5 Secrets to Finding Your Next Favorite Book

Hello everyone! Thanks for tuning in to this first post at The Cozy Hobbit Librarian! I’m thrilled to be starting this journey, and even more thrilled that you’re taking the time to come with me! Whether you’re a book enthusiast, a new reader, an audiobook specialist, or simply curious about what the big deal about books is supposed to be, you’re welcome here.

So, if you’re like me, you sometimes go through a bland reading phase where nothing is really sparking your attention. You can’t seem to turn the pages. You turn in stacks of library books that have a marker on page 20. And you read lots of blog posts and watch lots of YouTube videos and expect all these super-hyped books to be fantastic, but they’re just…not. Maybe you’ve tried over and over again to get into reading and just can’t seem to find a book that meshes with you, so you’ve just kind of given up.

Sound familiar?

Without further ado, here is the Cozy Hobbit Librarian’s five secrets to finding your next favorite book:

1.        1. Know what kind of books you like

We all know what a genre of a book is. People ask you what you like to read and you respond with, “science fiction,” or “fantasy,” or “romance,” or “contemporary.” And while it might generally be true that we gravitate to certain categories or genres within the sphere of books, it’s not a determining factor for what books we’ll like and which we won’t.

For example, I would say that I read mostly YA fantasy if we want to put it in very general and broad terms. But two of my favorite books are Cinder by Marissa Meyer and Skyward by Brandon Sanderson—two very science fiction novels. If I based all my choices on the library on whether or not they were fantasy, I would have solidly missed out on these two books. And how sad would that be?

So don’t judge a book by its genre. Instead, here’s what I want you to do. In your head or on a piece of paper or on your phone, make a list of your five favorite movies and TV shows, and/or your five favorite books. Then think about your favorite thing from each of those movies/books.

For example, my favorite TV show is Sherlock. I love Sherlock’s relationship with John Watson. I love their friendship and their devotion to each other. I love that Sherlock’s whole character arc revolves around him learning to empathize with other people, and learning that his empathy doesn’t damage his intelligence. I love the banter and the exchanges and the heartfelt moments and how deep each character is as an individual, making them even stronger as a team.

*takes deep breath*

Okay, I’m done with my rant. 

When I realized this, I went through my favorite books and movies and discovered that my favorite thing about all of them was almost the same: healthy, balanced characters who have healthy, balanced relationships. Deep conversations, playful banter, and meaningful plotlines all stem from good characters. My favorites consequently include Six of Crows, The Lunar Chronicles, Skyward, The Books of Bayern, Three Dark Crowns, Strange the Dreamer…I could go on and on and on (but we have a whole blog for that, right?). I would venture to guess that you have a similar theme or trope that really makes you excited about a book.

Maybe you love good worldbuilding. Maybe you love well-thought-out magic systems. Maybe heists and mysteries with twists and turns and surprises keep you up until four in the morning, frantically turning pages. Maybe a good romance is what gets you going. Seriously, take five minutes and just figure it out for a moment. I promise it will make your book-choosing experience so much easier. It’s made mine so much easier. (Bonus points: it made me a better writer as I was thinking about plotting my novel. So, this applies to pretty much everything.)

2.           2. Who reviewed the book?

This tip is more for thinking about whether or not to buy/read a book specifically. You can look for these reviews on Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or even the front/back cover of a book. Don’t know what I’m talking about? Have you ever seen the little plugs that publishers sometimes print on the front of a book? Maybe they’re on the back of the book, or on one of the first few pages. Most books, especially popular novels, will have them. One thing I always look for is whether or not an author that I already read and love reviewed the book—especially if that review is printed on the cover.

If the reviewer is one of your favorite authors, there’s a pretty decent chance that you’ll enjoy this book. Publishers go out of their way to find authors who write similar content when asking for reviews. A science fiction author likely won’t review a contemporary romance. Books that have only NYT reviews and bloggers on the front are slightly less trustworthy because you don’t know that person’s preferences. You may need to do a little more research into the book before you decide to pick it up.

3.        3. Don’t be spooked by labels.

The four general labels for books, at least as far as a publisher is concerned, are Adult, New Adult, Young Adult, and Middle Grade. I’ve noticed myself missing out on a lot of books because I consider myself a YA reader, and maybe a book was classified as MG or Adult. In truth, there are a lot of middle grade and adult books I’ve accidentally enjoyed, simply because I didn’t know what the book was “labeled” as at the time.

Middle grade has a target audience of 8-12 and explores themes of family, friends, and self-confidence. Young adult focuses on an age group of 12-18 and has a strong “coming of age” tendency. New Adult basically pokes around at the idea of becoming an adult. Juggling college, graduating high school, getting a job, maybe discovering the party scene (and possibly the drawbacks of said party scene), figuring out love and relationships and marriage, etc. A good example of New Adult has actually been recently re-classified: The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton.

The exception to that rule is Adult. There is no target audience with adult novels. Protagonists range from all ages (Ender’s Game is an adult novel and the book begins with an eight-year-old protagonist). The themes are varied and wide. In fact, labels are decided by the publisher based on the target audience, themes, and the age of the protagonist. A combination of those three things will tell a publisher how to market a book in bookstores and on websites. For example, Mistborn is officially an adult novel, despite how many teenagers and young adults grew up reading it. Harry Potter is a middle-grade novel and yet is enjoyed by millions of adults. The first time I read To Kill a Mockingbird I was eleven. The first time my dad read Percy Jackson he was in his forties. Basically, labels don’t actually extend past the shelves of a bookstore.

4.       4. Know who to ask

Fun fact: I discovered two of my favorite books (Six of Crows and Three Dark Crowns) because the seventeen-year-old girl at Barnes & Noble said I should try them. Never discredit the Barnes & Noble employees. Another of my favorite books was recommended to me by an English teacher. And another was recommended by my middle school librarian. I’ve also had librarians warn me away from books based on ones I had already checked out, and it turns out that they were right every stinking time. Seriously, I think they have a superpower.

It will never be awkward to ask for book recommendations from your local librarian or bookseller. You will never be a bother. Actually, you might be looking for ways to end the conversation quickly after an hour of listening to book recs. Librarians went to school so they could recommend a book to you. That Barnes & Noble employee decided to get a job here because she loves books and can’t imagine a better life than being paid to be in the middle of them all day. Used booksellers are literal gold because at some point in their lives they decided to quit their jobs, take a calculated risk, and start up some used bookstore on a street corner.

The real heroes of our world are booksellers and librarians. Never forget it.

5.        5. Impulse buying is usually not a good idea.

I used to be the worst impulse buyer when it came to books (stop laughing, Mom). And I would cling to every page of my books with all the tenacity in my soul. Nothing could convince me to get rid of my books. And guess what? I wasn’t happy with my collection. I found my shelves full of things that I guiltily knew I would never read, and I found myself making stupid buying decisions based on BookTube hype, pretty covers, etc. But to be honest, I love my home library a lot more now that it’s a bit more compact. I have an individual story and memory associated with each book. None of them make me feel guilty. I can just enjoy looking at them (and oh boy, do I enjoy looking at them!).

I am all for having giant home libraries. I’m building one of my own right now. But if we know before we hand over the cash that we’ll like the book (or dislike the book) it does help us make more educated decisions on how much cash to spend and how much room to sacrifice on our shelves.

I think reading the first chapters is usually pretty easy nowadays. Most books on Amazon will let you take a peek inside (take a look? I don’t remember what they call it) and read at least a few pages. If you’re at the library or a bookstore, there are most likely couches and chairs (or a floor) all over the place where you can plop yourself down and read a few chapters before committing yourself to the whole book.

 

All right, friends, those were my five tips for finding your next favorite book (or avoiding your new least favorite book). Go forth and read amazing things, and let me know in the comments what you think! I would love to hear your most surprising stories when it comes to finding favorite books.