Features | 5 Ways To Step Out Of Your Reading Comfort Zone

Wednesday, 13 December 2017

Features | 5 Ways To Step Out Of Your Reading Comfort Zone

This year I've really enjoyed starting to break away from my usual go-to genres and have discovered some great reads along the way. With the new year fast-approaching many readers will be thinking about setting new reading goals for 2018 and continuing to step out of my reading comfort zone will definitely be one of mine. If stepping out of your reading comfort zone is high on your to-do list for the year ahead here are a few ideas to help you get started...

Ask For A Recommendation

Sometimes bookshops or libraries can be kind of overwhelming if you want to leave the comfort of your favourite section. If you’re shopping with friends or family, why not ask them to pick out something a little different for you? If you’re browsing alone ask a bookseller or librarian, it’s likely they love books just as much as you do and would be happy to share their favourites with you. Many bookshops also have signs highlighting staff-recommended titles on the shelf edges which can be a real help if you're stuck for ideas.

Hit The Charity Shops

Charity shops are a brilliant place to buy books without breaking the bank, plus you’re giving back to charity whilst picking up new reads; it's a win-win! If you want to try out a new genres and authors but aren't sure where to start this is a great way to do it - you never know, you might just stumble across something you love! If you don’t end up enjoying the books you can always donate them back to the charity for someone else to buy and enjoy.

Challenge Yourself

There are lots of online reading challenges you can join in with and share updates on your blog or social media throughout the year like I've been doing here during 2017. If you're not sure where to start I'd recommend having a look at the Popsugar Reading Challenge which has a wide variety of prompts each year, many of which are sure to help you step outside of your comfort zone. Why not download the 2018 challenge list to use as a starting point for your search for new reads?

Sign Up For A Surprise

Subscription boxes are everywhere these days, we’ve even shared several in past editions of our Bookish Links series, although sadly I'm yet to try any out for myself. Book And A Brew send out a monthly mystery hardcover plus a box of tea and Bookishly select a mystery vintage book along with stationery and your choice of tea or coffee. Alternatively try a blind date book from The Book Matchmaker where you have just four words to base your selection on! Again, these come with tea or an alternative hot drink to enjoy whilst you read and are beautifully wrapped making them great gifts too.

Join A Book Club

Book clubs are perfect for discovering titles that you never would have picked out for yourself and it can be really interesting to hear other people's opinions and interpretations. Whether it be a work/school book club, a celebrity one or even our soon to be launched BB book club (hint hint!) they are a great way to step out of that comfort zone and try books you’ve never heard of or wouldn’t normally consider. Why not start with our January book club pick?

What are your top tips for stepping out of your reading comfort zone?

Image by Kari Shea on Unsplash

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Group Collaboration | How Do You Choose Your Next Read?

Saturday, 22 April 2017

Group Collaboration | How Do You Choose Your Next Read?

It's group post time again and this month we're talking ideas on how to select your next read. The responses we received share favourite ways to choose what to read next, along with those that haven't worked out quite so well.

We would love to hear your thoughts and opinions on the suggestions below and of course your favourite way/s to choose your next read!


ARCs & Blogging

Of all the responses we received to this month's prompt one of the most popular answers was that ARCs take priority when choosing what to read next. As many of our readers are fellow bloggers we completely understand choosing ARCs over any other reads in order to stick to a blogging schedules.

"If I have an ARC that I've been sent, I'll read those first, in order of receiving them."

"Review copies always come first, and then books I've been dying to read that I own."

"I normally read according to my book blogging schedule actually! The free slots I have I just pick up books from my bought pile."

Library Loans

Another popular response was that library loans were a priority due to the time constraints and those pesky late fines! 

"Next in line is always whichever library book is due next. Because late fines. Eek." 

"[After ARCs] it'll be any books I have out from the library (because we don't want to add to the already-growing late fines!), and then books that have been sitting unread on my shelf for too long."

Follow Your Mood

It seems that a lot of bibliophiles find that the types of books they pick up change along with their mood or other factors like the time of year but if you have lots of unread books sitting on your shelf it can still be tricky to choose. If you manage to narrow it down by mood but you're still stuck between a few different choices why not try out the first chapter of each and opt for the one that interests you most.

"I often find it's best to look at my bookshelves or scroll through my Kindle for inspiration and pick up whichever title appeals most at the time."

TBR Jars

Another popular idea is the 'TBR jar' where you write out the names of the books on your shelves, fold them up and put them in a pretty jar to be picked out at random when you can't decide what to read next. Unfortunately, whilst this sounds like a brilliant idea it does have it's flaws as a couple of our readers highlighted. If you're more of a mood reader a good tip to try is to colour coding the pieces of paper you add to the jar, selecting a different one for each genre or even length of book.

"I tried doing a TBR jar a few years ago, as I loved the idea, but it never really worked because there was always a book I really wanted to read next."  

"I tried a TBR jar once. It didn't last long, because I was never in the mood to read what I pulled out."

If You Liked That...

Another great way to choose your next read is to look for recommendations based on other books you've adored. Websites like Goodreads and Amazon have handy sections suggesting similar reads and bookstores usually have a recommended section but we really love What Should I Read Next? for finding new favourite books.

"I often look at books which have been recommended by friends, or in book stores or online. 'If you liked ... you'll like ...' invariably I do like!"

Take A Chance

If you really can't make up your mind why not leave it to chance? We loved this suggestion of numbering the books and asking someone else to pick at random, or using a dice to decide!

"If I can't figure out what kind of book I'm in the mood for, I give myself 5 or 6 options and then tell my husband to pick a number between 1 and 6. If he's not around, I roll a 6 sided die."

Image via unsplash.com
Thanks to Rachel, Anjali, Lili and all of this month's anonymous contributors.


If you'd like to get involved in our next group post drop and email to bloggersbookshelf@gmail.com or keep an eye out on our Twitter page (@blog_bookshelf) for updates!

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Features | 5 Ways To Choose Your Next Read

Monday, 9 February 2015

Features | 5 Ways To Choose Your Next Read

1/ Goodreads Recommendations - a simple one to kick off with, the recommendations page on Goodreads is a great place to start looking for your next favourite book. Selecting titles based on each of your shelves Goodreads allows you easily to scroll through and read the synopsis of each one. It also details why you have received the recommendation in the 'Because you added...' section, and similarly on each book's page there is a 'Reader's Also Enjoyed' section - very handy if you're looking for a similar read.

2/ What Should I Read Next? - although there are now several of these next read generator style websites out there, What Should I Read Next? has to be my top pick. It's clean and simple design is easy to use and will provide a long list of books based on tags and lists created by other readers.

3/ The TBR Jar - this one is for those of you who can't resist a book haul! If like many readers you have a whole host of unread books sitting on your shelves or e-reader why not write down each of the titles on a strip of paper and add them into a jar so you can pick out your next read at random. It's perfect for those who aren't 'mood readers' and love a surprise (although you could even create multiple jars, one for each genre), plus it's a brilliant way to cross some titles off of that long TBR list.

4/ #bookbloggers - the weekly book bloggers Twitter chat, which takes place every Tuesday at 7pm UK time is another brilliant way to connect with other readers and find out what they've been enjoying lately. Along with many other book-related social media hashtags (#currentlyreading, #whattoread, #mustreads, #bookstagram etc) it's also the perfect way to discover more book blogs which are full of reviews and recommendations that may inspire you to pick up something new.

5/ The YA Flowchart - if YA is your thing this colourful interactive flowchart could be your new BFF when it comes to choosing your next read. Whilst it may not provide and endless wealth of suggestions there are twenty-two YA titles to choose from, some more well-known than others, hopefully including one or two that even the biggest YA fan may not have discovered yet.

How do you usually choose your next read?

This post was written by regular reviewer Erin, get to know her here

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A Quick Tip For Book Recommendations!

Tuesday, 5 February 2013

A Quick Tip For Book Recommendations!

We've discovered a new site: What Should I Read Next?

Of course places like Goodreads, Amazon and collaborative blogs like this one can all be great ways to find new books to read however I have recently discovered another way to find recommendations which I thought I would quickly share with you as it might be useful!

Enter a book you like and the site will analyse our huge database of real readers' favorite books to provide book recommendations and suggestions for what to read next.

I stumbled across a website named What Should I Read Next? where basically you can type in the name of a book or author you like and it will give you suggestions of similar titles. This has been such a great tool of late, and I wanted to pop onto the blog and let you guys know about it!

Enjoy, and do let us know if you discover any books that you love!

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