Did you know that according to the World Population Review, people in America (on average) read 17 books a year?
I don’t know if you are above that average or below it—but most people I talk with wish they “read more.”
One major issues for anyone wanting to read is picking what to read. In 2010 Google Books estimated that there are 129,864,880 books to choose from. That’s a lot of books.
Here is some math:
If you read 17 books a year, it would take you about 7.6 million years to read them all.
This is clearly ridiculous. So, let’s take something more manageable. An average 4 shelf bookcase will hold around 120 books (according to ChatGBT). So, even reading just one bookcase the average American would take just over 7 years.
This brings us to the key question: how do we pick what to read?!
As a passionate reader myself AND as someone who teaches young people, I have put a bit of thought into this. And to be honest, I think some of you will be disappointed in my answer.
How to Pick Your Next Read:
Rule #1
Read what you will enjoy.
This might seem shallow and I can hear parents of my students physically gasping in dismay. (Sorry to disappoint.)
But here is the reality, you won’t read it (or much at all), if you don’t enjoy yourself.
This doesn’t mean that you should only read candy, and I imagine you know that there are many ways to enjoy a book.
For example, in general I don’t get much out of poetry. But I do find pleasure in having read it. The process of reading something like Dante’s Inferno is difficult work, but I like the result. That is something I personally enjoy and it gives me the motivation to read some books that otherwise wouldn’t be on my list.
(The opposite of this can also be true. I loved the way that The Great Gatsby was written, and at the end, hated the story.)
Rule #2
Ask people for recommendations!
Algorithms tell us what we want to hear (and this can be helpful), but people help us find surprises.
I joined a book club and one of the biggest benefits was that it put books in front of me that I would never have read like Elose Jarvis McGraw’s Greensleeves. (Thanks Amy!)
Of course, reading a book on recommendation doesn’t obligate you to like it. One of my good friends and I really enjoy a lot of the same books and exchanging book recommendations and discussing them is one of the really great perks of having a friend like that. But he recommended a book called He Who Fights Monsters and I thought it was stupid. So, I didn’t read past the first book in the series. Am I mad that I read it? Not at all! The risks are worth taking.
Rule #3
Keep things moving. Don’t be afraid to put a book aside if it turns out to be The Hunchback of Notre Dame (or whatever the worst book you’ve read is).1
I like to take turns with my books. I will read a “serious book” and then a “fun book.” For me this kinda correlates with fiction and non-fiction. This keeps me always looking forward to either learning (something I love) or letting my soul grow through the enjoyment I get reading something like Lord of the Rings—again.
Taking turns is a tool that I use to keep things moving.
It can be easy to get bogged down in a book. Find your own strategies that will help you press on and not give up!
Rule #4
These aren’t rules, they are tips.
I think I get my approach to books from my mom who when I was growing up strongly believed in helping us find books we would love. She believed that the first trick is learning to love to read, then you will open the door to countless benefits of joy, learning new things, growing in wisdom, and/or connecting with others.
So, my mom would cheer us on if we were reading The Speeches of Abraham Lincoln, Anne of Green Gables, Percy Jackson, American Girl Books, Mere Christianity, or even comic books.
Conclusion
If you want some ideas for picking a good book, here my top books that I recommend.
Jeremiah Lorrig’s Top Reading Recommendations
The first one is Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang. It is my most recommended work. It is an extremely well written (true) tale of a Chinese family that tracks through old China (her foot wrapped grandmother walking through the rain), the rise of Mao (where her mother and father Communist revolutionaries), and then her life growing up under the extreme oppression that followed.
My second recommendation is The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupréry. It might look like it is just a zany kids’ book, but it was written by a French pilot in World War II while his country was occupied by brutal enemies. He writes in a way that is accable even for children about death, friendship, disappointment, and love. You might feel like a child reading it, but if you let it, this book will grow your soul whether you are a kid or an adult.
The third one is Orthodoxy by GK Chesterton. It helped me see the world more clearly. It deals with paradoxes, hard facts, whimsy, faith, high level ideas, and practical common sense. In a world that is full of crazy, this book helped me hone in on things that matter the most.
I have started a spreadsheet with my top recommended books. If you want you can check it out. But it is a work in progress. If you have suggestions for books to add or ways to improve the formatting, let me know! As I said it is a work in progress.
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published on Jeremiah’s Substack and is republished here with permission. Visit his Substack to read more of his work and subscribe for updates.
