Looking for a good read? Exhausted your favorite author? Need something to stimulate your mind or lull you to sleep?

Then look no further. This page will help you find just what you want, whether it's an ageless classic, a sci fi adventure, the hottest bestseller or a hard-boiled detective novel. Enjoy!

Literary Awards   Genre Awards    Book Groups    Book Reviews 
    
  Research Authors    Booksellers    Reading Guides  Genre Guides  E-Books

* Items in RED are local resources.

Literary Awards

• Nobel Prize in Literature--The Big One.  The only qualification is being better than everyone else.
• Pulitzer Prize for Fiction--The most prestigious award for American writers, open to novels and general fiction.
• Pulitzer Prize for Non-fiction--The best scholarly books written in the United States.
• National Book Award--A highly regarded prize for the best book published the previous year.
• PEN/Faulkner Award--An award administered for writers by their peers in the literary world.

Genre Awards

• Hugo Awards--Science fiction and fantasy books, editors, film and television.
• Spur Awards--Western fiction, non-fiction and children's.
• Bram Stoker Awards--Horror fiction, poetry, non-fiction and young adult.

Book Group Guides

• African American Lit Book Club--Showcases African-American writers and books.
• BPL! Books for Book Clubs--Boise Public Library's new service for local book clubs.
• BPL's Online Book Club - No time to read? Sample the first 2-3 chapters of books via email...then contact the library if you want to finish reading the book.
• Reader's Circle - a free zip code-based directory for book clubs, reading groups, and literary salons of all kinds. Find or start your own local group!
• Reading Group Choices--Just what it sounds like: suggestions for reading.

Book Reviews

• First Chapters at the New York Times (read samples before you buy)
• Guardian Unlimited (Reviews and commentary with a British flavour)
• New York Times Book Reviews (requires free registration)
• Arts and Letters Daily (see book review site listings in the left hand column, part way down the page)

Research Authors & Titles

• Authors on the Web
• British and Irish Authors on the Web
• Gale Literary Index
• Literary Criticism (Internet Public Library)
• Study guides for classics & popular titles
  • BookRags.com
  • GradeSaver ClassicNotes
  • NovelGuide
  • SparkNotes

Booksellers

• Abebooks.com ( used)
• AddALL - book search & price comparison
• Alibris (used)
• AllBookstores.com 
• Amazon.com (new and used)
• Barnes and Noble (new and used)
• Bibliofind (used and rare)
• Bookfinder (used and rare)
• Borders (new)
• DirectTextBook (used college textbooks) 
• Powell's (new and used)

Reading Guides

• Novelist--a subscription database to help you find a good fiction read, complete with reviews and tools for finding read-a-likes.  Funded by the LiLI-D project. Use your BPL card to log in through this site.
• BookSpot--a massive site with tons of information.  Bestseller lists, genre divisions, reviews and places to buy books.
• Read the Same Book (Boise)--What if everyone read the same book?  Well, probably not everyone, but enough to make it fun.
• Oprah's Books--She picks some good ones.  Very popular books, usually with a somber tone or literary quality.
• Publishers Weekly Bestsellers--Divided into hardcover fiction and non-fiction; mass market and trade paperbacks; and other various categories.
• Reader's Club--An award winning book review site managed by librarians (Charlotte & Mecklenburg County PL)
• Morton Grove PL Websites for Book Lovers--A huge collection of links to sites of interest to readers all over the internet.
• Overbooked: Table of Contents--A literary and genre review site with links to authors' web pages and annotated lists.

Genre Guides

• AllReaders.com--General guide to several genres, searchable by plot, style, characters and setting.
• A Guide to Supernatural Fiction--Extensive bibliographies by author, with many images of dustjackets.
• Literary Gothic--Dedicated to literary scarishness and spooktastical fun.  Not intended for teenagers with long coats and a lot of eye makeup.
• The Mystery Reader--Reviews of all kinds of mystery subgenres, including thrillers and suspense novels.
• The Nautical Fiction List--For sailors at heart, hundreds of titles and some capsule reviews.
• The Romance Reader--Reviews of all kinds of romance novels.
• SF Site--Science Fiction review site.
• Thrilling Detective--Well, I'm not really sure what to think of this site....
• Violet Books--Victorian (and other) era adventure, fantasy, mystery, supernatural and westerns.

E Books - Read it Online

• Bartleby.com (Great Books Online)
• Literature Network
• BPL's Online Book Club
• Online Books 
• Project Gutenberg

Last Updated: 10/22/2009  grr/AS