What To Read Next....
By Kimberley Allen McNamara
As more of us head back to the office or seek the sun or a vacation of some sort from this past year’s tedium and day-melding-into-day, we seek our book-candy as an accompaniment. To be honest, I like books but sometimes I have a problem finding my next book.
How do you find your next book?
If you’re like me, you read a good book and you really love this book but then the last page has been read and you are left with what? A wonderful memory of a good book BUT also a giant, empty hole by your lounge chair, in your beach bag, on your bedside table, on your tablet or if you listen then a space on your phone.
I grieve when I finish a good book, I want another that is similar to or at least taps into what I loved about this marvelous one I finished.
But when you finish a really good book, unless there is another one to read by this wonderful author that you haven’t already read, you find yourself floating or treading water looking for the next branch to cling to, for the next good read.
Enter sites which offer to help you do just this: find a book that is similar to the one you recently finished and are still not done grieving but may be different enough to shake you out of your imposed ennui.
Gnooks
Gnooks is relatively easy to use: you click on the above link and then you get up to enter up to three authors' names whom you have enjoyed and voila! Gnooks produces a author name you might like. You then have to choose between, I like it, I don’t know, I don’t like it beneath this author’s name (you’ll have to open another tab and enter this suggested author’s name and read an excerpt of one of their books to see if they are indeed a good fit.
I usually click: I don’t know, because that will give me another author suggestion based off of my original Three Author entry.
Sometimes, I do check I don’t like it or I like it which will also advance me to another author but will mean I will have to pause and look up the authors if my response is to help the algorithm I’m sure Gnooks complies.
Instead, I flick through and acquire suggested author names and then set about researching these authors to see if they are a good fit.
GoodReads & Amazon
You sign up for an account, enter what you’ve read and rate these books. The site searches to see who else liked it and offers up what readers similar to you are reading.
But now that GoodReads has been acquired by Amazon I’m a bit leery of the authenticity of the suggested reads, are they fueled by like minded readers or Amazon readers?
Usually, I buy my from local Indie bookstores and/or online from bookstores operated by BIPOC. But I need to have a book recommended to me that fits my current criteria so Goodreads and Amazon can be good sources of knowing what books readers have bought together or shelved on their Goodreads shelves.
In truth, I buy books from Amazon (when I need a quick Kindle download, or an Audible) but when I am searching for a book recommendation I want to pan other rivers to find the gold, true gold, not something shiny. Plus the fact that my family uses the same account muddies the waters for recommendations on Amazon.
Riffle
Riffle is also more of a social networking bookshelf. Think of it as one of those Tiny Libraries. You become a member. State what you are currently reading, three books you really like then you can pick various Readers to follow—these readers are usually editors, poets, book bloggers. By picking these Readers to follow recommended books be sent to you via notifications.You don’t have to follow these Readers in order to get recommendations but by doing so you get more suggestions of what to read.
Litsy
You have to sign up for Listy, of course. And it is free. You then can search for a book, by entering the title and/or author. This will pull up members reviews and if you liked this book you can follow like minded readers to see what they are reading. You may also post a review of a book but it is not a simple heart post or a thumbs down. You actually have to write a blurb and post a picture of the book. The site keeps much of the info as possible hidden from google so as not have it become machine driven.
AllReaders
AllReaders is a simple no frills website similar to ordering at food online where instead of ordering extra sauce on your pizza or no croutons on your salad, you check off what you are looking for in terms of plot. The first criteria centers on what percent of the book deals with: violence/chases, planning, puzzles & debates, characters & relationships, physical objects. All these categories must be answered and the percent totals must equal a 100.
From there you can pick the protagonist, the antagonist, their professions, their ethnicity, age. You also enter information regarding the type of setting: big city, small town, desert, mountain… as well as the time period. Hit enter and you get a list of titles with authors and links to said titles.
This site is especially good for locating a book that is a thriller or suspense or murder mystery. I found this site easier for me as it cut to the heart of what I was looking for in my next book, but then I enjoy mysteries, thrillers and suspense.
Book Clubs (think Reese Witherspoon’s or Oprah’s)
These online book clubs are like the Book of the Month club, they make recommendations based upon the groups criteria (ie: women only authors, emerging authors, experimental voices…)
Friends
And finally, a tried and true method, ask your friends what they are reading or what they’ve recently finished. Take a walk through a bookstore and see the staff picks, if you’re an avid reader, the staff are most likely your friends too.
A current survey of my friends and what they are reading consisted of:
The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
You Should Have Known by Jean Hanff Korelitz (the Undoing on HBO was based on this novel)
How to Write An Autobiographical Novel by Alexander Chee
Wonderworks: The 25 Most Powerful Inventions in the History of Literature by Angus Fletcher
Weather by Jenny Offill
Give the above sites a try and let me know your thoughts.
