Gift-Buying Through Bestseller Lists?

I don’t know if you use Amazon’s bestselling books’ lists to decide your Christmas gift purchases, but amazon.ca’s press release recently announced their top 20 picks. Keep in mind that these are bestselling books, not necessarily best books, although I have read and enjoyed a number of authors on the list including Louise Penny, Lee Child, and David Baldacci. To be honest, I’m a little baffled why three adult coloring books were among the top twelve. Clearly, coloring is more popular than I thought.

The media release also provides a best books of the year list, based on amazon editors’ picks. I clicked on the complete list which provides snapshots of all of the book covers. What struck me was that none of the covers were interesting enough to make me want to take a second look at the book. Book covers still matter, don’t they?

Having said that, I do intend to read at least one of the bestselling books, which is The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins because it was recommended to me by a writing friend whose opinion I trust. As for the others, well, I don’t make purchasing decisions based on amazon’s “best” lists. Truthfully, bestseller’s lists don’t mean that much to me.

This year, I read 54 books. Only three or four were based on recommendations from friends. Others were by authors I’d heard of but hadn’t gotten around to reading. Others were self-published fantasy and mystery authors, many of which I enjoyed.

I’m hoping to read another fifty books in the coming year, and especially look forward to discovering terrific authors, regardless of how their books were published.

Debra