How to Find a Book

So many books, so little time ...

Dec 23, 2024

I like to read. Time gets suspended for me when I am fully engaged in a great book. So I am constantly on the lookout for my next selection. At this holiday time in particular, when I’m looking for gift ideas, I comb through year-end reviews, I search for “best of” lists, and I try to find out what my friends have enjoyed.

There are online services that attempt to help. Whichbook.net, whatshouldireadnext.com, bookfinity.com, findyournextbook.ai, bookriot.com, and Goodreads.com (which is owned by Amazon) all try different methods to make suggestions. I like to search for book recommendations on instagram, TikTok, X (formerly twitter), threads, and especially YouTube, where I follow Alexandra Roselyn, emmie, A Clockwork Reader, and A Dude Who Reads. I also really like Mandy Brown’s A Working Library blog.

Books are not only the arbitrary sum of our dreams, and our memory. They also give us the model of self-transcendence... a way of being fully human. — Susan Sontag

Sometimes I will go to Reddit, where the subreddits r/books and r/booksuggestions can be helpful. I even look at magazines in the library, like The New York Times Review of Books, or Poets and Writers. Everyone has an opinion.

In my experience, none of this searching is especially effective. I can find an author that I like and be disappointed in their next work, or find a glowing review and then hate the book. Oprah’s book club recommendations and Pulitzer Prize winners might turn out to be wonderful or duds for me. I have to actually start a book to figure out if I’m going to like it. That’s annoying.

I used to go by the thought that if I started a book, I needed to finish it. Now I feel like I don’t have enough time for that anymore. If a book doesn’t grab me after about 20 pages, I move on. I may be missing out on some great books because this impatience, but I may also find others that I really like. Who knows?

For what it’s worth, here are some books that I liked recently. I hope you like them as much as I have.

All the King’s Men - Robert Penn Warren

This Pulitzer Prize winning novel is the story of a Southern politician on the way up. It is also full of plot changes that will keep you guessing. I keep thinking about this one.

These Precious Days - Ann Patchett

Ann Patchett is a great writer, and these stories are fascinating. The highlight is one about Tom Hanks’ assistant, who comes to live with Patchett and her husband. Don’t miss it.

The Night Watchman - Louise Erdrich