Finding Books

 I've had several people ask me over the years how I find new books to read, which to be honest sometimes surprises me (especially when it comes from people who I know avidly read books already) as "finding books to read" has never really been a problem that I've thought much about (that said, "finding a book from my to-read list that I'm in the mood for right now" is another story lol).

So I guess to outline how things currently work for me right now:

- I maintain "to-_____" lists for basically any media I consume by default. I have a to-play list for video games (split by category like RPG, action, etc because the main list is too big already), to-watch lists for movies, TV shows, cartoons, anime, anime-movies, and of course multiple to-read lists-- fiction, non-fiction, manga, comics, whatever I'm in the mood for this month-- because just one list is never enough and I honestly probably spend more time curating all of these lists than actually doing the things on them, but that's another story. 😅

- As far as books are concerned, goodreads definitely plays a major role in exposing me to new books. I know it has its problems (like the UI being stuck in the last decade), but honestly, I have yet to find a replacement as effective at keeping me in the loop on what my friends are reading (short of asking them whenever I see them). But of course, it helps to have active friends on it-- or following people whose reviews I like.

- It helps a lot also when I look up a book on their site to see who else I know has read it and what they think of it-- although I do have a sense of what I personally like that can differ from my friends. So obviously, use friend reviews to inform whether you might be interested in a book, but just because some people you know don't like it doesn't mean it isn't worth reading yourself.

- Once I have a sense of authors whose writing I know I like, finding new books by them or related recommendations is pretty straightforward. I think Google/Amazon/etc have already picked up on my tastes and in this area I honestly don't mind lol.

- Subscribing to book-related forums (these days, subreddits like r/books, r/printSF, etc). This was actually how I discovered A Naked Singularity before it get a serious reprint in America courtesy of a random post; I was eyeing it for years before I was finally able to snag a copy (the premise oddly spoke to me) and it wound up being one of my favorite books of all-time. I actually discovered A Game of Thrones back in high school because of the gamefaqs forums similarly, although I didn't actually get around to reading the series until years later when the first season had come out on HBO.

- Regular trips to book-stores. My favorite bookstores are the ones that know how to arrange their displays to better draw your attention towards books that you might not have heard of before, especially in the bargain sections (Green Apple Books in SF and the Strand in NYC are my go-to examples for this). ...It probably helps that I also have a book-buying problem lol.

- ...I also have an album on my phone of 700+ pictures I've taken of books in stores over the years. I do this to remind myself whenever a book catches my eye but I'm not feeling up for buying it just yet (or I just like the cover, see next point lol). I'll usually add it to my to-read shelf on goodreads and then maybe down the line I'll buy it from a store eight years later when I'm in the mood (this happened with Skippy Dies lol).

- For the record, I am definitely guilty of judging books by their cover and I am not ashamed of it. If I'm going to bother spending my hard-earned money on a book, it better have a cover that doesn't turn me off from reading it-- otherwise I'm just going to stick to ebooks or Audible if I still feel like I might want to read it (sorry Stephen King, I just... hate most of your book covers).