Curate an unread books collection
establishing varied options for what to read next 2026-01-06 #books #reading
Peter Hilton
- Unread books
- Unread bookcase
- Curating unread books ←
If you read a lot, accumulate unread books so you always have something to read next. When you do it properly, you’ll have to get an unread-books bookcase to accommodate them all.
The bookcase curation problem
A whole bookcase of unread books gives you plenty of options for what to read next, but only when you solve the bookcase curation problem. Without a plan, you end up with a random selection of books you don’t want to read.
A well-curated unread-books bookcase has the same variety as the books you read. This requires self-reflection, and honesty about the difference between the books you actually read, and books you want to have read.
Genres
My bookcases cover four genres:
- my favourite genre
- guilty pleasures, for easy reading
- ‘normal’ fiction, to balance the above, and for new discoveries
- non-fiction.
If you read more than one genre, you’ll need at least one unread option for each one. Alternating genres and authors gives you easy reading options after a tough read, while stopping the easy reading’s formulaic writing getting stale.
Lengths
My unread books include epic trilogies that postpone book completion disappointment. But sometimes, I only want a short genre detour between longer books.
In each genre, curate a mix of short and long novels, and series. Choose short novels to avoid getting stuck on one book for too long, when you don’t have enough time to read.
Dimensions
I don’t want to take the last fifty pages of a book on holiday. And when I go on a day trip, I take a slim small-format (178 mm) paperback, instead of carrying a heavy brick of a book, or an oversized trade paperback.
Books tend to come one shape, but different sizes. Curate your unread bookcase to include travel-size books, so you can always have a book to read when you get stuck somewhere.
Recommendations
My more prolific favourite authors can easily fill my unread bookcase with safe options that I know I will like. I also need variety, and the occasional new author, though. Recommendations help with both.
Ask everyone whose taste you respect to recommend the best book they’ve ever read. Make a list, and don’t forget to write down who recommended each book, so you can have a fun conversation about it later. Besides, when you hesitate to take a chance on a new author or genre, it helps to have someone to talk to about it. Or blame.
Random bargains
When I visit the UK, I like browsing charity shops, such as The Greenhouse (photo). Charity shop’s secondhand books typically cost £1–3, occasionally less. If I get lucky, I find something from my wish list, a recommendation. And sometimes, I impulse-buy something that adds welcome randomness to my unread bookcase.
World of Books offers an online source for used books, with an explicit sustainability mission. After all, re-use beats recycling, for sustainability.
Bargains reduce the average purchase price, and setting a maximum price also limits your book accumulation rate. Therefore, a year’s worth of unread books gives you a buffer that lets you buy the books you want more slowly and cheaply, as you find them. Meanwhile, you can still pay full price for a new book, when you discover an urgent gap in your unread bookcase.
