How I Choose My Next Book

If you look at my reading list, you might think there’s some kind of strategy behind it.

There isn’t.

I’m a chronic mood reader.

Some days I want something eerie and atmospheric. Other days I want banter, romance, and characters making extremely questionable emotional decisions. Sometimes I want something strange enough that I finish the last page and just sit there thinking about it for the rest of the night.

So when I’m choosing my next book, I don’t really follow a plan. I follow whatever story matches the exact mood I’m in at that moment.

If I try to force myself into a specific genre or book just because it’s on a list somewhere, I usually bounce off it immediately.

But when I follow the vibe? That’s when I end up finding the stories that stick with me.

The Benefit of Reading What You Want to Write

There’s a piece of writing advice that gets repeated a lot: write what you want to read.

And while that’s good advice, I’ve started realizing the reverse is just as important.

Read what you want to write.

Pay attention to the books that make something in your brain light up. The ones that make you think about pacing, characters, atmosphere, or emotional tension in a new way.

For me, reading this way is especially important because I don’t sit comfortably in a single genre. I like stories that cross boundaries. Romance that’s a little strange, horror that’s deeply emotional, contemporary stories with a slightly surreal edge.

When I read books that explore those same spaces, it reminds me that stories don’t have to stay neatly inside one box.

And as a multi-genre writer, that’s a pretty freeing realization.

A Book That Completely Messed With My Brain

One book that stuck with me recently was The Red Tree by Caitlin R. Kiernan.

By the end of it, I was basically sitting there thinking: What actually happened? Is she losing her mind? Is something supernatural going on? I need answers.

And the book just… refuses to give them to you.

Normally that kind of ambiguity would drive me insane. I like explanations. I like knowing exactly how the pieces fit together.

But in this case, the uncertainty is the entire point.

The story leaves just enough unanswered that you’re still thinking about it long after you finish. It lingers in that uncomfortable space between psychological horror and something possibly supernatural.

And as a writer, it reminded me that sometimes the most powerful thing a story can do is leave room for the reader to wonder.

Not every mystery needs to be solved.

Sometimes the question is the whole story.

Going with the Flow

Lately, I’ve been trying to follow the story wherever it wants to go, even if that just means grabbing whatever book feels right in the moment.

Some days that’s something eerie and atmospheric. Some days it’s messy romance and chaotic characters. And sometimes it’s a story that leaves me staring at the last page wondering what just happened.

The point isn’t sticking to a perfect reading plan. It’s paying attention to the stories that make something click.

Because those are usually the stories that end up shaping the ones we write.

In a strange way, this is another reason I haven’t rushed back into writing yet. Right now I’m still collecting those sparks. Stories that surprise me, unsettle me, or remind me why I love storytelling in the first place.

Eventually they’ll turn into something new on the page.

For now, I’m just following the current and seeing where it takes me.