Do you notice how hard it is to find a new book to read? I don't mean a good book - there have never been more book recommendation sources, from YouTube channels, blogs, Instragam accounts and Tiktok videos with trendy music.
But how do you find the right channel with recommendations exactly for you? Or for the mood you are currently in?
A good reader probably reads more widely than their specific niche tastes. They read prized books, award books, bestseller books, trending books in their genres.
What if your taste is a specific trope or trope combination? What if it's cozy fantasy, or fantasy of manners, or fantasy with adult characters or fantasy with no romance but that focuses on relationship dynamics?
And maybe you are not reading fantasy at all, and are more into contemporary romance. Or memoirs. Or you know narraitve non-fiction.
I have been wondering that even if you know the right "label" for your genre tastes and combination, there are still many other factors, like style, happy or unhappy endings or the things some authors put emphasis on and others don't. You have books that never get into swearing territory, or always show only the most modest and chivalrous of romances, and then you have omegaverse urban fantasy genre where the supernatural element exists only to enable reverse harem shopping and spice as some part of biological necessity.
In these cases, a book's descriptions or labels won't help you, even if you learned to decode the promises hidden within. The genres or tags won't help nor will the warnings of reviews. Reviews are a funny thing - they can be very informative, but often very contradictory. What one liked the others hated. People are like that.
That's why it seems most logical to find a reviewer that shares your tastes and treasures similar values in reading. Happy endings over sad or bitter ones, or little regard for gruesome elements as long as the anti-heroes have good development. You know. Someone who knows the perfect receipt for a book that hits the spot for you.
Not awards, not fame and book sales. I honestly distrust literary books and awards a lot, cause those things tend to be super dark and tragic. I don't believe that reading tragic traumatic stuff is the only highlight to understand human experience and I don't believe in the condescending elitism that those who read them tend to show. Complicated dark twisty books have their fans, each to their own, but it's not for everyone and it shouldn't be treated as some kind of literary literacy.
But how do you find a reviewer with your tastes? Start from books you liked, that have that secret personal formula inside and see reviews about them. See which blogs or goodread review loves the same scenes as you did and see where their experience and tastes takes them. Recommendations from people you can trust on agreeing with your opinion, that they value the sake aspects of the reading experience, that they consider the same things small as you do, is invaluable. Hold on to those people. Find a few of those as your source, whatever social media you prefer.
Some things I recommend in the meantime:
• Trust Amazon recommendations. The algorithms are pretty accurate. Look up your book darlings and see what similar books to them are.
• Goodread lists that contain books you like.
• Reddit discussions where people look for books that contain X and Y elements. "Recommend me a book with hurt/comfort romance" or "best high fantasy bromance and found families".
• Tiktok. Scroll through the book recs tag of your genre. Tiktok has some amazing strengths going for it: the algorithm and search function for keywords, tags and description of the videos is super accurate and when you scroll through a bit, it will learn very quickly what you like and what to show you.
And if you want to see if I could be the right person to review things you would like, I'm fairly consistent across media, whether it's books, series, anime or movies. My preferences are character driven psychological stories that focus on relationship dynamics. I love romance, bromance (male friendship), found family, enemies to friends and culture clash. Soft spot for fantasy and sci fi, but I'm trying to expand my reach to contemporary genres, mostly succeeding through slice of life anime. Also hurt/comfort, which usually comes with action and danger, but any kind of plot that has it as main focus is a win (as in healing, closeness, recovery, trust issues and build up etc).
A person's taste can tell you a lot about them, right? What can you read from mine?
Favourite anime:
Akatsuki no Yona - political actions historical fantasy romance with great male friendships, incredible slow burn and some cool things to tell about the ruling and peace
Psycho Pass - scifi thriller of a utopian dystopian society with no black and white thinking, the characters are amazing. A newbie detective trying to keep her innocence and drive and a revenge driven stoic detective partner
Kuroko's basketball - complete bromance story about team spirit and support. Sports anime tend to be very friendship oriented in the best way. It's an amazing thriller ride with every match with the talents and skills of players often portrayed in a fantasy-like way (it's a realistic one though, it's just over the top for illustration). Also former best friends and teammates to bitter enemies that came from arrogance to renewal of that friendship through defeat.
School Babysitters - slice of life cosy school anime about older siblings and younger brothers. It's all relationships, heartwarming and sometimes really hitting emotional moments.
Naruto - classic of the big three, very long, very actiony, great fantasy fights that contain actual strategy, stakes and character development (watch and learn Marvel though I like you too). The character relationships drive the story though and that's what makes it so powerful.
Favourite books:
Rai-Kirah series by Carol Berg - slave and a sadistic prince in an unlikely partnership against demons, this has many moral questions, deep first person point of view from a male perspective and a pretty cool world. I especially appreciate the hurt/comfort as part of the growth arcs and relationships.
Tuyo series by Rachel Neumeier. She is my favourite author. I usually don't like more books from the same author, but she got me in more of hers. The Tuyo series is my absolute favourite though. Two enemies navigate a complicated diplomatic relationship and culture clash with heartwarming efforts, some magic and great hurt/comfort moments. Navigating relationships with allies and family is pretty challenging sometimes. It's a character study with stakes, great first pov, great twists, and enlargement world. Also recommend this if you are in the mood for polite noble heroes instead of the constant flood of villainous grey thief-y anti-heroes.
Red Winter series by Annete Marie - Japanese setting and mythology mixed in this enchanting story about Gods, demons, enemies to lovers, slow burn and an epic trio of characters. A brave heroine struggling with perfection and protecting herself from "taint", a stoic who struggles to care about things and a trickster fox with ruthless and caring moments.
Favourite tv series:
The Originals - political schemes with supernatural races, iconic brother duo, their power struggles, family relationships and conflicts, the different interests. This is very much an anti-hero show, where every bit of innocence gets beaten down of everyone with time, but your moral standards will probably adjust to the killing if this series gets a grip on you. Or said differently: pregnant with a vampire one night stand while repairing family relationships and the cast are adults and not high schoolers
Frasier - you won't get a more character driven slice of life story than two psychiatrists constantly analysing themselves and their family while trying to find true love, reconnect with their estranged father and their own human flaws. It's comforting, upbeat, funny.
Suits - thrilling legal drama, but the highlight are the work relationships. Especially the ruthless shark of a lawyer who takes a naive good-hearted moral genius under his wing and tries to beat the niceness out of him, but ends up softening up himself instead. It's about loyalty, drama, quick-witted dialogues, romance, protectiveness, and good guys winning with style.
What are your favourite ways to get to new books you are almost guaranteed to read? Do you read everything or are picky about your choice? What’s your strategy or favourite review channels for new ideas?
Great suggestions on how to find more book recommendations! I may have to try a few of those if I run out of things to read 😄 I mostly rely on kindle suggestions based on the type of books I already own. I also browse my library app to find new titles by genre (my favorites are historical fiction, magical realism, fantasy, psychological thriller, spirituality, and classic lit). The book I choose depends on the season, my mood, or whatever topic I’m currently interested in. As for specific niches, I like cottagecore cozy stories and family slice of life. Setting is just as important to me as characters are, so I always prefer books that take place in the natural world. Besides studio ghibli, some of my favorite animes are: Mushishi, Piano no Mori, Carole & Tuesday, Iroduku, Natsume’s Book of Friends, Flying Witch, Glasslip, and The House of Five Leaves.