Blind Date with a Book — How Much Should We Judge A Book by It’s Cover?

Photo credit: 2nd and Charles

Blind dates with people can be difficult, but a blind date with a book? That’s something I’m willing to try out. When I went into 2nd and Charles on my last book splurge I noticed a small stand with books wrapped in brown paper with descriptions on the wrapping.

After reading a few of the book descriptions I decided to give a book a chance. I purchased an interesting looking mystery novel and hurried to my car to see what book I had gotten.

The book was Sullivan’s Evidence by Nancy Taylor Rosenberg. It was the third in a series that centers around the main character, Carolyn Sullivan, a probation officer and single mother to two children.

Although I loved the idea of a blind date with a book, this one was a little disappointing. It’s no secret that we often judge books by their covers and dutifully so, a cover can tell you a great deal about the genre of the book and the time it was published in. I’m as guilty of judging a book as the next person and I’ll admit I judged this one as well. The cover appeared to be outdated and closer to a dramatic mystery novel my grandma would read than I would. After reading this book I can’t say my first perceptions were wrong.

With a 3.58 rating on Goodreads, my review of this book would be very close to this average review. This experience made me question 2nd and Charles’ Blind Date with a Book section. Is judging a book by its cover a bad thing? Or are covers truly showing us if that book is a good fit for us?

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All the best,

— Morgan