Electronic Highways
Looking for a good book to read?
Have you read a good book lately? Was it so good it left you craving more books just like it? Of course, you could easily peruse the bestseller lists until you find something that peaks your interest. The New York Times Best Sellers, Publisher’s Weekly Bestseller List, and USA Today’s Bestselling Books Database are all great places to start. However, sometimes you want something just like that last great book you read: something with a similar plot, theme, characters or writing style. In those cases, you’re going to need reader’s advisory tools to help.
If you’re looking for something within a particular genre or by a particular author, there are numerous websites to assist you. Fantastic Fiction contains information on more than 30,000 authors and 350,000 books, including author bibliographies and forthcoming works. For the science fiction, fantasy and horror lovers, The Internet Speculative Fiction Database is the place to go. Maintained by community users, the site contains not only author bibliographies, award listings and reviews, but also information about anthologies and forthcoming works. Horror lovers should also check out The Monster Librarian, where you’ll not only find book reviews, but tools to help you find books based on themes, settings and movies. If mystery, crime, thriller or suspense books are more your style, then Stop, You’re Killing Me is the tool for you. This site provides more than 3,400 author bibliographies and 38,000 titles. New and forthcoming books are listed, as well as the ability to search by author or character.
Perhaps you loved the style of writing of a particular author or you’re looking for a particular type of character, plot or setting in a book. If so, then AllReaders.com is the tool for you. Search the database by characteristics and you’ll be well on your way to discovering books and/or authors just like your current favorites. Speaking of favorite authors, Gnooks is a great website to use to discover new writers that may interest you. Use Gnod’s Suggestions to tell the system which authors you like to read and it will offer new suggestions. Use the Map of Literature to tell the system one author you like to read and it will provide a visual map of new authors for you to explore.
Last, but certainly not the least favorite reader’s advisory tool is Library Thing. This popular site of user-generated content is easy to use; simply search for books that you enjoy to find links to suggestions of new titles. If you sign up for the free account, you also can create a catalog of your personal book collection and/or reading list and have the ability to rank books and write reviews.
Once you’ve found your next great read, locate the book in the UB Libraries by searching the BISON catalog. In addition, search the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library collection. Not only do they hold a larger fiction selection, but your library card also provides access to another great reader’s advisory tool: Novelist Plus. You can use this database at home or in the library to assist you with finding the next perfect book!
Now what are you waiting for? Go find yourself a fabulous new book to read!
—Bridget Schumacher, University Libraries
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