A friend gave me the awardwinning The Whaleboat Houseby Mark Mills (which started out as Amagansett before it was republished with the new title). Thiswas lucky for me because I loved it but would have never picked it up based on either of its titles or the dreary brown cover.

Almost all the best books I’ve read have been suggested by friends. What about you? How do you chose a book? A friend’s recommendation? A review? The title? An award of some sort? Or do you judge a book by its cover?I’d...