I add book recommendations to my GoodReads – To-read list. Then I sort by rating and pick the first one I like to read.
In 2023, I’m reshaping my environment. Picking books I usually won’t pick. (Read The Unknown Unknown: Bookshops and the Delight of Not Getting What You Wanted if you want to be similarly inspired.)
So here are 4 approaches I’m adding to my process.
- Algorithmic. Sort Kaggle books based on popularity, rating, and age. Pick the top 10 (or 50)
- Serendipitous. Go to bookstores and libraries. Pick the most popular books
- Award-winning. Pick from the Pulitzer, Booker, Nobel, Hugo, and other award winners
- Challenges. Pick from Popsugar, Book Riot, Goodreads, The 52 Book Club, and other challenges
FYI, here are algorithmic results (for books with 100+ ratings and a 4+ average on Goodreads):
Top rated books
- The Complete Calvin and Hobbes
- Harry Potter Boxed Set, Books 1-5 (Harry Potter, #1-5)
- Mark of the Lion Trilogy
- It’s a Magical World (Calvin and Hobbes, #11)
- Toda Mafalda
- The Jesus Storybook Bible: Every Story Whispers His Name
- There’s Treasure Everywhere (Calvin and Hobbes #10)
- Harry Potter Series Box Set (Harry Potter, #1-7)
- The Authoritative Calvin and Hobbes: A Calvin and Hobbes Treasury
- Harry Potter Collection (Harry Potter, #1-6)
Most popular books
- The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1)
- The Book Thief
- The Help
- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (Harry Potter, #1)
- The Giver (The Giver, #1)
- Water for Elephants
- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium, #1)
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter, #7)
- The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #1)
- Looking for Alaska
Oldest books