"Bad books will harm you like bad friends." - British novelist Fielding
In this era of information explosion, all kinds of books are everywhere. A dazzling array of products with varying quality. Finding a good book to read is as difficult as finding a pearl on the beach.
If you are a frequent reader, you must have had this experience: you have bought a lot of books, but few are worth reading from beginning to end, even though you know that there are many good books in the world. , but don’t know where they are hidden.
Take my past experience as an example. Every time I buy a good book, in addition to the price of the book itself, I also have to pay the price of buying 5 bad books. Sometimes it even takes longer to choose a book than to finish reading it.
Buying a book that is not worth reading is a waste of money, time and emotions. What's even more annoying is that it still takes up a lot of space. How expensive is the house price now...
Choosing books is also a science. If you buy a lot of bad books, you will know how to choose them, but There are also some simple and practical tips that are easier to use. In order not to let bad books bother you, I share it. If it is useful, take it away. You’re welcome!
1. First of all, you must look at your own needs. Choosing a book is the same as choosing other products. Before purchasing, you must clearly understand your purpose and needs, and what problems you will solve. Whether it is used for leisure and entertainment, to increase knowledge or to strengthen professional knowledge, it must be targeted and focused.
2. Look at the author. The author's level determines the quality of the book. Before buying a book, you should first check the author's influence and professionalism in the field online, or read some articles the author has previously published online. If the author is unknown or not highly professional, , you should choose carefully.
3. Look at the publishing house. In a certain content area, choose a well-known publishing house. Well-known publishing houses usually have better resources and voice, and have a higher chance of publishing high-quality books.
4. Choose books “authored by XX” rather than “edited by XX”. "Author" means that the content in the book is mainly original by the author, and "edited" means that most of the content in the book was moved by the author from elsewhere and then put together. One word difference makes a world of difference.
5. Read book reviews. Most books have readers' feedback and book reviews on Amazon, Douban, and Zhihu, and the quality is not low. Can be used as a reference.
6. Look at the number of publications and printings. If a book has more reprints and printing times, it means that readers have a higher degree of recognition of the book, which is relatively more reliable. If it is published for the first time and the first printing is not large, it means that the publisher is not confident in the sales of the book, so you should buy it with caution.
7. Chase works. If you read a great book, look for other works by the author. In most cases, it should be fine.
8. Look at the reference list. If a book has a long reference list, the opinions in the description have been verified through extensive research and are not "fictionalized" by the author himself. Moreover, there may be more good books "hidden" in the references.
9. Look at the citations. In the content of the book, the author often quotes the content of other books as examples or arguments, which shows that the author has read and approved it. If you think it’s pretty good, you can also look for related books.
10. Follow the good people. Find out what books are being read by cool people, celebrities, or people you admire. The most common characteristic of great people is that they like to share. They often share their reading experiences on Weibo or social media and publish recommended book lists, which are of great reference value.
11. Read classics. Read more classic books that have been around for a long time. Those works that have been circulated for many years and remain popular are the results of time filtering for us.
Bible Proverbs 2:3-4 Call for understanding, lift up your voice for understanding; seek him as silver, search for him as for hidden treasure;