Find your next read

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Finishing a good book leaves a small, oddly specific problem: what now? The pile by the bed is full of books you once meant to want. The bestseller table is somebody else's taste. And most "what should I read next" tools ask for the title of a book you loved, which is no help on the evenings you can't say what you're in the mood for, or when the book is for someone else.

Plenty of people get stuck in that gap. In The Reading Agency's 2025 survey of 4,000 UK adults, 55% said they read less than they plan to. Children feel it too. The National Literacy Trust's 2026 survey found that only about half of 8 to 18-year-olds could find things to read that interested them. It splits by habit: 72% of those who enjoy reading could, against 21% of those who rarely or never read.

So my book finder starts with the questions a good bookseller asks before reaching for a shelf. Who's it for? Fiction or non-fiction? What kind of story, or what subject? Would you rather have a box set, the first book in a series or a single paperback? And what do you want to spend? Every answer shows how many books still fit, from UK bookshops' own listings and prices, and it ends in a ranked shortlist you can keep.

Choosing your own next book

I'd start with your mood rather than a genre. People who keep reading often change mood on purpose. In a long r/books thread on how readers decide what to read next, one reader runs horror, then cosy fantasy, then sci-fi so that no one kind wears thin. Another goes by whatever comes next: a book club deadline, the next in a series, more by an author they've just finished.

That second habit is the easiest one to lean on, because a series you like takes the decision away for months. It's why the finder asks how you like to read. A box set is the cheap way into a long series: Lets Buy BooksLets Buy BooksThis is Lets Buy Books, a Leicester-based online bookshop that started as a small family business and sells brand new books, box sets and children’s collections. It leans on publisBuying guide · View store → had 13 Alex Rider books for £24.99 in October 2026, under £2 a book, when the average print book sold in the UK in 2025 cost £9.52, according to NielsenIQ. The first book on its own is the smaller bet if you're not sure yet.

If you want a series to settle into, these are the ones I'd look at first. Slow Horses from BBookshop.org UKBookshop.orgBookshop.org is an online bookshop built around supporting independent bookstores. If you want to buy books online and have part of your spend go back to the wider independent tradBuying guide · View store → is the first Slough House thriller and the book behind the Apple TV show. The Thursday Murder Club set has all five books in Richard Osman's series, including The Impossible Fortune, which NielsenIQ BookScan counted as the UK's best-selling book of 2025. For fantasy, N. K. Jemisin's Broken Earth trilogy comes as one box set, and A Song of Ice and Fire as a seven-paperback box set, from A Game of Thrones to A Dance with Dragons. And if you'd rather learn something, Ottolenghi: The Cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi is a hardback for anyone who cooks.

When nothing sticks

A slump is a different problem from not knowing what you like. The Reading Agency found that 46% of UK adults say distractions stop them focusing on reading, and 31% struggle to finish what they start. Jen Campbell, a UK author and BookTuber, has a good ten-point video on it. Her suggestions include something under 200 pages, a fast-paced book, a new form such as a graphic novel, rereading an old favourite, and twenty minutes with the phone in another room.

Short is the quickest win. Quick Reads are short books by well-known authors, written to be easy to pick up, sold for £1 at shops that take part and free to borrow from libraries. In the finder, Funny books and Graphic novels and manga are where I'd look for something to finish in a weekend.

Everyone has their own way of choosing, and I'd like to know yours:

Choosing a book for someone else

Books are one of the UK's big Christmas presents. NielsenIQ says about a fifth of the print books bought in November and December are Christmas gifts, and children's books make up more than 60% of them.

The risk with a keen reader is that they've already got it. In an r/Gifts thread on presents for book lovers, one person never buys their friend a book because she has probably read it, while a librarian argues for a special edition of a book the person already loves. Jack Edwards' gift guide works from the person rather than the bestseller list: the mum, the person who never finishes books, and the person with no time, who gets short stories.

So I'd choose in this order. If they're partway through a series, the next book is about as safe as a book gift gets, so ask someone who lives with them or look at the shelf. If there's one book they love, a hardback or special edition of it is a keepsake rather than a repeat; for a gift, the finder asks "Anything it must be?" and offers Hardback, Special edition and Box set. If they read a lot and you know a series they haven't started, a box set of it gives them months. In the finder above, "A grown-up" swaps the question about how you read for that one.

Then there's the book token, which lets them choose. Opinion splits on it. In an r/AskUK thread on whether a book token still makes a good birthday present, the top reply defends it, another calls vouchers thoughtless, and one says some independent bookshops lose money on tokens and won't take them, so check that the shop they use does.

What would you rather unwrap?

If you're buying for the whole family this Christmas, my guide to Christmas gifts for dad has more ideas, and the gift finder covers everything that isn't a book.

Books for teenagers

Teen books aren't only read by teenagers, and teenagers don't only read teen books. HarperCollins research with Nielsen Book found that 74% of UK young adult (YA) readers are adults. Going the other way, a bookseller answering a relative's question in r/CasualUK says many 14-year-olds go straight to adult fantasy and sci-fi, so ask what they're into and what they've read before you buy.

The same bookseller names YA's three big strands now: fantasy and romantasy, romance and romcoms, and thrillers. A screen tie-in helps too. When the National Literacy Trust asked 8 to 18-year-olds what would make them read more, the top answers were a link to a favourite film or TV series (38.1%) and their own interests (37.1%).

Both picks below are long series with screen versions. The Hunger Games box set comes from ScholasticScholasticScholastic UK is a children's publisher selling its own titles online, alongside book clubs, classroom book fairs and education resources. The range suits parents and grandparents 5 current offers · View store →, the series' UK publisher, which gives it 13 to 18. The 13 Alex Rider spy books from Lets Buy Books are for younger teens: the shop says 9 to 14.

Or answer the finder's questions for a teenager here:

Books for children

The age on a children's book is a guide, not a rule. Most UK publishers don't print one, and where they give guidance it's about content, not reading ability, as the Guardian's children's books editor Julia Eccleshare explained. BookTrust calls its own age bands just a guide too.

The rough shelves still help when you're buying. Picture books are read aloud, with the pictures carrying much of the story. First chapter books are for newly independent readers from about six, in short chapters that often end on a cliffhanger, and a child who likes the first goes looking for the rest of the series. Middle grade means longer novels for 8 to 12-year-olds. The finder asks a child's age in those three steps: under 5, 5 to 8, and 9 to 12.

If you can, let them choose. The National Literacy Trust's advice on BBC Bitesize is to offer a young child two or three books and let them pick, and not to worry about rereads.

These are the sets and single books I'd start with, from the youngest up. Julia Donaldson's picture book collection has ten of hers, The Gruffalo among them, and the shop says ages 3 to 7. Kes Gray and Jim Field's Oi series is six picture books, Oi Frog! first. Aaron Becker's Journey tells its story with no words at all, which makes it a book a child can "read" before they can read; it's the first of a trilogy. For 9 to 12, Scholastic sells Harry Potter as all seven paperbacks, and Wings of Fire's first five dragon books as a special-edition box set.

Scholastic gives something back too: every order over £10 earns 20p per £1 in Scholastic Rewards for a school you choose.

Where the books come from

The finder reads the listings of the UK bookshops I work with, and each is a different kind of shop.

• BBookshop.org UKBookshop.orgBookshop.org is an online bookshop built around supporting independent bookstores. If you want to buy books online and have part of your spend go back to the wider independent tradBuying guide · View store → sells new books and, in its own words, gives "over 80% of our profit margin to independent bookshops". You can choose a bookshop to credit when you order. In October 2026, tracked 2nd Class delivery was £3.99, or free over £25, and you could send a book back within 30 days if you changed your mind.
• ScholasticScholasticScholastic UK is a children's publisher selling its own titles online, alongside book clubs, classroom book fairs and education resources. The range suits parents and grandparents 5 current offers · View store → is the children's publisher behind Stick Man, Horrible Histories and The Hunger Games, selling its own books and box sets with the age on every page. UK delivery was £4.95 under £30 and free from £30 in October 2026, with 28 days to return.
• Lets Buy BooksLets Buy BooksThis is Lets Buy Books, a Leicester-based online bookshop that started as a small family business and sells brand new books, box sets and children’s collections. It leans on publisBuying guide · View store → is a Leicester shop selling new box sets and collections, mostly publisher overstock and promotional editions. Delivery was free over £35 in October 2026, and its refund policy gives 14 days.

Or borrow it

You don't have to buy your next read. Libraries lend for free, and the people who read most use them most: YouGov found that 33 to 36% of daily print readers borrow from libraries, against 19% of everyone. Libraries also lend Reading Well books, chosen by health experts and people who've been there, with lists on mental health and dementia and for children, teens and families. And every baby in England, Wales and Northern Ireland gets free books from Bookstart.

Whichever way you get it, the first question matters most. A book for yourself on a slow week wants a different shelf from a present for a fourteen-year-old who's outgrown teen books, and most of choosing well is knowing which of those you're doing.

Read NextA weekend at Ars Electronica Linz 2027