#52 - Book Readers and Beyond -What to Read

One of the reasons I became a librarian was my lifelong love of books. I love the way new books smell, I love being able to carry them with me whether I’m on the beach, in the mountains or my back yard. If I have a book I am immediately transported to wherever the character in my book is. On top of all of that is the pleasure I get when I help someone find a new book, series or help them with material for their research paper when they had given up hope of finding anything.

After looking at the eight websites I have to admit that I prefer Novelist Plus and Fiction_L Booklists over the others.

#1 For Read Alikes -Using Novelist and the author Agatha Christie I found John Dickson Carr’s Gideon Fell Stories, Margery Allinghams’ Albert Campion Series, M.C. Beatons’s “Agatha Raisin Series, Carolyn Hart’s Henrie O. Series, and Michael Piearce’s Mamur Zapt Series. In my opinion this one provided the best resources.

When I used Fiction-L I went to Genre listings-Cosy mysteries and found Agatha Christie along with many other authors of the same genre but without links to titles or series. I did not see a way to search by specific author or title you had to go with what they offered. It seemed very limited in what I could do in my searching.


Using “What Should I Read Next” I found that it requires a title before you can search and lists read alike titles without an author listing. The link to Amazon is nice since you can read the reviews before deciding whether or not to look for the title.

#2a Find two books suitable for a fourth grade girl interested in animals:
Using Novelist Plus and Advanced Search I found “Newbery Zoo: A Dozen Stories By Award Winning Authors” with a reading level of ‘older kids’ and “Tough Beginnings How Baby Animals Survive” by Marilyn Singer with a reading level of older kids.

#2b Find two ghost stories for a 14 year old boy: Using Novelist Plus I found “Ghost Hunt” volume 1 by Fuyumi Ono reading level – teen and “Island of Ghosts” by Ellis Dillon for grades 5-8.

3. Find Dean Koonz Read a-likes:

Using Novelist Plus
Greg Bear- ‘Darwin’s Bear’
Dan Simmons – ‘Summer of Night’
John Saul – ‘Manhattan Hunt Club’

Using What Should I Read Next?
Stuart Woods - Heat
Carol Saunders - The Grim Shadow: A Modern-Day Fable
Madeleine Brent- The Long Masquerade

#4. Series For title Alanna - Using NoveList Plus
#1 Alanna: The First Adventure
#2 Hand of the Goddess
#3 Woman Who Rides Like A Man
#4 Lioness Rampant