The Headline

How to Read Widely and Discover Even More Books

Every reader has their wheelhouse, whether we’re talking about a certain type of book, a genre, a category, or even specific features like found family or messy wealthy people. It’s as comforting to know what you like as it is unfathomable to consider the Herculean task of sifting through the endless reading materials at our disposal today without a preference to guide you. But a wheelhouse can also be a trap. It can lull you into a curation fugue state and surprise you with the dead end that is a reading slump. Always reading in your wheelhouse can be akin to eating your favorite food day in and day out. This happened to me.

I was reading science fiction and fantasy almost exclusively until this year when I made a conscious and concerted effort to read more widely, and it taught me a few things about how to navigate a much wider world of books. In the spirit of sharing, here’s a handy guide I pulled together, based on my personal experience, for anyone else who might want to expand their reading catalog, getting more and different books under their belt.

How to Find the Energy

Hey, if you love what you’ve got going on and want more of the same, godspeed. I’m not here to tell you how to live your reading life. I’ve been reading mainly fantasy since I was a kid, so it seemed highly unlikely that I needed a change of scenery even as I gave serious stink-eye to books I should by all rights love. Maybe I just needed to find a new author, a new subgenre, a new format to help me fall back in love with reading, but step outside of SF/F? That couldn’t be it. Towards the end of last year, when I was in “rethink everything” mode, lightning struck: I was not only tired of reading in the same genres, I felt inhibited by the narrowness of my reading.

S. Zainab Williams

Executive Director, Content

S. Zainab would like to think she bleeds ink but the very idea makes her feel faint. She writes fantasy and horror, and is currently clutching a manuscript while groping in the dark. Find her on Twitter: @szainabwilliams.

The only time in my adulthood I had read much more widely was in college, when I was an English undergrad. Returning to SF/F after four years of Milton, Tolstoy, Joyce, and so many other dead white dudes was a return to reading for fun. Sure, I dabbled here and there, fitting in contemporary fiction and the rare nonfiction when I could, but I stuck to my guns because speculative fiction had served me so well for so long. Even as I came closer to acknowledging that it was time to try something new, I didn’t feel confident I would enjoy the experience. And then I made the jump and I can’t understate how invigorating it was to arrive at the peak of the mountain and glimpse possibility. The recognition that this was indeed exactly what I needed gave me the energy to think more expansively about my reading and to engage with this new world in earnest.

Browse the Megalists

I started creating my list of first reads without even knowing it. My work and an unexpected, perhaps subconscious, inclination to pay closer attention to the books big outlets and big names were pointing to prompted me to cast a wider net. It was useful to get a sense of what titles repeated across lists and get a quick scan of synopses. I thought I’d have to pump myself up to read different kinds of books, but these lists organically piqued my interest. I found myself asking why certain books were beloved by so many, what made certain types of books so enticing to big book clubs, how this or that debut broke through, and my curiosity made me want to pick up those books to answer those questions. Plenty of popular or critically successful books aren’t my cup of tea, but that kind of vetting makes for a strong starting place.

Here are a few lists you can build off of:

The 100 Best Books of the Century So Far – The New York Times

Best Books of the 21st Century (So Far) – Kirkus Reviews

Round-Up of Summer Reading Lists – Book Riot

Readers’ Hit New Books of the Year (So Far) – Goodreads

And this is the list I created that began my journey: Catch Up on the Best 21st Century Novels in 10 Books

Phone a Friend

As with approaching anything new, don’t be afraid to ask for advice, especially if you run in diverse bookish circles. I have the privilege of knowing many types of readers and where I used to smile and nod at recommendations outside of the books I needed to read for work or that I assumed I wouldn’t enjoy, I now pay closer attention to recommendations from just about anyone who wants to bend my ear about a book. I even consider titles that are way outside of my wheelhouse. What’s the worst that can happen? I look into a book, decide it’s really not for me, and move on to the next recommendation? Okay, I can handle that.

If you’re the only one in your friend group, family, world who enjoys a good book, find some trusted advisors online. If you go to BookTok for this purpose and you’re new there, I recommend giving the algorithm a chance to get to know you before dismissing it as a space that recommends the same five authors. You’ll very likely need to spend a chunk of time on the platform exploring before you find creators who speak to you even if they’re not reading the books you’d normally pick up. That’s another thing! It’s fine to add some creators who love the same books you do, but don’t fall into the trap of exclusively following those creators. Use your broader interests and values to find folks who read different kinds of books. For instance, I value diversity in my reading, so I might follow an influencer who reads a lot of nonfiction (which I do not) and has a history of recommending BIPOC-authored books.

DNF If You’re Not Feeling It

I recently shared about a book I was reading that ended up being a slog and people did not hesitate to empower me to quit–AKA DNF–the book. Outside of work (the reason I couldn’t DNF that particular title) and school, most of us can choose to quit a book whenever we damn well please. To DNF is to salvage finite time for better experiences. There’s no shame in that game. Overwhelm is easy to come by when you’re approaching all the books, but it’s easier to overcome that overwhelm when you remember that you have agency to reject books.

Take Your Quest to the Library

Do not, I repeat, do not, set out to explore by buying a bunch of books you’re unsure about. Unless you have a lot of disposable income and people and places to pass DNFed books on to, do not hang a cloud of buyer’s remorse over your journey. Instead, go to the library. I had forgotten how much fun it is to loiter in the library, aimlessly browsing books with no specific target in mind. I used to do this plenty in my younger years, but I moved away from this practice as specific title needs and deadlines shifted my reading life. Choose a day when the weather makes the outdoors less fun and your schedule is clear to venture into your nearest library. Choose a section you wouldn’t normally peruse and pull out titles that speak to you. Tell your librarian what you’re up to and let them help guide you–maybe there’s a book they love that they’d be willing to share about (I bet they would!), or that’s popular with patrons. Nothing gets me in the spirit of reading like a library, and I’m going out on a limb and guessing the same is true for you.

To Thine Own Shelves Be True

Even closer to home than your library are your own shelves. I bet you have books you normally wouldn’t pick up that were gifted to you, or that you borrowed but never read, or that you picked up on a whim–I’m really speaking to myself here. Everyone in my life knows I’m a reader and I get a lot, and I mean a lot of gifted books. I have also been known to impulse buy books (I, myself, have neither a great deal of disposable income nor excuses for this habit). We laugh at jokes about getting concussed by our tumbling towers of unread books while a trickle of sweat runs down our collective scalp. Give your shelves a good looking over. You might find that your first out-of-the-box read is within arm’s reach.

Pick a book. Any book.

Did mention of that first book trigger mild anxiety? I get it. The hardest part of any endeavor is getting started. The best way to hinder those first steps is telling yourself that your first read has to be a winner. Not true. The only thing you need is curiosity and a willingness to move on if curiosity wanes and boredom reigns. Shed the expectations and remember my earlier point about DNFing. Be ruthless until you find something that captivates, but above all else choose a book, any book. Close your eyes and claw at your shelves until a book falls out if you have to!


The big piece of advice I have for anyone who might be itching to spread their wings and read outside of their comfort zone might be super obvious by now: all you need is curiosity. I like to think readers are naturally curious people. We seek out stories not only because we want to be entertained but often because we want to understand more. So go with that inclination and let it guide you beyond familiar horizons into exciting, uncharted territory.

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