I've heard it's not a good idea to judge a book by its cover.  That's why I've recently started judging books by their first few pages.  Is that fair?  I don't know, but it's at least better than simply looking at cover art and reading the quotes from famous people.  What's the alternative?  Depending on other people's reviews?  Perhaps you missed the news:  People are stupid, and their opinions are wrong.  That's why they made a sequel to Transformers.  But seriously, if a book can't capture my attention in the first few pages, it's not worth reading.  As Wendy likes to say, "Life's too short to read a bad book."