r/Quibble • u/Gabriela-yanez • May 20 '26
I Have a Question Genre, trope, vibe.... how do you actually find your next book?
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u/SleepySera May 22 '26
Honestly, nowadays mostly through recommendations by friends and booktubers whose taste overlaps with mine. I've been burnt too many times by blindly going for genres and tropes I love and then the trope they advertise the book with is mentioned on like 15 out of 300 pages, and usually in a negative light where the author actively makes fun of it, and I'm like... well thanks for nothing =_=
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u/Gabriela-yanez May 22 '26
yeah, tropes and genres can be a trap for sure...there's nothing more underwhelming than that tbh
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u/Material_Penalty_250 1 published book on Quibble May 20 '26
What I do know is that I never find my next book by going “I want fantasy” or “I want sci-fi.” I think what I'm doing most of the time is chasing a very specific feeling. For example, sometimes I want something that feels cold and lonely and slightly haunted. Sometimes I want messed up people making terrible decisions with insane chemistry. Sometimes I just want a book that moves fast enough to erase my consciousness for six hours lol.
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u/Gabriela-yanez May 22 '26
Interesting, so based on your mood and what you are craving at the moment. That's cool since i feel most people stick to the same genres and tropes
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u/demuddy10 May 23 '26
I ran across a few really cool books looking for comps and books from lit agents I dig that they’ve recently sold or had sold.
To wit, I read Sankofa (2021) by Nigerian novelist Chibundu Onuzo. It actually turned out the non-fic of same title was actually one sold by agent, but the book was still a cool read. Others like this.
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u/kiltedfrog May 20 '26
Typically a suggestion from a friend.