The Next Best Book... Could Be One of These

So, I was sitting here thinking (when I know I should be reading...) about the name and subtitle of my blog "The Next Best Book Blog - my unending search for the next best book".

While I know that some of you are members of my TNBBC Goodreads group, I realize that many of you may not be familiar with why I created it. I needed a place where I could talk to other book lovers about my inability to stop searching for the next best book. I wanted to see what other people were reading, and purchasing. I wanted to know what books I was missing or overlooking or underestimating. I wanted to know what everyone thought was their next best book.

Three years later, and my search still continues. I honestly don't think my search will ever end. It's impossible to stop anticipating which book I will gush about next. That I would next whore myself for.

Some of my past "Next Best Books" were:

Blindness by Jose Saramago
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne
Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz
Banned for Life by D.R. Haney
The Book by Michael Clifford

Now - I think it's time that I start sharing my search for the next best book here, with you, fellow book lovers and blog followers.

The only criteria I have for the next best book is that it must be one I currently own, and one that I plan on reading fairly soon (within the next two months or so). As I prioritize ARC/Review copies, which I read in the order I receive them, it is quite easy for me to narrow down the search for my potential next best book. If it weren't for that rule, which I follow quite strictly, I would be lost in the sea of my to-be-read piles, totaling an embarrassing 300+ books at the moment.

So, gentle readers.... which book shall be christened The Next Best Book? Of my current To Be Read pile - These are the books I am most excited to read:

Agaat by Marlene Van Niekerk
This is a review copy that was mailed to me by Tin House Books along with the copy of Hot Springs that I had requested. The blurb explains it as a story of love and family loyalty written in haunting, lyrical prose. The few reviews I see are positive, and Tin House is really promoting the heck out of it. I can't wait to see how it holds up.


Almost Dead by Assaf Gavron
Goodreads says it's politically incorrect, provocative, and steeped in wit and irony, a fast-paced tragicomedy about the perfectly ordinary madness in today's Middle East. I requested this one from HarperCollins for a few reasons. I'm expecting something big with this one. Though it released in April, it has very few reviews. I would like to change that.

Your Presence is Requested at Suvanto by Maile Chapman
This one came highly recommended from Marisa at GrayWolf Press. When I read this blurb -A brilliant and unnerving debut novel about the mysteriously ill patients at a remote hospital in Finland- I knew I couldn't pass it up. This could be really really good!


Kapitoil by Teddy Wayne
I met Teddy Wayne at the Book Blogger Convention pre-meet up not too long ago. He recognized the name of my blog, and I recognized the contest that HarperCollins was hosting to promote his novel. Of course, I had requested a copy prior to meeting him, however I want to read it even more now!!


Finny by Justin Kramon
Justin is another author that I had the pleasure of meeting at the Book Blogger Convention Pre-meet up. Once I heard about his new novel, which is described as a sweeping, enchanting voyage, an insightful story about a young woman’s complicated path to adulthood, I couldn't help but want to read it. So I shamelessly asked for a copy.

Will any of these become the next best book?

Stay tuned to my blog to see what I think of them as they are reviewed!

Which books are you hoping will become YOUR next best book? Comment here and share the books that you currently own, that you are planning on reading soon, that you are excited to start, and think may become the next best book that you have ever read!!