Reader's Advisory: The Best Places to Find Great Books

Are you craving a great book but don’t know what to read next? Well, Tutt Library is here to help.

Our reader’s advisory page is loaded with links to sites that recommend books guaranteed to hit the spot. The lists cover the bases — from award winners, best sellers and books by ethnically-diverse writers to favorite genres like Sci-Fi, Mysteries and Humor — to name a few. We’ve also included search engines that snoop for books based on what appeals to your tastes, such as plot, character type, time period and location.

Tutt librarians and staff are happy to hear your thoughts about books, make suggestions based on your tastes and moods, and even share their personal favorites. As always, we want to help you find the perfect book — whether it’s for class or not! We also have frequently-updated displays of leisure reading and new books, and you can check out Bookends, a collection of reviews by the staff of Colorado College. Feel free to visit us at the the Tutt Reference Desk, call us at 389-6662, or send us an email.

Tutt is a member of BookBrowse, a really nifty reader-oriented database that has reviews, “if you liked this book, try these ones next” suggestions, themed lists (e.g. Coming of Age, On the High Seas, 18th Century, etc.), and a book finder genre-mash-up tool. You can also subscribe to ezines which highlight the site’s newest additions. Definitely worth a visit, especially for fans of literary novels, historical fiction, memoirs, and narrative nonfiction. Off campus or on, just go to http://www.bookbrowse.com/tutt!

Appeal-Based Search Engines
Ready to sit back and let your fingers do the walking? Tell these search engines which books you’ve liked (or disliked!), and they’ll make “educated” guesses about what you should try next. While not always reliable, they’re definitely fun!

Megasites for Recommended Reading
Forget Listmania. These one-stop “mega” malls of reading resources dole out everything from forthcoming books and tag clouds to indy blogs and online book clubs.

Award Winners and Best Sellers
Curious about what the experts consider to be the cream of the crop or what’s flying off the shelves? Check out these lists for the latest scoop.

Genres and Specific Interests
If you know what you like to read and want more of the same, or you’re ready to plunge into something new but don’t know where to start, you’ll find plenty of leads at these sites.

Megasites for Recommended Reading
Ann Arbor Public Library
Book Browse
Kent District Library database for finding books in a series
Library Thing
Montgomery County Library Reader’s Café
Morton Grove Public Library
NoveList
Over Booked
Powell’s Books: Staff Picks
Read Me
Reader’s Advisory Link Farm
Reader’s Advisory Sites in Academic Libraries
Skokie Public Library highly recommended for great, well-organized lists!

Award Winners and Best Sellers
Agatha Awards traditional mysteries
Best Books for Young Adults American Library Association
Bram Stoker Awards horror
Cader Books historical lists from 1900 through the 1990s
Costa Awards writers from the UK and Ireland
Edgar Awards mysteries
Hugo Awards science fiction and fantasy
Lambda Literary Awards gay, lesbian and transgender
Man Booker Prize
National Book Awards
Nebula Awards science fiction
New York Public Library current best sellers
Notable Books American Library Association
Pulitzer Prize
RITA Awards romances
Sidewise Awards alternate history
Spur Awards
The New York Times
Tiptree Award science fiction
USA Today current week’s best sellers; searchable back to 1993
World Fantasy Convention Awards

Genres and Specific Interests
Adventure Fiction
African-American Authors
Animal Stories
Cult Fiction
Fantasy
First Chapters: Sneek Peak
Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender
Geographic Location
Graphic Novels
Historical Fiction
Horror
Humor & Satire
International Authors
Latino Authors
Made into TV/Movies
Memoir
Mystery & Thrillers
Romance & Love
Science Fiction
Short Story & Essay
Travel & Adventure
True Crime
War
Westerns
Women Writers
Young Adult

Adventure Fiction
Library Book Lists military, naval espionage
LibraryThing
Lincoln City Library classic naval fiction
LitLists: Michael Chabon’s 12 Favorite Works of Adventure Fiction
Mesa Public Library
Oshawa Public Libraries

African-American Authors
African-American Detectives Wakefield Public Library 
African American Expressions Baltimore County Public Library 
African American Literature Book Club
African-American Writers: A Celebration
Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County: African American fiction writers

Animal Stories
Animal Lovers’ Mysteries Morton Grove Public Library
If You Liked Marley and Me from Lincoln City Libraries
Library Booklists over 200 fiction titles featuring animals and pets
Multnomah County Library fiction and nonfiction selections

Cult Fiction
50 Best Cult Books
Classic Cult Fiction Art and Popular Culture Website
Cult Fiction Auckland City Libraries
Cult Fiction Nashville Public Library
DownLowFiction.com
Monroe County Public Library
Objectivism Reference Center includes a list of cult classic titles

Fantasy
Book Browse
Fantastic Fiction
Green Man Review

First Chapters: Sneak Peeks
CNN
Denver Post
Guardian
Penguin Tasters
ReadersRead.com
USA Today
Washington Post

Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender
Chicago Public Library
Encyclopedia of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Culture
InsightOut.com
GLBT Literature
LAMBDA Awards
Multnomah County Library
Tompkins County Public Library young adult fiction

Geographic Locations 
Armchair Adventure
Bibliotravel
Literary Guide to the World
World of Books

Graphic Novels
Graphic Books Best Sellers List
No Flying, No Tights
Read Yourself Raw
TIME Magazine’s All-TIME Graphic Novels
YALSA links to great graphic novels for teens

Historical Fiction 
Book Browse
Historical Fiction Network
HistoricalNovels.Info

Horror 
Horror Writer’s Association – Horror Reading List
Monster Librarian: Horror
Stoker Nominees and Winners 
The Vampire Library

Humor & Satire
Book Browse
GoodReads

International Authors
RedHotCurry.com

Latino Authors
America Reads Spanish
Librarian’s 500 Top Picks: The Core Spanish Collection
MostlyFiction.com
Pura Belpre Award Winners

Made into TV/Movies 
Based on the Book Mid-Continent Public Library
BookReporter.com
Christ Church City Library
Edmonton Public Library
Oxford Public Library
Stephen King Stories Made into Movies

Memoir
Book Browse

Mystery and Thrillers
Book Browse
Stop, You’re Killing Me!

Romance & Love
Book Browse

Science Fiction
Book Browse
Center for the Study of Science Fiction
Feminist SF/F & Utopian Literature: A Selective Checklist
Internet Speculative Fiction Database
Internet Top 100 SF/Fantasy List
i09.com blog about all things Science Fiction
GoodReads: Phobos’ 100 Best Science Fiction Books
Science-Fiction and Fantasy World
Uchronia: The Alternate History List

Short Story & Essay
Book Browse

Travel & Adventure
Book Browse
National Geographic Adventure’s 100 Best Adventure Books of All Time

True Crime
Book Browse

War 
Guide to Civil War Novels
Historical Fiction: Civil War Palm Beach County Library 
Historical Fiction: The Civil War Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh
Overbooked

Westerns 
The West and the Frontier in American Culture
Best of the West
Official Louis L’Amour Website
Readwest.com
Spur Award Winners from the Western Writers of America, Inc.
Western Authors
Willa Awards from Women Writing the West

Women Writers
Feminista!'s 100 Great 20th Century Works of Fiction by Women from Lists of Bests

Young Adult 
Best Books for Young Adults American Library Association
Reading Rants! Out of the Ordinary Teen Booklists