So I’m sort of a big reader but sort of not. I started reading again a couple years ago (last time I read was from my childhood), and had been reading mostly Capital R Romance books by Reddit suggestions. Sometimes I go on other subreddits to read other genres.
But how are you supposed to find books to read in so and so genre or subgenre without using Reddit? Like is there ANY other way of scouring some book database? For example, I read Kate Daniels (like 11 or 12 books all in one go) and I wanna read some other urban fantasy. If I go on good reads and click urban fantasy, I see a couple of books under popular urban fantasy and that’s it. I see books under ‘new’, and most of those are YA, which I avoid like the plague.
So how would I go about finding Adult urban fantasy books? And I’m sure I’m going to soon branch into other genres. I didn’t spend my teenage and adult years reading voraciously so it’s not like I only want to see the new releases. I wanna get all the old books of the genres too. It’s just so frustrating lol because I wish there was a website that acted as a book database and allowed genre filtering and search. Maybe there is and I just have no clue.
What do you experienced readers do? When I was young, and a big reader, I read just about anything. Took books off my school shelves and devoured them. Kinda lost now 🙁
Doesn’t help that covers are so deceiving. Most of the books I really like have horrendous covers I wouldn’t touch with a ten foot pole so I can’t even use book covers as a good judgement tool if I were to go into a real library.
by Additional_Long_7996
9 Comments
Groups like this, or on FB that are themed towards what I’m looking for.
My tried and true method is to find writers I like and then find out a) who they enjoyed reading and b) who they were friends with. I’ve actually toyed with the idea of doing an art project with a web of how all of the writers I read are connected but it’s a bit overwhelming.
So let’s take Jim Harrison. I love his stuff. I know he was friends with Tom McGuane, Guy de La Valdene, Jimmy Buffett, Gary Snyder, etc.
Then I move to Snyder. He was one of the OG Beats so I explore that social scene. He is also a Buddhist so I explore that scene. He was tight with Alan Watts so who else was Alan Watts friends with. And so on to infinity. I’ve found so many incredible writers like this.
I go to physical stores. I haven’t found anything online that fully replicates the experience of holding a book and “previewing” it according to *my* preference. just getting served an arbitrary chunk of the text to read through is appreciated, but it’s not organic enough to please me.
I like to eavesdrop on other people’s book talk as well. ie I read book subs 😉
Can I ask why you’re asking how to find it without using Reddit? It’s an amazing resource!
Only reason I ask is because r/books and r/suggestmeabook have pointed me towards literally hundreds of books I would have never read otherwise.
Browse at the bookstore. I read the back covers/inside flaps and make a list of what looks potentially interesting and put them on hold at the library.
I also read acknowledgements because I like to see which other authors an author thanks for giving feedback/support because a lot of times I will enjoy books by those authors too.
I….(GASP)….judge them by their covers…I’m not a good person.
Talk to the librarian. I used to shelve books at my local public library, and their is a tool you can use where you can search by search by genre and I can’t remember the name of it. The librarian can help you.
I watch a youtube channel called Tale Foundry. They do videos diving into themes and genres, then talk about several books that cover it and their different approaches to it.
If a video grabs my attention, I’ll check out the books they source too.
A bookshop.