I have a hard time finding books to read, and even then, I have a hard time continuing them. I wanted to know how others found their own books and what kept them reading.
Most of the time people find books online, but even with easy access, it can be hard to find ways to get started on reading.
“I’d first find books by going to my local library and skimming through the options on the shelf of my favorite genre,” said book club member Grace Yao (‘24). “I usually judged it by the cover, title, and author to see if I wanted to pick it up or not. I switched to Goodreads once I was older and was online more.”
During the quarantine, I lost most of my driving force when it came to reading. Like me, Yao stopped reading. She “used to be really into reading but the pandemic killed my motivation to read. Usually the problem isn’t finding a book to read. But having the motivation to actually pick it up and start reading… Being in a book club helps because it forces me to read books.”
Sometimes people use friends or people online to find recommendations.
“Some of my recs come from book club members or other friends,” said Leela Aiyagari (’24). “When I find books on Instagram and TikTok, some of them come from book creators like my uncle Brent (@brentbetweenpages). I find them this way serendipitously when I’m scrolling on my phone, and it helps expose me to smaller authors who may not be in print yet but have books on kindle and such.” Those are just a few ways people may find books to read.
Here is a small list of a few ways to find your own books to read.
- Goodreads
- Open Library
- Internet archive
- Which Book
- Asking people you know for recommendations
- book blogs
- Join a book club! To join the Skyline book club, just visit Ms Walker’s class (c311) every Friday after school.
