Book Buying Tally: 2012

Two years ago, I kept a list of all the books I bought and what about them initially caught my attention. Then I analyzed my list to see what were the biggest factors in my buying decisions. I think it'll be fun to make this an annual thing so that I can see how things change over the years (or how they stay the same).

2010 results
2011 results

First a summary of my results and then I'll get into how it all broke down. In parentheses are last year's results for comparison.

Book in a series: 30% (35%)
Classic: 3%
Premise: 23% (5%)
Author: 20% (20%)
Unusual story: 3%
Word of mouth: 17% (20%)
Being made into movie: 3% (5%)
Cover: 7%

I was kind of surprised by just how much premise went up this year. Last year I put a lot of stock in other factors so that really shows how I'm going back to whether or not a story's idea catches my attention. Another thing that surprised me was just how large a portion of the books I bought were the next installment in a series. I knew that I read a lot of series but I wasn't expecting it to be that much. Here's the break-down:

Book in a Series

1. Shadow Kiss by Richelle Mead. It's the third book in the Vampire Academy series.
2. Inheritance by Christopher Paolini. Conclusion to the Inheritance Cycle. I waited an extremely long three years for this book. I wasn't waiting any longer than I absolutely had to.
3. Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare. Second book in the Infernal Devices trilogy.
4. The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan. Second book in the Heroes of Olympus series.
5. Insurgent by Veronica Roth. Second book in the Divergent trilogy.
6. City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare. Fifth book in the Mortal Instruments series.
7. The Fox Inheritance by Mary E. Pearson. Second book in the Jenna Fox Chronicles.
8. Red Glove by Holly Black. Sequel to White Cat. 
9. Blood Promise by Richelle Mead. Fourth book in the Vampire Academy series

Classic

1. Forever by Judy Blume. It's one of those "must read" books for teenagers that I somehow missed out on. That, combined with the controversy around it, made it a must read for me.

Premise

1. Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater. The summary really got me on this one. I'm not the biggest fan of Wolves of Mercy Falls, but I like her writing. 
2. Love Story by Jennifer Echolls. A steamy story about a girl and a boy in the same writing class writing romance stories back and forth at each other? Hand it over. 
3. Once Dead, Twice Shy by Kim Harrison. Was on my list for a couple of years before I finally picked it up. The premise is what first caught my attention all that time ago. 
4. I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga. With an awesome premise like that I could never say no.
5. Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly. The premise of this one has me so excited!
6. The Demon Trapper's Daughter by Jana Oliver. The premise of this one really made me want it 
7. The Water Wars by Cameron Stracher. I love dystopians and the premise of this one made it impossible to walk away.

Author

1. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. It's John Green. Do I really need any more explanation than that?
2. Cryer's Cross by Lisa McMann. I loved the Wake trilogy so when I found out about this one, it piqued my interest despite my usual avoidance of anything in the realm of horror. 
3. Every You, Every Me by David Levithan. He is one of those authors whose books I will buy no matter what they're about.
4. Gone, Gone, Gone by Hannah Moskowitz. It's Hannah, the premise is fantastic, and everything I've heard about it is glowing.

Unusual Story

1. Heat Wave by Richard Castle. I am obsessed with the TV show Castle. When I found out that there were real versions of the books from the show, I knew I needed to get my hands on them.
   

Word of Mouth

1. Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith. Everything that I heard about this book before I bought it was glowing praise. 
2. Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin. The craze surrounding these books really attracted my interest and I wanted to read the book before starting the TV show.
3. Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein. I haven't heard a bad thing about this book. I'm also really attracted to historicals at the moment and I've always had a special fascination with WWII.
4. The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin. I've heard conflicting things about this book, but the good things caught my attention
5. Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins. I've heard amazing things about this book

Being Made into a Movie

1. War Horse by Michael Morpurgo. Bought because I wanted to read the book before seeing the movie.

Cover

1. Darkness Becomes Her by Kelly Keaton. Another one that's been on my list for a really long time. The cover is what first caught my attention, but the price (three dollars) is what made me buy it. 
2. Crash Into Me by Albert Borris. I've been waiting forever for this book. The cover is what first caught my attention but the premise sealed the deal.