Judging a book by it's cover

[CiderMonkey]

I have just finished reading a book called Falling Angels by Anna Chevalier. It's a book I would never have usually picked up as nothing about it interested me - the cover, the blurb, the title, the first couple of pages... But I made myself read it further as I had no other book for the train and found out it was really amazingly good. Has anyone else ever nearly missed a gem by not looking hard enough?

[Morrisonker]

I don't suppose this really counts, but when I was younger, about 10, my mum found a load of her old books from her childhood (Enid Blyton, Black Beauty, Anne of Green Gables, What Katy Did and the like).  I wouldn't read them for ages because they looked old and therefore confusing (all hard back without dust covers, no pictures etc) but I got ill one summer and went through every book in the house, eventually gave in and tried reading some and loved them all.

I've grown out of them now, of course, but they were brilliant when I was younger.

[spudqueen]

Sometimes when I'm in the library I just choose a shelf and pick a book of that, I've come across some good books (Miss Mapp by E F Benson for one) and some okay ones and some I thought were pretty bad, but you never know 'till you try!

[natalie_1982]

I usually read real-life books, mostly like Dave Pelzer, Torey Hayden, Arthur Golden, Julie Gregory and Alice Sebold, who write books about depressing things like child abuse and rape.

Anyway....... last Christmas my dad (who buys random pressies at the best of times) got me this book that mixes science with religion, and is about an American Professor/ historian type that teaches symbology and fights againt an ancient brotherhood that plan to overtake the Church.  My cup of tea?  I think not.  However, I read Angels and Demons by Dan Brown and it was fantastic!