What are your sources for choosing books?

[Ursula]

I need to find a better way to find books to read. I get recommendations from here and from friends/family, I look at the best sellers lists, I look at the new books shelves at the library, and I listen to reviews on NPR, but I'm not having the best of luck, partly because I've read so much already, but also because I just don't think that bestsellers are a good indication of what is actually good, and people's recommendations are highly correlated with those lists, so...

Any other sources you can think of? I'm running out of books to read.

[SusanH]

I used to linger in bookstores for hours, read the NYTimes Book section, leisurely browse the library shelves ... all the things that are impossible to do with a toddler. These days I rely on word of mouth and blind luck. ;) I've gotten some suggestions from here and another literary site that I used to post at and still lurk at. My mother and sister make suggestions, but our tastes are fairly different. There is a fairly lengthy list of classics that I've never read to fall back on when all else fails. But who really wants to read Ulysses while their toddler is in the bath?

[kimmy]

Anytime I read a book, I rate it on Amazon (not writing an actual review, but just clicking a rating from 1-4). That way, Amazon stores all my likes and dislikes and then they recommend books to me based on what I liked and didn't like. It's all database driven based on millions of likes and dislikes matching up from everyone. It works pretty well! :)

[sandia]

I like to type in "top _____ books" in a search engine. For example, top spanish books, etc. Usually, a good list will pop up. I'll then look up a book and see what it's about, hopefully find an excerpt so I can see if I like the feel of it.

[Lisa Jo]

I do all the things you do Ursula. This board has been a great source of ideas for books. Another thing that I do is similar to what kimmy posted. I'll pull up a book I really enjoyed at Amazon. They always have that bit that says "people who bought this book also bought..." and I get some ideas there. A year ago or so I used that method to go on an English author kick after reading and enjoying Good in Bed. :)

[amykw33]

How about NY Review of Books? We subscribe, as the reviews are often as enjoyable as the books.

[Caryl]

Oops, sorry I'm so late answering this one!

I do what you do, too, except for looking at the bestseller lists. My mom and I generally enjoy similar books, and she's retired now so she reads & recommends a lot to me. I get lots of great ideas from people here, and I am starting to pick the brains of the moms in my playgroup who I've found love many of the books I do.

I also have three aunts who are great readers, and they've helped me. One of them has been a member of a book discussion group since 1987, and they discuss some wonderful things. I have her list to fall back on when I need it. Let me know if you'd like me to email it to you! They read some really wonderful things.

When I look up a book on Amazon, I also look at the Listmania lists that pop up. That can be fun.

Hope this helps! :)

[SusanH]

Caryl, I like those Listmania lists too! I find them very interesting.

My library has a free book review section called "Book Pages", which is a national publication made for libraries. I just went through December's issue and found 10 books in it that I'm now planning to read.