"Where do you find books" or "How do you decide what to read next?"

I am often asked how I find titles, new books to read. The question is usually followed by “I don’t know what to read next.” I can only give my recommendations and here are the places where I pick up titles I want to look into and possibly read:

1)      Friends and family: They know I read and I know they read, so book suggestions are often passed my way.

2)      Magazines and newspapers: Chicago Tribune’s Printers Row Book Section looks great. It begins February 2012 and while I am interested, it is a $100/annual fee to have it delivered with my Sunday paper. Not sure I am that interested. I read the book section of any magazine that has one, no matter the magazine. Everything from Vanity Fair to People to Entertainment Weekly.

3)      Libraries and bookstores: Most of these places have staff picks or bestsellers. I would love to find a staffer whose picks are dead on with me and can always show me something new – but then I have visions of Elaine on “Seinfeld,” sharing her video picks with “Vincent,” who turns out to be a 15-year-old boy. And wandering the shelves, you never know what you will find.

4)      Lists: This can be anything from the New York Times bestseller list to Pulitzer Prize winners to a magazine’s “best of” list. I flip through them all and if something catches me, I look into it.

5)      Basically, if you can retrain your eye to look for books and titles, you will find them everywhere. And sometimes that is not a good thing – I am overwhelmed with all the books I want to read, all the favorites I want to return to, and all the “shoulds” I have on the shelf already.

 Here are some other ideas:

1)      Put it out to as many people as you can that you are looking for a good book. Once people know you are open, they will remember to pass recommendations on to you.

2)      Join a book club…or even start your own. Your best friends may be readers, or you have some casual acquaintances that you wish to know more and they are readers. I joined my current book club at the invitation of two neighbors and the majority of the members belong to the same parish – as we don’t run in the same circles (besides my neighbors), these lovely women are friends who I would not have made if it had not been for the book club.

3)      I will go to the library or a bookstore with a list of books and leaf through them, sometimes even bringing them home. I know they won’t all get read, but I have options and at least have the book in hand and can make a decision. Sometimes there are long books that I can’t tackle due to too many other commitments at that time, so I put it on a “to read” list and can come back.

4)      Don’t be afraid to pick up a book, leaf through it, read a few pages and let it go if it doesn’t work. There are too many great books to waste your time on something that doesn’t do anything for you. And you wouldn’t want to miss out on a great book because you settled for something mediocre. My personal goal is 50 pages – if the book doesn’t get me by then, I let it go.

5)      Just because it doesn’t set your world on fire the first time you try it, it doesn’t mean it won’t get your interest at another point. I have had a few books that I really wanted to like and it took me two, possibly three tries at it before I got past that 50 page mark and it clicked. If the book does nothing for you on the first try, let it go. If it keeps coming to mind or it gets recommended several times, give it another go.