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Love to Read: Finding Books & Book Clubs

This guide is designed for people who love to read, Whether it be a personal endeavor or with a reading group. This pathfinder focuses primarily on fiction, although many of the sources are also useful for individuals interested in nonfiction and other sources of reading for pleasure. Both print and web-based sources are included. Enjoy!

Comprehensive Book Sites | Book Site Directories | Online Books
Book Lists | Book Reviews | Book Clubs | Journaling Your Reading

Comprehensive Book Sites

The websites included in this section are those that incorporate several or all of the subjects within this pathfinder providing such coverage as Book Lists, Reviews, Clubs, and Links to other Book Related Sites.

BookReporter.com
http://www.bookreporter.com/
"The Book Report Network [provides] thoughtful book reviews, compelling features, in-depth author profiles and interviews, excerpts of the hottest new releases, literary games and contests, and more every week."

Book Magazine
http://www.bookmagazine.com/
Published by West Egg Communications LLC in New York City, Book Magazine is available in print at most large bookstores, circulated via your local library, and is found online with a good amount of its print content. "If books are important in your life, BOOK is the magazine for you. BOOK goes beyond book reviews to cover the whole world of books, from all angles. In BOOK, you'll read about authors at home and at work; publishing news, trends and issues; great bookstores; exciting literary locations; and technological developments affecting books. You'll find excerpts, essays and fiction by leading writers and new voices. And you'll get plenty of book reviews, too: more than 50 in every issue!"

The New York Times Book Section
http://www.nytimes.com/pages/books/index.html
The NY Times Book Section is one of the most famous Newspaper book sections in the US and beyond! It includes articles on Book News, Writers, Audio Books, Book Reviews, and the famous NY Times Bestseller Lists.

Book Browser.com
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/bookbrowser/Welcome.asp?/
Book Browser.com provides List of Lists, Online Discussion groups, and Resources. Sections include Online Books, Conferences, Organizations, Newsletters, Publishers, Reading Group Information, etc, etc, etc

iVillage.com Books
http://www.ivillage.com/books/
iVillage.com Books has many angles to reading delivered primarily via Online Book Clubs, Book Reviews, Book Excerpts, and Reading Guides. Subjects of material cover Authors, Mystery/Suspense, Seasonal, Relationships, Romance, Nonfiction, For Children, Sci Fi, Fantasy, and much more.

African American Literature Book Club
http://aalbc.com/
African American Literature Book Club "Our goal is to increase everyone's knowledge of the diversity of African American literature, facilitate the exchange of opinions, satisfy your on-line book buying needs and serve as a resource and vehicle of expression for aspiring and professional writers."

BookSpot.com
http://www.bookspot.com/
BookSpot.com offers Lists, Facts, News, Associations, and Discussion. "BookSpot.com is a free resource center that simplifies the search for the best book-related content on the Web. Featured sites are hand-selected by BookSpot.com editors and organized into intuitive categories, such as bestseller lists, genres, book reviews, electronic texts, book news and more."

Book Site Directories

There are several sites that have good directories specific to books and reading. Here are a few of them:

Rachel's Compendium of Online Book Discussion &Resources
http://www.his.com/~allegria/compend.html
Rachel's Compendium of Online Book Discussion &Resources is a great site for resources!

Readers Read Online Book Resources
http://www.readersread.com/booklinks/
Readers Read Online Book Resources has sections dedicated to Bestsellers, Author Directory, A-lists, Book Reviews, Resources by Genre and by Type.

Google's Awards &Bestsellers
http://directory.google.com/Top/Arts/Literature/Awards_and_Bestsellers/
Google's Awards &Bestsellers provides a nice list of book related links to use for beginning a search.

Yahoo! Groups Books &Writing
http://dir.groups.yahoo.com/dir/Entertainment___Arts/Humanities/Books_and_Writing/
Yahoo! Groups Books &Writing has several sub-categories on Books that will link to discussion groups on various book related topics.

Online Books

If you are interested in reading online, then the following links offer good selections of electronic books &poetry.

IPL Online Texts Collection
http://www.ipl.org/div/subject/browse/hum60.60.00/
Links to over 20,000 titles that can be searched or browsed by author, by title, or by Dewey Decimal Classification.

Bibliomania
http://www.bibliomania.com/bibliomania-static/index.html
Bibliomania is a site dedicated to free online literature.

Classic Bookshelf Electronic Library
http://www.classicbookshelf.com/library/
Classic Bookshelf Electronic Library provides links to electronic classics!

The Online Books Page
http://digital.library.upenn.edu/books/
The Online Books Page has 16000+ Listings and is sponsored by the University of Pennsylvania.

Great Books &Classics Online
http://www.grtbooks.com/
This site organizes e-books by chronology starting from as old as < 200BC all the way to the present in groups primarily by century.

Bartleby.com's Great Books Online
http://www.bartleby.com/
Bartleby.com's Great Books Online contains Reference books (Dictionaries, Encyclopedias, Atlas', Anatomy, Quotations, Thesaurus, Bible, etc), Classics, Fiction, Non-Fiction, and Poetry.

Classic Reader
http://www.classicreader.com/
"The collection currently contains 646 books and 905 short stories by 195 authors. New works are added to the collection on a regular basis, many at the suggestion of readers."

Book Lists

There is a lot of repetition found in the book lists online. Below are some basic book lists as well as some unique compilations that will surely offer some new reading and fill some gaps!

Internet Public Library's Book Lists &Awards Resources
http://www.ipl.org/div/subject/browse/hum60.50.00/
The IPL has its own compilation of Book Resources. Check them out!

Morton Grove Public Library's Fiction Book Lists
http://www.webrary.org/rs/FLbklistmenu.html
Morton Grove Public Library's Fiction Book Lists has one of the most unique list of Book Lists categorized by Genre, Character Types, Settings, Subjects, Authors, Audience, "Best of", and Miscellaneous.

BookTV.org's Bestseller lists
http://www.booktv.org/bestseller/
BookTV.org's Bestseller lists has links to the LA Times, San Fransisco Chronicle, USA Today, and Washington Post bestseller lists.

About.com's Contemporary Literature - Book Lists
http://contemporarylit.about.com/cs/literaryevents/
About.com's Contemporary Literature - Book Lists provides the standard "Top Books" lists as starting points.

BookMuse.com Prize Winner Lists
http://www.bookmuse.com/pages/resources/prizewinners.asp/
BookMuse.com Prize Winner Lists has links to all the book lists for popular prizes.

American Library Associations Booklists
http://www.ala.org/yalsa/booklists/
American Library Associations Booklists also provides the basic compilations.

Book Reviews

Many of the sites already listed above contain well organized book reviews. Here are a few more:

The New York Times Sunday Book Review
http://www.nytimes.com/pages/books/review/index.html
The New York Times Sunday Book Review is probably the most popular of book review providers. On the web site are archives from 1996, however only the last 7 days of material are free.

Boston Globe Book Reviews
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/living/books/
Boston Globe Book Reviews also has online content for reviews of popular books.

Book Clubs

If you love to read and love to talk about books that you've read, then maybe a Book Club is the forum for you! You can gather a group of friends or colleagues locally on a regular basis or join an established group online based on your interests. Here are some ideas for Starting a Group, Maintaining a Book Club with Tips and Discussion Ideas, and Finding Online Groups to join.

Starting a Book Club

Online

In Print

  • The Book group book : a thoughtful guide to forming and enjoying a stimulating book discussion group
    Edited by Ellen Slezak. Publisher Chicago, Ill. : Chicago Review Press, 1993.
  • The reading group handbook : everything you need to know to start your own book club
    By Rachel W. Jacobsohn Publisher New York : Hyperion, c1998
  • The reading group book : the complete guide to starting and sustaining a reading group
    By David Laskin and Holly Hughes. Publisher New York : Plume, c1995.

Book Club Tips

Discussion Sites: Ideas for your group

BookReporter.com's Reading Group Guides
http://www.readinggroupguides.com/
"Launched in May 2000, ReadingGroupGuides.com is the first website built especially for reading groups, providing them with all they need to make their book club experience better than ever." The guides are categorized by Women's Interest, National Bestsellers, Classics, Literary Fiction, Romance, Non-Fiction, Tips and exchange on book groups in general and what yours is doing now. Also includes links to Kidsreads.com http://www.kidsreads.com/, Teenreads.com http://www.teenreads.com/, and AuthorsontheWeb.com http://www.authorsontheweb.com/

Book Muse.com
http://www.bookmuse.com/
"Our goal at BookMuse is to enhance the joy and satisfaction that comes from reading, musing on, and discussing good books. To accomplish this, we offer book group members and avid readers of all ages materials, support, and guidance for the reading and discussion of books, all in a one-stop, comprehensive web site. We aim to choose books that are challenging and that benefit from thoughtful analysis and questioning, whether on one's own or in a discussion group. We also aim for a "voice" on the site that is literary in a lively, friendly way and that invites our readers' interaction with us and with each other." The muse notes are broken down into common categories: Literature, Mystery, Science Fiction, Biography &Memoir, Non Fiction, and Prize Winners. This site does require you to purchase a subscription for full use. (http://www.bookmuse.com/pages/notes/musenoteshome.asp)

Discussion Sites: Online Groups

New York Times Books Forum
http://www.nytimes.com/books/forums/
New York Times Books Forum is free, but sign on is required. Online Forums are found within a variety of subjects (British Literature, Myth &Ancient Literature, Contemporary Fiction, Science Fiction, Mysteries, African-American Literature, etc) including Feature Discussions, Author Discussions, and the monthly selected book Discussion.

Open Directory: Arts: Literature: Reading Groups List
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Literature/Reading_Groups/
The Open Directory Reading Groups List contains links to many reading groups online. It also provides links to reading groups of interest to specialized audiences.

Book Clubs: Online listing of book clubs by Subject
http://www.book-clubs.com/
Book Clubs are organized by Interest on this site.

Journaling Your Reading

It's always nice to peruse a list of books that you've read to review your own readings; to suggest books to others; and to chronicle your interests over time. Keep a journal of the books you've read and of the books you'd like to read. You can clip reviews, book lists, and keep track of suggestions from others all in one place!
This pathfinder created by Sena Roth

Updated on 26 Jan 2007
 
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