Keeping my Kindle stocked
June 3, 2014 2:01 PM

I get an email every month from Amazon with their editors' "Best Books of the Month." I always find some good recommendations there in a number of categories, and I'm hoping for more. Are there other websites that offer curated lists of new books on a monthly basis?

I've tried using Goodreads and other similar websites, but the lists I've been able to find there are hampered by the collective editing process and it's hard to separate the signal from the noise. (I mean, no judgment, but these are not the books I'm looking for.)

Looking for something similar to Amazon's picks, or to the "Employee Recommendations" shelves you might find at a quality book store. Definitely not interested in lists of books that are merely bestsellers.
posted by soonertbone to Media & Arts (7 answers total) 41 users marked this as a favorite
New York Review of Books, New York Times Book Review, and the Books tab on The Daily Beast have been good choices for me.

Also, if I'm ever at a loss, I take a look at the latest (annual) 100 Notable Books list from the NY Times. It has convinced me to read a number of books I wouldn't have thought of before but that have been fantastic reads.

Finally, Five Books. Never the most recent books, but always the best books.
posted by janey47 at 2:06 PM on June 3, 2014


I imagine a lot of independent bookstores do this. Here's a link to the most recent newsletter from my local bookseller, Green Apple Books.
posted by sunset in snow country at 2:10 PM on June 3, 2014


The Millions has a top-10 list of books purchased by visitors to their website every month, and when a book's been on it a certain number of months, they graduate it to the hall of fame. The list moves a bit slowly but doesn't stick still forever. Generally tends towards literary fiction that's getting a lot of buzz, I've gotten a lot of good picks there. (I find it fairly evenly split between books that have gotten great early reviews and haven't hit the bestseller list yet, books that have been on the best seller list long enough with such good buzz that people finally get curious about what they're about, and books that have picked up major prizes, with a smattering of "this person just won a major literary prize, let's read their backlist" books.)
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 2:16 PM on June 3, 2014


Indiebound book recommendations is basically the 'employee recommendations' shelves from independent book shops. I've no idea how often it's updated, but there are a fair few there to keep you going for a while.
posted by ComfySofa at 2:27 PM on June 3, 2014


LibraryReads provides lists of new books monthly recommended by librarians.
posted by kbuxton at 2:33 PM on June 3, 2014


It isn't just a list, but Largehearted Boy gives good reccomendations.
posted by youcancallmeal at 4:35 PM on June 3, 2014


Here are the staff picks from Foyles of London, the greatest bookstore in the world.
posted by jason's_planet at 5:05 PM on June 3, 2014


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