What’s a good book to read Miss?

Recently I was asked to write a guest blog post for Bright Ideas, the blog of the School Library Association of Victoria focusing on tools that encourage reading in schools.  Largely, this post was a compilation of a number of tools I’ve previously highlighted on this blog.  Published just recently in two parts on Bright Ideas, I thought that readers of BevsBookBlog may be interseted to read this post in full.  Here it is.

Discovering the joys of the Blogosphere about 18 months ago, it didn’t take me long before I discovered that I really had heaps that I too wanted to share with others.  So nearly a year ago, I launched my second blog – BevsBookBlog – in which I aim to share all kinds of bits and pieces about young adult literature, reading, bookshops, writing competitions and of course great websites which I happen upon and think will be of interest to others.

Among those literature related websites I’ve come across lately are a host which would be fun to promote in our school libraries.  Not only do students get a kick out of exploring these sites, but along the way, they can be enticed and inspired to read.

How many times for example have you been asked for a good book recommendation?   I don’t know about you, but often times, I go blank and quickly dive for the nearest computer so that I can trawl through my lengthy book log – the one I started many years ago – to jog my memory of books I’ve read.

But nowadays I find I can respond to that request in a much more exciting way.   There’s a plethora of sites out there that are fun, colourful, appealing and current.

One that immediately springs to mind is BookFlavor which greets you with an array of book covers – lots and lots of them – just waiting to be browsed and explored.  By selecting a book cover, you will be taken to not only a summary, but also a host of reviews of the book – some of which are taken directly from GoodReads.  Know the name of a book?  Type it in and see what appears!   It’s amazing to see the range and number of book covers for the same title.  Don’t find anything enticing?  Just keep pulling the scroll bar down.  The more you scroll down, the more book covers load!!  BookFlavor allows  you to search not only by title and author, but also by genre – science fiction, fantasy, horror, thriller – you name it they are all there.   Try adding in the search term Young Adult ahead of the genre.   You’ll be pleasantly surprised!

If you’re looking for something less flashy though, you may want to try the Any new books? website.  Simply register your email address, select from an extensive list of genres that interest you and enjoy receiving a list of new book titles emailed to you on a weekly basis.  How cool is that?!

Or how about this one: What should I read next?  Start typing the title or the author of a book you like and select the link that comes up to see heaps of suggested titles to read next.  By selecting the little book icon next to the book title, the screen flips to Amazon where it’s possible to read reviews of the book prior to purchasing or searching for the book in your favourite library.

Maybe locking into a Social Networking site such as You are what you read! would be enticing.  Find out what others are reading – celebrities, authors, educators or librarians – by creating and sharing a ‘bookprint’ based on your five favourite books.  See which books have been listed and liked the most.  Search by book titles or people’s names and see others who have similar reading interests as the reader you are browsing.   Alternately select a book cover to read more about it and then identify it as one of your favourites.

I also came across whichbook – another tool which allows you to find that elusive next book to read.  Have fun playing with descriptors which help narrow down a book that fits with your taste or mood.  Select descriptors such as ‘happy or sad’, ‘funny or serious’, ‘easy or demanding’ , ‘optimistic or bleak’ and then move the indicator tab to reflect how happy or sad you want the book to be, select GO and voila, book recommendations flow onto the screen!  Not interested in creating your own book list?  No worries! Just select anyone of the catchy categories such as ‘Slapstick’, ‘Short and sweet’, ‘Laugh your pants off’, ‘Weird and wonderful’ to see prepared recommendation lists.  You’re bound to find something that tickles your fancy!

Literature Map is also another cool way to help put your hands on a next good read.  To use, just type in the name of an author you enjoy reading and then watch a bunch of author names spiral onto the screen.  The closer the names, the moe similar the writers.  It’s a great way to prod the memory for ‘like’ authors. And don’t be shy – add authors not already in the database so that the many quality Australian authors get recognized on this great website.

Use these and other websites now available to entertain, impress, excite and entice students about the wealth of literature that is just waiting to be read.  Answer students’ requests by not only recommending a good book that you’re pretty sure they’ll like, but by teaching them how to use these sites to find the next good book for themselves!  After all, isn’t that what it’s all about?

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