For literary fiction, literary friends and book reviews. Also, anytime you see a name come up again and again, look into getting a something they have written. I bought Dostoyevsky because I kept seeing him come up (worth it).
Find small/independent presses that do cool things; even independent presses as large as New Directions will have a certain culture you can base opinions off of and figure out if its worth your time. Note that if its an imprint of one of the Big 5 theres no way to know if the book is gonna be worth it based on that.
And read books in translation. By virtue of being translated you already know its worth somebody's time, bad books arent often translated. And often they are hella good.
I loved thethecouple of books by dostoyevsky i have read. They were difficult to get into, but it occurs to me one of the really interesting and pleasant things about reading is attuning yourself to a writers tempo, patterns and word play. It forces you to adjust your own internal voice.
Find small/independent presses that do cool things; even independent presses as large as New Directions will have a certain culture you can base opinions off of and figure out if its worth your time. Note that if its an imprint of one of the Big 5 theres no way to know if the book is gonna be worth it based on that.
And read books in translation. By virtue of being translated you already know its worth somebody's time, bad books arent often translated. And often they are hella good.