So Many Choices, So Little Time. What Should I Read Next?

Welcome to Part 4 of the series, How to Become a Better and More Discerning Reader. In Part 1 I provided an overview and previewed the series on books and reading. In Part 2 I shared some thoughts on reading ebooks versus hard copies, and in Part 3 I shared some best practices on how to be a BETTER as learned from 13 different friends and their reading habits and best practices.

Today I share some thoughts (from the same group of friends) on how to choose what to read next. There are so many good choices of books! And, at the same time, so many bad (less good) books out there. How do you decide what book(s) to read next?

I’ll start off with a few suggestions:

1. Read God's Word. Hands down the most significant suggestion and the best and most important "book" to read before you read anything else. I am a huge fan of Join The Journey from Watermark Church. This year we are making our way through the four gospels. You can also find many great reading plans through the YouVersion app.

2. Keep a list of books you have read and books you want to read. I do this in Evernote and it helps me keep a good catalog of books I finished in any given calendar year. I also keep a list of books that I might want to read next. Some people like to do this in Goodreads.

• Either one is great - whatever works best for you. Every time I complete a book, I add it to my list in Evernote and make a few comments about the book. This helps me remember what I did or did not like about the book.

• One friend rates each book on a 1-5 scale. The 5-star books are the ones that are most helpful and meet a need, regardless of length or style of book.

3. Read the classics. New is not necessarily the best. I heard this from several of the guys and I agree with this one as well. For some reason, it’s easy to have a "new book bias," meaning that you tend to think whatever is new is the best. In the process, you miss out on the classics or some of the best books from the past few decades or even centuries. For example, I just read To Kill a Mockingbird for the first time two years ago and The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom the year before that. If I just stuck to the newest books released, I would have missed out on some incredible books.

4. This might fit better in Part 3 on best reading practices, but give yourself permission to quit reading a book if it doesn’t grab you, is overly redundant or too long (in your opinion). Feel the freedom to move on to something else that’s more helpful or enjoyable. My time is too valuable to read books I don’t enjoy. While I do recommend at least skimming the rest of the book, we need to give ourselves freedom to put a book down that we don’t want to finish.

5. Choose your next book to read based on an immediate need. For example, I just did a breakout talk at a conference on Leading the Church in a Sex-Crazed Culture. To best prepare for this talk, I read a book by Albert Mohler, Jr called We Cannot Be Silent. I am struggling in my physical wellness so I am reading Every Body Matters by Gary Thomas. A friend recently shared with me that he was diagnosed with Adult-onset Diabetes, so he is reading several books on eating and the body’s response to food.

6. Read based on interest levels. I love college football books, so every fall (when that glorious sport begins), I usually read one or two books about college football.

7. Read a book to help you relax or escape! This is one of my favorite reasons to read. For this reason, I’ll read books like Harry Potter, The Hunger Games or historical fiction books like The Nightingale (which I just finished and is outstanding!).

8. Read to help you grow or advance professionally. Find books that aid your professional goals or growth. For example, I always have at least one marriage book going at any time. I read to find resources to recommend to others I am helping guide in marriage ministry and to help me improve what I teach and communicate to couples. Most important, I read marriage books to enrich my own marriage.

9. And maybe my top way to choose what to read next: Recommendations of friends. I don’t trust the recommendations of all my friends equally, but I am interested in what friends are reading and place a lot of stock in the recommendations I receive from them.

• A subpoint to this one is to read books recommended by bloggers or publishers you follow. I keep my finger on the pulse of books released from bloggers I respect and Christian publishers I trust.

10. If you’re not a reader, start! Read something. Start with a goal of reading two books this year. You don’t need to set any records, but you must start! If you don’t know where to begin, ask some friends or post a question on Facebook. You will get some recommendations and a good friend might even give you a book to read/borrow.

• Reading got a bad reputation in middle school, but is a great habit to cultivate to grow your brain and develop your thinking (as opposed to passive activities of social media or television consumption).

11. At the end of the year, many bloggers list out their Top 10 Books they read in the last year. I comb through these lists and gather suggestions. I would suggest the same for you! Here are a few lists I put together from 2015, 2014 and a list of my favorite marriage books. Enjoy!

That's all I have. 11 suggestions to help you figure out what to read next. I'm sure others have better ways to discern what to read next, but I hope these suggestions help you become a better and more discerning reader. In Part 5 I will close this series and share a list of the books that have most impacted my life.

Your Turn:

How do you decide what to read next? Where do you find your best book recommendations?

Do you have any books you would recommend to readers? Feel free to leave a comment below or on Facebook.