How on earth do you choose which books to buy?

[MyMomLovedViolets]

I have ADHD and have tried to get back into reading.

My anxiety is high right now and have just been to several charity shops.

I didn't buy a single book. I don't know what I like. I don't know what books are good. The range and sheer number of books made my heart race.

I know I'm at the extreme end of the wedge here but even without anxiety how do you choose your books?

Do you see what's rated well and keep an eye out for them?

I used to live Jodie Piccoult books many, many years ago. I just read Where the Crawdads sing and enjoyed that.

I need a plan because I really want to read but just froze!

I joined a book group on facebook.
Get loads of ideas from there.
Also when I’m the supermarket I take photos of the top 20 bestsellers then go home and google them and if I like the sound of any of them I get them from the library for free !
Also I have favourite authors and request their new books from the library too.
I think if you liked Jodi Picoult and Where the Crawdads sing you would like an author called Kristin Hannah , I found her quite similar style of books / writing.

Just because I really enjoyed where the crawdads sing too, I’ll recommend a couple of other books I’ve liked
The Great Alone - Kristin Hannah
The Four Winds - Kristin Hannah
You Be Mother - Meg Mason
Sorrow and Bliss - Meg Mason
The Island - Victoria Hislop
One August Night - Victoria Hislop
Little Fires Everywhere - Celeste NG
Everything I Never Told You - Celeste NG
Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine - Gail Honeyman
(if I like one book by one author I go through everything else they’ve written) :)

I choose books for all sorts of reasons and I read a lot. I get books from bookshops, online E books like kindle or through borrow box, library books or charity shops or second hand book shops.

Sometimes I will pick a book from an author I have read before and enjoyed

Sometimes I will read the blurb on the Coe rand choose based on that.

Sometimes I will just randomly pick up a new book from an unknown author.

It doesn't matter and there is no wrong choice. Hope you enjoy the book

Try this discussion group. V friendly and may have some suggestions.
https://community.abebooks.com/s/

You can also join Good reads and they suggest books based on what you have enjoyed before. I keep track of what I have read on there. You could also join a local book club.

What genres do you like? If you can work that out you're 75% the way there 😊

I was in a similar position to you at the beginning of the year. Hadn't read a book in about 5 years. I joined a Facebook group for my preferred genre and set my self a goal of reading a single book. It took me til April to do but it properly got me back into it. From April I decided I wanted to read 10 books this year, and I'm already on about 15.

I'm finding that mixing up authors is helping keep me interested. I found in the past that if I read the same author for several books in a row, I get used to their writing style and struggle to get my rhythm back when I exhaust their options and have to move on to something else.

I know that I'm firmly in the psychological thrillers camp for my preferred reads, and have just ordered about 10 different ones based on other people's reviews in the amazon prime sale thing.

I find Goodreads a handy place to build my list of books I've seen that look interesting and would like to look at in the future but will inevitably forget because ADHD. Very satisfying to move from "want to read" to "read"!

I read the last two pages in a shop.
Then I know even if I don’t finish it I know how it ends so it doesn’t matter.

Staff in bookshops are often very knowledgeable and well read.

Tell them what you like and ask them if they have any recommendations.

😂
The OP likes Judi Picoult!

I go for whatever is free on kindle. You don't need an actual kindle you can read on your phone or tablet.

I get a daily email from bookbub.com with discounted Amazon books.

But a Kindle is nothing like a screen. The lighting is different and you don't have the endless scroll, notifications or distractions of social media, pop ups etc. It's exactly like reading a book.

You could get the Kindle Unlimited 2 month free trial and see what's available. I can see there's at least one Jodi Picoult book available, so you could read that and it might suggest similar books.

There's also another JP book for 99 p. That's how I get a lot of my books - see if the ones I want to read are available for 99 p, many are eventually.

I liked Jodie piccolt when I was about 24. I'm 40 now so I don't know if I would like them still.

I just remember they were an easy read with toddlers about

I absolutely HATE romance type stuff.

Maybe suspense/thrillers. But not horror/gore.

I quite like historical settings but not anything too heavy like people getting hurt in wars etc

My kindle is a kindle fire, so it's a tablet too.

Have you read Hanna’s Daughters or Burial Rites? Both incredibly well written - they’re up there in my list of favourites.

Actually Burial Rites might be a bit heavy - so good though.

Ignore every other post and just search for Reece Witherspoons Book Club and work your way through those. It's not failed me yet.

The answer is to join the library. They have displays etc. Try those. Then read all the books by an author that you discover you like. There's no way I could afford all the books I read. Some times a cover catches my eye or you can search up if I like books by x who else might I like?

If you can afford to, ditch the Fire and get either a proper Kindle, for Amazon bargains, or a Kobo, for borrowing ebooks from the library.
You can build up a selection of books on it and read whatever you fancy et that particular moment. It’s so, so handy, and nothing like reading on a tablet or phone.

Have you tried audio books instead? I listen to them for free via an app linked to my local library called Borrow Box (you can also borrow ebooks).

I have a kindle but you could download the kindle app and then have a look on amazon. There is normally the choice to download a sample. Depending on the book that sample can be two to three chapters.

A lot of the time with physical books it can just be the title that catches my attention.

My advice is to have the choice taken away from you. Find a "Best books" list and work your way through it, one by one. If you aren't enjoying a book, put it down and move on to the next one. It will hopefully reduce the anxiety of choosing and possibly help you define what you do and don't like.

There are lots of lists, so to help you get started you could use this one Bookbub list

For psychological thrillers, Freida McFadden is a popular author. I'd describe her books as easy reads, short chapters, quite twisty.

John Marrs is another, his books are better written but again plenty of twists to maintain attention, chapters not overly long.