Gary Hoover - The Lifetime Learners Guide to Reading and Learning

My first step when I open a book is to gather key data about the book. I read the cover flaps if it is a hardcover book. The front flap often contains a summary of the book, although you have to be careful: its not unusual for this summary (or blurb) to be written by someone on the publishers publicity staff who did not really understand the book and was trying to find something spicy or controversial to help sell the book to bookstore browsers. Similar information is usually found in the book descriptions at online bookselling sites.

The back flap (or the back cover on a paperback) often contains a short biography of the author. Stop and think about what you read, about the author and where they live and what they have done, what their bias is likely to be. Are they on a campaign to sell you their political or other point of view? How might that impact their take?

If the book has a thesis, a point of view, or is strongly opinionated as opposed to a neutral book like a good textbook or reference book I usually scan all the data on the book first. Flip through the pages looking at any charts, graphs, tables, or summary diagrams. Draw your own conclusions from what you see, before you read the authors ideas and arguments. Youd be surprised at how often an authors own ideas are not actually supported by the data they present!

I read the front cover and the back cover, which contain more puffery and summarization. I read the testimonials by others. Publishers seem to think the bigger the celebrity the better. I am very careful about what I believe. If I see a Nobel Prize winning economist praising another economists book, or Richard Branson saying this is a great book on entrepreneurship, I take that a bit more seriously. So I look at the names before I read what they have to say. But I always know that NO ONE can prejudge a book for me. Not even my friends!

It will surprise some people that I look at the name of the publisher. Knowing a publisher comes in handy in reference books, in series books, and in specialized subjects. If Oxford University Press publishes a book called a Handbook of on almost any subject you know it is very likely a good one. Lonely Planet, Eyewitness, and Rough Guide travel guides may vary a bit in quality from country to country, but they will never be bad and will often be exceptional. If you want great car books, start with Motorbooks. If you want great books on collectibles, you can count on Schiffer Publishing. For the oil and gas industry see PennWell Books. If you want to understand railroads, check out the catalogs (usually available online) of Indiana University Press, Johns Hopkins University Press, and a couple of dozen specialty publishers. For great local history, seek out books by Arcadia Publishing and The History Press. For serious thinking about science, try the MIT Press; for architecture or field guides to nature, Princeton University Press. For data about the United States, try the Bernan Press. For the best tech books, Springer and OReilly. For serious books on humanities, social sciences, and many other subjects, the University of Chicago Press and Routledge. And many others just google! And then search and browse their online catalogs.