Resources for Book Suggestions
February 14th, 2008 Brian HerzogLast week's Reference Question was about me finding a new source for suggesting good books for patrons - the Mass Book Awards.
Liz's comment on the post was a good one, and I thought it warranted a bit of research and a full post devoted to answering it. She said:
There are a few websites which allow you to enter some of your favorite bands and it pops out suggestions of similar bands you might like - wouldn’t it be awesome if they had a site like that for books?...
Here are some resources I found that let you search for a book/author you like, and then link from it to similar books:
- WhatShouldIReadNext.com - search for a book to see recommendations
- reader2.com - search for a book to see recommendations; also shows tags associated with each book
- AllReaders.com - search for a title or author, and similar books are listed at the end of each book description; also allows searching by plot, setting, or character
- StoryCode.com - lets you search for a title or author and suggests similar stories (based on user data); also has other features
- LibraryThing.com - offers book suggestions based on user-entered tags; you can also browse tags for books on a certain subject, or use their unsuggester to find books unlike a particular book
- GoodReads.com - seems a lot like LibraryThing, but puts more emphasis on recommendations of people in your friends network rather than cumulative data
- NoveList - the old standby, but you probably need to go through your local library for it
- Amazon.com - it is Amazon, so it's primary focus is to sell book, not recommend them, but it does offer suggestions based on what people purchase and search by topic (as it were)
There are lots of other sites devoted to book suggestions. A few others I found that didn't fit above but that are also useful are:
- Listal.com Books - search (hidden in upper right corner) for books and link to others via tags (seems to focus more on social connections)
- FictionFinder from OCLC - offers Subject cloud (like tag cloud) to find similar books; also allows searching, and each book has links to see other books with the same subjects, genres, characters or setting
- Find a Good Book from Hennepin County Library - search for an author to find recommended reading lists where that author's books appear (plus links to other listings and resources)
- Staff Recommendations from the Skokie Public Library - search for a subject to find books their staff has reviewed and recommends
And here's a few resources that are list-based - you click the subject you like, and you browse the list of books in that subject:
- If You Like... by the Christchurch City Libraries, New Zealand - read-a-likes lists by book, author, or subject
- Oprah Read-A-Likes by the Wakefield Library - lists Oprah's Picks books, and books similar to them
- What do I read Next? by the Manchester Library - click on the topic or genre to see a list of books
- Themed Booklists by Overbooked.com - has a short listing of books and authors with links to similar books, but also has many other resources in their booklists and readers advisory sections
- StopYoureKillingMe.com - just mystery books, browse by author or category to find similar books
- GenreFluent.com - lists of books by subject or genre (use links on the left)
- Nancy Pearl Recommendations - recommendations by subject from Nancy Pearl's books, in her wiki
- Webrary from the Morton Grove Public Library - book lists by subject and genre
- Mostly Fiction Book Lists by the Waterboro Public Library - links to lists of book lists, by subject
- Readers Advisory Link Farm - large list of links to lists of suggestion books
I'm sure there are tons of others - even my library also has a readers advisory webpage. If I missed one of your favorites, please share it with a comment below.