>>23319928
I look up its score on goodreads on my phone.

>>23319928
I can't even remember the last time I went to a bookstore rather than just ordered from Amazon. I guess I went to the section of the genre I was interested in, looked for an interesting cover, then read the back cover and first page or two to see if it could hook me.

>>23319935
the lower the better

Because I've known about the book for the past 7 years through browsing on /lit/

>>23319935
I read the reviews but the scores mean nothing to me. Book ratings are subjective and you might miss out on a quality book if it's given a low rating by the unwashed masses.

>>23319945
Makes sense. When I encounter a new book that may be of interest, I read the reviews to decide if it's worth reading and if it is, I add it to my reading list. I have a discount card with my local bookseller so I usually wait till I have about 7 books in my queue before going on a shopping trip.
Buying online is certainly more convenient but I don't like paying shipping and I've discovered a few books that I really enjoyed which I would otherwise not have encountered had I not chanced upon them at the bookstore.

>>23320015
I was half joking, but generally speaking there aren't really any worthwhile books that score lower than a 3 point something. If a book scores like a 3/5 I like to check if the reviews are mostly just 3s (which means it's probably just mediocre) or if there's a lot of 2s and 4s (which means the book is divisive and might be worth checking out if it seems interesting). It's not exactly a good system to have but it's not like I'm gonna stand in a bookstore doing deep research on a book I'm seeing for the first time so it's just something to help you make quick decisions.

>>23320035
lots of 4s usually mean it's trash though

>>23319928
If the pages stick together

>>23320060
An excellent heuristic indeed!