chain buyers express interest in this book to me in the last month has me very curious to see why they are so excited.

I’m also very curious about Sean Williams’ upcoming Saturn Returns, and have promised myself that I will drop whatever I’m doing to read that book when its out.

I liked OMW a lot so I then bought Ghost Brigades and TAD.

I also checked out John’s Whatever blog and got turned on to Charlie Stross. I bought Accelerando and The Atrocity Archives.

Whatever is also how I found your blog.

1. Black Brillion, by Matthew Hughes–I’d been reading Matt Hughes’s stories in Fantasy & Science Fiction, and I liked them a great deal. I’d also been taking part in discussions on the F&SF message board and I’d gotten to know Matt a bit. I learned that he had a book out, so I bought it.

2. Four and Twenty Black Birds, by Cherie Priest–John Joseph Adams wrote a review on this book and what he said about it caused my imagination to run wild. I had to buy it as soon as possible, so I did. The minute I finished reading his review, I went straight to Amazon.com and bought the book.

3. The Curse of Chalion, by Lois McMaster Bujold–Again, I have to give John Joseph Adams credit for bringing this book to my attention. Some time back, we were exchanging emails. I don’t recall what we were talking about exactly, but I guess it had something to do with epic fantasy and he recommended I check out this book, so I did.

The Priviledge of the Sword by Ellen Kushner—I read and enjoyed Swordspoint, and after hearing Ellen describe what motivated her to write PotS, I decided to buy it.

Throne of Jade by Naomi Novik—Friends insisted/browbeat/badgered me into reading the first book in the series. I had a somewhat-better-then-lukewarm reaction, but wasn’t going to buy the second book. Then I read the teaser in the back of the first book, and it made me want to find out what happened next.

Just three? Let me see..

Eastern Standard Tribe by Cory Doctorow — I believe I initially heard about him from the Clarion website. I keep flirting with the idea of going, so I investigate the writers that are going to be at Clarion and Clarion West. No reason for this book in particular, except that I ran across it for a good price.

Throne of Jade by Naomi Novik — I checked #1 and #3 of this series out of the library, but I bought #2. I read a review in F&SF and it sounded interesting. Then I mentioned it to friends only to be chastised for not remembering that one of them had mentioned the book and author to me before as something I might like.

Children of Magic by editors Martin H. Greenberg and Kerrie Hughes — I ran across it in Barnes and Noble with gift cards to burn. I like anthologies with interesting themes. I later found out I’d already had this on my Amazon Wish List, so Amazon must have recommended it previously.

I think this is fairly typical. Unless it’s an author I actively follow, I have to hear about a book two or more times before it sinks in and I finally acquire it. But I can hear about them in many ways.

Fortress of Ice by CJ Cherryh
I bought this book because it’s the sequel to the six-book series I had earlier bought and enjoyed.

Monument by Ian Graham
This is his first novel which I bought in hardcover from a remainderman; it wasn’t much risk for $2. It was good and I’ll be looking for his future work…at retail prices.

2) Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card. I imagine that the day I spontaniously grow a third eye, on a two-foot stalk, covered in orange fur I will begin to approach the looks I received when I admidtted that I hadn’t got around to reading this book to fellow fans of sci-fi.

3) As She Crawled Across the Table by Jonathan Lethem. Have a conversation with a ridiculously drunk and incrediblly attractive physics major who happens to be a Lethem fan and try not to buy this book. It simply can’t be done.