How To Find Book Recommendations And New Favourites- top tips and things you can get involved with!

 Hi Everyone, 

Finding books you enjoy can be hard, especially on a budget. You can never be sure you're going to enjoy a book and sometimes you just run out of ideas. So here are my top tips for finding books you like.

1. Browse the bookstore

This isn't a great one at the moment but it can be a good idea in normal times. If you like reading classics then there will almost always be a section for it or it will be mixed in with adult books. You can run your finger (maybe not at the moment!) along the spines until you come to something you like the look of and pick it out, read the blurb and either put it back or keep it aside. It's a great way to find new authors but not always guarantied to give you a good result.

2. Authors you already love

Sometimes you don't realise an author you love has written several books so do your research and find out! If you loved one of an author's books you will probably like the others!

3. Booktube!

I love Booktube. It is such an incredible community of people. My favourite booktubers are in the Booktube and Blog recommendations page at the top of my blog. There are links to all my favourite channels. I watch it a lot and I love getting excited about books they are talking about and when I next go into a bookshop I will think about getting a few. What I love about Booktube is how they give a brief synopsis so you can know if you would enjoy it. They often go into more detail about the plot and what they loved than a blurb. It's a great way of finding people who have similar tastes to you! There are booktubers for all genres and tastes! North and South is a great book I found via Booktube!


4. #ClassicsCommunity and Dark Academics Book Club

These are both online groups of people who come together and discuss all things bookish! The #ClassicsCommunity is mainly on Goodreads and you can find the links you need to join them in the description of all Lucy Powrie's videos on her YouTube channel. The Goodreads group has lots of pages you can ask for classics recommendations and there are lots of read-a-longs and more! The Dark Academics is a groups of- you guessed it!- dark academics. They talk about books relating to Dark Academia. More information on what Dark Academia is here! The Dark Academics is on YouTube and I personally don't join in but some people may want to. There is lots of information on Carolyn's YouTube Channel, CarolynMarieReads. You can definately get involved with both of these.

5. Friends and family

This isn't always a reliable source as different people have different reading tastes but if you know someone who enjoyed a book and you did too there is no reason they couldn't have read another book you might enjoy. I love talking to my family about what I'm reading and if I'm liking it! The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is an incredible book that I was recommended by my Mum. 


6. Try something new!

Sometimes it's good to mix it up a bit, I recently tried reading Skullduggery Pleasant. I didn't love it but I am now sure that English fantasy is not for me, I seem to enjoy French fantasy more! It was a good experience and sometimes it can surprise you! It's good to go out of your comfort zone a bit.

7. Penguin Little Black Classics

This is going a little off topic but for £1 or some £2 you can get either a snippet of a larger work or a short story, novella or poetry by an author. They are great ways of getting into an author or seeing what you think of their writing style. It is very cheap and short so easy to get through. If you like their short story you might want to read one of their longer novels. I highly recommend them if you are unsure about an author or want to start reading classics! 



8. Read articles

I love the penguin website for articles about new releases, seasonal recommendations and a lot more. There are lots of news websites or newspapers that have top book releases and everything like that.

9. Awards

This isn't always a good way to tell if a book is good, as I found out with the Carniegie Reading Challenge. However, it can be a good go-to, especially if you know what genre you like. I recommend the Goodreads Choice Awards as it has a winner for each genre.

10. This is cheating a bit- my blog!

I know...I just had to put this in! I hope that you all get recommendations or ideas or just keep up to date on what I'm reading. I hope you can get lots of reading ideas and compare your thoughts to mine! Remember, please feel free to share my blog link with any friends or family who might be interested!

I hope you have enjoyed this post and found it helpful! 

How do you find recommendations?


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