Ask the Librarian: How Do I Pick My Next Book?

Stuck in a reading rut? You are not alone. Every week our inbox fills with letters from readers who finished a great book and now can’t settle on anything else, or who have started five novels this month and abandoned all of them by page thirty. The good news is that help is closer than you think. Librarians are experts at matching readers with books, and most of them consider it the best part of their job. For this month’s Ask the Librarian, we sat down with Rosa Diaz, a public librarian (fictional) who has spent nearly twenty years helping readers in a busy city branch find their next favorite.

What follows is a mix of her advice and our own experience at Dog-Eared. These tricks work whether you read one book a year or one a week, and whether you love literary fiction, cozy mysteries or history.

Start with what you loved

Tell a librarian the last book you loved and why. That second part is the secret. Two people can love the same novel for completely different reasons. One reader adored the twisty plot, while another fell for the small-town setting, and a third just loved the narrator’s voice. Each of those readers needs a different recommendation next.

Rosa calls these “appeal factors,” and they are the backbone of how librarians think about matching books to people. When you describe a book you loved, try to name what pulled you in.

• Pace: Did you race through it, or was it a slow, thoughtful read?
• Character: Was there one person you couldn’t stop thinking about?
• Story: Did you love the plot, the twists, the mystery?
• Setting: Did the place feel like a character of its own?
• Tone: Was it funny, dark, cozy, hopeful or heartbreaking?
• Language: Did you stop to reread sentences just because they were beautiful?

“People often think they need to name a genre,” Rosa told us. “But genre is the least helpful thing. If you tell me you loved a book because it made you feel like you were sitting in a warm kitchen with your grandmother, I can find you ten more books like that, from five different shelves.”

Every reader has a perfect next book. My job is to find it.

Rosa Diaz, public librarian (fictional)

Use the tools librarians use

You don’t always need to visit in person. Many libraries now offer personalized reading lists by email or through an online form. You fill out a short questionnaire about your tastes, and a librarian sends back a handful of suggestions within a week or two. It is free, and it feels a little like having a personal shopper for books.

Library catalogs have improved, too. Many let you browse by subject, mood or reading level, and some include “readers also enjoyed” suggestions. Your library may also have staff picks displays, themed shelves and printed booklists for every season. Rosa recommends checking these displays often. “We change them all the time,” she said. “They’re our way of whispering suggestions to people who don’t want to ask.”

Questions to bring to the desk

1. What is the last book you loved, and what did you love about it?
2. What is a book everyone else loved that you didn’t?
3. How much time do you have to read right now?
4. Do you want something comforting or something challenging?
5. Is there a topic, place or time period you are curious about?

That second question is surprisingly useful. Knowing what you didn’t enjoy can rule out whole categories and help a librarian avoid sending you down the wrong path.

Try a different format

A graphic novel, a memoir or a short story collection can break a slump. When long novels feel heavy, switching formats takes the pressure off. A graphic novel can be finished in an evening and still carry real emotional weight. A short story collection lets you read one complete piece before bed without committing to three hundred pages. A memoir offers the pull of a true story, often told with the pacing of a novel.

Rosa is also a big fan of audiobooks for readers in a rut. Listening while walking or cooking can rebuild the habit without the feeling of sitting down to “work.” Poetry collections, essay anthologies and even well-written cookbooks can count as a way back in, too.

Key takeaway: If reading feels like a chore, change the shape of the book before you change the subject.

Give yourself permission

One of the biggest reasons readers get stuck is guilt. They feel they should finish every book they start, or that they should be reading something more serious. Rosa encourages readers to let that go. Her rule of thumb is simple: give a book about fifty pages. If it hasn’t caught you by then, put it down without regret. Someone else will love it, and you will have more time for a book you love.

She also suggests rereading. Returning to an old favorite can remind you why you love reading in the first place, and it often sparks ideas about what to try next. “Sometimes the best next book is one you already know,” she said. “It resets your taste.”

Mood matters, too. Rosa often asks readers how their week is going before she suggests anything. Someone dealing with a hard stretch at work may not want a bleak literary novel, no matter how highly it is praised. A reader on vacation might be ready for a long, absorbing epic they have been saving. “The right book at the wrong time can feel like the wrong book,” she said. Many of her regulars now keep two or three titles checked out at once, one light and one more demanding, so they can choose based on how they feel that evening.

Make the search part of the fun

Finding your next book doesn’t have to be a chore. Some of our readers keep a running “maybe” list on their phones, adding titles they hear about from friends, podcasts or book reviews. Others pick a theme for the month, like books set in Alaska or novels with recipes in them. Book clubs, author events and reading challenges can all nudge you toward books you might never have picked up alone.

Rosa’s favorite trick is what she calls the “shelf neighbor” method. Find a book you loved on the library shelf, then look at the books on either side of it. Because nonfiction is shelved by subject and fiction is often shelved near similar authors, the neighbors are frequently a good match. It is a little random, which is part of the charm, and it gets you browsing again, the way you did as a kid.

Your next great read is waiting

The next time you finish a book and feel lost, walk over to your library’s front desk and describe the last book that made you happy. You may walk out with a stack you never would have found on your own. If you can’t get to the library this week, try our “what should you read next?” quiz for a few quick ideas, or browse this month’s picks on our bookshelf.

And take Rosa’s final piece of advice to heart. “Don’t wait for the perfect book,” she said. “Pick up a good one, and let it lead you to the next.”