How do you guys decide on what to read next? Do you use a "ranking" system?

[Boomaye]

Hello!
So far i have read 6 LN, for a total of 100+ volumes
since i have completed my "to read" list (waiting for new volumes), i am looking for new material.

The ranking system on "novelupdates" and goodreads is a bit lacking IMO, so i am wondering, how do you guys decide on what to spend your next hundred hours of reading on?

[OmegaLKSG]

100+ volumes from only six light novel series? I admire the dedication, but only reading extremely extended novel series is gonna wear you out real quick. You haven't really provided any genres you really prefer or titles to the series you've read, so I'll just give some general suggestions.

First and foremost, try some shorter series. Smaller series will look a lot less daunting to read than something with over a dozen volumes because you can pretty much estimate the time to get through it as only a fraction of a very big series. it's also a very nice break in-between big series. I do this quite often. After binge reading a whole library's worth of words in a long novel series, I tend to look for some short and light hearted novels to sort of refresh my reading palate so to speak. Stuff like cheesy romances or simple action stories are fair game.

Next, think about what you like. Do you like action? Comedy? Tragedy or dark stories? Cherry pick a few tags you feel like reading and type them down into sites like Novelupdates' search engines and browse their catalogue. Look through the tags that are there and filter away anything you don't want. Tragedy? Nope. Horror? Nah. Yaoi? Pass. After looking through all the novels you feel like, maybe you've got a small collection of novels to work with. This time, personally curate each one to see which ones are worth your time. Read through its description, look at some spoiler-free reviews, and maybe even read a few of the first chapters to get a taste. Don't rush, you're looking for a good book to keep you company for a long while.

Third, check out novels from other countries! Light novels aren't the only good reads around here. Korean novels (KN's) and Chinese novels (CN's) are also hosted fairly frequently here, alongside a few contemporary novels stylized in the same fashion as LN's, KN's, and CN's. You also don't have to look at only serialized light novels. Try browsing Royal Road or Scribblehub for stories that may pique your interest. Each different origin of novel gives a different flavor with the story, that is far too subtle and nuanced to be described in only a few paragraphs. Go check some out!

Fourth, lurk around some novel forums like this one. When you're logged in for quite a while on this forum, there are two links on the top left that are Show unread posts since last visit. and Show new replies to your posts. Every day, click on these links and see if any new posts seem interesting to you, or if another novel got an update. Click on any titles that get your attention, and see if that fits your fancy. After thoroughly reading through a majority of the novel gallery available, you might want to try this one out if you can't find a good read on your own. I usually take this approach myself.

Lastly, try reading stuff you thought you didn't like, or weren't interested in at first. Maybe you originally liked only hot-blooded action novels, and strayed away from romance or harem stories. Try testing the waters a bit with some of those and see if you can spark an interest. I've done this with shoujo novels and manga. As a guy, I'd originally failed to see the appeal in girl-oriented novels that talk of a girl's perspective through these stories, alongside honeyed descriptions of hot dudes. However, after trying them out, and reading a few damn good stories, I've begun to see the appeal these kinds of stories bring, despite it not being tailored to the demographic I'm a part of.

TL;DR : Read shorter novels, Tag search on NU, Read KN, CN, and western novels, Lurk in some forums, and read stuff that didn't catch your attention at first.

These are suggestions I give, based on my incredibly long history of being a digital novel reader. As awfully unspecific as I have been, I hope it helps you get dragged deep into this pit of hell muahahahaha.

[OmegaLKSG]

Of course, you can also go the much simpler route of

[YoshitoSakurai]

Honestly what I personally do is go to www.novelupdates.com and search by Genre your interested in ( In my case i select Isekai, reincarnation,  Transported to another world or other world ) and then sort by number of chapters. This way i get the most lengty ones first. I go from page 1 untill it becomes quite barren or basically novels not being translated.

Example given of just a single tag: https://www.novelupdates.com/stag/reincarnation/?sort=5&order=2&status=1
Since theres PLENTY of tags that are somewhat similar you will find a lot of duplicates or entirely new ones since the tags are ussualy user added.

Next up is going to the LN/WN discussion board on this website and legit just opening every single link, reading synopsis and try it out if its interesting such as : http://www.vn-meido.com/k1/index.php?board=17.0

Sometimes i think "meh it aint for me" but after reading the comments it seems more apealing, wich tends to be the case. Clicking on the Notify button on the top right or bottom right of each post will get you your own "feed" in case someone commented or uploaded a new volume wich is SUPER DUPER OMEGA HANDY and underrated. These notified posts will get send to your http://www.vn-meido.com/k1/index.php?action=unread wich you can access by clicking on "show unread posts since last visit/Show new replies to your posts" button on the left top besides your avatar icon.

Other then that i also use Novelupdates to get "recomended" series such as https://www.novelupdates.com/series/world-teacher-other-world-style-education-agent/ wich is one of my fav. novels. You can see a section that says what other people reccomend ( its ussualy similar setting, same author or general feel ). If not i can always search by same genre and find something like my first method. Lastly, its by word of mouth/Discord. I personaly am in a few LN discords wich link a lot of interesting novels that I then at least try 1 volume of.

In the end its important to be open, and not be against trying at least a couple of 10/100's of pages before saying "i wont read this novel" even if it seems to be like it aint for you you ussualy find at least one aspect you'd enjoy.

This way I've currently read from at least 387 different series and in total 2.715 seperate volumes over the past few years ranging from full on 10+ volumes or a single volume ( making me sad there isnt more ) or series that legit went on a permanent hiatus or stopped being translated.

I've only been reading LN/WN due to back then having a 2x 2hour commute every single day to college, but reading these have become a permanent hobby that i tend to spend most of my free time enjoying for the past 8 years.

[Boomaye]

Hello friends,
first of all sorry it took me so long to reply, no excuses there.

@OmegaLKSG first of all thank you very much for the thoughtful reply!
I appreciate the "long series" tip, but as an avid reader since i was a teen it is just my thing. I read dune 1-4 in a week during vacation, its just my thing. Since i read a lot and fast, finding short series are sometimes too much work, unless i get a recommendation
I use readlightnovels and novelupdates to find stuff with a lot of tags on it, i came wondering if you guys had other means, like a curator you follow or something of the kind. Do you recommend any "critic" i should follow? I will check the royalroad and scribblehub!
Been lurking around reddit and foruns for a while, found some gems like SCOG this way, def a good tip.
your last tip is something i do from time to time, including reading classics, but oh man are they mostly a pain for my taste... but you are def right, focusing too much on the niche i enjoy does take the novelty out of most novels

@YoshitoSakurai that is my approach so far, but it has been hit and miss, i think what i would like to find is some reliable "people who enjoyed this also liked this" thing, but the ones i found were mostly not very correct.
I will try finding my next series right away by following your tip of reading the posts here, one thing i disagree though is regarding the synopsis: to me it is more about the writting, plot being a very important component as well though. So sometimes the plot seems amazing, but the delivery is "meh". As an isekai fan yourself i am sure you get my meaning considering all the good and bad stuff available have somewhat similar synopsis (heresy, i know).

would you mind sharing the discord links?

[yoruangel]

hello! i find this topic to be highly interesting!
Considering i have read over 1000 books, at this point i have a sorting system:

1. sorting by emotion i want to feel in this moment. If i feel like going for tragedy i will search for tragedies in tagging system; comedy, horror, etc.
2. i always love reading reviews left by other people, as i also write reviews myself (well, for at least 1/3 of books i have read), so even if there's no time, i just look through recommendations
3. check if there's someone in my circle who has seen it and see their opinions on it
4. if there is an adaptation, there is a huge chance i might check it out just because it was adapted and i want to see how much they ruined the book

for some reason, after reading some much, my guts just tell me what is good and what isn't and if i can't feel the characters in first 10 chapters or less, then this book is not for me.
You can drive the plot excellently, but if you dont; care about the characters or if you are totally uninterested in how they feel/react or if the author fails to make it happen, then i just cant continue reading it and I drop it.

For example, some works can hit a lot of check points i have despite the number of chapters
examples
Omniscient reader's viewpoint (551ch): strong worldbuilding, fantastic characterisation, unique storytelling
stormlight archive (4 books so far): unique worldbuilding, an amazing magic system, amazing characterisation, powerful scenes
trash of the count's family (700+) chapters: weak writing, excellent characters, well done storyline the more you go, plot twists
the expanse: excellent scifi, but adaptation did it better, still great books

it all depends on what you want to read i guess? and how much time are you willing to spend

[kkaido]

Usually I just check the novelupdates on the summary. If it has tags that I dislike I will just ignore it. I do have some fave author tho which I will check his/her novels.

[ABlueOrb]

I just read the synopsis and if it pique my interest I give it a go and see how it goes from there. Usually give the series a volume or two, though I dropped the apple reincarnation in like 30 pages.

[dipos99]

for me:go to a manga site, look for latest update(sometime)/ranking(mostly), check for the cover's drawing art style see any manga art style draw my attention, check the title of the manga, start reading for few chapters, if I finished the available manga's chapters and curious of following chapter then will start searching the novel in novelupdates.com for the translations if got.

[Kerfirou]

I usually go into Novelupdates, click novel with interesting title, and read the synopsis.  If it's look good, I read some chapters. If its not good, I dropped it.

Also, after trawling through the novels nowadays, I found myself liking Korean and Japanese novels more than Chinese one. And so I usually more strict with Chinese novels.