Lately, I have been taking a lot of road trips/getting tired of sitting in traffic on my commutes so I have taken to audiobooks in the past couple months. I recently bought One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories by B.J. Novak. It's pretty hilarious. If you don't recognize his name, he's one of the producers/writers/Ryan from The Office. It's got a little bit of everything in terms of story types, but it definitely relies heavily on dry humor, sarcasm and wit - my cup of tea. It is very smartly written and I am really enjoying it so far. As I mentioned in class, I read to relax and not think too hard, so this was right up my alley. I have read enough journal articles on symbolism to last a lifetime, so please pass Gone Girl or Uganda Be Kidding Me. I'm not sure I'd go for a book of short stories again, but this is definitely worth it so far.
As far as design influencing my book purchase - yes and no. Yes, I am definitely drawn to books that have a beautifully designed cover but I wouldn't say it seals the deal. I often buy my books on Amazon and shop by recommendation, so unless I am at an airport trying to pick something up before a flight I don't often get the shelf-shopping experience. But when I do and I have no idea what I want, I will absolutely pick up a well designed book first. I think that is important - people are attracted to the design or something they can identify with (know your demographic) and it gets you to the next step - evaluating the content aka reading the back cover in this case. Ultimately, the content matters most- but its that first impression that will get an individual to spend time with one book among hundreds when making a purchasing decision. There is something to be said about the quality of the cover and the
quality of the book, as mentioned with the self-published books. I
definitely agree with those points.
Would I buy a well-designed edition over an older, cheaper version? You bet I would. I just did, actually.
