Remember these from ye olden days?

Mood rings! Gah, we were obsessed with these (briefly) in my middle school days. Every girl had to have one — and we took them seriously. Blue means you’re happy! Orange was… angry, I think? Red was supposedly in love. I don’t even remember any more, except that we loved them, we teased each other over what our rings said about our moods, and then the fad faded away, as such things do.

What does this have to do with reading?

Well, I’m having one of THOSE kind of days, stuck in the reading doldrums. Perhaps it’s a result of the reading week I’ve just had. I read a highly anticipated sequel that was mostly a disappointment, and then read another book that really fell flat for me. And now I look around at all the stacks of books waiting to be read, and I just don’t know what to read next.

Nothing is particularly calling my name. Choices abound. On the tops of my piles are a history book, some YA contemporary, a few random ARCs, and a classic or two. I want to read them all… but I don’t know what I want to read right now.

I need a reading mood ring!

Wouldn’t that be awesome? Instead of starting a book and reading a few pages, then sighing and looking for something else, wouldn’t it be great to have a magical mood ring that could identify exactly what the perfect next choice would be?

Blue ring? Pick up some epic fantasy, like Mistborn or The Lies of Locke Lamora!

Red? How about something with battles and blood, like a war epic or a history book or historical fiction? Maybe even some war-themed sci-fi, like Old Man’s War by John Scalzi?

Green? I’m thinking hints of magic, like a fairy tale retelling (Bitter Greens, perhaps) or some new urban fantasy, like Nicole Peeler’s Jinn and Juice.

Yellow? Hmm, I don’t know, perhaps some contemporary dramatic novels?

Purple? I’d go with YA, anything current and fun and bestselling, of course.

Think of the possibilities! How about a Magic 8 ball that picks a genre for you? Or maybe a cootie catcher with eight different book titles inside?

For now, though, I’m kind of stuck. I have no magical devices or cheesy 70s artifacts to pick my next book for me! I guess I’ll have to do it the old-fashioned way… and just dive in, start a few books, and hope something clicks in a big way.

If not, I’ll be wandering the streets looking for a palm-reader to help me figure it all out.

Should I read some Stephen King today?