I’ll open books to either table of contents or the index, find something that may be of interest, and start reading there, in order to figure out if I will want to read the whole thing (we’re talking non-fiction, I don’t read fiction too often). This takes place at the bookstore. :’)
what’s this book stuff I keep hearing about
Much the way I peruse non-fiction in book stores. With technical books the order is index, bibliography, table of contents.
Non-fiction, read first page.
Shopping for Kindle/ebooks is not so interesting as physical meandering through bookstores. Good used bookstores are increasingly rare and especially those with worthwhile choices. Vastly different stock depending on location. Academic and affluent neighborhoods offer quality goods, others trash novels and remaindered Walden remainders.