Books

Sometimes I see something in the weekly reading posts here that seems fun. I also try the StoryGraph recommender occasionally, but it often gives me a very narrow set of recs that I've seen 10 times already. (You can tell it not to recommend specific books or authors anymore, but I consider that a last resort.) Mainly, I look at a lot of lists (new releases, curated/themed, "similar"/"readers also enjoyed", etc).

Once I find something that looks interesting, I read a bunch of 3-star reviews on Goodreads or StoryGraph, to weed out stuff I'd be likely to drop. Whatever passes that test goes on my TBR.

I hear about a book that sounds interesting (searching or talking to friends for recommendations), and put that next on my list. My next is Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky.

90% of the media I consume is off of reccomendation (so basically based on the ethos of a specific knowledgable person), especially when it comes to books. Find someone in your circle that knows their stuff, for example I got classical lit reccomendations from my HS english teacher, graphic novel recs from my fandom friends, and philosophy reads from my pastor. Most of the books I love were reccomended to me by a friend. If you trust the person's taste, they usually supply you with good reads, and then you can talk about it with them later as a bonus

I know a lot of people don’t like AI and I also feel some kinda way about it, but I found it pretty helpful here. There aren’t many people who read as much or are into the kind of books that I am in my circle, so I can’t really cover this via social connections outside the internet.

How it works: write a list with all the books you read in the past, plus how you rate them. Put that into Claude and tell it to suggest some books with a short spoiler free paragraph on why it would be a good suggestion.

Sometimes I ask for stuff that fits with what I already read, sometimes I ask it to suggest stuff that might cover blind spots or perspectives that I haven’t covered yet. So far I’ve enjoyed most suggestions and found some books I wouldn’t have found otherwise.

I read mostly classics, so if you’re into newer stuff it might not be as up to date.

Talking to people about what I'm currently reading or just finished and they give me recommendations, that's worked really well for me.

I have mostly used Reddit and Lemmy threads. I search for something like great magic systems or well-thought-out sci-fi and then grab some of the stronger recommendations.

Currently reading the Revelation Space books. They tickle the same itch as Expanse and Bobiverse, though the shifting cast from book to book keeps me less emotionally attached than the former. The influences on Bobiverse are strong.

Mentions in some other book I'm currently reading, reading an interesting review in a newspaper, recommended to me by someone, sheer luck.

Sheer luck? I like to roam used book stores, flee markets, yard sales to find a good deal on a book or two (I don't buy piles of them, and will consider myself very lucky if I find 1 or 2 books I want to buy). I seldom go looking for a specific author or title and make myself available for unexpected encounters ;)

Right now, I'm reading Jules Laforgue, a French 19th century poet for that reason. I stumbled upon his complete work in a yard sale here in Paris, hidden in a pile of trash there was this 1913 pale yellow cover, from a back then well known publishers whose work I know and respect, from an author whose name was vaguely familiar to me. I flipped a few pages and was deeply impressed by his verses. Purchased it, put it aside and started reading it a few days ago. I'm so lucky I purchased it! I like his poetry.

For non-fiction. I often follow the sources. I will find myself an introductory work on whatever topic I'm interested in, or maybe some book that is considered 'classical' work, and from there I'll follow their own sources. Since I read a lot of classical works to begin with, this means than I'm reading even more of those and (very) old books.

The thing that is helping me a lot in not needing a reading list, and to never wonder what I'll be reading next, is I always have a pen and paper available while I'm reading and I use them.

I jot down whatever quotation/references/ideas/impressions. And then I carefully store/index those notes with the many pothers I have accumulated along the years. Doing so, I know can always refer back to any notes from any book I've ever read, even years later, to quickly find whatever passage I'm looking for, including references to other books I might be interested in. I takes such notes with every single book I read essays, fictions, poetry (yep, I've already started taking notes on that Jules Laforgue poetry book I'm reading, and there are quite a few already). Even if on some book I end up not taking any note, I still have a card referencing the book and seeing it empty helps me remember I did not find much stuff in it (which in turns may help me decide I might not wish as much to read more from that specific author).

*This is a fantastic way of creating non-fiction reading lists, but I can’t imagine doing this with fiction–I’m just not that much of a literary masochist.

When you're not a scholar reading lists,should not be used to inflict yourself any pain (one is not a student in that class) but as an amazing collection of hints to potentially great reads.

Borrow any book from said list and give it a go. Not just a few minutes, give it a real chance: check the ToC, read the Intro/Preface and read a couple chapters as some books/authors maybe harder to read and to get into than others but still more than worth the effort. If you realize it really doesn't click with you, that's no big deal: close the book and bring it back to the library, pick another one from that same list. No harm done and no money wasted. Do you realize it's an interesting read or that you really enjoy it? Great! You may even decide you like it enough to be wanting to own a copy of that book, or not you will still have read it ;)

That 's how I started reading Milton's poetry and, many, many years ago, Emily Dickinson's. Two of those poets that never left me since I discovered their work.

My only suggestion in regards to reading lists, depending the field they claim to cover, is that one may want to show some caution in regards to the contemporary lists as too often they can be very... self-censored in order to avoid any polemic. It's a sad sign of the sad intellectual times we're living in, but it is still a reality. Older reading lists, say from before the 80s/very early 90s, will often be richer and much more stimulating and challenging intellectually. More demanding, too. Pre-WWII lists even more so.

My sister. She reads like no one else I've ever met. No joke, she can listen to an audiobook on 2x speed while reading a separate physical or ebook at the same time. Two books at once. Madness. Needless to say, she reads a lot and does a pretty good job finding good stuff. So I check in on what she's liked in genres that overlap with my interest. Check 2 is if I can find a given book at my library.

Friends honestly. I only have so much time anyway so I've got a long list. That and whatever the library has available in that regard unless it's out of copyright and readily available whenever.

I know someone using story graph. Evidently like good reads but not owned by scum? Seems to work for them.

I mostly read fantasy and scifi. I tend to read a few of one genre, then switch to the other genre. Example, read Wheel of Time series last year, so this year I have read back to back scifi for the first two months and will switch to fantasy when I finish my current book. Now and again I will want to read some contemporary fiction or classics, so I just pick those up only when I feel like it and usually as a palette cleanser.

Now to what books I will read for a genre, thats something I struggle with. last few years I have been re reading my favorite authors entire back catalogs after not reading their earlier books for a couple of decades in some cases. This makes it quite a lengthy process when I am re reading the likes of Pratchett or Tolkien.

Authors that are still publishing I wait a while then catch back up on their latest books. I like to read a few of the same books by the same person as you get used to the setting/style and you process them quicker.

Completely new authors I tend to go on reviews, books take too long to decide if I like them or not and it would take an eternity if I was to try and do completely independent self discovery of authors. If I know I am finishing a series of books I have already chosen, I research reviews, pick a few I like the sound of, then try them. Authors I like I will then follow for new stuff and/or read their back catalog, authors I don't I just forget exist.

it's about 50/50 between

1. going into a bookstore and picking out whatever looks interesting, writing down the name of the book and author, getting some more context about the book or skirm through reviews and buying it.

2. or just looking up "books simmilar to x" looking through recommendation threads on piefed/lemmy or such.

the "checking the reviews" part is especially important for non fiction, i'd rather not waste time and money reading about something that the author has no actual knowladge in

At some point a few years ago, I went to https://www.gutenberg.org/browse/scores/top and just downloaded everything from the list that day that looked interesting and threw them all on an old kindle. They haven't all been winners for me, but a decent number were readable enough.

For me it's usually a case of "I feel like reading fiction right now." I have a to-read list, and it's also a work of fiction.

I’ve started the uplift series by David Brin because of a single comment in a non book related thread. If I run out of books to read I’ll check out the latest Hugo or Nebula award winners but I’m not above judging books by their covers.

I don't have hard rules and processes to filter and order my reading list. But I know my preferences, e.g.:

• older books (especially when it's an inspiration to another book on the list)
• availability of exact cover and edition that I want at an affordable price
• shorter books (and series)

But most of the time the choice what I'm reading next is not an active decision.

My partner and I read the same books at the same times. We take turns picking the books. What we pick largely comes down to whatever we're vibing at the time.