My Book Picking Process

Every time I get in a book rut, I can’t help but think that I have no one to blame but myself because I must be picking the wrong books. I took a moment to think about my book picking process was and decided to share and also see how everyone else does it. I think insight to my process can probably be gleaned from my reading habits post.

I think the fact that I go into a lot of books blind i.e not knowing a synopsis or what the book is about, probably doesn’t help my cause. Back in the day, I used to keep a running list of books that I wanted to read. This list was informed by anything. A recommendation, a TV segment, a review etc. At the time of addition, I may or may not have an idea of what the book is about but, by the time I scrolled down the list to see what was available in the library, I almost didn’t remember why I added it.

These days, I have given up on that list for two reasons. Increase in FOMO and joining Instagram. Our timeline is full of fellow book lovers and publishing houses, so I can’t miss any of the books that are currently on people’s radars and I always want in to join the conversation. The books on my list were at least a few years old and I’d just rather something newer. This is why most of my reads are current reads vs. back lists.

Since they are current reads, they are popular, so instead of adding to a list, now I go straight to my library and join the wait list and wait the endless weeks till it gets to me. Like I mentioned, if I see a book over and over on my TL and it comes with raves, I probably will get on that. See: Daisy Jones & The Six, The Farm, Ask Again Yes – all products of FOMO.

The other way I decide on picks is through my magazines. I subscribe to two magazines that come with book review and every now and then I take pictures and save them in a “Book Album”. I rarely come back to the album but coincidentally my FOMO books end up aligning with books I have added to the album.

Genre plays a big part. Most of my reading genre is fiction. If it’s historical, sci-fi or fantasy, I probably won’t touch it. I am a tad bit turned off by YA but I know there are some good ones out there. Celeb memoirs intrigue me, so I read a decent number of them.

The last method is simply, Leggy recommends to me.

I wish my methods were more exciting but for someone who doesn’t read physical books, I don’t go through the emotions of seeing a book cover (like maybe in an airport) and being intrigued or excited to pick up a book and read it. I love walking through bookstores but most of the time, I am already familiar with the covers and get more excited if its a different variation of a book cover I am familiar with.

In summary, the ways in which I pick a book are: FOMO, Instagram, Magazine Reviews and Leggy.

How do you decide on what books to read?

Taynement