Where Do We Get Book Details Before You Buy?

I know, I had said this would be a three part discussion. It's grown to a fourth week. With doing the discussion posts about Amazon reviews and where we all post them at, I've learned that I'm not the only one that does NOT read Amazon reviews (unless it's a name I recognize). So that brings a new question to mind...

What weight do Amazon Reviews really carry? And for who?

This question is two sided. For readers and authors.

The author side, Amazon reviews, when hit the magic number posted, help authors by advertising their book in emails and such.

I'm thinking people that are not bloggers will benefit from this. People who buy books and read but don't post reviews, there are loads of them out there as I have several friends who do this, are who read the reviews present and purchase based on them.

It helps the author on that end.

But for Bloggers, we don't seem to verify books that way. Do we not trust those reviews? I don't know if it's trust the reviews for me in the way of the reviews are lies, I think I want to hear it from a friend. We trust our friends, even when they don't like a book they share why and we can decide if we still want to try it (and sometimes we very much do want to). We get our book details from blogs we visit and Goodreads. Or so it seems from the comments I've read.

I know I get most of my book details and recommendations from blogs I follow AND from publishers I follow. I get emails of books to release from publishers that put out books in my genre. This helps me see what's coming and plan for them. That's the recommendation. But I want to know ABOUT the book. So, when I see a book in these emails, I go looking for it. I'll search the author and look through their website about it along with mark it on Goodreads for my Want List.

Sometimes I find books through authors I love because they drop a name of another author or book coming out. But this seems to be hit or miss with authors. Some authors are amazing at sharing the love, and I look into what they mention, but not all share other authors much, so I don't always use this as a tool to find books. But again, if I like the sounds of a book, I'll go searching for the authors site to learn more about the book and Goodreads to see what people are saying.

In reading what people are saying about a book, I look for a well rounded review. I'm sure you are a lot like me and can sniff out a bullshit review. Sure, we all have those books we gush over and love. I love seeing those reviews, the love that the reader felt. But I also look for well rounded reviews that share about all angles of the book; plot, characters, writing style, world, and how it all plays together. But that's how I try to write my reviews too, so that's just my preference. But the bad reviews help too. I want to see what people are complaining about. Again, I can sniff out a bullshit bad review too. We can all see it. We know what to look for in reviews, and books. It's a preference that seems to run in line with the books we love.

I'm curious about you and your book relationships. Where do you look into books at? Where do you find your book recommendations? Do you buy books based on author recommendations? Authors you love being quoted on a book? Or publisher sites?