romancing the book

So in all the world, if there were only e-books, and the only way to browse would be some web page full of thumbnails, how would i ever have found this most perfect of little spy novels called "Kingdom of Shadows" by Alan Furst? Because i don't read spy novels, i've never heard of Mr. Furst, what suggestion path would have led me to discover a new, to me, author? I was at a thrift store poking through books, i pulled this one out, put it back, went away, it called me back, i hesitated, it won; along with five other books for under $10.00. How would i ever wonder about the previous owner of the book, someone named "Marg" who once upon a time, flew from Houston to San Antonio and left the stub of her airline ticket as a book mark in the pages?