How to Figure Out if a Book is Worth Reading 📚
Published in
3 min readMay 16, 2023
- There are so many books and not enough time. But when you finally sit down to read, you want to ensure you hold a book worthy of your time.
- The fear of “wasting” time on a bad book can prevent you from reading altogether. Today, when the amount of content at our disposal is so large, distinguishing mediocre content from good one is a valuable skill to have.
- Knowing the difference will save you a lot of time and will make sure you only consume worthwhile stuff.
Find 3-Star Reviews
Photo by Anthony Garand on Unsplash
The first step is going to the book’s page on Goodreads.com for reviews.
Some important things to look at:
- No. of reviews — tens of thousands (or more) reviews could mean that this book is a best seller or just really recommended.
- Most liked reviews — these reviews will let you know the general opinion about this book. Reviews on Goodreads are usually very detailed, followed by comments and discussions.
- 3-⭐ reviews — I found this tip the most helpful. While 5-star reviews are always “This is the best book ever,” and 1-Star reviews are “It’s total crap,” 3-star reviews usually give you a balanced take on the book’s pros and cons. The reviewer will explain his reasons and provide more information than the 1/5 stars reviews, which tend to be less helpful.
Read a Summary
- Use summaries to understand the content of the book, and it’s main ideas.
- See if you are interested in what the book has to offer. You might be interested only in a few chapters, and you only what to read these. You might notice that the title is misleading, and this is not what you have expected.
- Whatever it is, use summaries to get a quick overview of the main points and see if you like to dive deeper.
- I suggest reading more than one summary since different people will find different things to highlight (which is also a con of the summary approach).
- Lastly, you can pay an app like Blinkist for an easy way to both listen and read book summaries or just google “[name of your book] summary” to find free ones.
Test the Book for Free
Still can’t decide whether it’s worth the full price? Maybe you can test it for free:
- Digital copy — google “[Book name] + PDF.” Some free copies may be lying around the web.
- Kindle users — the majorities of Kindle books allow you to get the first chapter for free.
- Audible users — Audible premium users can return any book and replace it with a new one, no questions asked.
- Physical copy — visit your local library.
- Here are a few more ways to find free books online
Just Try It
Finally, if you are still unsure, the best option is to buy the book.
- Most books are not very expensive — check out audible format, kindle versions, or used hardcovers on Amazon to compare prices.
- Skim and stop — detach from the perception that you need to read every single word. You don’t. Skim the book, read chapters that interest you, and feel free to stop after a while. Don’t force yourself to do anything.
- One insight is all you need — if you bought a book and you learned one new thing or explored one original idea, that alone will be worth the price.