How to Judge a Book by Its Cover: a reading guide

You know that saying “don’t judge a book by its cover?” Well, forget it! I say, go ahead, judge the book by its cover. In fact, it is imperative in today’s day and age to actually do exactly that to the book that you see, the book that you have in your hands.

The saying naturally extends into our judgment of people but in this case, I am only speaking of books. And why should we do such a thing? Aren’t I being quite literally prejudiced? Am I going to miss on a wise remark, which might help me later or even now in life? To that I would say, there is your problem. Your perception of books is the problem to begin with. You see books as another doorway to self-help. So, without further ado, here are a few steps that you should take in order to successfully read a book.

Step 1: realize (before it’s too late) that books are not meant to answer every existential question you might have. Take the book for what it is. It is true that a book will sometimes leave you empty or confused or even, irritable. The sooner you accept this fact, the better reading experience you will have.

Step 2: a book is not a 25 dollar psychotherapist substitute. Most of the time, books are not about you, so don’t kid yourself.

Step 3: a picture is worth a thousand words, and so is the book cover. If the cover has an overly feminine, flowery font, it is most likely a romance novel (or some equivalent). If it has a reproduction of painting or a moody, broody photograph or drawing, you can be certain that you are dealing with literature.

Step 4: know your publishers! Most of the time, you will be able to figure what type of book you are dealing with just by looking at the title of the publishing company. Yes, this means that you have to do some research.

Step 5: learn to scan the book and distill the essence. Through this process, learn whether you want to read it, or whether it would be a major waste of your time. A personal example: a few months ago, I picked up Jean Rhys’ “Wide Sargassso Sea.” It was sitting on my shelf, as one of those books, which I bought but haven’t gotten around to reading it. I read first 25 pages, and I’ve had enough! The woman can’t write! It was sloppy, disjointed, almost non-sensical, the way post-modern art in its deconstruction of its own deconstruction wreaks havoc on my mind that seeks the natural order of things. Between Rhys’ rambling prose and one professor’s annotations extolling the virtues of feminism, I realized quickly I had to stop. (Note: I am pleased to say that the book was successfully sold on eBay).

Step 6: don’t be a lazy reader. And don’t wait for Oprah to tell you what to read. She has a fairly good list but you want to learn to walk on your own, don’t you? Ask yourself what your likes and dislikes are. Know yourself as a reader.

Step 7: know the difference between reading fiction, literature, poetry, philosophy or history. All these require different approaches. Fiction is light, so it might not take you as long to finish it. Literature has many layers (imaginative, political, social, philosophical, even theological). Upon re-reading the great classics, you might peel one layer after another and be astounded by your discoveries. Poetry is like dripping honey (was that a simile?!)—you must take your time with it. Great, big works of philosophy should never be read cover to cover. Your mind is going to start to spin. With history, you should keep one thing in mind: don’t try to find a nice, comparable niche in the present time of a historical event. Context does matter.

Step 8: be careful of authors who seem to have same similar if not the same book covers. Question: is this book going to be exactly the same as the previous book by the same author? And why does the author have a trademark logo at the end of the title? Yes, originality and authenticity does matter.

Step 9: if my guide doesn’t do it for you, read Mortimer Adler and Charles van Doren’s “How to Read a Book.” It is a classic. Even if my guide is appealing to you, go get yourself Adler and van Doren’s book anyway.

Step 10: reading is fun! (Goodness, I sound like an elementary school teacher carrying cardboard placards with glued stars and sayings like “3 R’s of Reading”). Seriously, reading is fun.

Of course, I don’t claim that this guide will work every single time. You can take my advice, or leave it. Even completely disagree with it. And you don’t have to take my word for it.