I have a small problem with bookstores.
I enter thinking:
“I’ll just look around.”
This sentence has approximately the same credibility as:
“I’ll only watch one episode.”
We all know what happens next. 😌
I wander between shelves.
Pick up a book.
Read the back.
Put it down.
Find another.
Return to the first.
Discover a third.
Stand there comparing them as though I’m choosing the next person to join an expedition to Mars.
Eventually, thirty minutes have passed and I’ve somehow become less capable of making a decision.
So this time I tried something different.
Something slightly dangerous.
I asked someone else to choose for me.
The Rule Was Simple
I wanted one book.
Not five.
Not a carefully researched bestseller.
Not something selected by an algorithm that knows disturbingly much about my browsing habits.
Just one book recommended by another human.
So I asked someone working there:
“If you could choose one book for someone who has no idea what she wants to read today, what would you pick?”
She looked at me.
Then at the shelves.
Then started walking.
I followed.
This was the point where I realized:
I had given a stranger an alarming amount of power over my afternoon. 😂
She Didn’t Pick Anything I Would Have Chosen
That made it interesting immediately.
The cover wasn’t something that would normally stop me.
I didn’t recognize the title.
I didn’t know the author.
There wasn’t an enormous sticker shouting that seventeen million people had already approved my purchase.
I turned it over.
Read the description.
Hmm.
Normally, I would have returned it to the shelf and continued searching.
But that would defeat the entire experiment.
So I bought it.
No reviews.
No ratings.
No twenty-minute internet investigation.
Just:
Okay, mysterious book. You’re coming with me. 📚
Then I Took It to the Park 🍂
The weather was far too nice to go straight home.
Golden light.
Cooler air.
Leaves scattered everywhere.
The sort of afternoon where sitting indoors feels slightly illegal.
So I stopped for a drink, found a quiet wooden bench beneath the trees, tucked my bag beside me and opened the book.
I was wearing one of my favorite combinations for this kind of day too: relaxed blue jeans, a soft white blouse and a mustard cardigan that practically matched the leaves.
Completely accidental.
Probably.
Let’s pretend it was accidental. 😂
Page One Had an Unfair Amount of Responsibility
I opened the book.
First page.
This was the audition.
I had no loyalty to this story yet.
No expectations.
No idea where it was going.
And because somebody else had chosen it, I felt unusually curious.
Would I like it?
Would I understand why she recommended it?
Would I spend the next two hours wondering how to politely return a recommendation nobody had asked me to report back on? 😭😂
I started reading.
One page.
Then another.
Okay.
Interesting.
Five pages.
Hmm.
The book had survived the audition.
Then Someone Sat Beside Me
Not immediately beside me.
Park-bench etiquette was respected. 😌
An older gentleman sat at the opposite end for a while.
He glanced at the book.
Then asked:
“Good?”
This is an incredibly difficult question when you’re approximately twelve pages into a book.
I looked at it.
Looked at him.
And said:
“I think so?”
Excellent review, Miu.
Very authoritative. 😂
He laughed.
Then told me about a book he had recently finished.
Suddenly I had received another recommendation.
Apparently once you begin this experiment, the universe starts building a reading list for you.
Reading Outside Has One Major Problem
Everything distracts me.
A leaf falls.
Look.
Dog walks past.
Look.
Someone laughs nearby.
Look.
Bird lands suspiciously close.
Definitely look.
Then I realize I’ve been holding the book open for thirty seconds without reading a single word.
Back to paragraph.
Where was I?
Read three lines.
Another leaf.
🍂
This is not efficient reading.
But I don’t really care.
Reading in a park isn’t only about finishing pages.
Part of the pleasure is disappearing into a story and then briefly returning to the real world around you.
Book.
Trees.
Book.
Dog.
Book.
Coffee.
Book.
Mysterious person jogging extremely enthusiastically.
It’s a nice rhythm. 😂
A Leaf Became My Bookmark
I had forgotten my bookmark.
Of course.
I usually solve this problem using whatever object is available.
Receipt.
Ticket.
Random piece of paper.
Absolutely not folding the corner.
I know this subject has strong opinions attached. 😳📖
Today, a little golden leaf landed near my shoe.
I picked it up.
Perfect size.
Temporary bookmark acquired.
Was this unnecessarily romantic?
Possibly.
Did it work?
Yes.
Therefore I stand by my decision.
I Started Wondering About the Person Who Recommended It
After about thirty pages, I realized I was enjoying the book.
That made me curious.
Why had she chosen this one?
Was it her favorite?
Had somebody recommended it to her?
Did she simply see me and think:
“This woman looks like she needs this particular story.”
That would be impressive.
And slightly terrifying. 😂
Recommendations are funny because they’re never completely about the thing being recommended.
They’re also about the person choosing it.
When someone says:
“You should read this.”
they’re revealing a tiny piece of what interested them.
What made them laugh.
What stayed with them.
What they thought might stay with you.
I like that.
Algorithms Are Useful, but People Are Weird
And I mean that affectionately. 😆
An algorithm might recommend something because I liked three similar books.
Very logical.
A person might recommend something because:
“I read this on a train six years ago and couldn’t stop thinking about the ending.”
That’s much more interesting.
Humans connect things strangely.
Memory.
Mood.
Timing.
Personal experiences.
A book may not even be technically similar to what you usually enjoy.
But somebody sees a connection anyway.
Sometimes they’re completely wrong.
But sometimes that wrong turn takes you somewhere you wouldn’t have chosen yourself.
Around Chapter Three, I Forgot About the Experiment
This was the best sign.
At first I was evaluating the book.
Do I like this?
Is this a good recommendation?
Would I have chosen it?
Then at some point…
I stopped asking.
I was simply reading.
That’s when a story wins.
The cover disappears.
The bookstore disappears.
The person who recommended it disappears.
Even the park begins fading slightly.
You’re somewhere else.
Then someone drops something nearby and suddenly you’re back on a wooden bench wearing a mustard cardigan. 😂
My Coffee Became Cold Again ☕
Apparently this is becoming a recurring issue in my life.
Give me a warm drink and something interesting to do, and I will neglect the beverage.
I reached for the cup.
Sip.
Hmm.
Not terrible.
But definitely no longer participating in the “hot drinks” category.
I drank it anyway.
I paid for that coffee.
We finish our commitments. 😌😂
Then I Reached a Sentence I Wanted to Remember
I won’t quote the book here because that’s the book’s sentence, not mine.
But I reached one of those little moments where you stop reading.
Not because you don’t understand.
Because you understand too quickly.
You read it again.
Then stare somewhere in the middle distance for a few seconds.
Books do that occasionally.
You’re happily following the story and suddenly a sentence walks out of the page and pokes you directly in the brain.
Excuse me.
I was trying to have a casual afternoon. 😂
I made a tiny note so I could find that section again later.
Then continued.
I Didn’t Finish the Book
And that’s important.
I think we sometimes treat reading like a race.
How many books this month?
How many pages?
How quickly?
Did you finish?
Nope.
I read for a while.
Then stopped.
The story would still be there tomorrow.
I didn’t need to turn a beautiful afternoon into a reading-performance event.
I closed the book while I was still enjoying it.
That felt nice.
Like leaving a little bit of dessert for later.
Although, realistically, I am significantly worse at doing that with actual dessert. 😂🍰
I Walked Home With a Story Half-Finished
There’s a particular feeling I like when you’re in the middle of a good book.
You’re doing normal things…
but somewhere in the back of your brain, another world remains open.
You make dinner.
The characters are waiting.
You answer messages.
The unfinished chapter is waiting.
You get into bed.
Book:
Hello again. 😌📖
It’s almost like carrying a secret little room around with you.
You can return whenever you want.
This Experiment Solved a Problem I Didn’t Know I Had
I realized that sometimes having too many choices makes curiosity smaller.
If I choose a book myself, I want to choose correctly.
I compare.
Research.
Check ratings.
Read reviews.
Maybe there is something better.
Maybe another book would suit me more.
Suddenly choosing entertainment feels like procurement. 😂
But when somebody handed me one book and said:
Try this.
The decision disappeared.
All that remained was curiosity.
That’s wonderfully relaxing.
So I Want to Try This With Other Things
Not everything.
I’m not letting strangers choose my haircut.
We need boundaries. 😳😂
But harmless things?
Absolutely.
Ask a café worker which pastry they like.
Ask someone at a market which fruit is best today.
Let a friend choose a movie you’ve never heard of.
Ask a bookstore employee for one unexpected book.
Choose the dish somebody at the next table keeps ordering.
Maybe even put your playlist on shuffle and promise not to skip the first song.
Small surrender.
Low consequences.
Potentially interesting results.
The Leaf Is Still Inside the Book 🍂
When I got home, I almost removed my accidental bookmark.
Then I decided to leave it.
It will dry.
Probably flatten.
Maybe become extremely fragile.
And someday I might open the book again and find that little autumn leaf between the pages.
I’ll remember the bench.
The cool air.
The cold coffee.
The stranger who recommended the book.
The older man who asked whether it was good twelve pages in.
And hopefully by then I’ll finally have a more convincing answer. 😂
Would I Let a Stranger Choose Again?
Yes.
But I think the fun wasn’t really whether the book turned out to be perfect.
It was temporarily giving up control over the choice.
That’s something I don’t do very often.
We spend so much time personalizing everything.
My feed.
My playlist.
My recommendations.
My favorites.
My preferences.
Everything becomes increasingly shaped around what we already know we like.
That’s convenient.
But occasionally I want something that doesn’t know me yet.
A book I wouldn’t click.
A song I wouldn’t search.
A dish I wouldn’t order.
A little doorway outside my usual taste.
Worst case?
I don’t like it.
That’s hardly a tragedy.
Best case?
I discover something I would never have found while searching only inside my own habits.
Today’s Tiny Challenge 📚
Next time you’re somewhere with recommendations available, ask a human.
Not:
“What’s the most popular?”
Try:
“What’s something you personally love?”
The answer might be completely wrong for you.
That’s part of the fun.
Take one tiny chance.
Give it twenty pages.
One bite.
One song.
One episode.
One afternoon.
You don’t have to love everything you try.
Curiosity isn’t a contract. 😌
Sometimes it’s simply permission to knock on a door you normally walk past.
Today, mine happened to be a paperback handed to me by someone who knew absolutely nothing about my reading history.
I opened it beneath golden trees.
A leaf fell beside me.
My coffee went cold.
And somewhere around chapter three, I completely forgot that this wasn’t the book I would have chosen.
Maybe that’s exactly why I’m glad I read it. 📖🍂💛
“Your favorites show you who you already are. Every once in a while, let something unexpected introduce you to a corner of yourself you haven’t met yet.” — Miu
