There are times when choosing your next book takes almost as long as actually reading one.
You’ve got books on your shelves you’ve been meaning to read for years, another twenty on your Kindle and a list on your phone containing recommendations you can’t even remember adding. Then someone mentions another book they loved and, naturally, that gets added too.
Having nothing to read isn’t usually the problem. Deciding what you’re actually in the mood to read is.
Sometimes I want something dark that I’ll still be thinking about at two in the morning. Other times I want a cosy mystery where someone has definitely been murdered but, somehow, there are still enough cups of tea involved to make the whole thing comforting.
So rather than endlessly scrolling through book recommendations, I’ve made a little tool to help.
What book should I read next?
Tell the generator what sort of reading mood you’re in, the genres you usually enjoy, whether you fancy some romance, how dark you’re prepared to go and whether you’re ready to commit to a series.
It won’t just tell you to “try a thriller” and leave you to work out what that means. The generator will use your answers to suggest ten actual books that should suit what you’re in the mood for.
You might get a cosy crime novel, an emotional Japanese story or a huge romantasy series to disappear into. Underneath your recommendations, I’ll also point you towards one of our reading lists if you want even more books like them.
Of course, books don’t fit perfectly into little boxes. Sometimes the book you end up loving is precisely the one you wouldn’t normally have picked.
Think of the generator as the friend standing beside your bookshelf saying, “Actually, I think you’re in the mood for this…”
Why is choosing your next book so difficult?
I think part of the problem is that we have too much choice.
Walk into a bookshop and there are tables of new releases, staff recommendations, TikTok favourites and books with stickers telling you that absolutely everybody is apparently reading them.
Then there are all the books you’ve already bought.
You can know that you love crime novels and still have no idea whether tonight calls for an unsettling psychological thriller or a village murder involving an amateur detective, a suspicious vicar and an alarming number of scones.
That’s why I’ve made mood one of the biggest parts of the generator.
What you normally enjoy matters, but so does what you fancy right now.
I want something cosy
There are evenings when I want a mystery without feeling as though I need to check the doors are locked afterwards.
That’s where cosy crime comes in.
You still get clues, suspects, secrets and usually a murder, but the emphasis tends to be much more on the puzzle, characters and setting than graphic violence.
It’s the sort of genre where someone can discover a body before breakfast and somehow everyone is drinking tea by chapter three.
If that sounds about right, have a look at our guide to the best cosy crime books to curl up with.
It’s also a brilliant genre if you’ve been struggling to get back into reading. A mystery gives you a reason to keep turning the pages without necessarily demanding too much emotionally.
I want a book that will make me cry
Sometimes you actively want the book that is going to ruin your evening.
You know it’s coming. Someone has already warned you. You have tissues nearby.
And you read it anyway.
Emotional books can be some of the ones we remember most because we become so attached to the characters that their lives briefly feel tangled up with our own.
If you’re in that mood, our Books That Will Make You Cry collection has 25 emotional reads covering love, loss, friendship, family and hope.
There are gentle tearjerkers in there as well as the books that leave you staring blankly at the wall after the final page.
The generator lets you control how dark you’re willing to go, too, because “I’d like something emotional” and “please emotionally destroy me” are two very different reading requests.
I want something quiet and comforting
Not every good book needs a murder, a dragon or a plot twist that makes you go back three chapters looking for clues.
Sometimes you want a quieter story.
I’ve become particularly fond of the gentle style found in a lot of Japanese fiction: cafés, libraries, cats, everyday lives and stories that somehow manage to explore enormous feelings without shouting about them.
They’re especially lovely when your brain is tired but you still want to read.
If that’s your mood, try our books to read if you like Japanese fiction. There are some beautifully calm and thoughtful choices there, including shorter books that don’t feel like taking on a six-week project.
I want fantasy and romance
Perhaps quiet cafés aren’t going to cut it.
Perhaps you want fae, dragons, enemies who are almost certainly going to become lovers and a man who is described as morally grey despite displaying enough red flags to decorate a small country.
Fair enough.
Romantasy is enormous for a reason.
If you’ve read A Court of Thorns and Roses and are now searching for something that gives you the same feeling, we’ve put together 9 books to read if you like ACOTAR.
This is also where choosing between a standalone and a series becomes useful.
There is quite a difference between wanting a fantasy book for the weekend and accidentally signing yourself up for 4,000 pages, three prequels and a Reddit thread explaining the correct reading order.
Sometimes that’s exactly what you want.
Sometimes it really isn’t.
I want a mystery I can solve
Crime is one of those genres that covers an enormous range.
Cosy crime sits at one end, while much darker thrillers and psychological crime sit at the other.
But sometimes what you’re really looking for is the puzzle.
Who did it? Which clue matters? Who is lying?
Those are the books that result in me deciding I’ll read “one more chapter” at 11pm and discovering that it is suddenly considerably later than that.
If you enjoy the mystery more than the gore, choose a lower darkness level in the generator. It’ll steer you towards lighter mysteries rather than assuming every crime reader wants something disturbing.
I want something short
There is absolutely nothing wrong with choosing a book partly because it’s short.
In fact, if you haven’t been reading much lately, I’d actively recommend it.
Finishing a 180-page novel can be much more satisfying than spending three weeks looking guiltily at page 74 of an enormous book you aren’t enjoying.
Shorter books are also perfect between longer series, for weekends away or when you just want the satisfaction of finishing something.
Choose short in the generator and it’ll favour reading styles that work particularly well when you don’t fancy tackling a doorstop.
I want a really long book
On the other hand, sometimes you want to disappear.
You don’t want a book you’ll finish tomorrow. You want a world you can move into for a while.
Fantasy and historical fiction are particularly good for this, as are sprawling family sagas and long-running series where you become ridiculously attached to characters who don’t actually exist.
If you want a big book, choose long in the generator.
And if you want an even bigger commitment, tell it you’re happy to start a series.
Just don’t blame me when you’ve bought book seven before you’ve finished book two.
Should I read a standalone book or start a series?
This depends entirely on my mood.
Series are wonderful when you find characters and a world you don’t want to leave. There’s something comforting about finishing one book and already knowing exactly what you’re reading next.
The downside is commitment.
A standalone gives you the whole story without adding another nine books to your TBR pile.
That’s why I’ve included this question rather than assuming everyone wants more of everything.
If you’ve already got three unfinished series glaring at you from the bookshelf, perhaps standalone is the answer.
What should I read if I don’t know what genre I like?
Don’t worry too much about genre.
Start with mood instead.
Think about films and television programmes you enjoy. Do you love trying to work out the ending? Crime or mystery might work. Do you become ridiculously invested in relationships? Try romance. Would you rather escape completely from normal life? Fantasy might be the answer.
And if you want something warm and reflective rather than plot-heavy, contemporary or Japanese fiction could be worth trying.
The useful thing about experimenting with books is that the worst that happens is you decide it isn’t for you.
You are allowed to stop reading a book.
The Book Police will not arrive.
What if the generator suggests something I wouldn’t normally read?
I’d actually consider trying it.
Not every time, obviously. If you know with absolute certainty that fantasy makes you want to throw the book across the room, you probably don’t need 700 pages of dragons to confirm it.
But reading slightly outside your usual genres can uncover some brilliant books.
You might discover that you don’t dislike crime; you dislike gruesome crime.
Perhaps you don’t dislike romance; you just don’t want romance to be the entire plot.
Or maybe you thought translated fiction wasn’t your thing until you found the right book.
The questions in the generator are designed to pick up some of those differences.
What if I still can’t decide what to read?
Use the generator again and change one answer.
That’s half the fun of it.
See what happens if you go darker. Swap your usual genre for “surprise me”. Try a standalone instead of a series.
You can also browse the Midnight Book Club for more recommendations whenever your TBR pile is looking suspiciously manageable.
Although, let’s face it, that rarely lasts long.
So, what should you read next?
The best next book isn’t necessarily the one with the best reviews or the one everybody on social media is talking about.
It’s the one that fits what you want from a book tonight.
Maybe that’s a murder in a picturesque village.
Maybe it’s a quiet Japanese novel that feels like spending a few hours somewhere calmer.
Maybe you want romance, dragons and several hundred pages of questionable decision-making.
Or perhaps you just want to cry.
Scroll back up, answer a few questions and let the What Book Should I Read Next? Generator narrow it down for you.
Then all you’ve got to do is actually start reading.