Discussion: How Do You Decide What To Read?

Back before I started blogging, I never had trouble deciding what I wanted to read after finishing a book.  It wasn’t even really a problem for the first few years of blogging either.  Nowadays though I can’t decide what to read, ever.

I used to be a mood reader.  I would decide what to read based on whatever mood I was in at the time of finishing one book.  I still do that sometimes but it’s rare.  Every now and then when I’m in a bad mood I know I need a fluffy contemporary novel and can pick one of those from my shelves.  I also know that when I’m in a reading slump, I should pick one of my old favorites and give it a re-read (think Ella Enchanted or Harry Potter).  However, that only takes care of about one book a month (and I do tend to read a bit more than that).

Recently, I’ve created a TBR jar (or in my case, bucket) and I’ve found that it is actually really helpful for me.  It takes all the guess work out of deciding what to read next and it’s kind of fun to just have no clue what I’ll be reading next.  Tons of bloggers have suggested I do this for years but I only just recently caved.

The only problem I have with a TBR jar is that it doesn’t really allow me to stick to a review schedule unless I were to create a separate jar for each month.  I know I’m pretty much a horrible blogger anyway when it comes to reviewing on time but I really do like to have some kind of schedule so I can get a few new releases reviewed each month. I’d love to reach some kind of balance where I can read review books but also draw some titles from the TBR jar and get to some of the books on my shelves that have been there for way too long.  (Seriously, it’s embarrassing how long I’ve had some of the books on my shelves.)

Do you ever find yourself just standing in front of an overstuffed bookcase trying to decide what to read next?  How do you pick?  Do you read based on your review schedule?  Do you like or hate the idea of a TBR jar?

Feel free to leave suggestions or helpful tips in the comments.  I have really got to get back to some kind of reading schedule this year now that school isn’t going to require quite so much of my time.

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