Where do you find reliable recommendations for good books?

[CrappyEndOfStick]

How do you find out about good books? My friend always recommends great ones to me, but I’m wondering if there is a reliable regular source to review and recommend books?

Any suggestions?

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!!