Where do you find reliable recommendations for good books?

It does depend on the kind of books you like reading. I like literary fiction and also quick reads like psychological thrillers etc. For literary fiction I tend to look at Booker Prize long lists (including past lists), Waterstones prize winners, the Sunday Times list of best 100 books of all time, that sort of thing. For the quicker reads I tend to follow various bookclubs or people on Instagram. For example, Reese Witherspoons book club. Although I do get annoyed by book people on Instagram who are obviously just plugging books they have been sent for free by publishers. Some book shops on Instagram do a weekly post about their top 10 best sellers and they are good to follow for a decent mix of books e.g One Tree Books.

I use my local library but always go when I have time to browse, and it’s free.

The weird girl literature forum on Reddit

The 26 books thread on here! I also keep an eye on the women’s prize and booker prize and will often choose something from these lists.

My starting point is usually a book review or an article talking about books in some way. If something sounds potentially interesting I do an internet search for reviews and explore some of the sites that come up, which produces more paths to follow... and thus I meander through cyberspace until I'm fed up or have accumulated a list of solid possibilities (which I usually check again - just reading the blurb, maybe the Kindle sample - this used to be more helpful, but the samples are no longer a continuous chunk - before committing my cash).

I always follow up titles and authors that are mentioned incidentally in reviews - that helps me find non-contemporary fiction. Authors talking about influences are good for this too.

I have a ngeneral purpose notebook which comes in handy for jotting down possibilities. I annotate when I get a chance to do a bit more research. When I'm buying a batch of books I go through my jottings and order a selection.

I'm always looking for good sources of reviews - I used to rely on the Grauniad, but it's changed and so have my tastes.

Reshelving Alexandria Facebook group.
The Literary Life Podcast Facebook group.

Of course it subjective. And every book review is down to whether the reader enjoyed it or not.

MN is more reliable than a first glance would imply though - it tends to attract a broad church of views, and people will often make alternative suggestions openly and honestly, rather than being paid for doing so or being driven down a social media algorithm. People are happy to discuss the books they are reading and there is usually a high degree of joy and humour in the posts. It is a useful resource, and has currently added more to my "to be read" pile than any of the reviews I have read this year in a newspaper, prize list, literary festival or podcast.

It is like having a drop-in book club (thank you Mumsnetters!).

Oh, I don't disagree, and I've often been reminded of things I'd meant to read, or intended to reread by posts on here.* I'm just responding to 'not that great' point, which is going to be different for everyone. I mean, I'm as likely to think 'Did we read different novels?' after reading a review in the LRB as on here or on Goodreads.

*Someone on here reminded me of Solvej Balle recently, who had been on my 'Must read sometime soon' list for years.

Do you use your library? I browse the genres, get recommendations from my lovely librarian, read the handwritten reviews on display there! And if you don’t enjoy the book, no harm done or money spent!!

I swap books with friends as we seem to like similar, friends on FB recommending books. At moment am mad on Lisa Jewell after a recommendation about The Family Upstsirs. I also just browse Library, charity shops, book shops and if a book grabs me thats all it takes. My middle lad got me a few books and every one was brilliant dont know how he did it, though I questioned 1 of the titles ( What kind of mother are you) but it was actually a great read
I can also recommend, (if you've not read)
Lion which is an Autobiography by Saroo Brierley
The Light between oceans. M L Steadman ( also a film)
I'm also a Sophie Kinsella fan i like something lighthearted too which after reading a Lisa Jewell I need lol.

That literature map is great just checked it out. Thanks for posting

The advantage of sites like this is that you can ask “if I liked x book, what else might I like?” Then you will get recommendations from people with similar taste to you

I’d really like a “I liked this character, what else would I like” rather than I liked this book. I like reading a particular kind of feral protagonist, and they’re quite rare.

People ask this sort of thing all the time on some of the Facebook groups I’m on - the questions can get highly specific! (Sometimes too specific - people saying “I only want books where the lead character is x, with y powers, in a z situation and absolutely no a b or c. And it has to be with a sense of doom / fun / combat vampires” )
But that level of detail aside, chat groups can be good for this, at least to spark options anyway.

Relatives, friends but mainly through standing in Waterstones for half a hour browsing

Emails from Waterstones, Penguin, Persephone books and others
Guardian and Observer reviews
MN
Friends
Well curated book shops
I put them all on a Pinterest list so by the time I come to read them I've usually forgotten why I wanted to!

I'm going to big up the local library too! OK, I have skin in the game as I work for one. There are book obsessives that work in every library. When you find one that loves your favourite genre, they will have lots of recommendations for you. I will recommend the website www.fantasticfiction.com. Put in an author; if you look at the bottom of the page, it will show similar writers. Also, perfect for a full list of any book series you may be currently reading. But please check your local library first, if you can💜

whichbook.net is good because you can set criteria to suit your mood.

I also watch Jack Edwards on YouTube. He's a bit like an excitable puppy but I'm in tune with his book recommendations.

Booktok

I do look at literary magazines a lot, LitHub is a good one for recommendations often. I also like the New Yorker book reviews, n + 1, 3AM magazine.

Book reviews in papers : the Times, I and Guardian are good. They can have features like lists around a certain theme. Eg. The Guardian Top 10 Books About lists are very good :

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/mar/05/ten-best-london-underground-scenes

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/mar/29/top-10-stories-about-wolves-wolfish-erica-berry

Tracking publishers I like : small presses like Fitzcarraldo and Tilted Axis for translation, Persephone and Virago for lesser known women, as well as the big ones like HarperCollins and Penguin.

Prizes : Booker, Nobel, James Tait Black & some others.

I find it really interesting to try and see the clockwork that makes a character work! I also like trying to understand why I bounce off certain books that should be right up my street. Authors aren’t always reliable - I think Remains of the Day is one of the best books of all time, but couldn’t stand Never Let Me Go.

It's a tangent to the subject of this thread but it's the other way round for me. Loved 'Never Let Me Go', found 'Remains of the Day'... really not to my taste. However, I do find it interesting that there are authors who can produce what are really quite radically different works and which are extremely well regarded by different people, rather than just swimming in the same pool. Hilary Mantel was like that, and Graham Greene. I think it's a sign of someone who is truly a master of their craft.

Friends
on here and also The Bookload group on Facebook. I'm pretty mainstream and know what genres of books I like now aged 57.

I quite like googling my favourite author’s and finding out what books they themselves recommend. Eg Barbara Kingsolver loves Middlemarch and rereads it regularly.

President Obama’s recommendations are always interesting too.

The New York Times Book Review. I gather there is something similar in the U.K.