Middletown Thrall Library: Booklovers

Reader's Advisory

Book Clubs

Starting & Running a Book Club

The websites below offer tips on organizing and running book groups.

Book Club How to's: Information on starting a book club from the Seattle Public Library. Includes tips on choosing and reading books for discussion as well as suggestions for leaders.
Book Group Buzz: Created by Booklist, this blog has entries on suggested book titles including read alikes, organizational tips, and reading guides.
Book Group Corner: from Random House
Book Sprouts: The online community for book clubs. Helps clubs nominate books to read and allows for online discussion by group members.

Book Discussion Guides

The websites below provide discussion guides for individual titles. If you are looking for a good book to discuss in your reading group, you will enjoy browsing through these websites. Some have tips and ideas for organizing or reenergizing your group.

Book Clubs: From Amazon.com
Harper Collins Teaching Resources
Hachette Guide Archives: Includes Book Club Reading Guides, Educator Guides, Kids Reading Guides, and Teens Reading Guides.
Harper Collins YA Reading Group Guides
Macmillan Reading Guides
Morton Grove Public Library: Thinking Out Loud
Random House Book Club Center
Reading Group Guides
Simon & Schuster: Reading Guides

Local Information

Book Discussions at Middletown Thrall Library
Local Book Discussion Groups
Middletown Thrall Library Catalog

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
Awarded Books in the Library Catalog: Awarded books in the Ramapo Catskill Library System (RCLS) library catalog.
The Audies: Audiobook Awards: "Awards recognizing distinction in audiobooks and spoken word entertainment sponsored by the Audio Publishers Association (APA)." Categories include: Audiobook of the Year, Fiction, History, Humor, Inspiration/Faith-Based Fiction, Mystery, Romance, Drama, Audiobook Adaptation, Nonfiction, Biography/Memoir, Business/Educational, Children's Audiobooks, Classic Audiobook, and more.
Barnes and Noble Discover Awards: "Since 1990, a group of Barnes and Noble booksellers has met seasonally to select the best forthcoming new work by debuting and under-appreciated writers."
Bestsellers in the Library Catalog: Bestselling books and authors in the Ramapo Catskill Library System (RCLS) library catalog.
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.
State and Regional Book Awards for Children and Young Adults: Directory of websites provided by The Horn Book.
The 3 Apples Book Award: "A New York State Children's Choice Award, jointly sponsored by the Youth Services Section and the School Library Media Section of the New York Library Association."

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.
National Public Radio (NPR) Bestseller Lists: Hardcover and paperback fiction and nonfiction. "The NPR Bestseller Lists are produced in collaboration with the American Booksellers Association. The lists are compiled from weekly surveys of close to 500 independent bookstores nationwide."
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

Reading Lists for Local School Districts

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

Middletown Schools

J. W. Chorley Elementary: 2010
Maple Hill Elementary: 2010
Middletown High School: 2010
Monhagen Middle School: 2010
Truman Moon Elementary: 2010
Twin Towers Middle School: 2010

Pine Bush Schools

Pine Bush School District: 2010

Port Jervis

Port Jervis: Hamilton Bicentennial Elementary School: 2010
Port Jervis: Middle School: 2010
Port Jervis: High School: 2010

Valley Central Schools

Valley Central: Elementary School Reading List: 2010
Valley Central: High School: 2010

(regular Book Lists continue below)

Regional Reads & Travels

52 Great Reads About Great Places

A list of children's books "representing the literary heritage of the 50 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands." From the Library of Congress.

The 86 Greatest Travel Books of All Time

From Conde Nast Traveler. "Chosen by a literary all-star jury that included: Monica Ali, Vikram Chandra, Jared Diamond, Peter Mayle, John McPhee, Francine Prose, Paul Theroux, Gore Vidal, and more."

Bibliotravel: For Books the Will Take You Away

"Mission Statement: To provide a free online resource for identifying stories that are set in distinct locales."

Fiction-L Book Lists - Settings-Based Lists

"Compiled by the subscribers of the Fiction_L mailing list." Some examples include:

Hard-Boiled Gazetteer (database link: please read below)

These annual articles from Booklist by Bill Ott highlight crime fiction. Each article focuses on a particular city or region with many suggestions of titles, authors and series. The link above leads you to the Proquest database page (available at the library and also to members of Thrall at home). When the database search page appears after you log in, search for *hard-boiled gazetteer* to read all the "Hard-Boiled Gazetteer" articles from the current year back to 1997.

Library Book Lists: Travel Fiction/ Fiction of Place

A collection of links to book lists for fiction "whose geographical setting is important to the story."

Summer Fun & Beach Reads

Beyond the Bestsellers
National Public Radio (NPR): Critics' Lists - Summer Best Books
NPR: Summer Books 2010
O: Summer Reading List: Summer Reading suggestions from O: The Oprah Magazine

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.
Children's Library Catalog: Thrall's catalog for children and parents. Browse books, picture books, and other items by topic. Also explore famous persons, classic children's authors, Caldecott and Newbery winners, book reviews, and more.
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.
Young Adults' Choices: "Since 1987, the Young Adults' Choices project has developed an annual list of new books that will encourage adolescents to read. The books are selected by the readers themselves, so they are bound to be popular with middle and secondary school students." From the International Reading Association.
Young Adult Library Catalog: Thrall's own library catalog page for young adults. Includes instant access to teen favorite books and authors (fiction and nonfiction), ALA "best" and awarded books for teenagers, reviews, and much more.

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.
The Barnes and Noble Review: Book reviews, author interviews, essays, an archive of past reviews, and more.
Genrefluent: Blog format. Book articles and reviews, featured Books of the Week. From the author of Genreflecting.
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 Classics: A Guide for Parents: From The Horn Book Magazine. PDF format: view with Adobe Reader.
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."
Common Sense Media: Children's Book Reviews for Parents: Offers parents and guardians insight on children's books along with content advisories, family discussion guides, and suggested authors and readings.
Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC): Includes podcasts, news, reviews, recommended titles for children / teens / young adults, Book of the Week with an archive of past selections (back to 1997), and more.
Horn Book: Recommended Books: Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, Popular and Seasonal Topics, Short Stories, and a Monthly Special Booklist archive of thematic reading lists.
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.

Graphic Novels

Blog from School Library Journal: "An alphabetical list of all the picks from the All Ages Comics and Manga list from the last year. You'll find over 100 titles that were highlighted in comics, graphic novels and manga from the weekly release list."
A Brief History of the Graphic Novel: Provided by Brodart.
Graphic Novel Reporter: Reviews of graphic novels for all ages (kids, young adults, and adults), blog, illustrators, news, featured authors, and more.
Graphic Novels: Includes: Graphic Novels 101: FAQ, Reading Lessons, Recommended Graphic Novels, and more. From The Horn Book.
Graphic Novels: Resources for Teachers and Librarians: Topics include: Graphic Novels in Libraries, Graphic Novel Formats, Collection Development, Publishers, Graphic Novel Genres, Recommended Novels, Internet Resources. Provided by University at Buffalo Libraries.
Graphic Novels for Libraries: Recommended Titles for Children and Teens: List provided by Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC).
Great Graphic Novels for Teens: From the American Library Association.
ipl2: Graphic Novels: History and basics, websites and webcomics, and more.
School Library Journal: Graphic Novels: Reviews of new and upcoming titles.

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.

Online Reading Communities

Authonomy: A community website for readers, writers, and publishers. Developed by HarperCollins. Registration required at Authonomy.com.
Good Reads: Friends, colleagues, and people worldwide sharing their reading interests, commenting on favorite works and authors, and joining groups of readers with similar literary tastes. Registration required at GoodReads.com.
LibraryThing: Readers can share their literary interests with others at this site. Registration required at LibraryThing.com.
RAVES!: Middletown Thrall Library's patrons, staff, and online visitors share reading recommendations and comment on works in the RAVES! database. No registration required.
Shelfari: Shelfari allows you to create a "virtual shelf" where you can display your favorite titles and authors. You can also browse other readers' shelves to discover new works. Registration required at Shelfari.com.

Publishing Industry

American Booksellers Association (ABA): The not for profit trade association representing independent booksellers. ABA'S Bookselling This Week contains industry news, features, and the Media Guide which lists books that have been reviewed in print or discussed on the radio or television this week.
Association of American University Presses: AAUP is a not for profit association of university presses. University presses often have access to the best ideas and research produced by the scholarly community.
The Children's Book Council: Non profit trade association of publishers and packagers of trade books for children and young adults.
Literary Market Place: Resource Directory for the domestic and international book publishing industry. You must register to use. Some features require a subscription fee.
Publisher's Weekly: The online version of the international news magazine of the publishing industry.

Major Publishers Online

Avalon
Avon Books
Baen
Ballantine
Bantam Dell
Bloomsbury
DAW
Ecco
Blackwell Publishers
Del Rey
Doubleday
Faber & Faber
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Grand Central Publishing
Harcourt
Harlequin
HarperCollins
Hatchette Book Group USA
Henry Holt and Company
Houghton Mifflin

Hyperion Books
Knopf
Library of America
Little, Brown and Company
Modern Library
Palgrave
Pantheon
Penguin Group
Random House
Scholastic
Simon & Schuster, Inc.
St. Martins
Tor
Viking
Vintage
W. W. Norton & Company
Wiley
William Morrow
Zondervan

Audiobooks

Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults: Provided by the Americal Library Association (ALA).
Audio Publishers Association (APA): Includes listings of the Audie Award winners. Membership directory includes links to the major audio book publishers.
Audiobooker: A Booklist Blog: Audiobook news, award winners, and lists of best audiobooks. "Mary Burkey, a teacher, librarian, and audiobook addict, writes about listening, learning, and the joy of headsets."
AudioFile: The Magazine for People Who Love Audiobooks: Reviews of audiobooks. Check out the Earphone Award winners. Includes profiles of audiobook narrators and AudioPolis (AudioFile's "top audiobook picks"). Some features require free registration.
Listen Up! Exceptional Audiobooks for Teens
SoundCommentary.com: Your Wise Guide to Audiobooks: Hundreds of reviews. Some features require free registration.

eBooks & eReading

eBook Providers (free)

Feedbooks: "On Feedbooks you'll discover thousands of public domain books and original books from new authors that you can read on any mobile device." Downloadable etexts are provided in a number of formats (EPUB, Mobipocket, Kindle, PDF, and more).
Google Books: Tip: the Use Advanced Search to locate public domain titles. Select "Full view" to locate books that can be viewed entirely online.
Literature - eBooks and Digital Editions
Project Gutenberg: Downloadbable eBooks/eTexts and eAudioBooks. Plain text, HTML, PDF and other editions of literary classics, historical works, nonfiction, and other titles.
Ramapo Catskill Library System: eBooks, eAudiobooks, eVideos: Available to members of Middletown Thrall Library or other libraries within RCLS.

eReaders

Amazon Kindle
Barnes and Noble Nook eReader
Mobipocket Reader
Sony Reader
Wikipedia: List of E-Book Readers: Note Wikipedia's disclaimers.

eReader Software

Adobe Digital Editions: Required for certain RCLS eBooks.
Amazon Kindle for PCs: For viewing books acquired through Amazon.com.
Adobe Reader: For viewing PDF formatted eBooks and documents.
Barnes and Noble eReader (PC/Mac): For viewing books acquired through Barnes and Noble.
Microsoft Reader
Stanza: iPhone and iPod Touch eBook reader app.
Wikipedia: Comparison of E-Book Formats: Note Wikipedia's disclaimers.

eBook News & Reviews

CNET: E-book Reader Reviews
Consumer Reports: e-Readers: Review of eReaders and related services.
Huffington Post: eBooks & eReader News
The New York Times: "Something to Read": A review of current and forthcoming eReaders (December 3, 2009).
PC World: E-Readers
ZDNet: E-book Readers - News and Reviews

Authors

Writers, Novelists, Dramatists, Essayists, Poets, and Storytellers

Authors Online: Past and present literary authors on the Internet. Directory from Middletown Thrall Library.
Book TV: Videos of interviews and speeches featuring "top nonfiction authors" and their books. Adobe Flash required to watch videos (http://www.adobe.com). From C-SPAN.
National Public Radio (NPR): Author Interviews: Audio (streaming + MP3 download) and text transcripts.
Open Books Radio: From Booklist editor Donna Seaman, this website offers exclusive author interviews and free downloadable audio files of select editions of Open Books. Adobe Flash is required (http://www.adobe.com).
The Paris Review: Interviews: Featuring poets and writers interviewed from the 1950s to present.
Powell's Books: Author Interviews: Contemporary writers interviewed by used books seller Powell's.
Reading Rockets: Video Interviews with Renowned Children's Book Authors and Illustrators: Adobe Flash required to watch videos (http://www.adobe.com).
Something about the Author: Biographical and bibliographical information on authors and illustrators of children's and young adult books.
Twayne's Authors: Information and literary criticism on approximately 600 authors. This database is available to members of Thrall.

Bookstores / Sales

Addall.com: This website for book shoppers allows you to check title availability and compare prices at all the major online booksellers.
Advanced Book Exchange: The "world's largest network of independent booksellers" features a database of 22 million listings of used and out-of-print books.
Alibris: Alibris allows you to shop from the inventories of thousands of used booksellers.
Amazon: Amazon features reviews from Booklist and Kirkus.
Barnes & Noble: The online version of Barnes & Noble has reviews from Library Journal and School Library Journal.
Bibliofind: Used and out of print book service with 20 million listings.
Book Sale Manager: Database of book sales and stores run by libraries, library friends groups and others organizations. May be searched by date, size, and location.
Bookfinder: Searches catalogs of used book dealers to give you access to 40 million books
Book Sense: BookSense.com is a family of independent booksellers websites. Locate independent book stores by zip code or city. Check out the Book Sense Picks, a monthly selection of eclectic new books chosen by independent booksellers. This is a great place to browse for new titles.

News

Book Reporter

News and other features about upcoming titles and their authors. Part of the Book Report Network, which also includes such sites as Author Yellow Pages, Teen Reads, and Reading Group Guides

National Public Radio (NPR): Book News and Author Interviews

The New York Times - select a news section:

Books
Book Trade
Manuscripts
Poetry and Poets
Reading and Writing Skills
Writing and Writers

Thrall Library: Current Events - Literary and Library News

Yahoo News: Books, Publishing News, and Authors

USA Today: Books

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

Please click here to view an alternate source of book-related news

Other Blogs for Booklovers

BlogCritics: Books

Commentary, criticism, and reviews of upcoming books.

"Booklist Blogs"

Audiobooker: A Booklist Blog - "Mary Burkey, a teacher, librarian, and audiobook addict, writes about listening, learning, and the joy of headsets."
Book Group Buzz: A Booklist Blog - "Book group tips, reading lists,and lively talk of literary news from the experts at Booklist Online."
Likely Stories: A Booklist Blog - "Keir Graff, Booklist Online's Senior Editor, writes candidly about books, book reviewing, and the publishing industry."

Bookslut

Reviews, commentary, and news for readers

BritLitBlogs

A combination of British literary blogs.

Hip Librarians Book Blog

"Hip Librarians review books they love. Or loathe."

Lit Mob - Readers Unite

Blogging books for the "discerning reader."

Literature Blogs

A select list of blogs focusing on classic and contemporary literature.

The Millions: A Blog About Books

Reviews, commentary, and news for readers.

New York Times: Papercuts, A Blog about Books

"Paper Cuts is a blog about books and other forms of printed matter, written by the editors of The Book Review."

New York Times: Reading Room

"Conversations about Great Books"

The New Yorker: The Book Bench

"Notes on books, publishing, and the literary life."

Omnibus

From the American Booksellers Association.

Omnivoracious

"Omnivoracious is a blog run by the books editors at Amazon.com. We aim to share our passion for the written word through news, reviews, interviews, and more. This is our space to talk books and publishing frankly and we welcome participation through comments.

One Minute Book Reviews

"One-Minute Book Reviews is an independent blog created by its editor-in-chief, Janice Harayda, an award-winning journalist and critic. It consists of brief reviews of new and classic fiction, nonfiction, and poetry for adults and children. The site does not generally cover literary news, trends or gossip. It is for people who like to read but dislike hype and review inflation."

Powells Books Blog

Reviews, commentary, and news for readers from Powells, a book vendor.

Publishers Weekly Blogs

A variety of blogs about publishers, writers, and books.

Reader's Advisor Online

Book reviews in a blog format. Said to be based on Libraries Unlimited's Genreflecting series of reader's advisory guides. See also their Reader's Advisor newsletter.

Readers Read

Publishing news and other literary updates.

Reading Rockets: Blogs about Reading (Sound It Out, Page by Page, The Reading Rockets Blogroll)

"Updated weekly, the following blogs from Reading Rockets offer insight into the best practices in reading instruction and using books effectively both inside and outside of the classroom."

The Writer's Almanac with Garrison Keillor

Featuring poems, prose, and literary history. Includes an archive (browse or search by title/author/date) and downloadable audio podcasts (MP3 format).

See also: Thrall's Booklover Blog

Monthly featured titles and other literary interests. Published by Middletown Thrall Library.