Familiar situation: Evil fate brought you to a bookstore or to the book fair, and you understand that you will not leave here, without spending all the money. So, you need to be purchased and not to do.
Book in hand
Start with the cover. If it is beautiful and the original picture (and not a hundred first reproduction gave, for example), if the name of the artist is put on the cover - a bad sign. Once the publisher did not regret money on honest registration, it means that it places serious hopes on this book.On the cover - a frame from the film. So, some are trying to raise sales at the expense of Hollywood. There are three options here. This, indeed, the book on which the film is filmed, and, most likely, she is not new. If the movie liked, buy boldly, the original is usually even better than the screenplay. ("Sex in the Big City" - a rare exception). The second option - in the book there is something that some sideways resembles a blockbuster, say, a ship is sinking in it, so di-pecario joined the cover. Such arrogance large publishers today rarely allow themselves, but with the books of the 90s it is completely and nearby. The book, by the way, may be good, just not about what you expect. The third option is a novelization, a film book. We refine the Internet, which was before: movie or text, because the retelling of the film is guaranteed sucks.
Serial design . Something a la "Harry Potter", a la "hungry games" or an obvious "ironic detective". The publishers become hostages of their own series and are forced to stuff in them all that badly pokes into the format. Therefore, an accurate guarantee that once on the cover of a fatal brunette with fangs, that means inside "as in the Twilight" can not be given. Somewhere 1 of the three books in the series, most likely, will, no worse than the original, and 1 out of a dozen can be better, but just to find it under stamped design is not so simple.
Name and author
We are afraid to enjoy Russophobes, but, alas, the market situation is such that the translation book is usually better than domestic. Moreover, than an exotic country of origin - the better. And all because of the greed of publishers. To publish a foreigner, you need to agree, pay for the rights, for the translation, and even on foreign rates. The native authors are ready to take away themselves and almost pay for the publication. Therefore, in order not to lose investments, foreign literature publishers are filtered better. In short, you see the Scandinavian detective, take boldly.
Broken name . If something like "Mystery of the Sordunoff" is written on the cover, this does not mean that the author of the sharpman. This means that he wanted the name of the book always first appeared in the search bar on the Internet. Because another such foolish name has no one. Fu on him. Do not take.
Strange, long name The type of "pizza with anchovies will bring the day after tomorrow", no matter how surprisingly, a good sign. If the publisher failed to get from the author of the replacement for "selling nemine", then the book is very solid and nothing will be suitable for her. This is true, it works for large publishers. If the book issued some "dundating sequoia of the Podolsk" ... they do not obey any laws and life, they understand.
Approach from the rear
annotation . The most valuable abstract is a simple lease retelling. If something like is written there, "this is a book about a girl who has extended the crocodile and went with him to Tokyo," then you will know that the book is at least entertaining. Where worse Annotations emotional: "Fear! DARK. Darkness is thickening. Crawling violent fear. Blood fills the streets. Can Detective Smith Allow this mystery!? The compiler did not have time to read the book, that's all that you can say about it. But even worse annotations, full of alpineration. "Fantasmagoric alluses post-postmodern" = "See which I am smart." However, the word postmodern is useful. In annotators, it usually means that in the book style is more important than the plot, or that the hero is Manyanine, and evil will win.
Opinions. Well, if about the book something wrote in The Guardian or "Vedomosti". But do not trust the publisher. Quote from criticism should be definitely laudatory ("so funny that the editors of the week scared with boiling water"). The cunning publisher can easily cut out of the review of something like "The book tells about the life of a small little man in Moscow" and leave behind the scenes "and does it disgusting." If not the same, the most tuning newspaper did not write about the book, the publisher can gain opinions from the Internet: "This book has opened my eyes!" LJ-USER ROMASHKA1991. You understand myself, it's bad, so let the book still read Friends of Jouzer Chamomile.
Quote. When it is not bad, it's a quotation from the book on the cover. Most often it is so cost with domestic fiction, and even this work spikes on the author (and soon they will be formed and ship their books for sale). "Green blood splashed out of the supreets stretched to Rusichi." "Lyudmalka coquettically shoved the archchum of the thigh, his strict green eyes were burning through the zone of the playful neckline," well, you understood.
We look into the book
First of all, quickly shed a book and formatting. See a huge font, wide empty fields, hefty gaps between chapters? Are you definitely not in the children's department? If not, postpone. Here someone inflated someone. Probably the author did not master the "Many Bokob", and the publisher blown his opus as he could. This is often with the works of celebrities, which, in principle, do not know how to write, and with those who have written popular writers, registering the story and the Handicrafts under the guise of novels.
Interesting design. For example, on some page, the letters are painted with different colors, one word takes the entire page, the hole or lines are cut in the page. Not bad sign. Our greedy publishers just will not spend money on tricks will not.
Trial reading. We recommend reading the first page and the 17th. The main criterion, of course, hooked you. If, without noticing, without noticing, swallowed the pages of five, it means that the book should be taken, whatever criticism think. If not, we have a few more prompts.
Minus two. Cutting a book in the middle and read every third word in the text. If what is happening remains completely understandable, it means that the author poured the book with water, and it is not worth their money.
Check on the cliché. If on two or three pages that you read, there are template scenes, most likely, the book is not very. For example, the hero wakes up with a terrible hangover and sees a mystical stranger in his room (and the author is not Bulgakov!) The hero jumps out of the window and the beautiful wings suddenly open behind him. The hero goes to the office and meets on the road some fools and fools ... so far.
Check for passion. If there is time, try to look out in the book erotic scene. It is on them that the authors are most often broken by issuing all their problems with anatomy, psychology and Russian. If the writer succeeds in sex - gently press the book to the chest, run on the cashier and do not give it a miracle to anyone. You found treasure.