How do you pick your books? (Hardcopy and e-books)

[StColumbofNavron]

I have so many hardcopy books and e-books that I keep buying. I'm a bit geeky about my reading (I know targets etc are not for everyone).

For the hardcopy books I can see them and set a target (e.g.2,4 10 books). Then I make a list of a few I definitely want to read and then add in some free choice hard copies to meet my target.

I find this so much harder for my Kindle, because I just keep adding to it (almost 500 on there at the moment), but it isn't easy to see what I have. I can view the list on Amazon but I can only really recall those I bought recently so it is a task to go through and see what I might read that I bought ages ago. I've read that people have randomiser spreadsheets etc but I have googled and cannot work out how to generate something like this.

You can group books on the Kindle, I started to do it when I bought them so if I fancied a particular genre I could just look in that folder. I stopped fairly quickly though as it was a bit of a pain in the neck. I have thousands on my Kindle so sometimes I'll start on a random page of my library and keep scrolling until I see something I would like to read.

In the last couple of years I have moved to listening to audio books more, because I can listen while I do other stuff. I have a subscription to Scribd so I don't actually own any of the books, I just listen and then look for my next listen once I've finished.

The only books that I buy hard copies of now are reference books (usually crochet, quilting, cooking or gardening).

I did sort of start collections, but the thought of actually going through them all is a bit daunting.

Have you considered taking part in a reading challenge? Or readathon? Sometimes a themed reading challenge can help kick-start an interest and it can go from there Some booktubers run them and I'm following a Christmas mystery one at the moment where you have ten challenges to read different types of murder mystery or thriller novels.

There also lies the danger of buying more to fit the themes . I do look at a few reading challenges though. I also trawled my kindle and made a spreadsheet with the books that I think I might fancy next year - 36 in total and a secondary column for second choices. I tried to be discerning, so I can look at my spreadsheet when I have a free choice box in my own challenge (that I created today). It has been a slow day.

I look to see what’s in the daily book deals on the kindle. Also, have daily emails from Bookbub,, which gives me ideas.

I basically sat down and wrote down all my books. One spreadsheet for physical copies (have about 1000 unread), and the other for kindle (about 600) and then i just go to random.org and get a random number which corresponds to the row in the spreadsheet and that's how I decide.
I'm obsessive so once the number is selected THAT's what I read, but normal people can keep selecting until they find something they are in the mood for.

@KingaBee that is exactly what I am after! But to sit and actually put together the spreadsheet is going to take ages.

I read book reviews from major periodicals, and make notes of books referred to in articles. Sometimes I'll pick a book if it's by a major respected author that I've liked before.

I find that whenever I try something new and trendy, I almost always regret it.

[quote StColumbofNavron]@KingaBee that is exactly what I am after! But to sit and actually put together the spreadsheet is going to take ages.[/quote]
Yeah it is time consuming but once it’s done it’s done and it’s very satisfying abs going forward you only need to update it with new books you’re buying.

@KingaBee

I basically sat down and wrote down all my books. One spreadsheet for physical copies (have about 1000 unread), and the other for kindle (about 600) and then i just go to random.org and get a random number which corresponds to the row in the spreadsheet and that's how I decide. I'm obsessive so once the number is selected THAT's what I read, but normal people can keep selecting until they find something they are in the mood for.

Wow this is amazing. I just rummage around in my big box of books until I find one that grabs me.

I walk into a book shop and browse. I talk to friends about what they've read recently, and I read this board. I'm also very tempted by the look and feel of the physical book itself. I bought Klara and the Sun in hardback recently because it was such a gorgeous edition that I didn't want to wait until paperback.

With re-reading, I just get a hankering for a particular sort of book and look at that genre's shelves until one appeals. (Yes, I try organise my shelves by genre. I'm a frustrated librarian at heart)

Thousands of books on your kindle ?? Oh, no, that would make me anxious about when I would fit the reading time in - and put me off finding new ones.
I get the Sunday Times and read their lists, I check a book on Amazon, mostly reading one /two stars posts.
I just listened to Where the Crawdads Sing - good book but a bit frustrating (as to how her life could have easily been easier). Have started Girl A but am not liking the story much. Read Damon Galmut's book - v good.
For less mainstream books I listen to Radio 4 and have found some really good books from A Good Read. Also the library app but as far as I can see they don't update the books often.

Never occurred to me to have a system!

I seem to have just over a thousand titles on my kindle app - but probably three quarters of those are free samples, the idea being that if I find I want to read the complete work I I’ll buy the physical volume. Unfortunately my brain is inclined to think that opening the sample and casting my eye over perhaps ten pages means I’ve ‘read’ the book. Head now full of unconsidered trifles …

I have no idea how many unread printed books are loitering on my shelves - it’s too horrifying to think about.

External occupational pressure is probably the biggest driver of my reading decisions at the moment; I’m always finding I don’t know enough about this or that. But necessary reading encompasses fiction and non-fiction, so there’s no real advantage in any systematic organisation or prioritisation.

@YourenutsmiLord I am one of the few people who very actively disliked Crawdads. The only good thing that came out of it for me was it prompted me to reread To Kill a Mockingbird.

Really, the ‘system’ as such is just to not forget the books I have already bought when they aren’t on page 1 of my Kindle. Book shelf books I can see at a glance.

I've just abandoned Girl A - got to about a third of the way through and that was enough. I'm not sure how it got so much praise.

I have 100’s of books on my Kindle because I buy them when they’re on offer but only if I’m interested in reading them.
I’ve decided to read a ‘classic’ each year so having just finished Windswept and Interesting by Billy Connolly am now reading The Catcher in the Rye.
It is a problem though deciding which book to read next.

If I don't know what I fancy reading next, I have a very sophisticated system....I basically point whichever child is nearest in the direction of the shelves, tell them to grab one from the 'unread shelves' and that's it! Book picked!

On my Kindle I try and have a list with the next in series in it (that I then have to remember to update🙈) and one of books that I think I might like to read soon. Or I just get a new one

‘Or I just get a new one’.

^ I am familiar with this.

@von1471 I read Catcher last year. He gets a lot of hate on MN, but I loved it. Yes, he is a moaner and whiner but he is a teen and actually in my opinion has experienced trauma and is trying to deal with it. (Hope that isn’t spoilery).