How to choose what to read next when nothing sounds good
Decide the mood you want first — comfort, escape, challenge or something to talk about — then pick from your to-be-read pile the book that best fits that mood and your recent favourites. If nothing fits, choose something short in a genre you reliably enjoy; finishing a book is the fastest way out of indecision.
Pick a mood before a book
Most indecision is really a mismatch between your mood and your options. A dense historical novel is a poor choice for a tired week. Name what you want the book to do for you, and half the pile disqualifies itself.
Shorten the list to three
Choosing from fifty unread books is paralysing; choosing from three is easy. Pull three that fit the mood, read the first page of each, and keep whichever made you want to read the second page.
Let your recent favourites steer
What you loved last month is better evidence than what you thought you'd like when you bought a book a year ago. Hunch keeps a Considering shelf and scores everything on it against your current taste, so the best fit rises to the top — and its Picks page suggests new books when the pile runs dry.