How do I Find Books & Book Deals?

As you can probably guess, I buy a lot of books. So how do I choose my books? And how do I get book deals?

Disclaimer: I don't mean for this post to sound like an Amazon advertisement; I use Amazon extensively because I am a Kindle reader.

Adding books to "Want to Read" on Goodreads

How do I track what I want to read?

First, I keep a long running list of books I am interested in. This list has everything from upcoming books by authors I know I like, books by authors I would like to try, and books suggested by others (people I know, blog posts by others, Facebook posts by others).

I do this in two places; Goodreads and Amazon's Wish List. The Goodreads list is the more discerning of the two - this is where I place books I for sure want to read and might actually buy at full price (maybe, some day...), and I use it to keep them in order - the top 15 or so are ones I want to buy/read "soon."

To order my books in my Goodreads list, I simply go to "My Books" and then click "Want to Read" on the left-hand side of the screen. From there, you can re-order your books by using the arrows to move a book up and down in the list or by typing in the number of the place you'd like the book to appear on your list.

I use the Amazon list as a catchall for anything that grabs my interest and that I would be willing to grab when the prices is right. If you're telling me about something and I say "that's interesting!" and grab my phone, I am probably looking for a book to add to my Amazon Wish List.

Ordering your "Want to Read" list in Goodreads

In Amazon, I simply add books to my "Wish List" as they catch my attention. You can do this by clicking "add to list" from any Amazon page. If you prefer Kindle - and/or want to keep an eye out for good Kindle deals - make sure you're looking at the Kindle version of the book before you do this.

How do I pick books to read? 

So how do I find books to add to these lists? For one, I track authors that I enjoy. I do this by following them on Goodreads, Amazon, and Bookbub so I can passively get notifications by email. I also follow them on Facebook if they use it, and may periodically check the websites of authors I particularly want to follow. On Amazon and Goodreads you can do this right from an author's page, and on Bookbub you can do this by searching the Discover Authors page.

Add to list on Amazon

I also get new book ideas from following book related Facebook groups, particularly those related to genres I really enjoy. Particular ones I suggest are Historical Fiction Book Lovers, Epic Fantasy Fanatics, and Fantasy-Faction Fantasy Book Discussion. You can find these types of groups pretty easily by searching Google or Facebook, or asking around. Groups like this are also a great place to ask for specific recommendations on things you are interested in.

In addition, any time I stumble across a topic I am interested in (for example, if I am watching a documentary and I hear about a person I would like to read a biography about, or perhaps I read a novel and want to read a biography on the subject of the novel) I either ask in a discussion group or do a quick Google search - something like "best books on Marilyn Monroe" or "best novels about Queen Elizabeth" or "biography of Winston Churchill." You can usually come up with great suggestions this way. I also search for "best of" lists when I am new to a genre or want more in a genre, such as grimdark fantasy or historical fiction on WWII (Bookriot is great for this, such as their list of 20 Grimdark books, as is Unbound Worlds' lists).

I do also usually do a quick vetting of a book before adding it to my list; I look at the length of the book, the number of stars on Amazon or Goodreads, and in the case of non-fiction I look at the author biography to see if I can trust the reliability of the book/author. In some cases I may also take a look at some reviews, especially if I am contemplating paying full price for a book. 

How do I find deals on books? 

Sorting Amazon lists by price

I use two primary methods for this - Bookbub and Amazon. If you use the Discover Author feature in Bookbub, you will get emails when books by your authors go on sale. There are many other services that will send you recommendations by genre (which Bookbub also does), but I find that subscribing to too many just makes for a clogged inbox, and I prefer to get recommendations targeted to things I already know I want to read, like specific authors. 

I also use my Amazon Wish List to find deals. I periodically go to my wish list and sort by price, sorting by lowest price first. This brings the cheapest books - including any new deals - to the top of your list. The other nice thing about this is that it doesn't clog your email, and you can check it as often (or as rarely) as you'd like. The downside is that you have to remember to do it to get the deals. Amazon does deals all the time, so it isn't uncommon to find deals this way, and they're often very cheap - $.99 or $1.99, and they can extend to best sellers - I recently got Madeline Miller's Circe for $4.99 this way and I have gotten other best sellers for even less. 

What if I don't want to pay for books at all? 

As a librarian, I think I'd be remiss not to put in a plug for your local library here! Even if your local library is small, many libraries now offer an inter-library loan service where they can borrow books from other libraries for you, giving you a much wider selection to choose from. 

In addition, for those of you in New York, the New York Public Library allows any New York State resident to apply for a library card, not just New York City residents. Having a library card then gives access to their extensive e-book library (among other things). You can apply for a library card here.