Are you more likely to buy a book that won an award?

[Jessica Peter]

Nope, not really. The adult award-winners are usually "literary", and I generally only read "commercial" (and non-fic). As for the YA books I read, I may notice an award, but I wouldn't pick it up because of it.

The only possible exception would be genre-based awards, like the RT Book Reviews awards. Those, I may at least give a closer look because they are award winners.

[Fenris]

If a book I'm reading has won an award, the only response that typically evokes in me is "Cool" before I keep reading. It doesn't really affect the reading experience, which is what I'm reading for. Now, if I'm looking to educate myself on how to write, typically the books I pull off the shelf are award-winners. They must have been doing something right to win the award, so I figure I'll learn more from them. Since my genre is YA, I usually find myself flipping to random pages in the later Harry Potter books to see if I can pick up writing tips--and those were certainly award-winners, though perhaps not of the more prestigious, literary ones.

[esmith1]

Not necessarily. I often buy books based on reviews that I read, and recommendations.

[Leila]

Not so much. I tend to go off people's referrals, or a title that catches my eye whilst browsing online and leads me to seek further information, or reading more books of authors I enjoy.

Some of my choices come down to time though. I certainly wouldn't mind reading books that have won awards, I just don't seek them out.

[jrosemary]

No. I base my choices on the recommendations of family and friends plus the reviews and smalltalk at Goodreads.

[ddegreeff]

If I walk into a book store looking for a random purchase, more often than not I can be won over by an award winner. The reason for this is easy: reading a book is a big investment in time spent, and there are a lot of garbage books out there. Read all the jacket descriptions you want, a cool cover and a decent idea is no guarantee of quality -- at least with a badge on the front, I can be reasonably sure it isn't going to be terrible.

[tanvi02]

yes, i generally get fascinated with those books that have either won awards and i son the bestseller lists or a book that has been recommended by lots and lots of people...i do not pick any random book...i picka nd read only those that have been chosen by many as a book worth a read...

[sarahdee]

Not necessarily the award but if it made the list then I might be more likely to read. This is just good bookstore marketing; if they have a nice display of books shortlisted for the ...award then often I'll have a browse and maybe pick up a title by an author I had not previously heard of and might have bypassed in their usual section.

[rosepetal720]

I usually only read books that either have won awards or people are raving about because even though I might be missing out on good books that aren't getting much attention, at least I'm not as likely to waste my time on a bad book.

[stephsco]

It can sway me toward a decision but I still need to be interested in the topic or storyline. Just today, I looked at Amazon for one of the recently announced Pulitzer winners, and I could tell by the synopsis and a handful of reviews that the book is not for me.

[siftbookreviews]

If I'm on the fence about buying a book (and I don't have Goodreads handy to check my friends' reviews of it) an award may push me over the edge to purchase the book. These awards say to me: "Someone who has no monetary or emotional interest in the success of this book thinks it's great, so it probably doesn't totally suck."