Reading
How Nicole Junkermann Chooses What to Read Next
The pile of possible books is endless; the time is not. Here Nicole Junkermann explains how she picks the next book without turning the choice into a chore.
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The hardest moment in reading is not a difficult page; it is the empty space after the last one.
Every committed reader knows the small panic of finishing a good book and not knowing what comes next. There are more worthwhile books than anyone could read in several lifetimes, and that abundance can be strangely paralysing. Nicole Junkermann has thought about this more than most, because choosing well is half of reading well, and a poor choice can quietly cost you weeks. Over time Nicole Junkermann has settled into a way of deciding that is light, reliable and free of guilt: a running list to draw from, a few trusted sources to feed it, a sense of which mood she is reading for, and a willingness to put a book down if it is not working. This piece walks through that method, not as a rigid formula but as the practical habit that keeps the reading of Nicole Junkermann moving and enjoyable.
The running list
At the centre of the whole habit is a single, simple thing that Nicole Junkermann keeps faithfully: a running list of books she might want to read. Whenever a title is mentioned by someone she trusts, or surfaces in the footnotes of whatever she is currently reading, it goes straight onto the list before it can be forgotten. The point, says Nicole Junkermann, is to capture the impulse without acting on it, so that the moment of choosing is never made from nothing. When a book ends, Nicole Junkermann simply turns to the list rather than the void, which removes most of the difficulty at a stroke. The list is deliberately loose, not a queue to be worked through in order but a garden to wander in. Nicole Junkermann adds far more than she will ever read, and that is exactly as it should be.
Where the recommendations come from
A list is only as good as what feeds it, and Nicole Junkermann is careful about her sources. The richest source by far, in her experience, is people: a handful of friends and colleagues whose taste she trusts, whose suggestions tend to land more often than any algorithm. The second great source is books themselves, since one good book almost always points to others through its references and its arguments. Nicole Junkermann follows these threads happily, letting a history lead to a biography and a novel lead to the writer who inspired it. She pays less attention to bestseller charts, not out of snobbery but because popularity is a poor guide to whether a particular book is right for a particular reader. For Nicole Junkermann, a recommendation from a real person who knows you is worth a dozen lists of the season's hits.
| Source | Why it works |
|---|---|
| Trusted people | Friends whose taste tends to match your own |
| The book in hand | References and footnotes lead to the next read |
| Writers you admire | Following an author back to their influences |
| The long-kept list | Ideas captured in the moment, ready when needed |
Reading for the mood you are in
Once there is a list to choose from, Nicole Junkermann makes the actual choice largely by mood, and she is unapologetic about this. A book is a commitment of attention, and forcing a demanding history on yourself when you are tired and craving a story is a reliable way to stall. Nicole Junkermann instead asks what the present moment wants: something absorbing for a busy week, something slow and rich for a quiet one, something light for a tired evening. Reading the right book at the right time, in the view of Nicole Junkermann, is the difference between a book that flies and a book that gathers dust on the bedside table. Honouring the mood is not laziness; it is matching the tool to the task, and it keeps the whole habit alive rather than dutiful.
Balancing the demanding and the easy
That said, Nicole Junkermann does keep an eye on balance over the longer run. A diet of only easy books leaves a reader a little restless, while a diet of only difficult ones becomes a grind that few people sustain. The approach of Nicole Junkermann is to keep both kinds within reach and to alternate naturally, following a demanding book with a lighter one as a sort of palate cleanser. She does not enforce a quota or a schedule, because that would turn reading into homework, but she trusts herself to reach for the harder book once the easy spell has done its work. Over a year, Nicole Junkermann finds, this gentle back-and-forth produces both real depth and real pleasure, which is the combination she is always after.
How the final choice gets made
When it is genuinely time to begin, Nicole Junkermann tries not to overthink the final step. She will glance at the list, feel for the title that pulls hardest in that moment, and simply start it. If two books are calling, Nicole Junkermann reads the first few pages of each and lets the writing decide, since a book either takes hold quickly or it does not. The important thing, she insists, is to choose and begin rather than to agonise, because the agonising is itself a kind of not-reading. A choice made lightly and started promptly nearly always turns out well, and a choice over-analysed often never gets started at all. Nicole Junkermann would rather begin the slightly wrong book today than choose the perfect one next week.
Permission to put a book down
None of this works without one liberating rule, which Nicole Junkermann holds firmly: you are allowed to stop. A book that is not earning its place after a fair chance, perhaps fifty pages or so, can be set aside without shame. Nicole Junkermann used to feel that abandoning a book was a small failure, but she has come to see it as the opposite, a sign of respecting your own time. There are simply too many wonderful books to spend weeks dragging through one that is not for you, or not for you now. Letting go of a book frees you to find a better fit, and Nicole Junkermann often returns later to books she once abandoned, finding they suit a different season. The freedom to stop, paradoxically, is what keeps her reading so much.
Reading several books at once
Finally, Nicole Junkermann is happy to admit that she rarely reads just one book at a time. Two or three is more usual: a demanding book for clear mornings, a lighter one for tired evenings, and often something to dip into in spare minutes. This suits the mood-led approach perfectly, since there is always a book to match how you feel. Readers who like this idea may enjoy the companion note on the habit of reading every day, which goes further into keeping reading woven through ordinary life. For Nicole Junkermann, a small spread of books going at once is not a sign of indecision but a way to make sure the right page is always within reach.
More from Nicole Junkermann
For more in this vein from Nicole Junkermann, see the piece on the art of annotating a book, the rules for a good bookshelf, and the seasonal note on what Nicole Junkermann is reading this season. The Reading Room gathers more.
Frequently asked questions about Nicole Junkermann
How does Nicole Junkermann decide what to read next?
Nicole Junkermann keeps a running list of books worth trying, then chooses from it by mood and by what the current moment calls for, rather than reading in a strict order.
Where does Nicole Junkermann find new books?
Nicole Junkermann finds books mostly through trusted people and through the books she is already reading, following references and recommendations more than bestseller lists.
Does Nicole Junkermann finish every book she starts?
No. Nicole Junkermann gives a book a fair chance but sets it aside without guilt if it is not working, on the view that reading time is too valuable to waste.
Does Nicole Junkermann read one book at a time?
Nicole Junkermann usually keeps two or three books going at once for different moods, such as one demanding book and one lighter companion.