New reads: what's your method of discovery?

The way in which we find out about books is changing, with countless 'new discovery' tools aiming to shape what we read
A young woman picking a book from a library
Will readers still be browsing in public libraries in 10 years' time? Photograph: Alamy Alamy/Alamy

Think back to the last five books you read. How did you find out about them? Now imagine being asked the same question in June 2022. How different do you think your answers will be?

A pointless-seeming exercise, maybe, but one on which the future of the book industry could depend. "Discovery" is a buzzword in publishing, uttered with a combination of fervour and terror. The fear is that high-street bookshops and traditional media outlets might one day be swallowed up by the internet, taking with them vital channels for finding books. The excitement comes from all the wonderful new opportunities the internet gives for book discovery, and how the hell to harness them.

Here are my answers to the opening question: (1) Interesting newspaper interview with author, bought book from Amazon. (2) Unread classic stolen from friend's bookshelf. (3) Reread old favourite after having read (4) a novelist's memoirs, found browsing in public library. (5) Finally got round to reading old Christmas present.

Not much you can say about that, except that all discoveries were fairly random and none involved me going into a bookshop. It's impossible to predict how different my answers will be in 10 years' time (will newspapers and libraries still exist?), but there are plenty of people who think they can influence them.

Discovery is big business, with countless companies trying to "leverage" it. Book-sharing platform GoodReads (9 million users) recently claimed responsibility for the success of Fifty Shades of Grey. Rivals include Amazon-owned Shelfari, LibraryThing, and aNobii, which publishers hope could provide a community-based alternative to Amazon's impersonal algorithms.

Two of the best new discovery tools I've come across are Riffle, a soon-to-be-launched Facebook app from New York company Odyl, which lets you tap into your friends' and expert recommendations, and the Underground Book Club, a monthly freesheet and iPad app that lets you read opening chapters of new books. If this takes off, it will prove book discovery can flourish offline as well as online.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/jun/24/new-reads-method-of-discovery
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