Reading agenda

I feel like most of us (us being those who read my blog and yes, we are an us. Welcome.) have a TBR pile. Whether it's an actual, physical pile or just a list kept somewhere, you probably have a basic idea of what to read next. Or at least something to dip into. But how do you decide what's next?

I realize this isn't a new question. Hell, I've probably asked it before. But I was thinking about it today so you're getting asked about it again.

1. Do you make a set list of books and the order you'll read them and stick to that?
2. Do you scan through your TBR pile and pick the book that looks most appealing right then?
3. Do you not even bother with your pile and just whatever book you recently heard about/acquired?
4. Do you do something entirely different I haven't considered here?

Typically I'm somewhere between 2 and 3. I have a small actual TBR pile. As in those books I have in front of me, either physical or ebooks. Most of my TBR is a general Goodreads list with books I've heard of that I want to make sure I don't forget about, but I haven't actually picked up. I try to stick to 2 and go through my pile and pick something there. But I seem to have a problem where if I don't read a book RIGHT AWAY I lose interest. It doesn't have anything to do with the book itself, so much as there's ALWAYS a new book and if someone is talking up this new book I'll want to go for that one even if I have a whole TBR pile just waiting for me.

I never come up with a set list of "I will read X and then Y and then Z" because I know I won't listen to me.

I'm a brat.

I was thinking about this because I realized there's another factor I use to determine what I'm going to read next. Am I doing a readalong? Because see, with a readalong, for those of you that don't know (and really, you should try them because they are fun) you're reading certain chapters together with a group and then writing a post for those chapters. But you don't want to read ahead of the assigned pages so what do you do when you've finished your week's readalong pages but still have another hour of commuting left?

A lot of the time when I'm taking part in a readalong I've picked up a Kindle copy of the book. Which means that whatever I'm reading along side this readalong book needs to be a Kindle book as well. Well, it doesn't NEED to be. But I'm not carrying my Kindle and a physical book around with me. So if I want to read something else, I tend to go ebooks.

I have a couple physical books I want to get to (Gone Girl [finally], In The Miso Soup) but thus far have been sticking to ebooks (The Blue Blazes, Rosemary's Baby). Not a bad thing, and I'm not cursing the readalong or anything. Just another random factor I noticed in determining my next read.

What factors do you consider when picking your next book?