Surprisingly, I don't think I've really seen this discussion around the blogosphere, though it seems like one of the easiest discussions to write/talk about. There are many factors when choosing a book to read; your mood, the synopsis, cover (I'm unapologetic about this since visual appeal does play a part), genre, what others online/irl have said about the book, and perhaps if it's a book sent to you by an author/publisher.

The above are what I usually consider when deciding what books to get out from the library/request from publishers. Since I only choose a certain number, when they get to my house the selection process is even tougher as I look for my next read. I try and avoid setting myself up for disappointment, so I'll usually choose the book I've been wanting to read the most.

A downside to this logic is that often, almost all the books from the library are highly anticipated reads, and then there's the books from publishers, so sometimes an "anticipated" read takes me a month or two to get to. Yes, this is disappointing, the wait, but I get to read all the books so that makes me happy.

What do you consider when selecting a book?