[billo-ollib]

I do the following for non-fiction titles:

Make a list of book titles from the footnotes of books I am currently reading. Then just check the average review on Goodreads, if it is over 3.5, I give it a go. This allows me to read about different subjects from respected subject matter experts (since they have been cited in a book I enjoy) while also making sure that they are well written and accessible to a noob (3.5+ rating).

For fiction, I just pick a random book from my local library. Surprisingly, this has served me well so far.

[redelbee]

I hadn’t thought about using reviews in this way before. Do you find the aggregate review numbers to be helpful on Goodreads? I find that most books I’m interested in have seemingly artificially high ratings or very few ratings.

[billo-ollib]

Yep, for me the ratings are a decent gauge for the quality of a book. Given the amount you read, it's likely that you'll exhaust the list of books that are highly rated and happen to be in your domain of interest. Since I read about 2 books a month ~ 25 books a year, I haven't faced this problem.

I suggest you look into English translations of books that are highly rated in other languages. Lots of hidden gems to be found this way.

[serjester]

Personally I find anything above a 3.8 on Goodreads to be a safe bet. Above a 3.6 is doable if it's coming off a personal recommendation or happens to be controversial.