What next? What book will I read next? How do you get your hands on that next good read? Perhaps you have a stack waiting on your bedside table. But is there anything inspiring there that will capture your interest and attention?

Here are some ideas for when you may be short of something to read.

You can always look at the best-seller lists in the weekend newspapers, but often these will remain stagnant for weeks on end. Harry Potter dominated the top 10 sellers for so long it was ridiculous. Now the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer are slow to be toppled from the top.

Your local bookshop will regularly publish catalogues that could whet your appetite.

Amazon is a good website to go to because you can sign in to get personalised recommendations. Your search results are retained and further recommendations are made to you based on your lists.

Library Thing is a great social networking website for readers. You can catalogue your own library of books at home or use it as a place to list your favourite reads and based on this you can easily link to other books with the same tags or other readers with similar reading tastes. Go to their Zeitgeist to find a huge array of links and lists. You can also search by tags, for example, you might like to search for “France and travel”. This is my first point of call for finding new reading material for myself. Click here to find out what a Zeitgeist is, if you don’t already know.

Wikipedia has a list of best-selling books which may remind you of that classic you have always wanted to read.

WhatshouldIreadnext is a cute little website that attempts to answer this question for you. You have to register and then list books you have read and based on this list it will find other titles that may interest you. It is rather limited in its power and depth.

Read everything by your favourite author? “Who else writes like…?” by Roy and Jeanne Huse is a book commonly found in local libraries that can help you identify an author who writes in a similar style as your favourite author.

Who writes like from Coffs Harbour City Library offers links to websites to help you find authors.

Goodreading magazine is a great monthly magazine for Australian readers that offers reviews, excerpts, interviews and more great information.

Or you could go to your local library and ask a Librarian. They tend to be rather well-read and know current trends in reading and are more than happy to help you find a good book to read.

Another option is to join a local book club. This also prompts you to read books that you might not otherwise read.