This question has been bugging my mind for the last few weeks. I am a huge fan of Percy Jackson and the Shadowhunter Chronicles. Both of the series have a lot in common, with demigods being half human like the Shadowhunter’s, and having multiple books set in the same world.
I’ve also tried to venture into different genres like thrillers and rom-coms, which definitely helped. But now that I keep on trying to find other books that I think will be interesting like my favorite reads, nothing compares. And I constantly feel like I’m not reading the right popular book. I feel like I have to read new books being released all the time.
Other times, I feel like when I’m done reading all the books I WANT to read, it’s gonna be hard to find something else or that I’m missing something that I haven’t searched for or found to read.
by Triumphant-Smile
17 Comments
This is 1000% a you problem. I’d suggest unplugging from social media for a long, long while.
Nah I just try to find books that sound interesting to me and read them. Sometimes I like em, sometimes I dont. Sometimes I finish them, sometimes I dont.
Lifes too short to fuss about reading ‘the right books’.
Nothing wrong with having preferences for genres or styles or authors.
What drives the feeling you need to read the “right popular book”? Like, they are frequently discussed amongst your circle of friends or coworkers?
The reality you have to face is there is ALWAYS going to be some amazing books out there that you’ll likely never find. You can scour reviews and blogs aplenty, but sometimes it’s just serendipity too.
I have never had this problem.
If I like an author I read more works by that author, Along the way I discover links between that author and their contemporaries and so I try reading books by them,. Part of the fun of reading is exploring the landscape and discovering new works. Nothing is more satisfying than finding a book in a second hand bookshop and discovering it is great then following this new lead to discover more books that are good.
I am currently reading books by modernist writers of the 1930s including Evelyn Waugh, Anthony Powell, Jack Jones, James Hanley and Graham Greene.
I have never paid much attention to the latest best sellers. There is a filtering system at work in literature, books from the past that are still in print are generally going to be good – the millions of bad ones havent survived. New books haven’t been through that filtering system and despite being hyped and aggressively marketed often turn out to be pretty poor.
I read whatever I want. Do I use social media to find new books, yes. But, I don’t read it just because it’s popular. Sometimes I even avoid a book that super popular simply because it is and I don’t want to feel like I’m “following” the crowd. I do tend to stick to similar books because I know I’ve liked something in the past.
Most of the times when I have tried the new Instagram darling or Booktok sensation I am completely underwhelmed. In most cases when I have liked a book that was also popular I found it on my own without knowing about all the hype, or before all the hype.
For me, the best way to choose a book is the same way I’ve done it for 20 years. Reading the blurb to see if I like the premise, and then opening it up and reading the first chapter to see how I like the writing style. You have to go to a bookstore for this. But most of my best books were chosen this way.
Also sticking with an author is a generally safe bet. If you liked Percy Jackson, how about the other books by O’Riordan?
I avoid “best sellers” as a *category* and just read what interests me.
I don’t care what others think about what I am reading – although I am happy to talk about it if they are interested.
Read what you LIKE to read.
Not really, I find I’ve got better odds enjoying whatever I find on my own then what’s trending. Actually when a book is popular I usually wait to see Which ones if my friends liked it rather than assume it’s good. People like all different kinds of books after all. Like, in my family say Oprah recommends a book and my Aunt C loves it and buys copies for all her siblings. The family raves about it and loves it. This really doesn’t mean anything to me, since only a handful are big readers anyway, and I only have taste similar to one of the readers. Doesn’t mean I won’t pick it up, if everyone says it’s good I’m sure there’s something there. But I won’t be in a rush. What if it’s good in a thoroughly over done way, they just weren’t bored of the trope yet? What if good because it’s baseline political but those aren’t my politics? Trending doesn’t mean much at all.
And with genre; I mean kinda I guess? Say I finish a great new fantasy series and I’m on a roll, have got reading momentum, and can tell I’m still in the fantasy mood. I’ll totally go straight to Staff Recs in the fantasy section, but if nothing pops out that just means it’s a great time to reread old favorites in the genre. Or maybe something popped out from a different genre, doesn’t really matter to me. (Also my moods align much more with writing style then genre, so if I’m feeling light adventure I don’t care if it’s western, detective, history or sci fi, I’d rather the style match than the genre)
Nope, just the opposite.I tend to stay away from whatever everyone is talking about. I’m also all over the place with what I read. I tend to let my last book lead me to my next one.
I really just read something that I think I’ll enjoy. Some are better than others of course. Generally I look up what the general theme is and a few reviews. Sometimes I’ll just browse a book store and base it off the summary on the back.
I’ve definitely been excited to read new books that other people hype up. When you hear so many good things about a book, it’s can be easy to be influenced by other people’s excitement and read it to “keep up” with everyone else.
It took me some work to get out of it, but it’ll happen. One thing that helped me was getting burned by book reccs or hype. I’d get pulled in by the buzzwords, and I’d realize it didn’t live up to the expectations I was given. I’d end up with an itch I couldn’t scratch, and it sounds like you’re in this place right now.
It’s important to evaluate what *you* like to see in books. What did you like about Percy Jackson? The characters? The relationships between them? The bond they shared? Or was it the action scenes? The parts where Percy outwitted the eons old gods? Was it the pacing (fast/slow)? The mystery of who his dad was? The setting – a combination of modern society with ancient beings? Try to narrow down your tastes there and look for books with similar traits that way. It’ll be easier to find something you’ll like after you answer these questions.
Just because something’s popular or well known doesn’t mean it’s good. Most of the time, it means it was marketed well. A highly rated book on goodreads might mean that it got review bombed before the book even came out, so half the reviews are made by people who haven’t read the book yet. On the flip side, a poorly rated book might not even mean the book is bad – most of the time it’s controversial. Other times, it fell flat, or there’s random 1 star reviews over small things like the author making pop-culture references in a fantasy book or cursing
Going with whatever’s popular is perfectly fine and you’ll never be out of the loop, but it doesn’t mean you’ll enjoy it.
I like fantasy. I tend to try to read the new hot thing because a major bestseller will define a decade of books and it good to know when to start ignoring things. Right now there are a number of trends I dislike but I now know the buzz words that describe them so I can avoid them.
So you cast your net wide until you find a few things that sound good.
Read what you want to read, not what you think you should read.
it’s okay if you read only fantasy books that you would like. you shouldn’t be pressured to like a popular book.
some people just have tastes that didn’t fit the mainstream and that’s okay.
as someone that mostly likes fast paced fantasy with no romance rarely did I find a book tht would grab my interest on BookTok.
No because the hottest novels tend to be lowbrow trash. Like bruh, if you think you just have to read Fifty Shades then I’m sorry for you.
Just avoid BookTok and you’ll be fine. Too much mediocre crap gets pushed on there. Mostly horror, fantasy and thriller stuff too.
I am the opposite, I want to read classics all the time