How do you pick your next book? I sometimes feel like I make this question overly complicated for myself because I think there needs to be a system. I’m very much a planner person with lists upon lists and structure and order. Oodles of fun, right? But buying and finding books is my chance to escape from that constraint I place upon myself.
So, how do I pick my next book? Like most questions such as this one, it depends. I have a few authors that I will always buy, no matter what. For example, even though she’s a fairly new writer, I fell in love with Erin Morgenstern’s “Night Circus” so much so that I did not hesitate to buy “The Starless Sea.” I also, tend to follow the bestsellers trend, I mean they’re best sellers for a reason, right? Unfortunately, this method has gotten me way more duds than favorites. After all, we all have different tastes. For example, I was just not a fan of “Elenor Oliphant is Completely Fine” and everywhere I turned people were raving about it.
My next method is through word of mouth. I have a very literary family and my three sisters and I have a book club over the summer. When my sisters recommend a book I know it’s going to be one of these three categories, horror/thriller, spiritual/hippie, or historical fiction. They all have their preferred genres and this is almost always what they read. This summer we read “Mexican Gothic” that somehow touched on each of their genres just enough to make them interested. My most favorite way to find a new book is on Instagram. When the bookstagrammers rave about something, you know it’s good. Alyssa Cole’s novel “When No One is Watching” was all over my Instagram feed, that I finally bought it and fell in love. There have been so many books that I have found and cherished because of bookstagram.
When all is said and done and I don’t feel like tapping into my TBR pile on my bookshelf, I will return to the tried and true Rory Gilmore challenge. There are so many books there that are unexpected and absolutely worth the time to read it. I read “The Godfather” because of it and I have no regrets. In the end, I always have something to read whether it just hit the bookshelves or an obscure book with a cult-like following on Instagram (I’m looking at you Rebecca) or a classic novel, there is something out there just waiting for you to fall in love. And sometimes when you take a chance on a new genre or style, you just might find a new obsession.
You can find the Rory Gilmore challenge here.
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