Finding a Book When You Don't Know What You Want to Read

There's a very specific type of novel I want to read next, only I don't know what it is.

But I do know what I want. I want something relatable, like a Nick Hornby novel, but I want it to be sci-fi.

Not sci-fi like real sci-fi, but sci-fi the way I like it which is basically a novel where some people hang out and do normal things but maybe, for a brief moment, an alien pops by.

I don't think this kind of genre really exists, but maybe it does. I asked ChatGPT for a recommendation and it told to me to read Matt Haig. Problem is, I don't like Matt Haig. I can't remember if I don't like his writing or I don't like him but either way, I won't be reading his novel that they keep recommending.

So onwards I go with my search, but maybe it's not the time for a novel, maybe I need something non-fiction. Maybe something about productivity so I can be a better me.

But I hate those books, so maybe I'll read something about World War 2. But what if I get bored after 20 pages? I'll have to keep reading because it feels important to finish World War 2 books.

Or maybe I should finish Anne Frank's Diary again because I think it's one of the best books ever written.

A month from now, I'll be a Dad for the first time. I probably won't be awake enough to read fiction after he's born, so maybe now this is my last chance to focus on a book for quite some time.

Okay, I will read a big Fyodor Dostoevsky book. It'll be great and it'll make me so much smarter. Only problem is I tried one of his books before and he'd go a hundred pages at a time talking about farming, and it had nothing to do with the plot.

Who am I kidding, I'm not reading Dostoevsky. What I really want is the feeling I had the first time I read 'A Little Life', which is also how I felt the first time I read 'The Rainmaker', which is also how I felt when I read 'High Fidelity'.

You're about to recommend me a book, I know it. But there's no way to tell if I'll welcome it with open arms or if your mere mention of it means I'll discard it forever. Maybe that's why I don't like Matt Haig, someone said he's great and I refused to believe it.

It would be nice if you recommended me a book but unfortunately, you don't know the precise inner workings of my brain, so there's no way you'll pick the right book.

Photo by Dakota Corbin on Unsplash

Mostly, I just read Joseph Mitchell's 'Up in the Old Hotel' on repeat. That's what usually happens when I can't think of what to read. My wife says "why don't you just read your book?" And by that, she means Joseph Mitchell.

I want to read a great novel. Maybe an all-time great novel. But not The Great Gatsby. I want to read MY kind of great book.

What is great to me?

Mario Puzo

Arthur Hailey

Joseph Mitchell

Roald Dahl

Jack Kerouac

Nick Hornby

John Grisham (1 out of 5 of his books)

There are many other writers but I've forgotten who they are. I used to say Joseph Heller but the truth is I've only read half of Catch 22 even though I spent ten years saying it was my favourite book.

None of those guys mentioned above write sci-fi, and I never consume sci-fi, so can I trust myself when I say I want to read it?

No, I want to read an Arthur Hailey novel, about the inner workings of a corporation, but the characters should be Nick Hornby type characters, and maybe there's a touch of Puzo, like maybe a storyline about honour and if some important person isn't respected, they end up in a ditch somewhere.

I really want to read a book but I don't know what it is. But, it needs to be exactly, precisely, what I want to read. Send help.