How I find good books to read

I wouldn't call myself a book connoisseur by any stretch of the imagination. I've only managed to read about 75-80% of the books on my bookshelf. As for the others, they're either on my to-read list or were unceremoniously dropped mid-sentence, typically when they started feeling like a chore.

That being said, I've read enough books to know what I like and what I don't like. I've also read enough books to know that there are a lot of bad books out there. Finding good books, at least for me, is a bit of a challenge so I've resorted to a few strategies to help me find good books. Here are some of them:

1. Intel from friends

This is probably the best way to find books. If you have friends that you think have good taste, ask them what they're reading. If you're proud to ask, wait for them to start reading in front of you and just peep the cover to try to get a glimpse of the title. Or take a photo of their bookshelf when they're not looking. If that doesn't help, consider creating a Shazam for books.

2. Recommendations from people you admire

This is the second best way I've found good books. If you admire someone, chances are you'll like the books they like too. Obviously this isn't always the case, but it's not a bad place to look into. Kevin Crooke has a bunch of books recommended by mostly well-known tech-industry people. While most of the recommended books are by tech-industry figures, most of the books are of a general nature and not necessarily tech-related. Also beware that some of the books are simply marketing ploys or endorsements from the original referrers. I've seen a bunch of books being hyped by people on Twitter, only to find out that the book was written by the person's friend or someone they know. So don't be fooled by the hype — be a bit internet saavy (only comes with enough experience, this one).

3. Social Media!?

Surprisingly, I have found Twitter to be a great place to find good books. But like I said earlier, just be a bit internet saavy so you don't fall victim to devious marketing ploys. Here's one book I enjoyed reading after it was recommended on Twitter from someone I follow on my alt account. There are also channels and groups on Telegram that people use to share their recent and favourite reads. I usually opt for Telegram groups and channels when it comes to finding good books written in Amharic.

4. Judge a book by its cover

Yes, judge away! I've found that if a book has a good cover, it's usually a good book. A good combo of colours, visuals and fonts is always welcome in my world (and on my bookshelf) 🎨. I mean, if you're going to spend months or years writing a book, might as well spend a few extra days making the cover look good and interesting. O'Reilly is a good example of a publisher that has great book covers. Their books are top notch too. If you solely rely on this method, you might end up missing out on some great books with not-so-great covers though.

Umm, yep. There's probably more ways to find good books, but these are the ones that have worked for me so far.