How do you go about choosing your next book? As with most things in my life, choosing my next book is quite a production. While sometimes (rarely) I’ll look at a book and drop everything to read it next, most often, I go through this elaborate song and dance as I overthink and weigh my options and check various reading challenges before finally making a decision.
These are a few of the things I think about when choosing my next read:
- Do I have any deadlines coming up? Maybe I’ve been approved for an ARC with a release date next week. (Yikes!) Maybe a bunch of library holds just came in. Maybe I planned a series of posts (like I might for Banned Book Week) and totally forgot about. Maybe I got an email about a fun blog tour.
- Which prompts are left for #mmdreading? Do any of the books I’m considering fit those prompts? If so, I’m more likely to pick up those books.
- How am I doing on my yearly reading goal? If I’m behind, I’m more likely to pick up a short book to get caught up. If I’m ahead, I’ll pick a longer book or a book I think I’m less likely to love since I have some wiggle room.
- How am I doing on my #2017debauthc? If I get behind on debuts, it’s pretty likely that I’ll put other books on hold to get caught up.
- Finally, which books are getting better reviews overall on Goodreads and the blogs I follow? Let’s be honest here. Imagine I’m choosing between two books, one with a 4.8-star average and the other with a 2.75-star average, I’m probably going to read the 4.8-star book first. Probably, but not necessarily, or else the other four points wouldn’t matter.
What helps you decide what to read next?
The Bibliophagist 