15 Day Book Blogger Challenge: Day 10 - How do you choose what book to read next?

I stumbled across the 15 Day Book Blogger Challenge hosted by April from Good Books Good Wine and it looks like so much fun that I have to take part. You can find out all about the challenge and how to join in HERE. Obviously the idea of the challenge is to take part 15 days in a row but I don't have enough time for that and since April is so relaxed over the rules I've decided  dedicate one day a week to the challenge.

The Day 10 topic is: How do you choose what book to read next?

It can be so hard to pick what book to read next, especially when there are so many fantastic books that I want to read! So, how do I choose which one to start with? I guess my first consideration is are there any books that I have promised to review on a set date or that I need to read before a blog tour. I try to make sure I've read those in plenty of time so I can get the reviews scheduled in advance and don't have to rush them. If there are no deadlines looming (and I try not to tie myself down to too many of those) then I might jump into the latest release from one of my favourite series. I don't pre-order many books so I try to prioritise the ones that I do and there is nothing better than dipping back into a familiar world with some of your favourite characters.

If there are no new releases I've been dying to get my hands on then the first thing I have to decide what kind of book I'm in the mood for. Once I've narrowed it down to either YA, NA or Adult then I'll pick a genre (usually either urban fantasy, paranormal romance, fantasy or contemporary romance) and take it from there. I tend to suffer with reviewers guilt so although I buy myself a lot of books I feel bad about reading them when there are still review copies waiting for me to get to them. That was actually starting to make reading feel like a chore (even though most of the review copies I receive are ones I'm really excited about!) so I've tried to instigate a rule of alternating between review copies and books I bought myself. It doesn't always work out exactly but at least I'm reading more of my own books now.

Sometimes I'm just in the mood to binge though which is what I'm doing at the moment with Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark-Hunter books. I have been devouring these books and I'm not planning to stop until I've caught up :o) I love nothing more than discovering an amazing new series and I have a whole list of ones I want to start (I'm trying not to start new ones until I've caught up with the ones I'm already reading though!).

I can never decide too far in advance which book I want to read next though, I have such a massive to read pile (with over 1,000 unread books in my house) that it can be really hard to pick just one. I'll sit down and try to make a priority list of 4 or 5 books but when I'm ready to start the next book more often than not none of those books will take my fancy! I'm fickle and it all depends on my mood when I'm about to start reading. I love nothing more than wandering around my bookshelves waiting to see what catches my eye though. I'd hate to not have plenty of choices on hand!

So, how do you decide what you're going to read next?