One of the places I love to visit the most is the library. I get a rush just seeing all the books that hold all these amazing stories. It can also be overwhelming, thinking about the amount of stories that fill the silent rooms.
Which one do I pick? And how do I know which stories are worth reading?
Great books are everywhere, not just in the library, so how do you choose one to read?
Movies and TV Shows
I’ve read some of my best reads based off of movies and tv shows. If I like a tv show, or I like a director or a performer and I know they are working on a movie, I usually try to read the book first before watching it, if I like it that much, even after watching it. That’s how I discovered and read The Queen’s Gambit, which was still so enjoyable even though I read it a day after finishing the show and knew what exactly would happen.
Book Clubs
Book clubs are a sure way to find a book or several to love. Choose one depending on your interests and don’t be shy to unsubscribe if you’re not enjoying the books.
I follow two for now. Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine. She chooses books written by female authors all over the world which I absolutely love because through her book club I’ve read books by authors from India, Malaysia, Ghana and Cyprus to name a few. Some of my favorite stories are from her book club.
I also follow Lolade’s book club, she focuses on Christian novels.
Hello Sunshine’s website: https://hello-sunshine.com
On instagram: @loladesbookclub @hellosunshine
Good Reads
Good reads is my most frequently used resource. I don’t judge books by their covers but I almost always check good reads for a book review on a book I’m considering. What you can do is follow the book awards for the year, that way, you can choose one you think you might like and then read some of the reviews before committing to it.
https://www.goodreads.com
Favorite Authors
Sometimes I follow some of my favorite authors on instagram, twitter and good reads and check out the books they are raving about. I figured if they like it and I like them, then it has to be good.
Awards
Some awards like the Booker prize awarded each year for the best novel written in English and published in the United Kingdom or Ireland; the Orange prize for Fiction, awarded annually to a female author of any nationality for the best original full-length novel written in English and published in the United Kingdom in the preceding year. The Pulitzer prize for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States; The Christy awards for Christian works of fiction from a Christian perspective, the Hugo awards for sci-fi writers are great ways to find specific types of books that are guaranteed by the experts to be great.
Your Favorite Book Store
Take a chance, be whimsical, choose a book you know nothing about at the bookstore and be pleasantly surprised! Also, ask the people at the store, they know more than you realize. Some bookstores, like one of my favorites: Powell BookStore in Oregon, has a list of store favorites that are usually spot on.
Your Friendly Neighborhood Library
Register now!
You can also read ebooks on the library app Libby.
Book Subscription Services
Book of the month is one I recently checked out and they have a suprisingly great collection that is afordable if you like to own all the books you read. I’ll put a link here for anyone who wants to check them out.
https://www.bookofthemonth.com
Moyo Laditan 