People sometimes ask how I hear about all the books I add to my to-read list, especially brand new and forthcoming titles. Some are through pure serendipity when browsing in a bookshop or public library, or looking through the read-alikes on various websites including Goodreads and Kirkus, but for the most part I’m more strategic than that. Below are my go-to sources of information about books, with links provided where possible.
E-ARC REQUEST SITES
NetGalley and Edelweiss are the primary websites where I get the lowdown on upcoming books, and request e-copies to review.
E-NEWSLETTERS
Amazon Books
Biographile
Emerald Street (books content on Mondays and Wednesdays)
Omnivoracious (the Amazon Book Review)
MAGAZINES
North American magazine Bookmarks is terrific – and not just because I regularly write for it! As well as surveying new and upcoming titles, it directs attention to older books through thematic articles and author profiles. BookPage can be picked up for free in U.S. public libraries and has a great mix of reviews and interviews.
If you’re in the UK and manage to get hold of The Bookseller (perhaps at a public library), it has the full scoop on forthcoming titles, usually months in advance. Booktime (free in independent bookstores) and New Books (associated with Nudge) are also worth a look.
NEWSPAPER REVIEWS
More and more newspapers are starting to put up a paywall around their online content, but the Guardian is still free and excellent. Others like the New York Times offer you 5–10 free articles per month before you have to pay.
OTHER BOOK-THEMED WEBSITES
PRIZE LISTS
Every year I pick up recent titles I wouldn’t otherwise have heard of thanks to the longlists for the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction, the Folio Prize, the Guardian’s First Book Award or Not the Booker Prize, the Man Booker Prize, the Pulitzer Prize, the Samuel Johnson Prize, the Wainwright Prize, the Wellcome Prize, and so on.
TRUSTED RECOMMENDERS
This might be Goodreads friends, fellow bloggers whose opinions I value, or writers who know their books, like Ella Berthoud and Susan Elderkin (authors of The Novel Cure), Nick Hornby (articles from his “Stuff I’ve Been Reading” column in the Believer were collected into several entertaining volumes) and Nancy Pearl (the “Book Lust” series).
Follow as many authors, publicists, publishers and fellow reviewers as you can and you will never be short of book news! (The same goes for Facebook, should you wish.)
WEBSITES WITH SOME BOOKS CONTENT
Gretchen Rubin chooses 3 book club books per month
Bookish Beck = Rebecca Foster. American transplant to England. Freelance proofreader and book reviewer.
Bookish Beck 
I’m never that bothered about finding newly published books – so much to read, so little time. And I’d sooner wait till they’re in paperback anyway. But I can see how important it is for you.
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So do you just pick books up as they catch your eye (at libraries, bookshops, etc.)? Or do you work from a long, pre-existing TBR?
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Bit of both, bit of everything. My new book purchases tend to be non-fiction – I’m having a bit of a nature-writing moment (just finished Nick Davies’ ‘The Cuckoo’ – highly recommended). I read book reviews, but tend to think they can wait until they’re in paperback. The Guardian in particular is good at re-revewing books that have been out some time. Amazing though how soon you can pick up ‘new’ books in charity shops.
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Interesting, so many resources!! I read the Guardian Books page and Shiny New books and I also search Amazon for non-fiction a few months ahead to find books to ask for to review for Shiny, some I know aren’t suitable for them I add to my wishlist. Then it’s other people’s blogs and also keeping a look out for new books by authors still living who I love.
I have a rather large Wish List I curated on my blog which has everything I’ve been looking out for for ages, including specific books and works by authors I don’t have much by. I add to that regularly!
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Thank you for your mentions of Shiny, Liz. Much appreciated, and we love your reviews for us.
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Do you ever listen to podcasts to add to your TBR? They add substantially to mine!
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I’ve never listened to a podcast…I’m not entirely sure I know what one is! Is it like a radio program you download? I can be quite a Luddite; we don’t even have a TV at the moment.
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I find out about new books in much the same way as you, except on a much smaller scale! I don’t often go actively searching for them – I find out about enough of them just by being a part of the book blogging community. I usually feel overwhelmed as it is.
I do love the awards lists, though! The Canadian awards lists keep me mostly up-to-date on new CanLit – especially the Giller Prize lists.
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To my shame, I have very little experience with the Giller Prize. The lists are always full of intriguing sounding books that are next to impossible to find in the UK 😦
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Sometimes even I find the Giller list full of intriguing sounding books that are next to impossible to find at my library. 🙂 I’m always pretty excited when I’ve actually read a couple. Last year was a good year for me!
I hope that eventually some of them make their way around the world.
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As one of Shiny’s eds, thank you for including us in your fab list, and thank you for your reviews for us too – always brilliant.
Since I co-founded Shiny, I am overwhelmed with info about new books – so don’t visit as many of your list above as I probably used to.
I talk to the booksellers in my local indie bookshop a lot, and find them invaluable too.
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You’re very welcome! I’m consistently impressed by the number and calibre of reviews on the SNB site. Even though I consider myself pretty clued up about new UK titles, with each issue I always find multiple books that are completely new to me.
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I just find mine through other blogs, so now I’ve got a plethora of resources available to me 😀
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I tend to think book recommendations live in the ether, since to me they’re omnipresent.
The only resource I’d add to this list is Instagram.
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I agree: I find out about books wherever I go and whatever I do!
Instagram is another social media thing I’ve never used. Is it photographs only? How do you use it to find new books?
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It’s photos with captions and tags; aside from book bloggers and friends, I follow a few presses I like, so I have a sense of what’s coming up for them.
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