”It’s a bit like buying pick’n mix” : A study about where adult readers find their book tips

The aim of this bachelor thesis is to investigate how readers go about selecting fiction in their everyday life. The aims are to get information on where readers get their information regarding which books to read in their everyday life, which sources they use and why they use those sources. The study focuses on readers who are 18+ and that practice leisure reading in their everyday life. The research questions are: What sources do adult readers use to find book tips? How do grown up readers describe and motivate the sources they use to find book tips? The methodology used is qualitative semi-structured interviews with eight adult readers. The theoretical framework used in the study comes from Kirsty Williamson’s theory of the role of incidental information acquisition in regards to the everyday life information needs and seeking. The results of the study show that the majority of the participating readers’ sources for their everyday life information seeking align with earlier studies. From the perspective of Williamson’s theory readers use sources such as family and friends which are categorized as intimate personal networks, social media, blogs and book clubs which falls under broader personal networks, mass media such as news paper, hash tags, TV and internet, and institutional sources such as the library and book shops