Typically I go by favorite author first. If I see a new book by Haruki Murakami or Neal Stephenson, I tend to check those out before anything else. If I like the first few pages, I typically buy the book from an online vendor to save money (I hate paying cover price for books at B&N).
I like to read it first before I buy it, no matter how much I like the author. It might turn out that the author writes worse in each successive book, like what happened with Chuck Paulahniuk (sp?). Yeah, after
Choke I just couldn't read his books anymore. It all felt so...regurgitated.
As for unknown authors that I stumble on, well...I guess I go by what catches my eye. I tend to look for interesting titles, then I'll read the description and the first few pages. That's how I discovered the amazing
House of Leaves. And looking back, that's how I found Murakami. I noticed his book
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World and was blown away. Even the first 3 pages were unlike anything I'd ever read before.
Jam it back in, in the dark.
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Matt