Maham Searching for your next great read? In my personal experience, finding the perfect book can be a daunting task. That’s why a good book review always helps, whether you’re a seasoned bookworm or a casual reader.
As for me, the moment I enter my favourite bookshop to buy a new book (or should I say, many books), I feel like Alice in Wonderland, surrounded by so many fascinating title choices. Although I love the feeling, it remains overwhelming. To avoid book-buying anxiety and confusion from picking too many books at once, I have started jotting down my future favourite reads before I go book shopping.
Like many of you, I am always looking for book title suggestions and am more than happy to give a review myself whenever I come across a good book.
Let me introduce you to a few of my preferred portals for finding a good book, along with some book suggestions by genre, followed by a review of one of my recent reads.
Winner of 2025 Nobel Prize in Literature: László Krasznahorkai
Announcement of the 2025 Nobel Prize in Literature
How do I choose a good book?
Personally speaking, besides knowing my mood and preferred genres, a catchy book cover is one of many reasons to pick out a book, a visual artist talking here ;).
For those who don’t judge a book by its cover (pun intended), defining a goal to find your next read without confusion is the starting point. Are you looking to learn something new, get inspired, or solely want to get away with a good story?
Generally, the paperbacks (my preferred medium) and hardcovers have blurbs printed at the back with a few short reviews. So turn the book around, read, and feel if the book is captivating enough and adequate to your current mood and expectations.
For digital reading, most online platforms offer previews so you can get a feel of the book by reading the first few chapters. Furthermore, if you are amongst those who are really into technology, put the right keywords and ask AI to generate a reading list for you.
As noted by Southern Living, “Few things are better than reading a good book on your porch on a warm summer night….”
Online Platforms for Book Suggestions
In my opinion, experiencing a bookstore and emotionally connecting with a book are the criteria for picking a book. However, browsing through book reviews and good suggestions can make all the difference in your book-reading voyage, and online platforms can be a game-changer.
The salient feature of various book-suggesting websites is that they use algorithms, expert tips, and even emotional measures to give you book recommendations tailored to your taste.
~ Here are some of my preferred online portals for finding great books, with a few book suggestions.
Goodreads Choice Award Winners
In my opinion, one of the best tools for book lovers is the Goodreads Choice Award Winners.
These annual awards spotlight books voted by readers around the globe. By browsing winners and nominees of various categories, such as fiction, nonfiction, or YA, you can find top-rated book suggestions.
Suggestions and book reviews:
A few of the highest-rated books suggested by the Goodreads community include:
- Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus, the Winner of the Readers’ Favourite Debut Novel 2022, which I am also reading these days (along with a few other books). Lessons in Chemistry is a unique take on women in science, cooking, family bonds, and motherhood, full of wit and social commentary.
- The Wedding People by Alison Espach, the Winner of Readers’ Favourite Fiction 2024, I haven’t read this one, but I am looking forward to it. Perhaps we can read this book together and share our reviews in the comments. What do you say?
Whichbook’s Emotion-based Suggestions
One more handy and fun tool is Whichbook, which allows readers to select books based on factors like mood & emotions, character & plot, and most fascinating from a world map. Rather than browsing by genre or author, you can discover great books that match your emotional experience.
Suggestion and book reviews:
Here are a few of my exclusive emotion-based and world-map-based book suggestions by Whichbook.
- Mood & Emotions: Optimistic: Before The Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi, I read this novel last year and loved every bit of it. The plot of this beautiful fiction is set inside a retro cafe where time travel is possible. Rest, you gotta discover yourself!
- From world map: Turkey: 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World by Elif Shafak, This one is in my hands these days, so expect another book review soon. The title of the very first chapter of the book is ‘The End’. Yes, the plot grows with the death of the main character. It is the kind of book that I don’t want to put down and wish to finish in one go, but also don’t want to finish, nevertheless.
Five Books
Another one of my preferred online sources for book selection is Five Books, mainly for self-help, mental health books, and my nonfiction reading list. The best bit about Five Books is that, unlike algorithm-based tools, this site relies on expert-curated lists.
Suggestion and book reviews:
Let me share a few of my personally selected books, assisted by Five Books, for my future reads.
- Genre: Self Help: The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt, The Anxious Generation is an enthralling study about the alarming rise of mental health issues among youth/teenagers since the early 2010s. The writer, a social psychologist, attributes this crisis to the excessive use of smartphones, social media, and the trend of overprotective parenting.
~ For my liking, there is a lot of text and scientific data, so I didn’t end up buying this one. I am reading it while at the library and will continue reading a few more chapters.
- Genre: Travel Writing: A Stranger In Your Own City by Ghaith Abdul-Ahad, Born and raised in Baghdad, Abdul-Ahad, a trained architect turned award-winning journalist, offers a unique perspective, highlighting the resilience of the Iraqi people amidst the chaos of never-ending war.
~ This book is still waiting on my reading list, and I’m super intrigued.
Book Suggestions from Celebrity Book Clubs
Celebrity book clubs are not only fun to follow, they also offer trusted book recommendations and curated lists of both new releases and hidden gems.
~ Here are a few of the celebrity book clubs I follow religiously.
Oprah’s Book Club
Oprah Winfrey is one of my favourite TV hosts, and I love following her podcast.
Oprah’s book club has long been a trusted source of meaningful reads, often diving into emotional and social themes.
- Oprah’s 117th Book Club Pick: Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo, “This book is written by the one and only Richard Russo, Pulitzer Price-winning author of Empire Falls and Nobody’s Fool. He is a master at capturing the ordinary moments that reveal some of the deepest truths, especially in small town novels”. — Oprah
Dua Lipa’s Service95 Book Club
Dua Lipa’s book club spotlights authors from around the world, all-inclusive, from poetry to politics.
Her reading list is always fresh and culturally diverse.
- Dua’s Monthly Read For August: This House Of Grief by Helen Garner, “Although Helen has been writing for almost 50 years, her work is new to me and it’s a thrilling discovery,” says Dua. “She’s one of the most fascinating writers I have come across in recent years.
Reese Witherspoon’s Book Club
Reese’s Book Club focuses on spellbinding stories, often with strong female leads.
Reese Witherspoon’s Book Club suggestions often become instant bestsellers.
- AUGUST ’25 PICK: Once Upon a Time in Dollywood by Ashley Jordan, A LitUp Fellow turned debut author, Ashley’s voice is vibrant, funny, and full of heart. I read this in one sitting, it’s that good! – Reese
Book Review: The Last White Man by Mohsin Hamid
~ Last but not least, a brief book review of one of my recent reads, ‘The last white man’ by Mohsin Hamid.
“Nothing remains what it was. Not even ourselves”.
Mohsin Hamid is one of my favourite authors from the East Asia region, and I have read all of his novels so far. Mohsin Hamid is best known for his poetic prose and provocative storytelling.
The Last White Man is not a novel for those looking for plot twists or tidy conclusions. The story revolves around a seemingly average white man named Andrea, who wakes up one morning to find that his skin has unexplainably darkened. He is neither sick nor encountered any accidents. Unable to accept his condition and frightened of the reaction of the world outside, Andrea hid himself in his house. As the days passed, many others in the city began experiencing the same transformation. Tension mounts as society reacts with fear, violence, confusion, and denial.
In this spellbinding novel, Mohsin Hamid challenges the stereotypes of privilege and racialised societies. A page-turner and thought-provoking piece. I totally recommend it!
Was a lot of fun reading this – I didn’t know that Dua Lipa has a book club 😉
On a serious note, I use Goodreads a lot – I find it very useful to put all books I have read/am reading in one place, and also it connects directly with my Kindle
You mention up here…The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt should be very good and relevant…I haven’t read the book, but listened to a couple of his podcast episodes and a long-form article on the same topic in The Atlantic
Good read !!! Love everything you write- and your esthetics is out of this world – keep growing
Love your article and your website. What an aesthetically appealing website layout Maham.
I am always interested to learn how people choose their next read and medium they are preferring to read a book (print/electronic/audio).
Wow Maham amazing job ! Love the website and the article also . Your book reviews make me want to go back to reading. The book reviews are so well explained. Keep up the good work.