A Selection of  Our Patron and Staff Picks!

These are some of the good books we recommend!

Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie  (We have the movie too!)                                    The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler

The Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde                                                                                                      Julio and Romeo by Jeanne Ray

Blessings by Anna Quinlan                                                                                                                     The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

Charms for the Easy Life by Kaye Gibbons                                                                                            Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld

The Coffee Trader by David Liss                                                                                                            Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night by Mark Haddon                                                                Rise to Rebellion by Jeff Shaara

Defend and Betray by Anne Perry                                                                                                           The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

E=MC2 by David Bodanis                                                                                                                      Tonight I Said Goodbye by Michael Koryta

Evening by Susan Minot                                                                                                                          The Way of the Traitor by Laura Joh Rowland

Ghost Soldiers by Hampton Sides                                                                                                            The Widow of the South by Robert Hicks

The Grand Complication by Allen Kurzweil                                                                                               Venus in Copper by Lindsey Davis

I Am Madame X by Gioia Dilberto                                                                                                            Zorro by Isabel Allende

RESOURCES FOR BOOK LOVERS!

Authors on the Web
http://www.authorsontheweb.com

This site will be helpful to those who are curious about contemporary authors. Information on upcoming author events, a very interesting news and features area, and book news (articles from various papers, including the NYT) are among the offerings on this site. From BookReporter.com (see below).

 

About.Com: Contemporary Literature
http://contemporarylit.about.com/cs/bookclubs/

A regrettably short list of book club links, but check out the lists on the left-hand side for additional resources.

 

The Book Group List
http://www.bookgrouplist.com/index.html

This is an on-line Book Group which discusses books using Yahoo Groups discussion boards. Books are selected by members and cover a wide range of topics and genres.

 

Book Discussion Guides
http://www.randomhouse.com/library/rgg.html

Random House provides links to reading guides for books published by several of their divisions.

 

Bookwire: Reading Groups
http://www.bookwire.com/index/reading-groups.html

There are dozens of links to online book discussion groups or forums, including one for specific authors, publishers' forums, children's books, and special interest groups. From Bowker.

 

Fiction_L listserv
http://www.webrary.org/rs/FLmenu.html

Fiction_L is an electronic mailing list devoted to reader's advisory topics such as book discussions, booktalks, booklists and bibliographies, and a wide variety of other topics of interest to librarians, book discussion leaders, and others with an interest in reader's advisory. Although developed with librarians in mind, all book lovers are invited to participate. for those not interested in joining the listserv, bibliographies of topics discussed on the list are compiled and made available from this page.

 

Internet Public Library Literary Criticism Collection Main Page
http://www.ipl.org/div/litcrit/

Contains over 2500 critical and biographical websites about authors and their works. Searchable by author, title, or nationality and literary period. Works from a variety of world literature are available.

 

Oprah's Book Club
http://www.oprah.com/books/books_landing.jhtml

Read about Oprah's most recent pick, previous picks, how to get on Oprah's Book Club shows, and find recipes, authors' biographies and picks.

 

Random House Reading Group Resources
http://www.randomhouse.com/reader_resources/browseauthor/

This link allows you to browse through a list of Random House-published authors for book discussion titles and questions. (Searches by author and genre are also possible.)

 

Reading Group Choices
http://www.readinggroupchoices.com/

Includes a "What's New" section, how to start a book discussion group, and tips for group leaders. An author/title search page gives publisher and contact information. A small percentage of the books on this page are linked to possible discussion group questions.

 


Reading Group Guides
http://www.readinggroupguides.com/findaguide/index.asp

Over 600 books are indexed here. Categories include biographies, war, Oprah books, Jewish/women/African American interest, mysteries, romance, and classics. Each book has approximately ten accompanying questions. A children's section is under development. The site is sponsored by Bookreport.com.

 

Reading Guides (Simon and Schuster)
http://www.simonsays.com/Sections/Areas.cfm?AreaID=4"

Presents discussion guides for Simon and Schuster authors, including Barbara Delinsky ("Lake News"), Clive Cussler, Judith McNaught, and Frank McCourt. Author tour information and a list of upcoming releases are also available.

 

Reading with Ripa
http://tvplex.go.com/buenavista/livewithregis/bookclub/index.html

Kelly Ripa's book club is just for fun, as this Ripa Rule indicates: "Said book shall haveth no message, what-so-ever. It shalleth be fun, frivolous, fast and fiction. Any hint of life affirming message will automatically lead to dismissal and disqualification from Book Club."

 

Book Browser: Guide for Avid Readers
http://www.bookbrowser.com/

Fiction reading lists, book reviews, author information, and much more. The Reading Lists section includes Series and Sequels in "story" order, with some titles linked to reviews. Other sections: "If You Like...Try", fiction by place and time periods, "Best Of...", and Mysteries By Region. Includes over 2,200 reviews, with at least fifteen added each week.

 

Book Reporter
http://www.bookreporter.com/

This site has book reviews, book features, in-depth author profiles and interviews, excerpts of the hottest new releases, literary games and contests, and more. It links with Book Spot (see below).

 

Book Spot
http://www.bookspot.com

Prepare to spend lose track of time on this site! It contains reviews, features, author information, "word of mouth" reviews from readers, a message board, chat, contests, trivia, and links to several other book-related web sites (such as TeenReads.com, KidsReads.com, ReadingGroupGuides.com, and AuthorsontheWeb.com).

 

Chapter One
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/books/chapterone.htm

Provides over 130 first chapters from popular fiction and non-fiction. You can also search these chapter selections by title, author, or even word in the text. Reviews and best-seller lists are also available. Browse through the Post's book review section at this URL: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/style/books/.

 

The Modern Library 100 Best Poll
http://www.randomhouse.com/modernlibrary/100bestnovels.html

The Modern Library Board has selected what it considers to be the best novels published in the English language since 1900

 

MGPL Webrary® - Booklist Menu
http://www.webrary.org/rs/FLbklistmenu.html

Extensive collection of booklists collected by members of the Fiction-L listserv. Nearly every topic you could wish for is represented.

 

New York Times: Books
http://www.nytimes.com/books/

Over 50,000 reviews since 1980. Users must be registered, but registration is free. Includes bestsellers lists, first chapters, and book forums.

 

Overbooked
http://www.overbooked.org

Overbooked is a non profit volunteer project and a by-product of the work of the Chesterfield County (VA) Public Library's Collection Management department and, in particular, Ann Chambers Theis. It contains themed booklists, news of new books, links to author web sites, and more. A variety of genres and authors is represented.

 

Publisher's Weekly
http://publishersweekly.reviewsnews.com/index.asp?publication=publishersweekly

News, features, and book reviews. Find out what's soon to be published, read author interviews, and in general get the jump on what's new in the literary world.

 

Teen Reads
http://www.teenreads.com/

Trying to find a good book to buy for the teenager in your life (or yourself!)? This site not only talks about the latest "cool new books", but lets teens share their opinions on such topics as "the author I'd beat a path to the bookstore for", "a book I wouldn't mind doing a book report on", and "book I'd bring to a desert island with me". It also features interviews with dozens of authors.

 

Mystery Writers of America: Edgar Awards
hhttp://www.mysterywriters.org/pages/awards/index.htm

The Edgar Allan Poe Awards^(sm) (the "Edgars^(sm)") are named after MWA's patron saint, Edgar Allan Poe, and are awarded to authors of distinguished work in various categories of the genre. To browse for past winners, try their searchable database.

 

National Book Awards
http://www.nationalbook.org/nbawinners.html

The National Book Awards, administered by the National Book Foundation, are considered one of the most prestigious literary honors, rivaled only by the Pulitzer Prizes. They are given in Adult Fiction and Nonfiction, Poetry, and Young People's Literature. This site lists the winners since the award's inception in 1950.

 

American Library Association Awards (Newbery and Caldecott Medals)
http://www.ala.org/Template.cfm?Section=Book_Media_Awards&Template=/TaggedPage/TaggedPageDisplay.cfm&TPLID=18&ContentID=18325

Links to the most important awards for children's book writing and illustration. These include the Newbery and Caldecott Awards, the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award, the Beaupre, and Batchelder Awards, the Coretta Scott King Award (recipients are authors and illustrators of African descent whose distinguished books promote an understanding and appreciation of the "American Dream."), the Michael L. Printz Award (exemplifies literary excellence in young adult literature), and the Alex Award (adult books of interest to teens). Also included are lists of best videos, DVD's, and notable books.

 

The Nobel Prize for Literature
http://nobelprize.org/literature/laureates/

Lists the winners of the Nobel Prize for literature from 1901-present.

 

The Pulitzer Prizes
http://www.pulitzer.org/navigation/index.html

Lists the winners of the Pulitzer Prize in each field since 1917. Searchable by year, category, author, or explanatory text. The archive of winners from 1995 on includes the text of the winning articles, as well as editorial cartoons, photos, and music clips.

Alex Catalogue of Electronic Texts
http://www.infomotions.com/alex

The Alex Catalogue of Electronic texts is a collection of digital documents collected in the areas of English and American literature and Western philosophy. Fully searchable by author, title, or word. Word searches can be done across an author's body of (online) work.

 

Bartleby.Com
http://www.bartleby.com/

Great Books online. Find complete texts of such authors as Edgar Lee Masters, Agatha Christie, W.E.B. Du Bois, T.S. Eliot, Sinclair Lewis, Keats, and Emily Post. This site also provides access to Roget's Thesaurus, Gray's Anatomy, Strunk's Elements of Style, Columbia Encyclopedia, several quotations sources, and several other excellent research and reference tools.

 

The Internet Classics Archive
http://classics.mit.edu/index.html

441 searchable works of classical literature, primarily Greek and Roman. Some Persian and Chinese texts are included. Search by work and author, as well as the entire archive. Sponsored by MIT.

 

The On-line Books Page
http://digital.library.upenn.edu/books/

Over 18,000 books are available. The database is searchable by author, title, or a combination of both. This site also has links to online Banned Books and a list of books being prepared or requested for online availability.

 

Project Gutenberg
http://www.gutenberg.net/

Fine classic literature digitally re-published. Full-text literary works online to read and search. Books available are free of copyright restrictions, which means that the collection consists mainly of books written prior to 1923.

 

ALibris.com
http://www.alibris.com/

This site indexes over 30,000,000 used, new and hard-to-find titles. Targeted to both consumers and libraries.

 

Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/books/

Search over 1 million titles; booklists in over twenty categories. The site also provides reviews, author interviews, and customer reviews. The new main page of this site provides links to searching books, music, electronics, toys and games, and videos. While Barnes and Noble sometimes provides more reviews, there seem to be more customer responses on Amazon. Amazon.com has English and German counterparts, and books may be ordered from either.

 

Barnes and Noble
http://www.bn.com

Titles from Barnes and Noble's enormous database, including books, magazines, and software. One of the few bookstores that sells college textbooks. This site also includes author interviews, best seller lists, out-of-print searches, journal reviews, and customer reviews. While Barnes and Noble sometimes provides more reviews, there seem to be more customer responses on Amazon. Visually busy, with some prominent ads. This site can be slow to access.

 

Bibliofind
http://www.bibliofind.com/

The largest bookselling site on the Web: nearly five million old, used, and rare books offered for sale by over 1600 booksellers around the world. (Bibliofind has now combined with Amazon.com.)

 

Book Sale Finder
http://www.booksalefinder.com/

Lists book sales around the country. Many of these are library-related sales, but others are sales (including moving and going-out-of-business sales) run by book stores.

 

MX BookFinder
http://www.bookfinder.com/

An online bookstore search for new & old books. Searches run in realtime on the collections of the top book vendors & sites online, including Powells, Bibliofind, Amazon.com, and Bibliocity

Home

Special thanks to Karen Pollach of the Multnomah County Library.