Can't Decide What to Read Next? Steal One of These 25 Ridiculous Rules
You know the situation.
You've finished your book.
You've got a ridiculous number of unread books waiting.
You should be excited.
Instead, you're standing in front of your bookshelf like you're being asked to make a major financial decision.
"Maybe this one..."
No.
"What about that one?"
Not feeling it.
"I've been meaning to read this..."
Yeah, but it's 700 pages.
Put it back.
Twenty minutes later, you've achieved absolutely nothing.
So today we're not doing that.
I'm choosing your next book for you
Well...
Sort of.
I'm going to give you a bunch of completely arbitrary rules.
Your job is to pick one.
Then go to your TBR and find a book that matches it.
That's your next read.
No analysing.
No comparing Goodreads ratings.
No reading 14 reviews.
No standing there wondering whether you're in the mood for an epic fantasy with political intrigue or a fast-paced sci-fi with morally questionable characters.
Pick a rule.
Find a book.
Start reading.
Ready?
25 ways to pick your next book
1. Pick a book with purple on the cover.
Why purple?
Why not?
2. Find a book with a one-word title.
Bonus points if the word sounds slightly ominous.
3. Choose a book written by a female author.
Easy.
Next.
4. Pick something under 300 pages.
A little palate cleanser between the giant books trying to destroy your wrists.
5. Choose the oldest unread book on your shelf.
It's waited long enough.
Today is its day.
6. Pick a book with a map inside.
Fantasy readers, this one shouldn't take long.
7. Find a title beginning with the same letter as your first name.
I'm making absolutely no promises about what happens if you have an X name.
8. Choose the book you've owned the longest but still haven't read.
Yes.
That one.
We both know which one I'm talking about.
9. Pick the prettiest cover.
We're judging books by their covers today.
Sorry, teachers everywhere.
10. Choose an author you've never read before.
New author.
New world.
Let's see what happens.
11. Pick the shortest unread book you own.
Sometimes you just need the satisfaction of absolutely smashing through something.
12. Choose the biggest book on your TBR.
Or apparently we're going in the complete opposite direction.
Good luck.
13. Find a book with an animal on the cover.
Real animal.
Mythical animal.
Dragon.
Dragon definitely counts.
Dragon probably counts twice.
14. Pick a book someone gave you as a gift.
They clearly thought you'd like it.
Time to find out if they actually know you.
15. Choose the book you keep saying you'll read "next."
You've said it five times.
Stop lying.
Read it.
16. Pick a book with gold on the cover.
We're getting fancy.
17. Choose a title with four words or more.
We're not solving anything important here.
We're just choosing a book.
18. Pick a book from a series you've already started.
You abandoned those characters six months ago.
They've been waiting.
You probably don't remember who half of them are.
It's fine.
19. Choose the book closest to your bed.
Minimal effort.
I respect it.
20. Pick the book you bought most recently.
Forget the older books glaring at you from the shelf.
They'll cope.
21. Ask someone else to choose.
Partner.
Friend.
Kid.
Toddler.
Actually...
Maybe don't give the toddler full access to the bookshelf.
22. Pick a book without reading the blurb again.
Past-you bought it for a reason.
Trust past-you.
Dangerous strategy, but we're doing it.
23. Choose a book you almost picked last time.
Runner-up gets its moment.
24. Pick the book with the most ridiculous character name you can find.
Fantasy readers could make an entire evening out of this.
25. Close your eyes and point.
We've officially abandoned all strategy.
Sometimes that's exactly what you need.
Why does this actually help?
Because sometimes the problem isn't that you have nothing to read.
It's that you have too much to read.
I have around 150 unread books.
Asking myself:
"Which one of these 150 books do I most want to read right now?"
is apparently enough to make my brain give up entirely.
But ask me:
"Which of these books has purple on the cover?"
Easy.
Now maybe I've got six.
Then I can choose.
The silly little rule has done most of the work for me.
This is exactly why I love reading games
This idea eventually became a big part of Tales in Ink.
I originally created the journal because I wanted something that could help with my own picking paralysis.
I didn't want another place to simply list my TBR.
I was already extremely capable of accumulating books without assistance.
I wanted something that helped me actually choose from it.
That's why I started playing with things like the A–Z title challenge and Reading Bingo.
A Bingo square might tell me:
"Find a book with a map."
Okay.
Now I'm rummaging through my shelf looking for maps instead of standing there having an existential crisis about which book I'm in the mood for.
Much more fun.
And importantly, I don't see these challenges as another list of things I have to complete.
They're there when I want them.
Stuck?
Play a game.
Already know exactly what you want to read?
Ignore the game and read the bloody book.
Your TBR should be fun
This is really what it comes back to for me.
I don't want my unread books to feel like unfinished jobs.
I bought them because I was excited about them.
They're stories I haven't experienced yet.
Places I haven't been.
Characters I haven't met.
My TBR shouldn't be sitting there judging me.
It should be saying:
"Look at all this stuff you still get to read."
Sometimes I just need a ridiculous little rule to help me choose where to start.
Okay, let's play
If you're currently between books, don't overthink this.
Look at the list.
Pick a number from 1 to 25 before looking at which rule it is.
That's your challenge.
Go to your shelf.
Find your book.
Then come back and tell us:
What number did you get — and what book did it make you choose?
And if you somehow manage to find a book that's purple, under 300 pages, written by a female author, has a one-word title AND contains a map...
I think you've won reading.
Whatever that means.