How to Use Book Brackets – Two Ways (Free Downloadable PDF!)

Sometimes, making decisions about books can become overwhelming, but only when we let them. When there are too many books you could read next or so many books you could pick as your favourite, you may want a little bit of help deciding. That’s where book brackets come into play.

In the past, I’ve just scribbled the titles of books onto a piece of paper in a totally non-aesthetic, boring way, but where is the fun in that? Now, I’ve created two types of book brackets to help you (and myself) organise your reading life. Having a visual aid can be a great way to take the pressure off, have something nice to look at, and treat choosing a book like a game.

Book brackets are a great way to battle your books until there is only one left standing; because of that, they’re quite versatile. In my case, I want to use book brackets in two different ways:

• To find a new book to read
• To find your favourite book of the year

Even if you don’t use my book brackets available below, they’re useful to have and I highly recommend making some of your own if you want a new way to whittle down your TBR for your next book, or to display your absolute favourites.

Choosing a book to read

I often mention that I have an extremely long TBR that keeps growing, which can feel like a bigger problem than having nothing to read at all. How can I pick my next read when I have so much to choose from? Consumerism has obviously worked its magic on me.

When the options do seem endless, there are many ways to choose your next read, but book brackets are a fun way to narrow it down. For those of you who have an enormous TBR, I’ve created a bracket that starts with 32 books, another with 16, and a final one with 12.

The bracket works by allowing you to input your potential books on the outermost spots and then follow the lines to help you choose which book you would prefer to read out of the two which are connected. The book you should read is whichever survives the final pairing.

Not only is it a great way to narrow down your options, but it’s also a good way to take stock of just how many unread books you have, or to remind yourself of an older book that you may feel you’re excited to read once again, which is always a plus.

Choosing a yearly favourite

This one is short and sweet, and as the end of the year approaches, it’s becoming more relevant. With this bracket, you pick your favourite book you read from each month and once again follow the lines to find the pairings which will tell you which two books you need to choose between at the end.

This is my favourite kind of bracket since it allows me to reflect on all the great books I’ve read in a year, something I might not do otherwise. Reflecting is what a reading journal is all about to me, and I plan to print this bracket out and stick it into my reading journal for this year so that I may look back on it in years to come and appreciate the books that resonated with me the most.

Hopefully, these brackets make your decision-making process a little easier and a little more fun to look at, as they do mine. Don’t forget to grab your downloadable PDF versions of the brackets and let me know what they helped you to decide!