How to find your next right book is almost as hard as finding your spouse, but let’s explore this together.

I’ve been an avid reader for decades, but I still struggle to pick the next right book. Notice I said the next RIGHT book. It’s super easy to find A book.

Because you are reading this post, I’m safe to assume you are a reader for a variety of reasons. (That’s another topic entirely!)

“We read to know we’re not alone.”

William Nicholson

Yes, this is a teensy bit like dating and finding your forever love. The difference, of course, is that you will not spend the rest of your life reading that one book. (Unless of course it’s this book.) 

Stay with me here, and I think this will help you. 

Back when I was an early chapter-book reader and devouring the Nancy Drew series, it was easy. I finished The Secret of the Old Clock and then I had to read The Hidden Staircase. And on and on. If it wasn’t my birthday or Christmas, then I’d pester my mother to take me to the library and find the next one. In school, someone else chose the books I had to read, unless it was book report time, and then we had a lovely list. 

Then came the long season of What’s Next? 

Different Ways Find Your Next Right Book

Here’s what works for lots of readers. I’ve dabbled in most of these methods to find the next right book.

• Book clubs. I love this Facebook one, and I’m a sometime member of my neighborhood club. It’s a delightful group but I don’t always have time to read widely. (At the beginning of 2024, I started a book club here on my blog–you’ll find a list of 24 book ideas and accompanying reviews here).
• Book podcasts. My favorite is Anne Bogel’s What Should I Read Next?
• Blog posts. I share book recommendations on this blog all the time
• Best-book-friend recommendations.
• Libraries and librarians.
• Local bookstore and bookstore peeps who work there.
• Amazon and Goodreads and a bunch of other great sites.
• AI (Yeah, this is on my list to try.)

But here’s the thing. It’s still hard to find the next right book.

Because the book that made your best book friend (BBF as opposed to BFF), the one you usually trust for book recommendations, laugh out loud last week? It might fall flat for you this week because you are not in the mood for a laugh-aloud book.  The book that Reese Witherspoon or Oprah or the New York Times recommends? Sometimes it’s exactly what you want. Other times, it’s totally wrong.

At least that’s my experience, and I’m thinking you can relate.

Back to square one. 

How to Find Your Next Right Book

Three things really help.

1. Know thyself.

What kind of reader are you? Let me just say that this subject is so deep and wide that I could write an entire post about this. Or an entire book. As an overview, though, ask yourself a few questions to get to know your reading style.

• Are you a one-genre kind of reader? Only fiction? Romance? Historical? Mysteries? Biographies and memoirs?
• Do you like to re-read books you’ve loved?
• Are you a vacation-only reader?
• Do you need to read the latest popular book because there’s so much hype and you want to talk about it? Or you want to read the book before you see the movie? Or the other way around?
• Are you a juggler? You read widely and multiple books all at once? (This is me.)
• Are you a literary snob, reading only classics or books that will find their way to a classic status? (And if you know this, then you should consider a new career as a literary agent.)
• Are you a series-lover who binges one after another? (I love a good mystery series like Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple, Louise Penny and Elizabeth George, to name just a few.)
• Are you a parent or grandparent always on the hunt for good books to read with your kids or grandkids? (There are so many benefits to this, by the way).
• Do you have no clue? (This is totally normal.)

2. Know thy potential books.

Once you’ve figured out where your personality meets the book world, the best thing to do is keep a To-Be-Read list, a.k.a. the TBR. How you do this is a matter of personal choice. You can use a notebook or your Notes app or Goodreads or whatever you like. (I shared one way to organize what you have already read here.) But it should be something you can find when you’re ready for your next book. I have used all of those options. Currently, I’m trying really hard to keep my TBR list on Goodreads. It’s handy. My “want to read” list has 96 books as I write this. Yeah. It’s a problem. 

3. Know when to quit.

This has been a problem for me. I’m not a quitter, but I have been known to start something and not finish. Ahem. (Crafts are high on this list.) But books, for some reason I feel like I’m obligated to finish a book once I start. But I know that’s not true. Nobody is forcing me to finish. I’m learning to set aside a book that isn’t working for me, for whatever reason. And this is important. Just because a book is not working for me today, does not mean it’s not a well-written book or that someone else might not love it! 

If a book isn’t working for you, set it aside. 

I didn’t make this up, but there is a “rule” floating around the internet. It’s the Rule of 50.  Take it or leave it. But it might give you permission and guidelines to set your book aside. If you are younger than 50, give a book 50 pages before you set it aside. If you are over 50, subtract your age from 100. That’s how many pages you should read before deciding. And remember, what you didn’t like last year might be good for you next year.

Now what?

Hunting for the next right book to read should be fun. It’s a time to learn more about yourself. It’s an adventure to choose your next book. And it’s an even better adventure when you find your next right book, curl up in your favorite chair, and open to page one.

Best of all, even without your next right book, you aren’t really alone.

Fear not, for I am with you;
    be not dismayed, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you, I will help you,
    I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Isaiah 41:10 ESV

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