Deciding what to read next when you have a 'pile'

[NoStraightEdges]

I love reading but have had a couple of breaks from reading (babies, caring for my poorly mum), which means I have a glut of books.
I've started reading again, but not at the same pace. Obviously I've managed to gather books; I've bought a couple, I've been given some and some I had in my reading pile when I was reading. So how do I choose the book I read next?!

How do you decide what to read next?

I've got, amongst others:

The Muse Jessie Burton
The Woman in White Wilkie Collins
The Gap In Time Winterson
The Silk Merchants Daughter Dinah Jeffries
An Arthur Conan Doyle
A Margaret Atwood
An Isabel Allende

And more!

Why not start with The Muse, OP? You could record the BBC adaptation and aim to read it when you're finished. That's what I'm planning to do, if my kids allow me.

(Although I have a couple of Margaret Atwoods on my pile too, which I'm also tempted by...)

It’s The Miniaturist that’s on over Christmas on BBC1, not The Muse.

I decide by my mood and if I’ve read more than one novel on a row, I go to non-fiction.

This is what I do:

Sit down with a stack of 10-20 books from the pile and start reading the first book. If it doesn't catch your attention within the first 2-3 pages, you move on to the next book in the pile until you find a book you want to keep reading. If you get to the bottom of the pile without wanting to read any of them, you need to buy more books .

It’s The Miniaturist that’s on over Christmas on BBC1, not The Muse.

You're right. Too many 'M's! In which case I vote for a Margaret Atwood, although mstrotwood's suggestion is a good one.

I've also got lots of unread books on my kindle (I buy them when 99p and need to stop) and if I'm struggling to choose one, I quickly scan the 'what I'm reading' board until I spot a mention of a book I have and haven't read and read that. I've just finished the keeper of lost things that I picked that way and I quite enjoyed it.

Thanks all. I got the Muse out all ready to read but haven't had chance to start it. Typical!

The Margaret Atwood is Madaddam and I don't know if I remember enough of Oryx and Crake/The Year of the Flood to read it!

Read The Woman in White, it is excellent