Not Sure What to Read Next? Start Here.
We've all been there. You finish a book, close the cover, and then… nothing. You stare at your shelves. You open Goodreads. You ask your friends. You ask the internet. You scroll TikTok for forty-five minutes and end up more confused than when you started.
The problem usually isn't that there's nothing to read. It's that there's too much — and you don't know which book matches where you're at right now.
So here's a different approach. Tell me your mood, and I'll tell you what to read. These are all books we've read together in the Busy with Books club — so they come with my personal recommendation, not just an algorithm's.
If you want something that'll make you think for days
Read: Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke
Natalie Heller Mills has millions of followers, a beautiful farmhouse, and a life that looks perfect on Instagram. Then she wakes up in 1855 — where the sourdough is real, the hardship is real, and there's no one to make it look good. Part time-travel thriller, part biting satire, Yesteryear is one of those books that gets under your skin. It's genuinely funny, genuinely disturbing, and asks uncomfortable questions about womanhood, tradwife & influencer culture, performance, and what we choose to believe. Our June book club discussion went for over two hours. That tells you everything.
If you're coming out of a reading slump and need something you genuinely can't put down
Read: The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon
A frozen river. A body. A midwife in 1789 Maine who is the only one paying attention. Martha Ballard is one of those fictional protagonists who feels completely real — methodical, quietly brilliant, underestimated by everyone around her. This book has a slow-burn tension that builds perfectly, and I challenge you to read more than two chapters without wanting to clear your afternoon. Ideal for anyone who's been struggling to finish anything.
(In a proper slump? We've got you — read 8 Ways to Get Out of Your Reading Slump first.)
If you want to cry
Read: The Push by Ashley Audrain
Blythe wants to be a good mother more than anything. But from the moment her daughter is born, something feels wrong. Is it Blythe? Is it Violet? And would anyone believe her either way? Written as a letter from Blythe to her ex-husband, The Push is intense, uncomfortable, and completely impossible to look away from. It's about motherhood and generational trauma and what it costs a woman not to be believed. Bring tissues.
If you want something completely different from anything you'd normally pick
Read: Strange Pictures by Uketsu
A collection of unsettling short stories from Japan, each built around a drawing with something wrong in it — something you can't quite place at first. I'll be honest: this isn't a book I'd have picked up on my own. But it's one of the most genuinely original reading experiences I've had in years. It's creepy in the quietest possible way, and it stays with you. If you've been stuck in a rut reading the same kinds of books, this is the one to shake things up.
If you want big themes, beautiful writing, and something worth discussing
Read: Katabasis by RF Kuang
A magical fantasy novel that asks what you'd sacrifice for the person you love — and whether love can coexist with (academic) obsession. Dark, dense, and completely immersive. RF Kuang is one of the most precise writers working right now. Every sentence is doing something. This is not a light read, but it's the kind of book that makes you feel smarter for having read it. Best with a notebook nearby.
If you want something that balances light and dark perfectly
Read: Lost Lambs by Madeline Cash
The Flynn family is spectacularly unravelling. There's an open marriage that opens considerably more than intended, three daughters finding their own chaotic paths, a billionaire employer with suspicious motives, and — crucially — a gnat infestation in the local church. Lost Lambs is that rare thing: a book that's genuinely funny and dark at the same time. It's the one you'll read in public and snort-laugh at, and then feel things about in private. A perfect book for when you want to be entertained and moved.
Still not sure?
The best way to find your next great read isn't an algorithm — it's a real conversation with people who actually love books. That's exactly what the Busy with Books book club is: a monthly read, a Zoom discussion that actually goes somewhere, and a community of readers who take books seriously without taking themselves too seriously. Join the book club here — and let us pick your next read for you!