If you are like me, you read a lot of books. But no matter how fast you read or how many you have already read, there will always be too many books to easily decide on what book to read next. So I have developed a quick and easy method using Amazon to find your next read:
1. Determine the genre
This is the only step that requires any thought. But luckily Amazon does a good job of guessing what type of books you like to read. Depending on how often you use Amazon, it may take a little poking around to get them to have recommendations for you.
Look through your recommendations and select a random book with a genre that looks appealing. From the book’s main page, you must scroll down a bit to the product details. Most of the time (if it’s a popular book), you will find what categories it ranks well for:
2. Rank by best selling
Once you have found the exact category you are interested in, you will get to the following list. (There is a way to skip the previous step and go directly to the top bestsellers. But I have found that it limits the discovery process, since some books hide in categories you would never think of exploring)
3. Skim through only 4-5 stars
I apologize for the prejudice, but I only consider reading books with 4-5 stars and multiple reviews. And until I read every well-reviewed book, would I consider books with poor reviews. There are so many good books out these days, that wasting time and money on a 3-star or less book is too risky for me.
4. Ensure there are a significant amount of reviews
A ton of reviews for a book usually signify that there is a good chance it is remarkable. At the least, it is a book others felt compelled to take the time to discuss. Frankly, the more reviews, the more likely it will be a great read.
5. Read the top three reviews
Once I find a book that looks appealing, I will read the top three reviews. These are the write-ups with the most peer reviewed commentary. Thus you can quickly infer that the three viewpoints are most accurate.
If you feel the reviews are in your ballpark, buy the book. If not, move on. It’s that easy. Impressively, this system has yet to discover a bad book for me.
One Additional Tip: Subscribe to Amazon Prime. It may be a little bit of money now, but you get free 2-day shipping and $3.99 overnight. It pays for itself very quickly!
If you have any suggestions on how you decide on books to read, please let us know in the comments below. Thank you!
