Finding Your Next Good Read
There are many ways to find out about books that might pique your interest. Here are some sources to find that next engrossing read.
If you want to read what's new, you can view a variety of Bestseller Lists online. The oldest and most notable list is published each Sunday by the New York Times. The New York Times Fiction and Nonfiction, Fiction E-book and Nonfiction E-book bestsellers are separate as are many other formats and categories like business and children's books.
The USA Today Bestseller List is different from the New York Times Bestseller Lists because it ranks the top 150 titles in fiction and nonfiction titles together. Included in this single list are print and e-book format, and children's and teen titles as well.
The Barnes and Noble website has 100 best-selling titles ranked by the hour, which includes both fiction and nonfiction. They also have a separate list for top 100 books of the year and the top Nook books. Amazon has a top 100 list which also mixes fiction and nonfiction together, but you can also find the bestsellers in various format, subject and genre categories as well. You can also view Selected Best-Sellers on The Library's website.
The disadvantage of finding an interesting book on the Bestseller Lists is that lots of other people would like to read it too. That can mean a long waiting list for the most popular titles. The Library tries to buy the right amount of copies to satisfy demand without over-buying a title.
Another tool to find new titles to read is Novelist, a searchable book database which lists most popular works of fiction by genre as well as title and author. If you do a search for a fiction title in COOLcat.org, Novelist lists other titles in a series and recommends similar titles and authors that match elements of your book choice.
You can also go directly to the NoveList database* under the Research tab on the main page of The Library's website, thelibrary.org. There is a separate version of Novelist for grades K-8. In Novelist you can also find author read-a-likes and book discussion guides.
Of course, the librarians at your local branch are one of the best resources to help you choose books in your area of interest. They have years of experience recommending books and are well-read in most genres. If you submit a Your Next Read survey, Library staff will email you back a list of suggested titles selected specifically for your interests. The Library staff have also created articles with book lists on different genres and subjects on the Books & Authors blog.
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