How to Better Understand Your Reading Preferences

Understanding your preferences in reading is a great way to reflect and get to know yourself better. It’s also helpful if you have been picking up books lately that you couldn’t finish or didn’t enjoy. Knowing what you like to read makes your next trip to the library easier. It also helps your friends and family when they are looking for gifts.

How do you get a clear idea of your reading preferences? Let's take a look.

Reflect on Your Favorite Books

Check your shelf, whether it's a real one or your virtual StoryForge shelf. You can also look at your "past read" list from your library.

Think about the common themes you see. We want to look at themes, genres, or styles in the books you’ve loved most. Are most of them horror?

Or perhaps romance? Do we see a lot of themes of “Found Family” or “Coming of Age”? This is step one before we dive deeper into what affects your preferences.

Take Note of Your Mood

Just like how pizza can sound great for three weeks and suddenly it’s all about sushi, so can your book taste change. During different seasons of the year or phases of your life, you will find yourself looking for something different from what’s normal at the time. Take a look at the past and you might even find a cycle.

For example, grittier adventure stories in the summer and reflective non-fiction in the winter. Do you read the same kinds of books you read back in school? Would it be comforting to return to these stories now and again? These are the kinds of questions to ask yourself when reflecting on your reading preferences.

Analyze Your Dislikes

Go back to your shelf and consider what you didn’t enjoy. What did you hate about that character that you couldn’t wait long enough to see their redemption? What about this plot line was too slow for you?

Your observations don’t mean it was bad writing, just that it wasn’t a good fit for you. Knowing these details is a great way to narrow down books when you look at the reader reviews.

Think About Your Reading Goals

Why do you read? Is it for entertainment, personal growth, or to explore a new perspective? Knowing why you read will determine what you reach for.

There are different levels to why you read as well. Sometimes we read a book we wouldn’t usually read because a friend said it’s their favorite and reading the book brings us closer to them. Other times we read something we would never pick up on our own because it was assigned in class. Even in these books though you didn’t directly choose them, what did you like and dislike about them?

Consider Your Preferred Formats

Do you tend to use audiobooks more than physical books? Do you end up reading digitally like on StoryForge or on your library’s e-book app? Why do you gravitate towards this format? What do you dislike about the others?

Consider Book Length

Do you prefer long books like Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon or short novella-length books like When Among Crows by Veronica Roth? Or are you somewhere in between? If you find yourself reaching for the next ongoing series or a completed trilogy these all contribute towards your preferences. What about the book or series length feels right to you?

Compare Writing Styles

What style do the authors write in between your favorite books and the books you disliked? For example, there’s a tone that can be unlikeable that’s often used in most socialite dramas so it can be hard to stay interested. Likewise, reading a literary classic is always a shock because the writing is so different from contemporary writing.

Experiment with Genres

If you read within a very specific genre with very specific tropes or plotlines, consider this your encouragement to read outside of your comfort zone. If you’re not a very adventurous type, trying something adjacent to what you’re familiar with is a great step towards pushing your boundaries which is important for personal growth. If you find yourself always reaching for a specific style of romance like “friends to lovers” instead try “enemies to lovers”.

After considering these aspects of your past reads you should have a better understanding of what your reading preferences are and what to search for on your hunt for the next favorite book. You can get started on your next read on StoryForge and let the writer know what you love about their work!