Ten Sites for Book Lovers
It’s time to contribute my own top ten list. Of course it’s related to books!
1. NY Times: what books are top sellers?
2. GoodReads: a community of like-minded bibliophiles where we share, compare, review, and discuss the books we read. I most appreciate the site for its book list feature. I have been able to track down books I’ve read since childhood. This has solved many of those “What was the name of that book?” questions. Another feature I use is to bring up similar lists of interests when I am shopping for another read.
3.Wikipedia : ssh, don’t tell my students, but I refer to Wikipedia to get background information on authors and their works. I often get behind the scenes info and author history that helps me better understand and appreciate what I am reading, plus there are external links to adaptations (gotta see the flick after reading the book).
4. Book Crossing: this site proves the saying, “If you love something you will let it go.” The concept is to register a book with the site and then attach the registration marker in a book. And then…leave it. The idea is someone will pick it up, go to the site, plug in the registration number, leave a few words about the book, and it’s hoped they will leave it for someone else. If you have ever come across the “Where’s George?” stamped on a dollar you have discovered the serendipty of the moment. Who else has read this book? What travels has it seen?
5. Shmoop : looking for summary, theme, symbolism, the why-should-I-care factor for reading your book? This is the site. Witty literary analysis provided by PhD students and other smarties, helps shed a flashlight on those hard to fathom passages.
6. Bookspot: what books have earned awards?
7. The Gutenberg Project: a digital library with over 42,000 full texts of public domain books.
8. Amazon: buy your book right here. I often rely on it as a means for finding authors and their books, and similar subjects.
9. Overbooked: Overbooked’s mission is to provide timely information about fiction (all genres) and readable nonfiction for ravenous and omnivorous readers (from the site).
10. Bibliomania: reading and study guides galore and then some
Other recommendations:
Ellyssa Kroski created a worthwhile list of her own: 10 Websites for Book Lovers
Laura DeLeon provides a list of free book reads: Web Reading
Saratoga Springs Library: Websites for Readers
Related articles
- Reading as I Write (krgreen.co.uk)
- The List Lover’s Guide to Jane Austen, by Joan Strasbaugh – A Review (austenprose.com)
- The most abandoned books on Goodreads [infographic] (mithrilwisdom.com)
Pam Webb 