It can be strangely challenging to find books that fit the mood one might be in at a given moment, partly since books don't come with clear indicators that will tell you where it is on the scale from fun to serious or fantastical to realistic, or any other parameters you may care about...
I've been playing around with a graphic way to try to quickly convey where I think books land on a few different characteristics - thinking this might be a way to help people see at a glance if a book is a match for their mood.
Imagine if each book had something like this on the back cover - you wouldn't accidentally pick up a serious book thinking it'll be funny or a tear-jerker when you're looking for something that doesn't tread into emotional territory.
Reader expectations going into a book have such a huge influence on whether one enjoys a book or not; I'd love something like this to make sure I'm set up for success with new books I pick. If I'm in the mood for a book with lots of plot action, a character-driven story might be a huge frustration, though on another day I might love it. It's all about the mood you're in in the moment and finding the right match!
I'd love feedback on this - are the sliders covering the right aspects? Would something like this be helpful to accompany book reviews?
Since these rating sliders don't actually exist except in my world - my next best suggestion is a helpful site called Shepherd.com. Shepherd is a collection of hundreds (thousands?) of curated lists of recommended reads - each list based on a theme (some VERY specific, like "The best science fiction stories with pets" or "The best books on why such nice people as we are nevertheless so nasty").
The founder of the site wanted to add magic and serendipity to online book discovery.
I was invited to participate and had a great time creating a list featuring awesome mystery books with unusual investigators - check it out here. Then explore the site and see what other interesting books you discover! I recommend hitting the little shamrock icon at the top right and seeing what lucky random list you are served!
How do you find your next read? What do you find are reliable sources for good matches?
Comments