How I Pick My Next Read

Moments from a Weekend Getaway, Picking Your Next Book and Current Reads

Hello!

Last week, I spent a few days in Suncadia, Washington with my family and friends and had the best time. We’ve been having unusually nice weather for January here in Washington. It’s very cold but sunny, and seeing the sun this time of year is a luxury. We spent our trip walking, baking cookies, and reading. The perfect getaway! We even found a small indie bookstore and I managed to grab their last copy of Onyx Storm. Quality time with friends is such a gift in this postpartum season, and introducing lifelong friends to my baby has been the sweetest thing.

Winter Days

Today, I’m chatting about how I pick my next read. I read significantly fewer books in 2024, which helped me become more intentional about the books I picked up. One of my goals is to carry that intentionality into 2025.

I no longer set a TBR because I am such a mood reader; instead, at the end of the month, I write down my recent book purchases, new releases I’m looking forward to, and some ideas of what I’m in the mood to read. I also like to look at Instagram and Substack to see what my friends have been enjoying. If I don’t have a book in mind to read next, I’m more likely to get into a reading slump, so having a list of potentials is helpful for me to pull from. Here’s what that looked like for January:

Rental House and Definitely Better Now were two December book purchases that I was excited about and wanted to prioritize. Beg, Borrow, or Steal and The Love Lyric were ARCs that I had and wanted to read as their pub days approached. I knew I wanted to read something wintery to help me embrace the season a bit more, and The Heart of Winter is a title I added to the list mid-month after a bookseller at my local indie raved about it.

If I veer from the list, that’s fine- it’s just a way for me to help narrow down options. Each month, the list starts from scratch; I don’t automatically switch over the books I haven’t read. Instead, I spend a few minutes reevaluating if each book feels like a fit for me right now. This helps me determine which books I’m actually excited about and which ones I just had a momentary interest in.

Once I pick a book from my potentials list, I download the sample from Libby or Kindle and read the first few pages. This has been such a game-changer! Not only does it help me see what’s capturing my attention, but it also helps me be more thoughtful with my book purchases. I can spend a few minutes with the opening pages and decide if I want to read the whole thing. I’m trying only to buy books I want to read next instead of just buying something that sounds good at the moment- only to sit on my shelf.

Usually, I end up sampling a few books from my potentials list before I land on what will be my current read. I also look up the book on Libro.fm to see who the narrator is and decide if I might like it better on audio.

Spending extra time being thoughtful about what I read has enhanced my reading life so much. It’s helped me ask questions about what is working and what isn’t. I’m taking more notice of where I get recommendations and what makes me excited about a book. It also frees me to read only what I find interesting instead of reading books because they’re trendy or because I feel like I should read them. Before I did this, I would just dive into a book without thinking about it much. I was reading way more 3-star books and not necessarily thinking about what was and wasn’t working.

How do you pick your next read? How are you being intentional about your reading life in 2025?

Currently, I’m reading The Frozen River (a wintery book!). I wasn’t sure that it would be for me, but so many readers I trust have enjoyed it, and after reading the first chapter, I was immediately hooked. I’m also reading Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries as a buddy read with a dear friend. Next up for me is Headshot, a book I haven’t seen around much but got rave reviews from Annie B. Jones on her podcast. It’s a debut novel about eight teenage girl boxers who are competing over the course of two days. It’s literary fiction that explores competition and looks at what is going on in each of the eight girls’ lives.

What are you reading this week? Tell me about your current reads and how you pick them!

Megan