Don't Miss Lists and Other Reading Resources

Readers' Advisory on the Web: Sites the Librarians Use to Help You Find Just the Right Book

- presented by Librarian Jane Jorgenson,
Ashman Branch on June 2004

Metasites

Morton Grove's Webrary - www.webrary.org/rs/rsmenu.html

• They have a wide range of links under their websites for book lovers.
• Fiction-L is run by Morton Grove and can be subscribed to via them. You can also find their archives and booklists created by members of the list.

Overbooked - www.overbooked.org

• This web site formerly known as Book Links specializes in literary and genre fiction.
• The starred reviews list is very helpful for finding literary fiction recommendations.

Bookspot - www.bookspot.com

• Free resource center that focuses on book-related content on the web.
• Featured sites are selected by Bookspot editors and organized into categories.

Genres

Romance

All About Romance - www.allaboutromance.com

• Run by Laurie Gold and her staff of volunteers (who are fans).
• Includes in depth reviews with a rating system, "If You Like" lists, bulletin boards, articles, essays and author interviews.

The Romance Reader - www.theromancereader.com

• In depth reviews and archives of the reviews.
• Interviews and articles about the genre.

Romantic Times Online - www.romantictimes.com

• For readers and writers -- the trade journal of romance fiction. Over 100 reviews of new books each week.

Mystery

Cluelass - www.cluelass.com

• Forthcoming books, link to Mysterious homepage, author and convention news.
• Searchable by author, title, character and publisher.

The Mystery Reader - www.themysteryreader.com

• Sister site of The Romance Reader and has a similar set-up with reviews, archives and author features.
• It's not updated as frequently as I'd like but the reviews are in-depth and rated.

Fantastic Fiction

SF Site - www.sfsite.com

• Interviews, reviews, links to fan and author pages, and more.

Science Fiction Romance - www.sfronline.com

• The Science Fiction Romance newsletter is a source of in-depth information on industry trends, author interviews, how-to writing articles and other items of interest to authors and readers.
• Geared towards readers of speculative romance.

Focus Online - www.locusmag.com

• This award-winning journal of science fiction and fantasy has interviews, reviews and recommended reading lists.

Uchronia - www.uchronia.net

• The site includes an annotated bibliography of novels, essays, and short stories about alternate histories.
• You can search for titles by author, series, anthologies, and country.
• Booklists for stories dating back to 1732 and reference books on this subject are included.

Westerns

Read West Online Magazine - www.readwest.com

• Includes news, reviews, best westerns, and links to other western sites.

Western Writers of America - www.westernwriters.org

• Articles and features on the genre, best lists of authors and books.
• Also includes lists of Spur Award winners.

Horror

Dark Echo Horror - www.darkecho.com

• News, interviews, features, reviews and links to other horror sites.

Horror Writer's Association - www.horror.org

• The Horror Writer's Association is dedicated to promoting reading interests in horror and dark fantasy.
• They sponsor the Bram Stoker Awards, publish anthologies, and have a recommended reading list.

Inpsirational Fiction

Michigan City Public Library Inspirational Links - www.mclib.org/booklistsinspirational.htm

• Lists and links of inspirational fiction broken down into categories.

Christy Awards - www.christyawards.com

• Award winning Christian fiction web site.

Historical Fiction

Soon's Historical Fiction - uts.cc.utexas.edu/~soon/histfiction

• Includes a master list of historical fiction, new and current fiction, and other historical fiction resources.

Historical Novel Society - www.historicalnovelsociety.com

• The site offers interviews with authors, reviews, advance notice of future titles, and a newsletter.

Graphic Novels and Manga

Comics Worth Reading - www.comicsworthreading.com

• Created by Johanna Draper Carlson who's been reviewing for ten years.
• The site covers comics, graphic novels, and manga and includes mainstream and smaller independent publishers.

No Flying No Tights - www.noflyingnotights.com

• This site was designed specifically for presenting graphic novel reviews for teens and the people who work with them, like librarians, teachers and parents.
• Also includes Sidekicks for Kids and The Lair for teens and adults.

Graphic Novels for Public Libraries - my.voyager.net/~sraiteri/graphicnovels.htm

• Steve Raiteri is a librarian who has developed his system's collection for several years.
• In addition to a core list of recommended titles, reviews are organized by subjects like Superheroes, Comedy, Japanese Manga and Spotlight Titles

Bibliographies and Book Lists

KDL's What's Next - www.kdl.org/libcat/whatsnext.asp

• Run by Kent District library
• A series database searchable by author, title, or series.

Waterboro Public Library - www.waterborolibrary.org

• Known for their book lists - they link to lists that are created by other libraries

Fiction Database - www.fictiondb.com

• Though a lot of the information on this site is for members only, they do offer some free services including a forthcoming list of books for all genres.

Stop You're Killing Me - www.stopyourekillingme.com

• Chronological lists of mystery books by author or character.
• Links to author webpages.

Madison Public Library - www.madisonpubliclibrary.org/booklists/index_fiction.html

• Suggestion lists for audiobooks, fiction, nonfiction, largeprint, mysteries, and books for teens and kids.

My Unicorn Bookstore - www.myunicorn.com

• An online bookstore that has nice bibliographies nd a pseudonym index for genre fiction.

Email Lists

Fiction-L - www.webrary.org/rs/FLmenu.html

• Run by Morton Grove, this is a list for librarians and readers of fiction.

Dorothy-L - www.dorothyl.com

• A mystery list that includes authors, readers, publishers, and bookstore owners amongst its members.

Romance Readers Anonymous - listserv.kent.edu/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=rra-l&A=1

• RRA-L also has authors, readers, etc. and discusses romance in depth.

Blogs

All Consuming - allconsuming.net

• All Consuming is a website that watches a large number of weblogs.
• They track the mention of books and displays the most popular ones on an hourly basis.

Sarah Weinman's Confessions of an Idiosyncratic Mind - www.sarahweinman.com

• She's a fan of crime fiction but also includes a lot of links to news articles and other tidbits about the publishing community.

Children's Advisory

Children's Literature on the Web Guide - www.ucalgary.ca/~dkbrown/index.html

• Features, discussion boards, quick reference to children's book awards, years best books, children's bestsellers, and links to other sites.

Mid-Continent Series and Sequels - www.mcpl.lib.mo.us/readers/series/juv

• Database that includes over 16,500 books in series classified into three audiences: young adult, juvenile, and juvenile easy.
• You can view by series title, series subject, book title, and book author.

---