Seeing Past the Critics

There are some people, I suppose, who read book reviews in newspapers and think: that sounds like my kind of thing; go out and buy the book it - and it is their kind of thing. Well, this has never happened to me.

A good part of my childhood I spent reading the books pages of newspapers, but I lacked the money to read what I read about. Gaining access at the age of 16 to a fully stocked library, I finally got my hands on one or two of the most highly praised. Only then did I discover how cruelly I had been misled.
[. . .]

When you don't believe the critics, how do you find the stuff you'll enjoy?