by Laura Peters

 

Reading is one of the most enjoyable and relaxing hobbies anyone could have. There are many fantastic advantages to reading more, such as relieving stress, expanding your vocabulary, and learning more about different cultures and lifestyles.

Unfortunately, it can be fairly difficult finding a new book because everyone’s tastes are different and reading is a relatively long-term commitment. Most people don’t finish a book even in a week unless it’s a fantastic read and you’ve got nothing else to do, so we like to make the most of our reading time but indulging in a book that is relevant to our interests or we know will be fantastic.

If you just love to read but always find yourself stumped on what to read next because you don’t want your time wasted, then here are a couple of great ways to find your next favourite read.

 

Read Something You’ve Read Before

If you’ve got plenty of old books lying around in your garage or a storage room, then give it a quick look and see if you can find any old books that you love so much you want to read again. Re-reading a book is nothing new and many people do it just to see if the story’s meaning changes or if they can gain any new insight from reading a new book.

So the next time you find yourself throwing out books or doing a spring clean, keep a hold of all your old books (be they fiction or non-fiction) and consider re-reading something that you know will be a fantastic read.

 

Branch Out

Many people believe they don’t have many books left to read just because they’ve exhausted the popular options. However, if you’re willing to branch out then you’ll find that there are plenty of unique books out there just waiting to be discovered. Try branch out into other genres or even countries. There are many fantastic books out that got their start in other countries and were eventually professionally translated to appeal to an international audience.

Just make sure you don’t limit yourself to a single genre or author and learn to branch out a bit so you can enjoy everything that the world of literature has to offer. You could even look back a few years and read Shakespeare or similar stories. Some people enjoy reading poems after finishing a book, and others enjoy reading comic books and graphic novels too. There are stories everywhere you look–you just need to find them!

 

Read Summaries to Get a Good Idea

Reading a summary is a great way to get a general idea of a story before you invest more time into it. There are apps like Blinkist which condense stories into summaries that can be read in a single sitting and will go through most of the key points in each story or book.

It even works for non-fiction books, making it a great all-around tool. Check out this informative review of Blinkist at selfdevelopmentsecrets.com/blinkist-review to find out more about the innovative app. Alternatively, you could just read the samples and summaries that you find on a website like Amazon to help you get an idea of what a book is like before you invest time into reading it.

 

Sign Up For Your Library

Libraries are great places to read, get recommendations and sample books that you don’t know much about. As explained at parentingsquad.com/7-benefits-to-joining-your-local-library, there are many benefits to joining your local library such as the reduced cost to read a full book and the chance to meet people and make new friends. The library is also a fantastic place to relax and read if you find it too hard to read at home or just want to be surrounded by literature.

 

Read Online

There are many up-and-coming authors writing on the internet and there are plenty of blogs that specialize in short stories. While these might not be strictly books, you can easily access this reading material on a phone, a tablet or any other smart device.

It’s a fantastic way to find new things to read and some of them can even lead to book recommendations. In short, just remember that your local library or bookstore aren’t the only places to find a good story and that there are probably thousands of books that you’ve yet to discover from unknown authors that write exclusively online.

 

Attend a Local Book Club

Book clubs are usually made to discuss books and a considerable number of people host and attend them on a regular basis. If you love to talk about books, then why not visit a local book club? You’ll get to bring in books that you love or ones you are currently reading, you’ll get to sample books that other people love and you can talk about your favourite titles to give each other ideas on what to read next.

To find a local book club, you’ll need to do a bit of research but this article found at blissfullydomestic.com/life-bliss/how-to-find-a-book-club-in-your-area can be a great place to get started. As long as you’re willing to be social and get yourself out there, you’ll easily be able to find a group and get connected to a network of book lovers just like yourself.

 

Join Online Book Communities

If you can’t find a local book club or if their times and dates don’t fit your schedule, then why not join an online community instead? For example, reddit.com/r/bookclub/ usually has some fantastic recommendations and lots of discussion about books. It’s not the only online community or largest one around, but it’s a great place to get started and to look for recommendations.

You could also join forums to discuss books and there are many bloggers and YouTube content creators that have created reading communities around their content that anyone can join.

 

 

 

Guest post contributed by Laura Peters.