5 Tips for Finding & Reading Books

Sometimes you just run out of books to read. In life, this is very common, because nobody’s going to keep rereading the Percy Jackson books or they’d go insane! Everyone needs to consume new content to keep from getting bored. Sadly, some people have difficulty searching for new stories to read.

Luckily, I’ve come to your rescue and given you 5 tips for finding books you’d like to read. Before you begin, however, please keep in mind which genre you enjoy most, and whether or not you gravitate towards books featuring female leads versus male leads, or have no preference.

1- Book-tok

It’s a TikTok community where new books are hyped, and you can find people who post about their favorite books, book-tok is a pretty positive community centered around the love for reading. Some warnings though, many people usually write fanfiction on booktok or use it to recommend fanfics which some people may dislike.

 Additionally, there are a lot of ‘hyped’ books that may not live up to the hype, and you won’t find many underrated stories either. Additionally, it is part of a social media platform, which some people aren’t allowed to use.

2- Ask for recommendations:

It’s always a good idea to ask friends or family what their favorite books are, or what they’d recommend to you. I sadly understand what it’s like to have family members and friends with varying interests in comparison to you. The two of you just don’t enjoy the same genre or tropes and that’s fine. 

But if you attend a school or have a job, ask coworkers/classmates what they like to read. I promise you aren’t going to get weird looks, everyone reads (by choice or not), and you may even make a new friend through your efforts.

Now, for my shyer friends, who are too shy to talk to strangers, you’re good, stranger danger exists. Go online, go to Reddit, go to Quora, go to your favorite fanfic platform, and if you’re really desperate go to Tumblr for all I care and post an ask. 

Ask for book recs. People will see it.  It may take a couple of weeks, but people will reply, and you’ll have some books to add to your TBR.

3- “Don’t judge a book by its cover!” 

But that’s a lie we tell each other. When it comes to books, book-lovers are guilty of choosing the prettier looking book, the book with the nicer book cover. And I’m here to tell you, keep doing that!

Read books because the cover looks nice because I swear, the books with the more elegant and pretty covers end up being held close to our hearts. Half the reason any book is read is due to its aesthetics. Just choosing based on looks can cause you to choose more books, and find something memorable and new.

4-Don’t force yourself

If a book seems to drag on and has dry exposition and cringy romance, you should probably stop reading it. From my experience, forcing yourself to finish reading a book you dislike is like running a marathon on stilts.

Yeah, maybe you were excited at first, but the obstacles you’re facing aren’t necessarily your fault, it’s the author. Let’s face it, there are authors whose works appeal to your small brain, there are some authors who effortlessly make you grow a big brain. It’s no contest between a good author and a just “eh” one.

Overall, dropping a book is the better choice, because you end up making time for something better.

5- Reading slumps & Taking a break

I’ve been in a reading slump before, and it’s annoying because you can’t seem to summon up the motivation to read a new book that you were so excited for, not to mention rereading one of your favorites. I think if you’re having that much trouble with reading, you probably need to take a break.

You’re burnt out, I get it, it happens to the best of us. Take a few weeks off to indulge in other hobbies and do something else. And if you’re really dedicated, try audiobooks (because good audiobook recorders know how to bring the characters to life with expression, tone of voice, and flair). You can listen to them and do your chores or walk your dog (or walk yourself if you don’t have one).

Finally, you’ve gotten to the end of this list. Hopefully, it wasn’t too long! If it had been, you might have been done with reading for the day, and not have any time to actually go read your new book! Now that you’re ready, you should go out and begin writing your TBR (a list called To Be Read) it consists of books you want to read in the future. Not gonna lie, one day it’ll be so long, you’ll be stressed because you haven’t read the books on the list.