While we at the Library are always happy to help you find your next great book, or even Your Next 5, the library also exists to help you get comfortable with research and resources! My absolute favorite library resource (I've been known to break it out at dinner parties) is NoveList Plus, a database of hundreds of thousands of titles, fiction and nonfiction, for readers of all ages. Using NoveList Plus can help you find amazing read-alikes for your favorites and identify what you like best when you read.
The homepage starts you off with a ton of already made and vetted lists to choose from on the left-hand side: are you looking for fiction or nonfiction? Adult, teen, or kids' books? Each category has genres to choose from, including Book Club Best Bets, Horror, and Classics. What's more, when you choose a genre, it offers subgenres to help you refine what you're really looking for.
There's a great short description of the book, a list of some of the most pertinent appeal factors (genre, themes, characters, storyline, etc.), and reviews from top literary review sources to provide additional context.
On the right, you get selected read-alikes, books that have commonalities with your searched title that may be your perfect next read. But unlike algorithmic recommendations from other sites, NoveList has actual human librarians provide reasons for why you might like one book based on another!
The real magic, though, is in the appeal factors. At the bottom of the page for each entry, you get dozens of characteristics to choose from. I might be more interested in "Literary fiction" with "Atmospheric tone" and "LGBTQIA characters" but another reader who loved Family Meal may care more about the "Houston, Texas" setting, "Death of lovers" subject, or any of the myriad other ways you can focus your search using the appeal factors.
After browsing through and selecting for what you want, you can create a whole new search based on those factors and receive a list of books that meet your criteria. I selected Literary fiction, atmospheric tone, and LGBTQIA characters and got a list of 64 books to browse.
Other ways to use NoveList Plus include searching their premade appeal mixers, for combos like "World-building and action-packed" or "Heartwarming and engaging." I also highly suggest searching a bunch of your favorite books, which may be across a bunch of different genres, and see if they have any appeal factors in common. For those of us who love reading, this database is a true treasure trove of knowledge just waiting for you to explore it. Happy reading!
-posted by Jane S.
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