What do I read next?
Finding my next book to read is a major problem. I am currently focused on reading one book, trying to figure out whether I'll finish it, and then moving on to the next one. But what do I read next? When I am already on a book, I keep scrolling through reviews and book recommendations on YouTube and Instagram, and keep adding them to the To Read Pile. After a few days, when I actually have to pick up my next book, I always make a random choice, and it's rarely from the to-read pile. My to-read pile keeps filling up without any books coming off of it. After a few days, I forget why the book is even there in the list. I forget who recommended it to me and why I thought I would want to read it in the first place. It would be nice to be able to add a note to my To Read Pile on my StoryGraph, but I don't really see that helping a lot with the choice of what to read next.
But not having a list also isn't good. When I do have to make a choice, if I don’t know what my options are, I tend to take a lot more time trying to make a choice rather than reading. Constantly thinking about what should be my next book is too much pressure, which leads me nowhere. It is exactly like me having to choose a food order from the menu. Looking for what I am hungry for right now in the menu is a much better option, instead of having to choose from everything that is available. Is chicken wings not on the menu? Sure what is the next best fried thing on the menu?
This is what has been working for me so far. A book goes into the To Be Read pile only if I get the book recommended to me by multiple sources.
- How many videos I watched about a book doesn’t really matter, all content from YouTube and Instagram on a book just counts as one source.
- Second source, noticing what random people are reading on the bus, metro, libraries, parks, waiting in the lobby before a play is about to start, or anywhere out in public.
- Third sources are books that are turned into movies or TV shows, I haven't seen people talk about this enough. A book being turned into a movie, for me, feels like a validation no one asked for.
- Fourth source, the most important one, books recommended by a friend. Books recommended by a friend are the highest priority item on the list just because I have someone immediately to talk to about the book. My messages to them are my journal entries on that book.
Not having a physical list that keeps growing forever is where the problem is. A tiny note in my brain which only remembers books based on how many times I have come across them is the best option. Looking up the genre and reading the description of the book helps with retention and helps a lot while making the choice. If I don’t know what kind of a book that is, it won't really help me decide if I am in the mood for it. Sitting and reading about the book while making a choice has turned out to be a bad idea. If I don’t know whether this item is fried or not, I would much rather stay away from it. I have noticed that whenever I do it, I get distracted by whether I should read this next and move toward whether this should be on my reading list mode. That again will prevent me from reading the book.
The exception of choosing a book that is not on the list is also a case. There are days when I do not want to explore and just read familiar kinds of books. I would want to read new books, but something that feels familiar, I am not talking about reading a book again. This is when I go back to a random book by an author I liked, regardless of how many times I have come across it. Does not matter if a friend recommended it to me or not, does not matter if it is on the list or not, does not matter if I have seen it on my feed.
I have stopped consuming articles and videos on ten must read books, or standalone fantasies or any such reading topics. Instead, I am looking for reviews and theories of the books that I have already read. Doing so has gotten me to think more about the book, even several weeks past its completion. Looking at these contents has made me look forward to the time when I get to reread these books. I hope the To Be Re-read list will not be such a pain in the ass.