# How do you choose what to read next? Canonical: https://zestasy.com/wiki/choosing-what-to-read-next/ Section: Zestasy Wiki > Books & ideas · Updated: 2026-10-14 · Publisher: Zestasy *Zestasy Wiki: our reference answers. Checked for facts and sources; less curated than the magazine.* Keep a short, living to-read list rather than a guilt-inducing mountain, and choose by mood and season before merit. The most reliable method is to follow threads: let the book you just finished point to the next one through its author, setting, subject or a book it mentions. Every so often, pick something deliberately outside your habits. Finishing a good book leaves a small vacuum. You stand in front of the shelf, or scroll through a list of forty titles you saved at some point, and nothing feels right. Choosing badly can lead to a fortnight of half-hearted reading. Choosing well can carry you for months. Here is how we approach it. ## Keep the to-read list short and alive A list of two hundred books is not a reading plan; it is a monument to good intentions. A useful to-read list is: - **Short.** Ten to twenty titles you are genuinely excited about now. - **Pruned.** Every few months, delete anything that no longer makes you curious. You are allowed to change your mind. - **Varied.** A mix of lengths, moods and kinds, so that whatever state you are in, something fits. Keep the long "someday" list somewhere else, out of sight. ## Choose by mood, then by merit The best book in the world is the wrong book if you start it when you are exhausted and want comfort. Before picking, ask: - **How much attention do I have?** A demanding novel needs evenings; a tired week calls for something short or funny. - **What do I want to feel?** Swept away, amused, consoled, challenged. - **Where will I be reading?** A beach, a commute, a long train journey, a dark winter evening. Mood first, then pick the best book that fits it. That alone prevents most abandoned books and [reading slumps](https://zestasy.com/wiki/reading-slump/). ## Follow the threads The most satisfying way to choose is to let one book lead to the next. Every book contains exits: - **The author.** Loved one novel? Read another, or their essays, letters or a biography. - **The subject.** A novel set in Naples leads to a history of the city, or a cookbook from the region. - **The influences.** Many writers wear their reading openly. Follow them back. - **The people around it.** Translators, editors and friends of authors often lead somewhere interesting. An example: Sarah Bakewell's *How to Live* (2010), a life of Montaigne built around twenty answers to its title question, [per Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Live_%28biography%29), leads naturally into Montaigne's own *Essays*, first published in 1580; see [where to start with Montaigne](https://zestasy.com/wiki/montaigne-essays/). From there, the essay form leads anywhere you like. Reading this way builds a kind of personal map, and each book arrives with context and curiosity already attached. ## Read against your habits Most of us have grooves: one genre, one country, one century, authors who look like us. Every few books, choose something outside them on purpose. - **A different country.** Especially in translation. - **A different century.** A classic if you read contemporary fiction, or a new novel if you live in the nineteenth century. - **A different shelf.** Crime if you read literary fiction, or the reverse; see [literary vs genre fiction](https://zestasy.com/wiki/literary-vs-genre-fiction/). - **A different form.** Poetry, essays, a graphic novel, a play. You will not love all of them. But the ones you do love will be discoveries, which is the best feeling a reader can have. ## Use other people - **Ask one specific person.** "What have you loved recently?" works better than general recommendations. - **Use your library.** Browsing the shelves, and borrowing freely, takes the risk out of trying something new; see [whether it's worth joining a library](https://zestasy.com/wiki/using-the-library/). - **Talk to booksellers.** A good one will ask what you last loved and why. ## A note on the pile itself Italo Calvino opens *If on a Winter's Night a Traveller* (1979) with a funny chapter about the experience of reading, addressed directly to you, the Reader, [as Wikipedia describes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/If_on_a_winter%27s_night_a_traveler). It is a reminder that wondering what to read is part of the pleasure, not a problem to solve. Our page on [If on a Winter's Night](https://zestasy.com/wiki/if-on-a-winters-night/) has more. ## FAQ ### Should I finish one book before choosing the next? Not necessarily. Many readers keep a couple going at once, each for a different mood; see [reading several books at once](https://zestasy.com/wiki/several-books-at-once/). ### Is it worth following bestseller lists? They tell you what is popular, not what suits you. Use them as one source among many. ### What if nothing appeals? Reread an old favourite, or pick something very short. Momentum matters more than ambition. ### Should I set a reading goal? Some people find it motivating; others find it turns reading into a chore. See [whether to set a reading goal](https://zestasy.com/wiki/setting-a-reading-goal/). ## Sources - [Wikipedia: How to Live (biography)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Live_%28biography%29) - [Wikipedia: Essays (Montaigne)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essays_%28Montaigne%29) - [Wikipedia: If on a winter's night a traveler](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/If_on_a_winter%27s_night_a_traveler) ## Related - [How do you get out of a reading slump?](https://zestasy.com/wiki/reading-slump/) - [Is it fine to read several books at once?](https://zestasy.com/wiki/several-books-at-once/) - [Is it still worth joining a library?](https://zestasy.com/wiki/using-the-library/) - [What is the difference between literary fiction and genre fiction?](https://zestasy.com/wiki/literary-vs-genre-fiction/) - [Should you set a reading goal for the year?](https://zestasy.com/wiki/setting-a-reading-goal/) - [All Books & ideas answers in the Wiki](https://zestasy.com/wiki/#books)