Literature

I might have the opposite problem lol. Too much I want to read and too little time. I always wanna read them all.

To narrow it down, I search in my library/libby app and then pick the one currently available.

Sometimes a friend shelves a book on GoodReads or Bookwyrm (the fediverse book tool/communities) catches my eye. There's a SF/F bookclub podcast I listen to, and I learn about new authors and books that way (The Sword and Laser http://swordandlaser.com/). Then, I also get leads from talking about books with friends or co-workers. And, listening to other podcasts and talk radio programs, I get leads on books with different topics. For example, the NPR show Science Friday reviews books and interviews authors from time to time (and they also have a book club: https://www.sciencefriday.com/scifri-book-club/ ). The BBC Radio show The Food Programme does the same, and also does seasonal episodes on new cookboods/food books that are coming out ( https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qnx3 ).

For nonfiction, a good source is checking the bibliography or works cited section of the book.

i have a paranoid indie bookshop around the corner. i buy an interesting one. and put it on the tbr pile 😛

but seriously while that's true (and i do work that pile, just not in real time), i'll see ideas most anywhere (social media, press) and throw them in my bookwyrm tbr list.

last week those merged, i actually bought a book i'd previously seen and put in tbr, and i guess i'm glad i found it interesting twice. it is… on the pile

npr book concierge, the booker prize longlist, my wife, and browsing the library/bookstores.

There're tons of great recommendations in r/suggestmeabook - just use the search to find requests aligning with your tastes!

...oh. Reddit again. See, it's painful.

I like searching by publisher every once in a while: if a book I read is a particularly well done translation or edition, odds are the company have done a similarly good job elsewhere.

This is apt timing because I was just looking for a new book lol. Goodreads recommendations and lists, local librarian recommendations (on our library website), www.whatshouldireadnext.com, and I used to use a subreddit for a niche category of books, but I'm trying not to use reddit anymore.

In 2022, my recommendations came mostly from:

• Blogs that are not dedicated to books – I’ve left most blogs & podcasts that only talk about books because they tend to make my
• My local library & my local bookshop are both absolutely amazing and have wonderful suggestions for books I would never have found in any other way.
• When I see a clearly leftist or anarchist-leaning library, I enter and, uh… support them financially.
• Friends, of course!

Recommendations from friends and people on Mastodon, books from authors I already know or recommended by them, and in my case, for SF/Fantasy stuff, mostly, there's the Big Idea posts on Scalzi's blog. The authors post an article about their books, and that's usually enough to tell me if I'm likely to enjoy it.

I will literally judge a book by its cover. I'll check the genre and synopsis of whatever catches my eye. Friends (or other people whose reading tastes I trust) are my only source of book recommendations.

I've been using the SuggestMeABook sub on reddit. I just search for a title I've read and liked and then trawled all the comments that touched on it.

I've started to use the recommendations on StoryGraph the last few months and have been pleasantly surprised. The biggest issue I'm having is that my local library doesn't carry a lot of the more independent authors but I've managed to add a bunch of series to my TBR.

The old fashioned way, the library.

I honestly get most inspired when surrounded by books. Plus I can sample all the genres and authors at my leasure.