Every book person has their own method for choosing the books they add to their TBR or purchase to add to their shelves (these are two different things for me), so I thought I would share how I choose books.

I’m a little more free when I’m adding books to my TBR than I am when purchasing books for my shelves, so I want to talk about that first.

Author

The first thing I look at is the author. Is the book written by an author that I have read and enjoyed in the past? Is it written by a new-to-me author that I have been wanting to try because I’ve heard good things? If either of these answers are yes, the book is added to my TBR.

Series

Next is whether or not the book is part of a series. Is it part of a series that I am currently reading? Or part of a series that I’ve heard about and want to read? Again, yes answers to these questions put the book on my TBR

Category/Sub-Genre

The next thing I look at is what sub-genre or category the book falls into. Is it LGBTQIA+? Is it friends to lovers or adversaries to lovers or second chance romance? Is it saving the world fantasy or a road trip? While these are not necessarily automatic additions to the TBR, they are pretty good indicators.

Book summary/description

I don’t even consider the description or blurb on the back of the book until I’ve answered the above questions, which means a lot of books get added to my TBR without me even looking at the summary because they’ve already ticked off other boxes.

Cover

And the final thing I look at is the book cover. If the book cover is beautiful or just speaks to me, the book gets added to my TBR. Since I am usually not looking at genres I don’t read, I’m usually safe with this, but it also helps me branch out of my comfort zone as well.

Like I said, I’m pretty free when I choose books to add to my TBR, which is probably why my complete TBR is over 4000 books right now! When it comes to purchasing books though, I have gotten a lot more particular. My finances are slim and I don’t have a lot of available shelf space, so I have to really think about what books I am going to spend my money on. I didn’t use to be so frugal about this and would love to keep purchasing books like crazy, but circumstances change and I’ve had to make adjustments.

Read It & Loved It

When purchasing books, I start a little differently. Have I read the book already (most likely from the library or an eARC), and did I love it and want to re-read it again? If the answer is yes, it goes on my “re-read need” shelf on Goodreads so I can purchase it when I next have money.

Series

Is it part of a series I already own? I will purchase missing books or new books in a series that I already own, even if I haven’t read them yet.

Author

Is it an author who I have read extensively and absolutely love (aka an auto-buy author)? These authors books are automatically on my books to buy list. (They currently include such authors as Nora Roberts, Becky Albertalli, Jayne Ann Krentz, Gayle Forman & Rick Riordan).

TBR

Is the book already on my TBR? I should only be buying books I’ve already added to my TBR.

Cover

But, I am a sucker for a pretty cover, so there are still times I will cave to a gorgeous cover and buy it even if it doesn’t meet the other criteria. I mean, I’m only human.

So there you have it, my personal methods for choosing what books are added to my TBR pile and/or my bookshelves.