That Awful Between Books Feeling

[Quoth]

It's a bad time to visit bookstores or websites unless you hide your money/cards/passwords…

[graycyn]

Honestly, I never seem to have this problem. Do I keep a TBR list? No. Never have. I just pick a book and start reading. If I decide I'm not in the mood for what I picked, I set it aside, pick another.

If I'm between library books, I usually try out a freebie/new author I've picked up from Amazon. OR, and this is fairly common, I go grab a classic from Gutenberg.org or StandardEbooks.org. Or I re-read a book I love and I've already purchased!

I am "between books" in a different sort of way currently, I'm reading a library book on my Kobo, and a purchase on my Kindle.

The library book is a collection of stories, and I've been just bopping back and forth between the two books depending on my mood and whether my Kindle or Kobo is handiest.

[Apache]

I used to have that more than I liked. I live in a small town and access to bookstores was limited without driving at least an hour and a half. Now with so many books at my disposal I almost never have that feeling.
Apache

[cfrizz]

If I can't decide what to read next, I will usually go back to a favorite of mine and reread that.

Actually that is what I'm doing right now. I have a ton of books to read but can't decide which one, so now I'm rereading The Pride series books 1-4 by Shelly Laurenston.

[ownedbycats]

I keep a short-ish (usually somewhere between 10-20 books) 'to be read' list, culled from my far larger pile of shame. I also frequently add or remove books depending on my mood.

Of course, picking the next book from that TBR list can be a bit of a dilemma...

[Desertway]

For me, it's not about wondering what to read next. I generally know what I'm going to read next. I have the BIG tbr, and the UP NEXT tbr. It's simply about finishing a book that I've been living in for awhile. It's an empty feeling. That's why I always make sure I have a slight investment in my next book, just those first couple of chapters.

[4691mls]

I have a long Overdrive wishlist saved. these are books I know I already was interested in reading someday - mostly either books by familiar authors or books that looked interesting when I was reviewing my library's new additions. When I finish a book and don't have anything in particular in mind to read next, I'll look through the wishlist until something appeals.

[Richard Moody]

Well. I recognise that feeling!

Clearly it’s more common than I thought.
I don’t like it, though, unlike some. So I have a long TBR list. Usually the same author, until I need a change. But I don’t like to be without a good book to read; I really don’t!

[JSWolf]

One thing to do is to let calibre randomly pick a book for you.

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

One thing to do is to let calibre randomly pick a book for you.

Kind of a pain when I'm not at the computer, though

[ZodWallop]

I tend to have a general idea of the kind of book I want to read next. It can be kind of broad, like I want to read a lightweight, silly book. And as I get closer to the end of my current read, I start to narrow it down to a genre and think of books in that genre that I already have and would like to read. I've been doing this for years and never am at a loss for what to read next.

[kyrilson]

Nope. I always have one or two books lined up for next and immediately start them when I finish a book. Plus I usually have 2 or 3 in different genres going, so there is always a book in progress.

[gmw]

Originally Posted by BookCat

Does anyone else hate being between books, not knowing what to read next? [...]

Yep, definitely. I think that's why I used to like series, or authors with lots of books, because by default I'd just move on the next in the series or the next published. But these days I tend to jump around a bit more and that means I face this choice more often.

Via Calibre, on my ereader I keep a "To Read" list (a few hundred books) and I remove items from it as they are read. So I generally jump into that at some relatively random point and start scrolling until I find something that sparks my fancy/mood. And sometimes I fall asleep before the choice is made, so I get to try again tomorrow.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by gmw

Yep, definitely. I think that's why I used to like series, or authors with lots of books, because by default I'd just move on the next in the series or the next published.

I need to put some space in between books of a trilogy, say, or even books of an author; nothing is more calculated to kill my liking than reading one after another. At best, I get sick of it and that's if the author's tics and tricks don't become overwhelming. I'd rather be a little fuzzy on the details of what happened in an early book.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by issybird

I need to put some space in between books of a trilogy, say, or even books of an author; nothing is more calculated to kill my liking than reading one after another. At best, I get sick of it and that's if the author's tics and tricks don't become overwhelming. I'd rather be a little fuzzy on the details of what happened in an early book.

I often do as well, especially if it's a long series. Not always, but often enough I'll get bored reading the same type of thing for a while. Overall, I love series, but in between I want to read something else.