Figuring Out What Non-Fiction Book To Read Next

Many people who are not big readers get stuck figuring out which books are worth reading. There is the read-what-people-give-you-for-Christmas method, the grab-whatever-is-on-the-shelf-at-your-parents-house method, and the I-was-checking-out-at-the-store-and-it-looked-interesting method. There are also more proactive ways to do this.

The beginner proactive way to find what to read next is simply typing your favorite book into Amazon and looking at what other people who read that book also brought, their collaborative filtering for books I’ve found to be best-in-class.

The intermediate way to do this is finding people you really respect - bloggers, authors, entrepreneurs, etc. and trying to find if they’ve published any “best books I’ve read this year” or favorite reading recommendations (many keep some kind of public list). You can then look for commonalities across these lists. If Bill Gates, Seth Godin, Harvard Business School, and Brad Feld all recommend the same book - it’s probably worth looking into!

The advanced way to do this is triangulating research across lots of different sources. As you are reading the news, listening to podcasts, talking with friends, or watching TV - listen for authors or book titles and jot them down in a Notes app on your phone. When you’re reading a book you’re really enjoying read the acknowledgements at the end, look at the referenced works in the back, and jot these down as well. With your wide list of possibilities the research begins. I like to look at the volume of reviews on Goodreads and Amazon. The stars are a slight signal but can be deceiving. I like to look at the number of pages so I know how long a book will take me. I read about 50 pages an hour so a 250 page book is roughly ~5 hours. If I’m questioning whether a book is worth the time investment I might do a quick google search to see if a summary is available on wikipedia or PDF someone put together. If that synopsis seems valuable then I usually add to my wish list pile. When I’m actually ready to read a book I scroll through each of the books on my wish list that have been added in this fashion over the last 5 years. These books wax and wane in relevance over the years and I’m not afraid to drop books that are no longer as pertinent.

My main sources of new books to read come from my own research and the recommendations of trusted friends.  If you can’t tell, figuring out what to read next is a huge process for me but one that I thoroughly enjoy.