Book Clubs

Awarded Books

ALA Book and Media Awards and Notable Mentions

From the American Library Association. Includes Best Books for Young Adults, Caldecott Medal, Newbery Medal, Outstanding Reference Sources. See also this link for information about the awards.

American Book Association: Book Industry Awards

Award Winners in the Library Catalog

Bestselling titles and awarded books available in the Ramapo Catskill Library System (RCLS).

Book Awards

Links to various book awards. Arranged by genre.

BookPrizeInfo

List of Literary Awards

International literary award information. From Wikipedia: please note their disclaimer.

National Book Awards

Current and past winning titles from the National Book Foundation.

Nobel Prize for Literature

Current and past winners

Pulitzer Prize

Current and past winners.

Bestseller Lists

Amazon's Bestsellers

Bestselling books at Amazon. By clicking on categories to the left, you can create lists for subsections like Large Print, Romance, and Mysteries and Thrillers.

Barnes and Noble

Top 100 titles selling this hour.

Bestsellers in the Library Catalog

Bestsellers and awarded book lists with direct links to items available in the library catalog for Middletown Thrall Library and the Ramapo Catskill Library System (RCLS).

Bookspot.com: Bestsellers

Directory of links to current bestseller lists including list by genre.

Graphic Novels - Bestselling

From The New York Times.

Indie Bestseller Lists

From the American Booksellers Association. Also available are downloadable current and past bestseller lists.

New York Times Best Sellers

Current bestsellers, including: hardcover fiction & nonfiction, children's books, paperback trade fiction & mass-market fiction, paperback fiction, hardcover and paperback business best sellers.

Publisher's Weekly Fiction Bestsellers

Lists the fiction bestsellers for the week and has links to the bestsellers in Audio, Children's, Nonfiction, Religion, and Paperbacks. It also links to the Fiction and Nonfiction Books Most Borrowed compiled by Library Journal.

USA Today Best-Selling Books Database

Top 150 titles based on sales.

Book Lists

Suggested readings, thematic lists, and more

African-American Literature

African American History and Black History Month: Recommended Readings

Lists of books/titles available in the Ramapo Catskill Library System.

Awarded Books and Bestsellers

Awarded Books

Lists of winners.

Bestsellers

New York Times and other lists of best-selling books.

Beyond the Bestsellers

Discover fresh and interesting books and authors not necessarily found on bestseller lists.

Factmonster: Lists of the Best-Selling Children's Books of All Time

"Best" and "Greatest" Books Lists

Discover Magazine: 25 Greatest Science Books of All Time

Great Books Lists

Includes: "100 Most Influential Books Ever Written" by Martin Seymour-Smith, "Great Books of the Western World" by Mortimer Adler, "The Western Canon: The Theocratic Age, Aristocratic Age, Democratic Age, Chaotic Age" by Harold Bloom.

Modern Library: 100 Best Nonfiction Titles

Modern Library: 100 Best Novels

National Geographic Adventure Magazine: Extreme Classics - The 100 Greatest Adventure Books of All Time

Celebrity Selections

Celebrity Reading Lists - Who Reads What (1988 - 2007)

Find out what famous celebrities, actors, actresses, and other persons are reported to have enjoyed reading over the years. Browse by year and then alphabetically by name. Included are some celebrity quotes regarding their favorite books and authors. Lists provided by Gardiner Public Library, Maine.

Nancy Pearl's Book Lust Wiki: Favorite Selections from Book Lust and More Book Lust ("Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment, and Reason")

These books contain her past recommendations. Please click here for her audio podcasts on radio station KUOW, which features her most recent selections. Select the Podcasts link on that page to browse podcasts from the past several months.

Oprah Selections

Past and present books and lists of titles/authors selected.

Controversial & Censored Books

Most Frequently Challenged Books

Includes: Top Ten Challenged Authors 1990-2004, Most Challenged Books of 21st Century (2000-2005), 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990-2000, Top 100 Challenged Books 1990-1999, Top 100 Challenged Books 2000-2007. From the American Library Association (ALA).

General Book Lists - Multiple Topics/Themes

New York Public Library: Recommended Reading

Numerous thematic lists of books arranged in three sections: Adult Readers, Teen Readers, Younger Readers.

Wikipedia: Book Lists

Thematic lists of writings. Please note Wikipedia's disclaimer. Also see their Literature Lists page.

Literary Lists

Literary Classics

Browse by author or title/genre/books. Book lists include fiction, drama, poetry, nonfiction. Directory by Middletown Thrall Library.

New Writers and Forthcoming Books

Beyond the Bestsellers

New Books

Upcoming lists of new and notable authors/titles.

Summer Reading Lists

Reading Lists for Local School Districts

Most of these are in PDF format (view with Adobe Reader):

Middletown Schools

J. W. Chorley Elementary

Maple Hill Elementary

Mechanicstown

Middletown High School

Monhagen Middle School

Truman Moon Elementary

Twin Towers Middle School

Pine Bush Schools

Pine Bush School District

Valley Central Schools

Valley Central Middle School - Summer Reading Packet

Click here for their summer reading list (marked "2006" but listed as current on their school page)

Valley Central High School

(regular Book Lists continue below)

Summer Fun / Beach Reads

Beyond the Bestsellers: Summer 2009 Edition

National Public Radio (NPR): Critics' Lists - Summer 2009's Best Books

Includes: Librarian Nancy Pearl's List, Independent Booksellers Selections, For Summer Sleuths: Best Mystery and Crime Novels, On The Hunt For Fabulous Fiction, Summer Books 2009: The Complete Printable List.

Summer Books 2009

"...in which our critics name their top picks of the season. We'll be adding new lists throughout the summer." From National Public Radio (NPR).

Women's History & Literature

Women's Studies and Women's History Month

Lists of suggested books available in the Ramapo Catskill Library System.

Young Readers and Young Adults

Children's Books

Lists and reviews.

Adolescent Literacy: Book Lists

"Our themed booklists offer help in finding books that suit both teens' interests and reading abilities." From AdLit.org.

Recommended Books for Kids by Theme

Lists from Reading Rockets.

Young Adults and Teens Books Lists

Amazing Audiobooks, Best Books for Young Adults, Great Graphic Novels, Outstanding Books for the College Bound, Popular Paperbacks, Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers, Teens' Top Ten. From the American Library Association (ALA). Also see their Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults page.

Book Reviews

All About Romance

Subtitled "the back-fence for lovers of romance novels", this website contains reviews, lists of suggested titles, and information on romance authors and publishers.

Locus Online

News, reviews, resources and perspectives of the science fiction field.

The Mystery Reader

A collection of signed reviews of current mysteries with rankings from "outstanding' to "don't bother." New reviews are arranged by subgenres, older reviews are browsable by author. Reviews also given violence ratings - nonviolent, standard and graphic.

New York Review of Books

Electronic version of the newspaper. Contains in-depth reviews from well-known critics of both fiction and nonfiction. Although you are able to search through the complete archives back to 1963, only several hundred reviews are available for free.

New York Times Book Review

Archives of reviews back to 1981. Includes links to many first chapters.

New York Times: Book Review Podcast

Audio broadcasts from the NYT in MP3 format.

The Romance Reader

Three thousand reviews of contemporary romance. New reviews are categorized by subgenre.

Street Fiction: Author Interviews, News, and Reviews of Urban Books

"Street Fiction is dedicated to reviewing street fiction, also known as urban fiction, street lit, or gangsta fiction." Includes lists of authors, urban literature themes, publishers, and related information.

Times Literary Supplement

The electronic version of the well-known literary paper, has current reviews of fiction and nonfiction. Nonfiction is arranged by subject. Archives are available with a paid subscription.

Children's Books

Children's Picture Book Database

"Our database contains abstracts of over 5000 picture books for children, preschool to grade 3. Search over 900 keywords (topics, concepts, and skills) to locate books with storylines adaptable to your curriculum or program. Teachers, librarians, parents, students, and other professionals love this multidisciplinary, learner-centered resource."

International Reading Association: Choices Booklist

"Each year, thousands of children, young adults, teachers, and librarians around the United States select their favorite recently published books for the "Choices" booklists. These lists are used in classrooms, libraries, and homes to help young readers find books they will enjoy."

Read Kiddo Read

Created by bestselling author James Patterson, this website was designed to help parents, teachers, and librarians find books to inspire reluctant readers to become life long readers. Lots of suggestions are included for every reading level.

Recommended Reading

Lists of best books for children from the librarians at New York Public Library.

Reviewer's Checklist

Reviewers Checklist is an online database designed to help visitors find new and forthcoming books for children, teens and families. Search thousands of titles by topic, publisher, series, author, illustrator, publication date, age and grade level.

Forthcoming Fiction & Nonfiction Lists

The following websites feature upcoming titles and authors. You can click here to check the catalog for titles that interest you and reserve them once they become available.

Amazon.com: New and Upcoming Releases

Barnes & Noble.com Books: Coming Soon Bestsellers

Books in Print: "Forthcoming Book Room" and "Future Bestsellers"

Available only at Thrall library.

Forthcoming Bestsellers

List published by RCLS. PDF format: use Adobe Reader to view it.

Future Title Watch

Thrall's own monthly highlights of forthcoming titles

Historical Novel Society

Locus Mag: Forthcoming Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Books

Mostly Fiction: Forthcoming Fiction and Nonfiction Titles

New York Review of Books

Wikipedia: Upcoming Books

General Reader's Advisories

BookBrowse.com

Read reviews, first chapters, and author interviews here. Browse by genre, and find heaps of information for book clubs.

Bookspace

Hennepin County Library's reader's advisory center provides lists of books by genre and "If you liked" lists for certain titles. It also features an "If you like" search by author which indicates on which genre list(s) an author is included.

Book Spot

A good gateway site for book lovers, Book Spot indexes book links by genre and also provides many different bestseller and awards lists as well as book reviews and literary criticism. Links to online book discussion groups too.

Literature

Your guide to literary treasures in the library and on the web. Includes Rediscovering Literature, Classics in the Library Catalog, Literary Reference Materials in Print, and Literature on the Web. Provided by Middletown Thrall Library.

Novelist

Accessible to current Middletown Thrall Library cardholders. A reader's advisory tool for all ages, Novelist helps readers select fiction titles based on a wide selection of criteria. Provides reviews, subject content, and reading levels.

Oprah

She needs no introduction. Her website includes a listing of her popular book club selections and information on past and future shows. Her regular guests often include authors of books.

Overbooked

"Overbooked originals include annotated lists of nonfiction, fiction and mystery books which received starred reviews, themed booklists, featured titles lists and hot lists of hard cover US fiction releases. Established 1994. This site contains large files."

Websites for Booklovers

Book lists compiled by the Fiction-L listserv include books by genre, character and setting. Morton Grove Library's excellent directory includes their own FictionL's Booklists, which lists of books by genre, character, setting, and other categories.

Series and Sequels Advisories

Juvenile Series and Sequels

Series written for or enjoyed by children.

What's Next

By the Kent District Library in Michigan for series searches. What's Nexthelps you search adult fiction in series. A "series" is two or more books linked by character(s), settings, or other common traits.

YA Books in Series and Sequels

Series written for or enjoyed by teens.

Live news headlines provided by the New York Times (free registration may be required):

About this Guide

Booklovers has been developed to help you select reading material. These websites are great sources, but our efforts to help you find a good book don't stop here. The library owns a collection of books geared to assist our patrons in their search for what to read next.

We also give away bookmarks for a number of genres. Each bookmark has a list of authors who write in a similar style. The genres include military thrillers, medical thrillers, cozy mysteries, historical mysteries, fantasy, police procedurals, and many others.

Throughout the year, we produce a list of the best new fiction, entitled Beyond the Bestsellers, and at our website, we created a service called RAVES! for patrons to share recommendations.

Please stop by our Reference Desk to learn about any of these services and to browse our dedicated print collection of Reader's Advisory guides for all ages, subjects, and genres.

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