How To Find the Best Book Recommendations By Yourself

If you’re ever unsure what your next top book recommendation is, try to think of some of the more unorthodox ways to choose the next book to read.

Goodreads, StoryGraph, Bookstagram, BookTok, book clubs, friends, and family—there are any number of handy sources of quick recommendations. You can even use subscription-based services that give you tailored recommendations whenever you need them.

But, no matter how sure it seems from the start, there’s no knowing right up till the moment you flip to the first chapter. Finding the best book recommendations by yourself can seem like an uphill task, one bound for more misses than hits.

But taking the plunge isn’t as hard as it seems.

No one knows your reading tastes better than you. With the knowledge from our guide below, you’ll be able to find the best book recs without anyone’s help.

Don’t follow trends… always

The trendiest books tend to be the best-marketed books, likely from the stables of a top global or regional publisher or a particularly successful independent author. Wherever they originate, their successes are better attributed to their capacity for driving fanfare and traction rather than outstanding artistic quality.

This isn’t to say that trending reads don’t offer value to readers looking for easy book recommendations. Many of the best unforgettable books and series across different genres continue to be bestsellers, talked about by readers online and in the real world.

However, this is a call urging readers not always to follow trends. In their search for the best book recommendations, readers must stand ready to take risks when necessary; go left when everyone’s going right.

Go random sometimes

Gut instinct’s got you!

Sometimes, choose to go with your gut instinct. Books like Gourav Mohanty’s Sons of Darkness and The Malevolent Seven are books I dove into on a whim, and they turned out the very opposite of disappointing.

Apart from consciously picking the random books you stumble across in your search, going random sometimes means that you get inspiration and recommendations from things around you.

From your swinging moods to various factors in your environment, let everything be a never-ending, infinitely random source of good book recommendations for you.

Read your favorite authors

Reading the works of your favorite authors is a sure way to keep on finding great book recommendations, especially if it’s a big name like John Grisham or Stephen King or franchise work like The Lord of the Rings or Star Wars.

Authors like Nnedi Okorafor have written well over 40 books, while Brandon Sanderson’s rate is quite unmatched in fantasy fiction. If you find an author whose book you enjoyed, check out more of their works, in case they have more that you haven’t read before.

This is surely more convenient and appeals to readers who rarely stray outside of their comfort zone, preferring to read a handful of their favorite authors, often repeatedly.

Don’t be limited to one genre

Keeping faith in the same genre over and over doesn’t yield results all the time. At some point, you run out of steam. As you read more works in the same genre, your tastes evolve, and what used to excite you might not necessarily be anymore.

The quickest way to get reading burnout is to read one genre continuously. Limiting yourself to a single genre, like African Literature or non-fiction, at the expense of spreading your wings often keeps you from discovering your next great read.

So, try to be less exclusive in your reading habits. Who knows, there just might be a chunk of gold in that book you’ve long overlooked!

Check for indie as well as traditionally published authors

Indie authors are a glittering treasure trove of quality reads. If you’ve been on a relatively poor reading streak, disappointed in, or simply indifferent to recent stories, it may be time to start sifting through the list of indie authors you find around.

Independently published authors don’t always get the credit they deserve, and it’s important to note that many traditionally published writers first gained fame indie-style before switching to established labels.

Traditionally published authors tend to have the bigger audience of the two, and as a result, several extraordinary independently published works often go under the radar over the course of each year.

So, dig deep and dig hard. Don’t turn up your nose at the seeming ridiculousness of any cover, blurb, or book title. You’d be surprised at how many great book recommendations you’ve overlooked!

Wrapping up

Finding the best book recommendations on your own can seem like playing a game of dice, blind, never knowing which side will come up, and completely unaware of any influencing factors.

If you’re ever unsure what your next top book recommendation is, try to think of some of the more unorthodox ways to choose the next book to read.

Tell us what works for you in finding great recs in the comments!