Discussion: How to Choose Your Next Read

Hello, everyone! It's another Sunday and we're back for another one of our bookish discussions. In the previous posts, we have talked about our favourite genres, as well as finding ways to diversify our reading. Today, we will take a closer look at a common problem among bookworms - deciding what to read next.

With so many choices, this decision is not an easy one. If I wanted to limit my options, I could easily take a look at my TBR list. On Goodreads, this list contains about 300 books, plus many more that I haven't added. My Kindle and my shelves also contain many unread books waiting patiently for me to pick them up. In this case, what can you do?

In this post, I will try to figure out ways that will help us make our decisions quicker. Hopefully, with your suggestions, we will all discover what is best for ourselves. Like so many things, every choice works differently for every individual.

Let's find out how to choose our next reads

The thing about choosing your next read is that it depends on different factors, from the book you have just finished, to the stress-load of your everyday life. Therefore, we need to take into consideration every case.

Select the next book of a series you've started

First, we are going to begin our investigation with an easy trick. If you have already started a series, then your next book is almost predetermined. However, this trick falls flat in the cases of various mystery and thriller series, where the books are standalone. For example, Ian Rankin's Inspector Rebus series consists of 22 books, with another one on the way. You might enjoy reading 1 or 2 in the row, but after a while, you just need something with a different tone (at least, I do). This leads us to the next suggestion.

Choose a book by an author you like

We all have some favourite authors. We are fascinated by their work because they have something that talked into our hearts. You all know by now that I will read anything that David Mitchell is publishing. So, when July arrives, no matter how busy I am, my next read is going to be Utopia Avenue. And this will definitely be my easiest decision on what to read next. Which authors will you read without a second thought?

Pick with your emotion

Let's be honest, the way we are feeling at the moment of our choice is going to be the deciding factor. There are moments when I want to read something hilarious and others when I want to feel depressed. Sometimes, I feel lonely and need to read something heart-warming and other times I feel lazy and want to set off on an adventure. There are even cases that I have been reading a demanding book and I want to pick a light and fun book next - even give in to my guilty pleasures (I'm looking at you cozy mysteries). Not everything we pick up should be an award-winning and renowned book. It should make us feel good, no matter the genre/quality/reviews/just about anything.

Create a reading list for the whole month

I really envy the organized people. In fact, this is a great way to regulate your reading and always have an easy choice to make. However, it's not for me because I would feel confined. Next.

Compile Lists 

This is totally up to you. You can have a list for each one of your bookshelves. You can also compile lists that divide your TBR list by genre or mood. You can even use pre-made lists of Nobel prize recipients, Booker award-winning novels, best classics, etc. A reading challenge can also work like a list that points you on what you should read next. Be creative and find what works the best for you!

Let total randomness take over

Now, we are truly entering the weird territory. Let's use the lists we have mentioned above. For the sake of this experiment, I will use The Guardian's list of the 100 greatest novels of all time. But, you can also use a jar, write a list on your notebook, and whatever works. Then, I will visit random.org and let it pick a random number for me. In this experiment, it picked number 74 and so, if I should go with this method, my next read should be Lord of the Flies. Easy right?

Use a recommendation website

The most realistic (and possibly practical) way to find books that interest you enough to pick them up is to use a recommendation website. Goodreads is probably the most well-known website that you can browse lists and find similar books. Every book's page has a section called "Readers also enjoy" and there you can find something that piques your interest. Another similar website is LibraryThing.

What should I read next is a cool website that lets you type a book or an author and gives you a list you might enjoy. Another website with recommendation lists is Whichbook. If you want to take an extra step, you can use Whichbook to find a list of books that match your mood and then use the above randomizer method. Are you feeling any adventurous yet?

This was it for today! I hope that you have found something useful in this post - I tried to include various ways, even though some of them require commitment and scheduling (which I'm not a big fan when it comes to my reading habits). How do you choose your next read? Is there a specific topic that you'd want me to write about?