Judging a book by its cover

Browsing for books in a proper bookshop this week has been a treat. I was browsing and buying books to read on two upcoming holidays when, if it's a quiet day by the pool, I can easily read a book in a day. Words are absorbed as easily and quickly as sun tan lotion when I'm on holiday, relaxed and reading.

After checking out books by authors I knew, I then started looking and reading spines of books by authors I'd never heard of before. If I liked the title of the book, I'd pull it off the shelf and have a look at the front cover. If it passed that test, by which I mean it didn't have a picture of a stiletto shoe or a champagne glass on it, then I turned the book over and read the blurb on the back.  If that seemed ok, by which I mean no sci-fi, history, war or cowboys, then I'd flick open the book at a random page to see if I liked the writing style.  And if a book passed all four tests - spine, front cover, back blurb and inside text, I'd buy it.

But even if all tests were passed, if the front or back cover had a recommendation or quote from The Daily Mail or Mail or Sunday, the book went straight back on the shelf, never to be seen again. 

One book I've been looking forward to reading is Liz Kershaw's autobigraphy The Bird and The Beeb. It's only available at the moment in that not quite paperback, not quite hardback format, which is too big to handle comfortably on a sun-lounger by the sea. I'll wait a few more months until it's out in a format I like, with hopefully no quotes from the Daily Mail on it.
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