The "big kahuna" of book sites is obviously Goodreads; so I poke around updating what I've read, what I want to read, hoping the suggestions it gives me will eventually get better and more accurate – but I'm unsure how much I should expect this result.
For better or worse I am extremely biased against anyone personally suggesting books to me because all throughout my life I've noticed 99% of people can't help but recommend a book because THEY liked it, not because they truly think YOU will like it. People's suggestions of movies/shows I should watch lends itself to this bias I have. Nine times out of ten when I read a book mentioned by someone else they weren't even recommending it to me they were just talking about it and didn't even clock that I would like it.
Just recently I was scrolling Insta and accidentally saw a post about Yesteryear and was instantly INTRIGUED by the synopsis. Found the book that same day and devoured it within a few days. It was maybe a 3 star for me in the end but I was still intrigued enough to blast through it. On the flip side I checked out ACOTAR when it blew up so huge and hated it so much lol.
I also end up feeling overwhelmed really fast with any type of media to consume. It's especially exhausting with media to be watched like movies/shows/etc because those are put in front of you a lot more in my experience. "<Everyone> HAS to watch this <new media> it's SO good!" and I feel instantly fatigued. There's so many new shows/movies that are SO good EVERY year. It all goes in one ear and out the other. I have a limited amount of time on this earth and I can't watch all the things.
I get a similar feeling with trying to go through my recommendations on Goodreads. I click through recommendations and after a while I start to get… idk nihilistic about it. So many people have been writing so many books for so many centuries it feels like a lost cause trying to sift through them even in a recommendations category.
And then I get decision fatigue. I add various things to my "want to read" list but then they kinda just sit there. Not the end of the world I guess, we all know about the plight of having a shelf of books we still haven't read and some mild guilt associated with them.
Not sure what I'm looking for from this post. I guess I'm feeling a little whiplash from it being so long since I had that instant excitement feeling of like "I HAVE to read that IMMEDIATELY" to going back to maybe another few years before I get that feeling again.
TL;DR: I'm struggling to walk a fine line between finding enough (any) books I'm EXCITED about and getting overwhelmed/paralyzed with centuries of possible book recommendations.
by firfetir