Does the NY Times Best Seller List influence you on which books take priority for your reading?

Question

Answer 1

It never has before. I choose what I read by following authors, genres, and recommendations, mostly.

Answer 2

No, I never let the NY Times influence me on anything.

If I do read it, it's on line or in the library, where it's free (the daily newsstand price is $2.75, with always a large stack of unsold copies).  And I only read it then when I want to catch up on what the latest liberal party line is. Analogous to reading Pravda in Russia.

Answer 3

Yes, it does!

Answer 4

Nope.  I read what sounds interesting to me.  Fifty Shades of Grey was probably on the best seller list, but I wouldn't read that book if someone was holding a gun to my head.  It's a poorly written recycled Twilight fanfic.  Now, I'm not knocking fanfic.  I've read some awesome stories by some amazing writers, but the author of Fifty Shades is most definitely not among them.

Frankly, if someone tells me that they just loved Fifty Shades, I automatically deduct at least 50 IQ points and will not trust them with anything important to me.