My Random Book Picker Solved My 300+ Book TBR Problem

I love keeping track of books. I do not love trying to choose my next one.

At this point, I have way too many books on my TBR. Currently, there are over 300 books I want to read and it grows more every week. That sounds exciting in theory, but in real life it often leaves me stuck. I would scroll through title after title, look at covers, think about audiobook length, wonder what mood I was in, and still not pick anything.

I have a real problem making decisions about what to read, so I finally made something simple to help myself get to the next book faster.

I built a tiny website that pulls from my personal Notion reading tracker and randomly picks my next book. And honestly, I am way too excited about it.

My Reading Tracker is Basically My Digital Library

I use Notion to track the books I want to read, the books I’ve finished, and the ones I decided not to finish.

I’m extreme-downsizing to move in a month or two, so I do not collect lots of physical books anymore. My Notion database has become my version of a digital bookshelf. [button link below]

I keep the usual data like:

• title
• author
• book cover image
• audiobook hours
• page count
• Goodreads rating
• categories
• reading status

Then, I added in some formulas to personalize some info I want to know, like:

• % completed → enter from Libby to find out how many pages and hours I’ve completed
• listening speed → enter my listening speed to calculate how much time I have until I finish the book

So, keeping track of what I’m reading and how much longer until my next book is the easy part. But, after I’m finished I have a hard time quickly choosing my next read.

I always have about 35 books on hold all the time, so if none of those are ready ~ I have to actually select something else from my TBR.

When Having Too Many Choices Is The Problem

If you are a reader, you know this feeling. You want to start a new book, but instead of being excited, you get decision-paralysis and over-analyze each option.

You think:

• Do I want something long or short?
• Fiction or nonfiction?
• Easy or heavy?
• Should I pick a popular book?
• Should I read one that has been sitting on my list forever?
• What if Libby doesn’t have it available?

Before too long, choosing a book starts to feel like too much work.

This is exactly where I was. So, instead of trying to become a more decisive person, I decided to make the process easier.

First, I Built MY TBR in Notion

I already had my books in Notion, so that became my starting point.

I work on my book tracker a lot and pull it up on my phone to update my completion percentage very often so I can see how long I have left in the book.

Here’s what my TBR looks like:

I like this view of my database because I can see my cover images, audiobook hours, Goodreads ratings, and status all one spot. But, even with all this info, I still had trouble picking what to read next.

Then I Built a Simple Random Book Picker

The idea is very basic. I wanted one page with one job.

Pick my next book to read from MY TBR. Not from all the books available in the country; just books that appeal to me enough to end up on my To Be Read list.

I thought of this like it was in school, the teacher told you what to read and you just did it. I didn’t want endless scrolling or overthinking anymore. No complicated system.

So I created a small website that connects to my Notion tracker and randomly chooses one of the books marked TBR.

Here is the main picker screen:

It shows me the cover, title, author, audiobook length, categories I put it in and the Goodreads link if I want even more info from the author or other readers.

From this, I can look it up on Libby to see if it’s available right now. If it’s not, I just hit the button again, until I can borrow the chosen book.

I Added A Little Extra Information, Too

I added the “More book info” section in case I wanted to know a little bit more context before deciding if I want to keep the pick or not.

That extra section just shows the Goodreads rating at the time I entered it on my TBR, the publication year, number of pages and how long it’s been on my TBR.

I keep it hidden by default because sometimes I don’t want to know how it’s rated before I start reading. I figure if I thought it good enough to put on my TBR, it doesn’t really matter what other people thought of it.

I don’t really pay close attention to the average Goodreads rating because there are so many books that have ratings completely different than what I rated them.

This TBR Picker Really Works for Me

I created this personalized TBR picker today AND actually used it when I finished the book I was reading this afternoon.

I pressed the button, got a random book, found it on Libby, and borrowed it. Then, I went to Notion and changed from TBR to Reading. This means, next time I use the picker, that book is no longer available.

Why I Love This So Much

What I like most is that this tool helps solve a very specific problem for me.

It doesn’t try to tell me what the best book is. It doesn’t rank my TBR list. It doesn’t try to become Goodreads. It just helps me get unstuck and stop wasting time in the choosing process.

That may sound small, but when your TBR gets big enough, a simple decision tool can be the difference between actually reading and spending 20 minutes wondering what to start.

This Might Give Other Readers Ideas Too

You may not want to build a whole website for your books and that is fine.

But this idea could work in a lot of ways.

You could:

• use a Notion tracker
• keep a reading spreadsheet
• export your Goodreads list
• create a simple random picker
• make categories for mood, length, or genre
• let a tool help you decide instead of staring at your TBR

Sometimes the hardest part of reading is just picking the next book.

My Biggest Takeaway

I learned that I do not need a perfect system. I just need one that helps me read more and stress less.

For me, this little random book picker does exactly that.

And honestly, it feels kind of fun to press a button and let fate choose for me.

If you want to check it out: WhatShouldIReadNow.com

How do you choose what to read next from your TBR? Would you actually use a random picker like this?