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What to Read Next? Get Tips From Fellow Bookworms
For a bibliophile, there's nothing harder than deciding what to read next. Some of us have a system, while others follow their heart. So we asked our followers on Twitter and Facebook to share their tips and tricks and made a list of the most popular comments. Which ones resonate with you?
1. "Lately, I've been using the random sort feature on my Goodreads Want to Read list and letting that pick for me. So far, I'm having a lot of fun with it!" says Quailing.
2. "I always go with gut instinct at the end of a book. How do I feel? What emotions do I need to feed or balance? I used to make lists and try to stick with the lists, but I ended up not liking the books as much that way," says Cindy.
3. "I start reading three or so books and see which one I fancy reading most. Sometimes, I can't decide so end up reading multiple books at the same time," says Bill.
4. "I have a jar filled with the titles of all of my unread books. I give it a shake, pick out five, then pick out one from that five, and that's the book I'll read," says Zara.
5. "Oh, it's really easy. It's a three-step process: 1) I search my library for a book I really want to read. 2) I lay on the floor and cry as I realize three lives wouldn't be enough to finish them all. 3) I force myself to pick one wondering if I made the right choice," says Peppe.
6. "I try to follow this rule: One light read that keeps me turning the pages (thrillers, Grisham, Baldacci), and then a slower fiction that makes me ponder (Murakami, Kundera, etc.). I call this pattern 'one short-term' after 'one long-term' ride," says Eva.
7. "If it’s fiction, I read more works by that author. Or if it’s a one-off, I ease into the same genre or time period by a different author. I dislike jumping around. I get literary indigestion! But if I have to change gears it helps to read nonfiction in between—a good buffer," says Haworth.
8. "Actually, this decision is always the hardest for me. Sometimes, a book has such an impact that it takes some time for me to digest before I can start something new. And then, after a while, I am so annoyed that I can‘t decide what to read next that I simply take the next book that crosses my way," says Stephanie.
9. "I am reading myself through our library alphabetically. Right now, I'm at 'D' as in 'Douglas.' This makes me read all kinds of authors and genres that I would otherwise not know about or maybe not even choose. Pretty exciting," says Susanne.
10. "I stare at my bookshelves many times over many days until something grabs my attention. Sometimes, before a book I already own grabs me, I go to a bookstore and buy/start reading something new," says Lauren.
2. "I always go with gut instinct at the end of a book. How do I feel? What emotions do I need to feed or balance? I used to make lists and try to stick with the lists, but I ended up not liking the books as much that way," says Cindy.
3. "I start reading three or so books and see which one I fancy reading most. Sometimes, I can't decide so end up reading multiple books at the same time," says Bill.
4. "I have a jar filled with the titles of all of my unread books. I give it a shake, pick out five, then pick out one from that five, and that's the book I'll read," says Zara.
5. "Oh, it's really easy. It's a three-step process: 1) I search my library for a book I really want to read. 2) I lay on the floor and cry as I realize three lives wouldn't be enough to finish them all. 3) I force myself to pick one wondering if I made the right choice," says Peppe.
6. "I try to follow this rule: One light read that keeps me turning the pages (thrillers, Grisham, Baldacci), and then a slower fiction that makes me ponder (Murakami, Kundera, etc.). I call this pattern 'one short-term' after 'one long-term' ride," says Eva.
7. "If it’s fiction, I read more works by that author. Or if it’s a one-off, I ease into the same genre or time period by a different author. I dislike jumping around. I get literary indigestion! But if I have to change gears it helps to read nonfiction in between—a good buffer," says Haworth.
8. "Actually, this decision is always the hardest for me. Sometimes, a book has such an impact that it takes some time for me to digest before I can start something new. And then, after a while, I am so annoyed that I can‘t decide what to read next that I simply take the next book that crosses my way," says Stephanie.
9. "I am reading myself through our library alphabetically. Right now, I'm at 'D' as in 'Douglas.' This makes me read all kinds of authors and genres that I would otherwise not know about or maybe not even choose. Pretty exciting," says Susanne.
10. "I stare at my bookshelves many times over many days until something grabs my attention. Sometimes, before a book I already own grabs me, I go to a bookstore and buy/start reading something new," says Lauren.
How do you decide what to read next? Share your two cents in the comments!
Check out more recent blogs:
Catch Up with These Series Before the Next Book Comes Out
The Top 10 Most Popular Books About Books on Goodreads
Monogamous vs. Polygamous Reading: Which 'Type' Do You Prefer?
Check out more recent blogs:
Catch Up with These Series Before the Next Book Comes Out
The Top 10 Most Popular Books About Books on Goodreads
Monogamous vs. Polygamous Reading: Which 'Type' Do You Prefer?
Comments Showing 151-189 of 189 (189 new)
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message 151:
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Khristina
(new)
Apr 22, 2018 11:52AM
Going to the bookstore is a guilty pleasure for me. When I go, I know I'll spend awhile there, and I'll come home with multiple books. I agree with the person who says it's like a vacation. I like touching the books, browsing through the different displays, rooting through the shelves, and agonizing over my final selections. Amazon shopping isn't nearly as satisfying.
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Khristina wrote: "Going to the bookstore is a guilty pleasure for me. When I go, I know I'll spend awhile there, and I'll come home with multiple books. I agree with the person who says it's like a vacation. I like ..."Have you ever actually taken a book vacation, where you visit a place specifically because of its awesome bookstore?
Rohini wrote: "I usually enter the bookstore and walk through all the aisles smelling the books, touching them, feeling them. I take them, see the cover, read the back-cover, then think, "Okay, I'll come back to ..."I can relate!
I do a mix of choosing the hot new book to read versus alternating between a book that is lighter in fare i/e a thriller or murder mystery and then a heavier tome psychological thriller, memoir or critically reviewed novel
I have plenty of unread books on my shelves... depends on what kind of book I want, what catches my eye, etc. If nothing does, the library is always an option. Or the library book sales.I don't get to keep up with too much newer stuff.
Jeff wrote: "I made a Google Sheets database that has the lists of all Pulitzer, Man Booker, and National Book Award winners, great books lists such as The Time 100, The Modern Library 100, and BBC's 100 Greate..."Jeff, it would be great if you would share your list with Goodreads users, maybe you'd want to delete your personal info, so we could copy it and use it too!
Diana wrote: "I've had my husband pick my next book to read off of our shelves, and I've had friends from Comic conventions pick my next book as well. Sometimes I find a group on here that are doing a buddy read..."Maybe this is what you meant, but there are some groups on here that will team up members where one person will pick a book from the other person's To Read Shelf. I can't name one at the moment, but several of the groups I belong to do this.
Right now, I occasionally read books that won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. I think 85% of them are pretty good. My favorite genre of reading are literary fiction, but I DO READ thrillers, dramas, and horror. I like a lot of genres!
Rohini wrote: "Oh guys, I found it! It is not per say, a button, it is in the "To Read" section. In the bottom of the screen, in the roll down button of the option, "sort", you will find 'Random'."You are the hero of this post
I have my To Be Read list so I have a general idea of what I will read next. However, if another book or subject is mentioned in the book I am reading and it grabs my attention, I move it to the top of the list.
Derek wrote: "I am an english speaker living in a non-english speaking country, so book shops are out for me. I tend to browse through what others have found good or interesting in Goodreads, Amazon etc. To make..."1 star for books I couldn't finish whether it is boring, bad, or so insulting.
2 stars for book that is bad but I still can manage to finish it.
3 stars for any books in the middle, bad but not so bad, good but not that good
4 stars for books that I love, finish and recommend it
5 stars for books that after I read it, it lingers
GridGirl wrote: "I tried out the Random feature, because it seems pretty exciting, but somehow it doesn't work out for me, the books are still sorted by number. Same if I pick other criteria to sort by like "averag..."How can we do this? I'm a little lost :(
I pile books over time and when I finish one, I sit on the ground, on my carpet, and stare to my "to-read" shelf. I gather all emotions I had reading the last book and wonder: "What do I want to read know? How do I feel? Do I need some rainbow? Some horror? Some psychology?"For example, yesterday I devoured The Island of Dr. Moreau and I gathered all my carpet emotions. That time I didn't dwell too much into the horror of this book, only on the psychology of it. Altogether, I didn't want to stop reading horror, I wasn't in the mood to switch to one of my many Stephen King, so I picked up the most interesting horror book left from my shelf!
I always go through the the recommended 'must reads' list on a specific genre.
Khristina wrote: "Going to the bookstore is a guilty pleasure for me. When I go, I know I'll spend awhile there, and I'll come home with multiple books. I agree with the person who says it's like a vacation. I like ..."I have not, but it sounds like something I would love.
In my case it simply depends on what I want to read about at the moment. I go through my "want to read" pile and think: do I want to read about medieval Wales? Or maybe I want to know "what is up with Catalonia"? Oh, I know, I'll do a re-reading of "Lord Of The Rings". That's all there is to it.
Brenda wrote: "Diana wrote: "Sometimes I find a group on here that are doing a buddy read...Maybe this is what you meant, but there are some groups on here that will team up members where one person will pick a book from the other person's To Read Shelf. I can't name one at the moment, but several of the groups I belong to do this.
"
The Challenge Factory has one called "Dusty Bookshelf." You post several books and someone else picks one for you to read. Other groups have a What to Read Next thread.
Where is the random sort function? I don't see it.
El azar juega un papel preponderante. Una vez que termino un libro, reviso mi lista de espera (eterna) y blogs de lectura que sigo en diferente plataformas y siempre aparecen más y más libros.Por otro lado, dado que leo de varios libros a la vez, trato de ir avanzando en todos.
I mostly read fiction now and use the list of National Book Award and Booker prize nominees, the The New York Times Sunday Book review and Real Simple magazine and Entertainment Weekly suggestions. But sometimes I just wander the shelves of the library and pick books by the appearance of their spine! I started to do that many many years ago when I got my first library card as a child, and am rarely disappointed in my spontaneous choices.
I try to read as divers as possible. I own a long list of books still to read but cannot oblige myself not to by new ones (e-books)... So I just wander through the list to read what appeals to me at that moment. I'm afraid to go into a physical bookstore, as I don't have the room to stock many more books and I'm addicted to books...
A few months ago I went through all of my e-books, most of which I bought on sale thanks to Goodreads deals, and stuck all of the ones I want to read "now" into one category. Then I sorted the category by size and started reading the shortest ones first. That was working great, and I was ticking off a lot of titles from my TBR soon list... and then I started rereading all 25 Tarzan books and that went out of the window. I'm about halfway done with Tarzan and, when I'm done, I'll get back to those other books.
Trying to finish off my physical TBR pile using the TBR Jar Challenge.
Fitria Y wrote: "Derek wrote: "I am an english speaker living in a non-english speaking country, so book shops are out for me. I tend to browse through what others have found good or interesting in Goodreads, Amazo..."I really like your criteria. It's similar to how I rate them, but your five star description is great.
Yes! I go with my gut instinct, too. For example, if I've been reading too many thrillers, I start to feel like I need something lighter or that I fancy reading some fantasy and I go from there.
Laura wrote: "Where is the random sort function? I don't see it."Did you find it? Go to message 137 it was explained.
I really can't find this random sort feature for your to-read list on goodreads. Where do I choose to sort my book lists randomly?
Ashleigh wrote: "Something that I genuinely had to do for my sanity was delete my TBR on goodreads. It was a mess of books I wanted to buy but hadn't, books I had but hadn't read, books I DNFed, and honestly it got..."Being new on Goodreads, I also entered all the books I wanted to read and also felt stressed out. I already have a few on my reading list that I have problems to finish and I feel guilty (why is that? :-). Unfortunately for me , when I like one author, I need to read all the series in order. Going trough all the Peter Robinson right now. So I prefer entering one at a time. Less stress!
Andrea wrote: "Yes! I go with my gut instinct, too. For example, if I've been reading too many thrillers, I start to feel like I need something lighter or that I fancy reading some fantasy and I go from there."Me too. I don't like to continue reading the same genre. I have to switch it up often.
Christian wrote: "I really can't find this random sort feature for your to-read list on goodreads. Where do I choose to sort my book lists randomly?"@ christian. Under settings when you check mark if you want all the stuff to show up (num pages, avg rating) there is a pull down menu and you click random.
I let the book choose me. I go through the shelves and choose one book by the feeling I have that day - and sometimes a book I even didn't notice before comes to me.
I follow both Cindy's and Eva's (2 and 6 of above 10) way.
Amanda wrote: "Christian wrote: "I really can't find this random sort feature for your to-read list on goodreads. Where do I choose to sort my book lists randomly?"@ christian. Under settings when you check mar..."
Found it. Thanks, Amanda!
Breslin wrote: "I read poetry, chic lit, regency, Oriental, literary fiction, and more."<Please explain Oriental to me, not sure if I'm thinking is right. If you've any to recommend through Amazon, preferably free, trying not to buy anymore for awhile, please send them my way.
Nisanka wrote: "Trying to finish off my physical TBR pile using the TBR Jar Challenge."Please explain the To Be Read Jar Challenge to me, havent been on here much and haven't quite got the hang of Goodreads completely if at all. Thank you! Catch you all later!
Kiandra wrote: "Nisanka wrote: "Trying to finish off my physical TBR pile using the TBR Jar Challenge."
Please explain the To Be Read Jar Challenge to me, havent been on here much and haven't quite got the hang o..."
The To Be Read jar means, they put their to be read books titles on a piece of paper put the paper in a jar & pull one out to decide their next book to read. Hope this helps. Also by challenge I think they mean to challenging themselves to finish the most books for the year.
Please explain the To Be Read Jar Challenge to me, havent been on here much and haven't quite got the hang o..."
The To Be Read jar means, they put their to be read books titles on a piece of paper put the paper in a jar & pull one out to decide their next book to read. Hope this helps. Also by challenge I think they mean to challenging themselves to finish the most books for the year.
Serenity wrote: "Kiandra wrote: "Nisanka wrote: "Trying to finish off my physical TBR pile using the TBR Jar Challenge."Interesting and thanks!
