Some days ago, I created a poll on Twitter to find out how people decide what to read next. The four options were: a glowing review; social media praise; a friend’s recommendation; and bookshop serendipity.
The results showed that my Twitter reach is a little less than that of Elon Musk. Surprising. Nevertheless, the sprinkling of responses was revealing. Social media acclaim was ranked last. Then came recommendations from friends and appreciative reviews, at almost the same position. Leading the pack by a wide margin was discovering a title while browsing in a bookshop.
Perhaps it’s not surprising that social media isn’t much of a driver when it comes to books. Since TikTok is inaccessible from this country, the charms of BookTok largely pass us by, for whatever they’re worth. As for the other sites, it could well be that book influencers are too stereotypical in their applause and too obvious in their promotional tactics.
Library recommendations were missing from the poll, as one respondent pointed out, and that certainly deserves a place. Another commentator mentioned a to-be-read pile as a place to pick up the next book. True enough, but how does a book get onto the pile in the first place?
According to UNESCO estimates, a little over two million books are published every year. That’s a lot, and yet it doesn’t seem to be easy to find the right one. The act of settling down with a book is seen as more of a mental investment than, say, watching a movie or listening to music - and so, as the feeling has it, it had better be worthwhile.
Book reviews are certainly one way to discover books worth reading, but given their shrinking space, their dominance is on the wane. Having said that, some reviewers matter more than others, and are clearly more influential. Then again, as has often been said, everyone’s a critic nowadays. All those online posts and comments - long or short, positive or negative - can be as overwhelming as they are revealing.
In this context, awards matter too. They’re one way to bring rewarding books to the attention of readers, especially if one reaches beyond the Booker and investigates other prizes such as those for historical novels, debut novels, novels by women, and so on. The longlists for the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction, for instance, are consistently excellent.
As for books recommended by friends, well, it depends on the friend and the book. Word of mouth carries weight, especially if the words are from a friend whose tastes you trust, or those in a close-knit book group. At other times, especially for those with a groaning unread pile, recommendations can be just so much water off a duck’s back.
Which brings us to the number one spot: the pleasure of coming across a title in a bookshop and realising that this is the very book you’ve wanted to read for ages. Henry Ward Beecher famously pointed out that human nature was at its weakest in a bookstore, a statement that no reader on a budget will disagree with.
The fortunes of bookshops have been declining for a while, with many closing down or struggling to survive - but there are also recent heartening reports of independent ventures being set up and even thriving. Long may they continue to do so, with adequate support from publishers in both metropolises and smaller cities.
E-commerce and other sites for books have tried to recreate the experience of bookshop serendipity, with decidedly mixed results. The algorithmically chosen ‘recommended for you’ and ‘people also liked these’ sections are often anodyne and repetitive.
Other sites take a different approach. WhichBook, for example, has what they call a mood and emotion search. When I chose “funny”, “unusual” and “bleak” from the proffered menu, one of the books that came up was Shalom Auslander’s Hope: A Tragedy, which does fit the bill.
Also worth noting is the Five Books site, in which experts across disciplines are asked to suggest books they feel are worth your while. From philosophy to history to crime and several more, they have you covered.
Despite their efforts, none of these quite match the pleasure of an unanticipated bookshop discovery. Bookseller James Daunt’s achievements at Waterstones and Barnes & Noble are instructive in this regard. He actively encouraged staff at local branches to promote the books they liked, write their own recommendations, and ask customers what they’d like to read.
These steps fostered an independent spirit and successfully answered the question Daunt had put to himself: “How do you create an environment that’s intellectually satisfying—and not in a snobbish way, but in the sense of feeding your mind?”
Whatever method you choose, it’s worth trying to read beyond the conventional. Moving out of your comfort zone has its rewards, as HR consultants are fond of saying. Pick titles across genres and consider authors who have been under-represented. Before you know it, you could be recommending books to all and sundry yourself.
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