Thursday, July 28, 2022

Deciding what to read next

Woman holding book

Y'all, my apologies that yesterday's post ended up coming out today. I'm a little late. So sorry. I have no excuse. It's the usual stuff. Life and work have been busy.

I'm sure most of you reading this post or really anything on the bloggity would have a to-be-read (TBR) list a mile long... or at the very least, long enough to make a small pile of books. Picking the next book to read should be no problem at all, right? It should be easy, right? How to choose what to read next? What to choose to read next?



You'd think that after years and years or reading and reviewing that by now I'd have gotten to the point where it's a fairly simple process to pick what book to read next. Not so. Not so at all. And I see others in book groups frequently posting screenshots of their Kindle app asking for help to decide what to read next. How can picking the next book to read be so difficult?

Man in front of big pile of books

In years past, when I was on a tight review schedule, I admit, it was fairly easy. I had books scheduled to read where I had to post reviews by a certain date so it was always fairly straightforward to just pick the next book that needed to be reviewed to read. Read the book, review the book, move onto the next book that needed reviewing, rinse repeat.

These days, aside from a few authors that I still frequently review for and read advance review copies (ARCs) of their books, I pretty much read whatever I feel like reading, whatever I'm most attracted to at the time. I've become rather a moody reader who mostly goes wherever my whim takes me. It's a fickle way to be because my mood is a fickle, fickle thing.

For the most part, I tend not to binge read much because I like variety and I like to break up my reading so that I'm not reading the same thing all the time. I bounce around between genres so I don't get bored or overloaded by a certain type of book. Contemporary, sci-fi, paranormal, back to contemporary, some fantasy, a little sweet romance, some steamy romance, and so on.

If I did binge read, I would probably only read two or three books by the same author before I needed a break even if I'm working my way through a long series or a big backlist. I tend to be a bit paranoid about reading too much of one thing because too much of one thing can't be good, can it?

Bookshelves read

Take right now, for instance. I've recently discovered a new sci-fi romance author and I'm loving her books. I read two books in a three (so far) book series and immediately decided that I wanted more of that world and those yummy alien brothers, so I dove into book three. But then I got tired halfway through book three and set the book down. I renewed my reading the next morning and finished the book, still enraptured by the characters and the world.

Now I have a dilemma. What do I do next?

This author has other connected series that's been previously published and there are three different series I could read and continuing to binge this author. There's an eight book series, a three book series, and a four book series to continue my binge. But then I remember I'm not a binge reader (am I not, really???) and I'm worried about overdosing on this author and you know, worrying about getting tired of this author's books and getting sick of them. But I kinda still want to stay in this world.

And then I discover that the next series I'm thinking of reading starts with a prequel which leads into a second chance romance in the last book in the series. I hate prequels but that's a whole other thing, and now I have another dilemma. When do I read the prequel? Do I read the prequel first, or do I start with the first book in the series, read all the way to just before the last book in the series, then read the prequel and dive right into the last book. What to do?

Book with rose

Plus I've got other books waiting to be read. There's a dark (I'm told it's not very dark) mafia romance, a contemporary romance, some shifters I'm rather enamored with, and a favorite author whose backlist I'm slowly working my way through. What do I do? Why is deciding what to read next so difficult?

I'm usually a fairly decisive person, but every now and then, I get a little stumped. Right now, I'm genuinely in a position where I am trying to decide between continuing to binge that sci-fi author I've discovered and reading something else for a change of pace. It's a much more difficult decision than I thought it would be. I'm actually waffling about what to do. I'm even considering posting in one of the book groups I'm in and asking what to do next. Of course, then I have to wait for responses to my question and what do I do while waiting for numerous strangers to chime into my indecision?

Truth is, I'll probably read something different for a change of pace. There's that whole overload paranoia that I am dealing with. And there's a new contemporary romance by an author I quite like that's caught my attention so I'll probably read that since it's going to be fun, steamy, and not too long. Something I can read in an afternoon.

Romance dice

I realise I'm very blessed in my love of reading. It's a fantastic hobby to have and between reviewing books that are sent to me, Amazon's plethora of offerings, and the big world of Kindle Unlimited, I am spoiled for choice. On any given day, I have more to read in my TBR than I will ever read in my lifetime. And that TBR keeps growing because everyday there are new books being published by new authors, favorite authors, and soon to be discovered authors. The list is endless. I've actually given up trying to keep track of what's in my TBR and just go with reading whatever I'm in the mood for.

Today? I'm kind of in the mood to keep binge reading that sci-fi author but I'm also in the mood for a change, so let's see what I decide when I finally get to reading.

What about you? How do you decide what book to read next? Are you moody or methodical?


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8 comments:

  1. I know exactly where you are coming from I read and review a lot of books and i am way behind at the moment there have been so many new releases of fabulous books, and choosing what to read nmext is very hard, these days I try to check the release day of the book and what I feel like reading and do the best I can :)

    Have Fun

    Helen

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    1. You are a reading super star, Helen. Your support to authors is amazing.

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  2. What to read next? The big question! I try to read the latest landings on my kindle, and usually manage, although a few slip by. Recently I've just read the final four in the Julie Ann Walker Deep Six series. There was a big gap between 2 and 3, and they fell by the wayside. The final one came out recently so I decided to read book 3, and couldn't stop. At least I had bought books 3, 4, and 5 at reduced prices, and one was free. So result!
    Prior to that, I think the last author I discovered and binged more than 3 on, was Anna Hackett, and that was in 2018
    Yes, I usually wander through the genres too.
    And who is the scifi author you've just discovered?

    Gill

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    1. Hey Gill, the author is Michele Mills. Gotta admit, after a bunch of her books, they all seemed to get very same old, same old. Like I could predict her "formula" for the stories so I've eased off on them for now cos they were starting to run together and get kinda boring and repetitive.

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  3. Oh, I've got a few of hers in my unread pile. Must have been free or in anthologies. Not read any yet. You should check out Veronica Scott
    Gill

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    1. I've got Veronica Scott on my TBR. She's got so many books I do not know where to start.

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    2. Difficult to recommend where to start. I did a small binge read (a bingette?) something like 5 years ago after I discovered her in the first pets in space. The Badari Warriors are great, and the Star Cruse stories are novellas from the pets in space books.
      Gill

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    3. Might do the Star Cruise novellas. I think there's one about some kind of time loop that I've bookmarked.

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