No Shelf Control | Book haul & how I find clean reads

Christian Book recently had a huge sale . . . and I’m talking up to 85% off or something like that.

So I did what any decent, self-respecting book nut would do.

Bought books.

Hehe?

But while my shelf control is minimal (to nonexistent . . .), I will say, every book I got was a killer of a deal. I even pre-ordered Serial Burn, Lynette Eason’s next book in the Lake City Heroes because I never find pre-orders on sale!

So today, after showing y’all my book haul, I thought I’d share how I find clean books when diving into a new series or author completely blind.

But first, my haul. 🥰

The Sound of Light by Sarah Sundin

This is a new author for me. I do know she writes exclusively about WWII, so I’m interested in giving this one a try. And, I mean, it was a brand-new paperback on sale for $3.99. 👀 I had to.

The Premonition at Wither’s Farm by Jamie Jo Wright

I was super stoked to find this one on sale for a killer deal too. I’ve been wanting to try out a Wright novel for quite a while now, and somebody I know had just read it and loved it, so into my cart it went!

Double Take & Target Acquired by Lynette Eason

Books 1 and 2 in the Lake City Heroes on sale?? Say no more. Finally, I’ll be reading her books the year they release. 🤭 If you look at my shelves, I’m pretty much an Eason book collector at this point . . . So this one was a no-brainer. (And a pre-order of the third book on sale as well? Yes, please.)

Blind Trust by Natalie Walters

On sale. The third and final book of the SNAP agency series book and it was on SALE! (I’m telling you, if there’s one thing I love more than books, it’s book sales. 🤣) I’ve been dying to get my hands on Lyla and Garcia’s story. At long last. That’s all I can say.

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And that wraps up the book haul part! Now, onto how I decided on these books—AKA, where I get my intel.

Squeaky clean or slimy?

I’m really careful about the books I purchase. As someone with no access to an inter-library loan system, the only way for me to read new books is to buy them. And, with prices these days, I’d better be liking what I buy.

But how do I weed out what I’ll probably like from what I know I wouldn’t bring into my house? Well, there’s several ways.

Goodreads

This one might be a bit of a no-brainer. If I see a friend read and like a book I’ve never heard of (and I trust their standards of “clean”) then that book typically goes on my TBR.

But if nobody I follow has read it, then I have a little trick. If you scroll down to above the reviews section on a book, there’s a little search bar that will search through the book’s reviews for key words like Content, Spice, Romance, etc. I recently found a book I want to check out further because I searched up the content and found a positive review.

Reviewers

Along the lines of surfing Goodreads reviews, I find my information from other book nerds who post extensive reviews on what they read. Lindsey from Books for Christian Girls is a great example of this. (Check out her YouTube channel as well as her Goodreads page.) You can find these people on Goodreads, YouTube, Instagram, and other places.

Pluggedin.com/books is another site you can find content warnings on. (Though be careful—the reviews often contain spoilers, so tread carefully.

Word of Mouth

Probably one of the most powerful forms of publicity there is, I love to check in with friends and find out what they’re reading. 

A good friend of mine who knows me and my reading likes and dislikes usually always sets me up with perfect reads. She may love a book and rant and rave about it, but tell me that there was quite a bit “rom” to go with the “com” and I know to not waste my time and money on that particular book. 

Or, she might not care for a particular suspense/thriller, but pass it along to me, knowing I’ll probably get much more enjoyment out of it than she did.

Actually . . . that’s how I got my latest suspense/thriller read. 😂

What NOT to judge a book’s content by

That being said, there are a few ways you don’t want to judge a book by.

Publisher

Publishing houses carry a lot of weight in the reading community, I’ll grant them that, but just because a book sports a Bethany House or Revel logo does not mean the book is free of content. There are plenty of books by certain publishers that I wouldn’t touch. But I might have lots of their other books. It comes down to the author and the topic. Don’t be fooled. That logo does not guarantee a 3-5 star review from you.

Seller

I found this one out real quick. Just because the store’s name is literally the “Christian Book Store” does NOT mean every book they sell will be suitable for everyone . . . or not carry questionable content. Do your research. Companies can’t analyze every book they stock on their shelves.

Author (sometimes)

This is a “sometimes” rule. But just because an author wrote a book you love doesn’t mean the rest of their books will be the same. There are many books by several authors on my shelves that I would not buy all their books. Again, do your research. 

(I did this for the Jamie Jo Wright book I just bought. I’ve heard some of her books I should probably stay away from. But someone whose content values are similar to mine really loved this book. So I took that gamble and bought a copy to see for myself.)

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I hope this helped you know where to look to find out if a book is the right match for you! These are just some of the things I do to make sure I’m not wasting my hard-earned cash on a book not worth my time. If you have a tip or trick I didn’t cover, leave a comment down below!

Fall is the season for reading—have you picked up any new books lately? 

Have you read any of the ones in my haul? What’s your favorite way to vet a book before picking it up?

Catch ya on the flip side!

_Mac 🤎