I have been reading loads of books that are marked as “must read”, but ultimately every single one is “meh” to me. I want to be able to find books that I will like A LOT.
Examples of books I read that were “meh” but overall nice to read/not terrible:
- Intermezzo – Sally Rooney
- My year of rest and relaxation – Otessa Moshfegh
- Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow – Gabrielle Zevin
- The midnight library – Matt Haig
- ACOTAR #1 – Sarah J Maas
How do I get better at choosing? I feel like overall reviews are not the best metric for me.
by femme-finance
26 Comments
Get off BookTok or whatever. Try going to a used bookshop and just browsing through titles. Usually if you find a few books you like that will be enough to propel you in a direction that’s right for you by reading other books by that author, other books in that genre, etc.
Develop a strong sense of what you like and don’t like, and follow only creators (or trust only those friends) who have a roughly matching taste.
If you have at least 5-10 books you love, pile them up (in your mind, at least) and try to find commonalities. Is there something specific about the writing style? About the plot? About the genre? Characters?
It can be helpful to pair each book you love with a notionally similar book that you don’t like. What’s the difference?
Get them out of the library.
What do you like in a book?
I enjoy reading books by authors whose books I’ve read previously and enjoyed, and I search for recommendations based off those authors. If a blurb sounds interesting I give it a try, and I’ll stop reading books that I’m finding to be a waste of time.
I also recommend using your local library instead of buying books 🙂 it has so many benefits and you don’t spend money on something you don’t love
I’ve had many similar reading experiences in the past (including with multiple books on your list!). The two things that help me most are (1) seeking out negative reviews and seeing if the criticisms others have for a book align with characteristics that tend to make me dislike books as well, and (2) finding specific critics, friends, or content creators whose taste tends to align with mine and then following their recs specifically.
The most popular books will still be liked by a minor pity of readers. I like to filter by making sure they’re 4+ stars and then I read the 1-3 star reviews. If the 1-star complaints seem to be about stuff that would bother me I skip it. If the reviews seem like whining over something I wouldn’t care about then I’ll give it a shot.
Based on the books you’ve read, it’s simple – stop getting recommendations from TikTok. Instead, just go to the library / a bookshop, spend some time reading blurbs and then try books that sound interesting.
By using your library.
I’ve been staying away from Booktok and Goodreads. I have friends that have the same taste as I do and we recommend books to each other. It’s not perfect but it has a higher success rate.
I also don’t go to book spaces for nonfiction book recommendations. I go to my group of friends at my hobby activities and they recommend books based on the subject matter.
Just go to a bookshop, read blurbs of books that look interesting to you and pick some out. Don’t look at booktok anymore
None of those books have universal acclaim. In fact, each one of those books have tons of detractors because of their styles.
Popular doesn’t mean “good”. Find what books you really like and go in that vein. Find a book club you do like, and
While I personally loved Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, and the Midnight Library, people whose opinions I respect truly disliked those books.
You happened to pick very controversial books – I don’t mean the subject, I mean opinions on those vary widely.
Use the library? I only buy very few books and usually when I’m on holiday
Are you opposed to the library? I buy books after I’ve already checked them out and know they’re good
Spending time in book shop and library is a good option. If you are a long term reader you can differentiate between a good book and average book.
Don’t buy them, borrow!
Stop listening to Booktok. Booktok etc is for the lowest common denominator folks—the people you’d never actually talk about books with in real life.
Use the library and Libby to read/listen to books, and if you fall in love and NEED(?) to buy the book, then put it on a list and buy it when it’s affordable.
Start listening to podcasts about reading such as Reading Glasses and find your wheelhouse and your doghouse. What makes you love a book and what makes you dump a book? Figure that out!
Join StoryGraph and move past the buzzy books on Goodreads. You can import your Goodreads stats, and get personalized recommendations based on books you’ve loved and books you’ve hated/haven’t enjoyed. You can customize your recommendations with themes you’re interested in, and topics that may be triggers for you.
If you’re on Libby with your local library, you can sample 40-50 pages of a book before reserving it or borrowing it. If I can’t get into a book in this time, I know it’s not for me.
I often look at Obama’s lists and the national book award winners.
Omg, this was me with I’m Glad My Mom Died. I thought I would love it based on so many positive reviews, but I literally had to force myself to finish it. I have a lot of sympathy for what JM lived through, but I found her writing style to be annoying.
Get off booktok and bookstagram. They never recommend anything good imo. Find a title that you loved, find out what genre it is, and then google “books similar to x” (or “books written by x author), or go to a library and check out their x genre section.
I use the library nearly exclusively and only buy books I love and want to own (fewer than 5 a year)
I don’t give many 5 star reviews…I read around 80 books a year and will have MAYBE 4 books I give 5 stars to. If someone has similar book taste (if you’re talking abt BookTok) then usually you will like their suggestions. Vice versa, if they loved a book I despised, I know I won’t like their suggestions.
Storygraph has this fantastic personalized ai section that analyzes all of your ratings and tells you exactly what you might like or not like about any given book when you search. It’s insanely accurate.
They also have a recommendations section. Highly recommend.
What’s worked for me is reading slightly older books, bc the hype has moved on and people have started looking at them without the rosy glasses.
since i saw you like 1984- i went back and re-read books from middle and high school. it eases you into classics and then there’s a whole world to discover.
Go straight to the returns trolley at the library, it’s where all the good stuff’s at. Also, ask the librarians. They know stuff. I’ve gone in asking for recs and come out with tons of good stuff – and they’ve told me what book adaptations are on Netflix that I had no idea about.