How Do We Choose Books?

This autumn, after a long interval, such a reading period struck me that I devour a book a week. The office location changed and the time I have to spend commuting is longer. So I put that to selfish use - not paying attention to the bustle of public transport, I bury myself in a book and... the journey feels too short.

I most gladly buy books at the "Valters&Rapa" shop in Old Riga. There is quite enough space there and a pleasant calm that allows you to explore new arrivals without hurrying, read the blurb of each book you pick up, and visit those more distant shelves where the "less popular" - yet sometimes extraordinarily interesting - ones are kept. A good idea with those chairs where you can sit down and unhurriedly leaf through or even read a book.

The last time I chose two books - the first by flicking through it and understanding from a few text fragments that it would be quite engaging; the second feeling intrigued both by the blurb on the back cover and by the fact that the book could not be opened - it was wrapped in cellophane. This brought to mind the thought to observe how people actually choose books to read.

I will try to divide book selection into notional categories. The first, most trivial - books that Must Be Read, or compulsory literature "imposed" on us by studies, work, a sense of duty towards professional development and the like. Useful, necessary, specialised. I have always wondered whether anyone actually reads them with pleasure, or only out of obligation. These books help you earn money, understand the patterns of the material and spiritual world, devise or copy long-since-devised schemes, enrich yourself with facts. The titles and authors of these books are known, or written on a piece of paper. The person takes a confident step towards the shelf above which the relevant subject heading is displayed, or, without exerting themselves too much, entrusts the search to the shop assistant.

The must-have fashionable book - these are usually purchased by people who always want to be in the know about everything and to be the first, the most knowledgeable and most educated in the latest literary trends. But even they, it seems, don't always derive literary pleasure from it. Well, it will be what it will be, but the satisfaction of having it on the shelf will be there and you'll be able to make clever remarks in company, perhaps even toss around some aphorisms (if memory serves well). For this category of reader, only the front shelves of the bookshop exist, where signs read "latest releases", "new arrivals", "book top 10", "bestseller" and so on. They expertly take a book in hand, leaf through it rather casually and then march proudly to the till, as if paying no attention to the book's price at all.

Devotees of intuitive book selection wander long and determinedly along the bookshelves, as if they had lost something important there. They leaf through, study, read text excerpts, poke their nose into both new arrivals and the shelf of old editions and discounted books. In the end, they either stride out of the bookshop with a relieved and satisfied expression and a newly purchased book in hand, or they trudge out looking a little put out and thoughtful.

Book buyers of the "suppose I should read something" variety don't really know or feel the "flavour" they are looking for. They know their favourite authors clearly enough, but everything by them has long been read and nothing new has come out. To buy something unknown - but what if it's terrible? Usually they cast a careful eye over the cheap or discounted book shelf. So to speak, two birds with one stone - both cheap and good and, most importantly, educational! For the most part having drifted around the bookshop without much purpose, they leave the cosy premises equally at a loss.

I concede that I have not identified and described all character types here, but these are some that immediately catch the eye. It would of course be interesting to know - how do you do it?