You know when you finish a book and then you have no idea what you want to read next? I get you. I’ve been there. And I’ve figured out a few ways which help me to choose which books to read.
Make a List
Of course, this isn’t the best plan for everyone as some readers are fully mood readers and won’t stick to the list. But if you’re okay with sticking to a list, then list out which books you want to read over X amount of time. Whether it’s a weekly list, monthly, season or year – you can create lists which guide you towards books you know you want to (or have to) read!
Favourite Authors (and their influences)
If you have favourite authors, look at which of their books you haven’t read yet. You already know you enjoy the writing style which is one step in the right direction to finding a book you’ll enjoy. You could also look into which books influenced your favourite authors, or which books they’re currently enjoying. They will often be reading books with similar themes (E.g. magical or coming of age). This means you may find a new favourite author in the making, whilst also solving your ‘I have nothing to read’ problem.
Read a little of a lot
If you’re unsure of what book you want to read, but you have a selection of books on your TBR pile then this one might be for you. If they’re not already, get the books you want to read together and then choose the first one on the shelf or pile. It doesn’t matter what it is, just pick it up. Then, give yourself a milestone, e.g. 1 Chapter and read up to that milestone. If after the milestone you’re not interested in reading on then grab the next book and do the same. You can continue doing this until a book captures your attention. It may be the case that the first book does it, or the 6th book does but you’ll find something you are in the mood for this way.
If you do this a lot and you find that you’re just not getting into a particular book after one chapter you could also ask yourself whether you should keep it. This will help you to keep your personal library more organised and full of books you genuinely like which will help you choose books to read faster next time.
TBR Generator
You can use your ‘to read’ shelf on Goodreads and use a number generator to choose a book for you. I personally only put books I physically own (whether e-book or paperback) onto my Goodreads which makes this a lot easier. But you can make a specific shelf for this selection process if you put books you don’t own on your Goodreads account. This is purely a game of luck on books, but if you’re not particularly interested in a genre, or a theme within a book then this is a good way to reduce your TBR Pile.
Although, if you’re a super organised person and have individual shelves for genre’s on Goodreads, you could choose your prefered genre and then use the generator.
Judge by the Cover
Sometimes it’s okay to judge my the cover. (Right?) If you’re stuck on what to read, look through your books and see which cover draws your attention the most. Obviously this doesn’t mean the book you’ll end up reading is great, but at least you’re not falling into a reading slump that you can’t get out of.
Publication Date
If you’re a fellow book blogger, then you should probably look at those arcs you’ve been accruing on Netgalley. As I’m completely guilty of requesting books in bulk, I know the struggles of trying to read them all in time. This means that sometimes you’re gonna have to read specific books before the specified publication date to write your review in time for the 2 week window on launch. Netgalley lets you sort your arcs this way, which is always handy!
View Comments (8)
The headline really drew my attention to this one. I have been on a break from reading for a while now and I might try one of your methods, probably the good reads TBR generator.
Glad you were intrigued Juhita - and that it was then helpful 😉
This is super helpful! I haven't even started making a list of my TBR yet. It's just sort of a pile next to my bed 🙈 I need to keep this in mind
Really glad it's helpful! That's pretty much what I've got at the moment too until I move back to Newcastle 🙈
Ohh ! I love this post alot, Thank you !!
I’m a mood reader myself, so lists surely don’t work for me xD however, I like the idea of “reading little of a lot” ; I would never had gotten that Idea by myself ! Maybe I’ll try that next 🙂
It really does help! Especially when you're unsure as to what you're in the mood for!
i really liked this post, i usually select a handful of books to read at once and then dip in and out till one grabs me! :')
Fingers crossed it helps you with your TBR 😂