Develop an internal barometer for a good book, instead of an external one.
Simple - if you enjoyed it, if it made you think, gave a different perspective, if you found something profound, if you keep returning to it, if it is a topic you are interested in.
Of course to develop this, one needs to read significant amount of books - even bad ones (and drop them once you find they are not good enough). But once developed, you can largely detect within a few pages whether a book is worth reading. Also appreciating a book depends on you state/age/mental framework at the time.
You augment this with human curation from places/forums you appreciate. Also original sources of books/authors you like is a good way to go down the rabbithole.
Simple - if you enjoyed it, if it made you think, gave a different perspective, if you found something profound, if you keep returning to it, if it is a topic you are interested in.
Of course to develop this, one needs to read significant amount of books - even bad ones (and drop them once you find they are not good enough). But once developed, you can largely detect within a few pages whether a book is worth reading. Also appreciating a book depends on you state/age/mental framework at the time.
You augment this with human curation from places/forums you appreciate. Also original sources of books/authors you like is a good way to go down the rabbithole.