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Books / Literature

Audio books and e-books
Awards
Best sellers
Book groups
Classics and other great books
Everybody Reads projects

Genre fiction
Online book-sellers
Online texts
Poetry
Readers advisory
Reviews

Databases

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BookFlix BookFlix

Book Review Digest

Books in Print

Essay And General Literature Index

Granger's World of Poetry

Humanities Abstracts

Library2Go

Remote access only

Literature Resource Center

MasterplotsMasterplots

New York Times (1999-present)

New York Times Historical (1851-2007)

New York Times Ondisc (1994-June 2002)New York Times Ondisc (1994-June 2002)

NoveList Plus

Oxford English Dictionary

Papersfirst

ProceedingsFirst

Readers' Guide Retrospective

Short Story Index

TumbleBook Library

WorldCat (via your Interlibrary Loan account)

Audio books and e-books

Audio Publishers Association: http://www.audiopub.org/

Read the latest news from the voice of the audio book industry. The APA sponsors the annual Audies awards, the "Oscars" of audio book publishing.
AudioBooksForFree: http://www.audiobooksforfree.com/

This unorthodox UK-based website offers a wide variety of MP3, iPOD and DVD audio books — adventure, detective, horror, classics, childrens, nonfiction — to download and enjoy.
Audiobooks.org: http://www.audiobooks.org/

Listen to free samples of recent audio books, find the Top 10 audio books from Amazon, iTunes and Audible, or browse the extensive list of links to e-book and open-source websites, publishers and sellers.
Audiofile Magazine: http://www.audiofilemagazine.com/gateway/login.cfm

The latest issue of the magazine for people who love audio books is available online. Find new releases, best audio books of the year, featured authors and narrators. Get a free one-day pass to use the full-text review archive.
Internet Archive: http://www.archive.org/details/audio

The IA audio collection includes music, audio books, news broadcasts, old time radio shows and a wide variety of other audio files in the public domain or licensed for redistribution.
Learn Out Loud: http://www.learnoutloud.com/

This catalog of online educational resources includes a directory that features free audio books, lectures, speeches, sermons, interviews and other free audio and video resources.
Library2Go: http://library2go.lib.overdrive.com/A939E114-C0C6-4D83-A77A-54DD11DB1248/10/323/en/Default.htm

Download audio books for your PC or MP3 player and videos for your PC from Library2Go, a service provided by Multnomah County Library and the Oregon Digital Library Consortium.
LibriVox: http://librivox.org/

At LibriVox, volunteers record chapters of books in the public domain into digital audio and then make the audio files available for free.
Manybooks.net: http://manybooks.net/

Browse audio books by title, author and language, and read reviews and recommendations for over 21,000 free e-books for your PDA, iPod or e-book reader.
Openculture: http://www.oculture.com/

Open Culture selects the best cultural and educational media (podcasts, videos, online courses) freely available on the web and centralizes it in one place.
Talking Book and Braille Services: http://www.oregon.gov/OSL/TBABS/

Talking Book and Braille Services (TBABS) is a free service that provides books on tape and cassette machines to print-disabled Oregonians. TBABS also offers Unabridged, a service that enables patrons to check out and download digital spoken-word audio books directly to their computers. Registration required to use the service.
Wired for Books: http://www.wiredforbooks.org/

This award-winning interactive book discussion site featuring essays, lectures, online books, RealAudio programs, spoken poetry and other literary endeavors is hosted by the WOUB Center for Public Media at Ohio University.

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Awards

Amazon.com Book Awards: http://www.amazon.com/Awards-Books/b/ref=amb_link_1715572_4/105-9944697-5908435?ie=UTF8&node=542942

Literary awards, from Pulitzer to picture books, Nobel to Nebula, and sample pages of many titles for browsing.
International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award: http://www.impacdublinaward.ie

The largest international prize of its kind and open to books written in any language. Books are nominated by selected libraries from all over the world, including Multnomah County Library.
Literary Arts: http://www.literary-arts.org/awards/?PHPSESSID=76574211f98515357500e2db24923440

Presents the annual Oregon Book Awards for the finest accomplishments by Oregon writers.

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Best sellers

Bestseller Lists 1900-1995: http://www.caderbooks.com/bestintro.html

Cader Books compiled this archive of fiction bestsellers that appeared in Publishers Weekly. Search by decade, then by year.
Bookspot: http://www.bookspot.com/bestsellers.htm

Links to over a dozen bestseller lists, including USA Today, Audio BookWorld, and the Bestseller Almanac of fiction and nonfiction from 1900-1998.
Locus: http://www.locusmag.com/2008/Issue06_LocusBestsellers.html

The magazine of the science fiction and fantasy field publishes a monthly list of best-selling books.
Mystery Book Bestsellers: http://bestsellers.omnimystery.com/

The weekly list of best-selling hardcover mysteries, compiled by the editors of the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, is prepared with data taken from both national and independent book-sellers.
New York Times Best Sellers: http://www.nytimes.com/books/yr/mo/day/bsp/index.html

Compilation based on weekly sales surveys of major booksellers. Titles are linked to Times reviews and users can link to the print version of the New York Times Book Review and sign up for a free subscription to access the list. Weekly fiction and nonfiction lists back to 1970 are available from Hawes Publications.
Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association: http://www.pnba.org/bestsellershome.htm

A weekly list of the best-selling books in the independent bookstores of Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana.
Publishers Weekly: http://www.publishersweekly.com/

An international news magazine of book publishing and book-selling that contains author interviews as well as early reviews of books for all ages.
Romance Writers of America: http://www.rwanational.org/cs/bestselling_romances

RWA tracks the members who hit the best-seller lists and keeps a record of back lists.
USA Today: http://content.usatoday.com/life/books/booksdatabase/default.aspx?sortBy=&lastValue=0&date=latest

USA Today's weekly list of the top 150 best sellers is based on a computer analysis of retail sales from about 4,700 independent, chain, discount and online book-sellers nationwide.
The Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/artsandliving/books/bestsellers-list/

Browse the weekly list of Washington area best-selling fiction and nonfiction, hardcover and paperback titles.

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Book groups

Creating a Great Book Group: http://www.multcolib.org/guides/bookgroup/index.html

Designed by Multnomah County librarians to provide step by step information on forming and tending a book group and tips on how to best use library resources to enhance your group.
Friends of Mystery Reading Group: http://www.friendsofmystery.org/reader.htm

The Friends of Mystery Reading Group meets on the third Wednesday of every month at 7:00 pm at Murder By The Book, 3210 SE Hawthorne in Portland. Anyone interested in participating is invited to attend.
Online Book Clubs: http://www.supportlibrary.com/su/su.cfm?x=148996

Join an online book club in one or more of several topic areas.
Pageturners: http://www.multcolib.org/books/groups/

Join a book group at your library. View the current booklists and calendar; find resources for your group. Pageturners meet monthly at most libraries.
Reader's Circle: http://www.readerscircle.org/index.html

An online directory of book clubs and reading groups. Enter a zip code to search for a group.
Reading Group Choices: http://www.readinggroupchoices.com

Book discussion group guides, new books for discussion, tips for starting a book group and expert advice on running a successful book group.
ReadingGroupGuides.com: http://www.readinggroupguides.com/

Search hundreds of publishers' discussion guides by author, title and category. Includes author interviews, short biographies and ideas for book groups.

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Classics and Other Great Books

American Library Association's Outstanding Books for the College-Bound: http://www.ala.org/ala/yalsa/booklistsawards/outstandingbooks/outstandingbooks.cfm

The 2004 lists cover history, humanities, science and technology, literature and language arts, and social sciences. Readers can nominate a title for the 2009 list.
Boston Public Library's 101 Most Influential Books of the Century: http://www.bpl.org/research/AdultBooklists/influential.htm

Boston Public Library's list, created in 2000, includes fiction, nonfiction and popular classics.
British Library's Online Great Books Gallery: http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/ttp/ttpbooks.html

Leaf through this online gallery of rare and antique volumes from the British Library. View detailed, magnified multimedia reproductions of Jane Austen's manuscripts, Lewis Carroll's illustrations for the original Alice in Wonderland, sketches by Leonardo and other book treasures. Listen to historic voices and music from the Sound Archive.
College Board's 101 Great Books for College-Bound Readers: http://www.collegeboard.com/student/plan/boost-your-skills/23628.html

Find recommended history, poetry and classic cultural texts in addition to the College Board's popular 101 great novels list.
Great Books Reading Series: http://www.greatbooks.org/books/gbreadinglist.html

Launched in 1947 by educators at the University of Chicago, the Foundation publishes a wide range of anthologies of classic and modern works of prose, poetry and drama, especially selected for Shared Inquiry discussion, with discussion questions.
The Guardian Top 100 Books of All Time: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2002/may/08/books.booksnews

This list of the 100 best works of fiction was determined from a vote by 100 noted writers from 54 countries.
Modern Library's 100 Best Novels and 100 Best Nonfiction: http://www.randomhouse.com/modernlibrary/100best.html

Compare the top picks selected by the Modern Library advisory board members with the favorite books voted on by avid readers.
National Education Association Educator's Top 100 Books for Children: http://www.teachersfirst.com/getsource.cfm?id=8498

Compiled from an online survey in 2007, parents and teachers will find the list useful in selecting quality literature for children.
Read the Classics: http://www.multcolib.org/events/classics/suggested.html

Explore some of the best classic literature of all eras. This extensive annotated list supports the Classics Pageturners program at Multnomah County Library.
Women's National Book Association 75 Books by Women Whose Words Have Changed the World: http://www.wnba-books.org/anniversaries/75women.html

Members of the Women's National Book Association created this list of books by women authors to commemorate its 75th anniversary in 1992.

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Everybody Reads projects

The Center for the Book: http://www.loc.gov/loc/cfbook/onebook/

The Library of Congress Center for the Book compiles this state-by-state listing of past and current "one book" reading promotion projects. Links to programs in Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom are also available.
Multnomah County Library Everybody Reads: http://www.multcolib.org/reads/

The selection for 2012 is The Girl Who Fell from the Sky by Heidi Durrow, the story of biracial young woman growing up in Portland the 1980's.
Oregon Reads 2009: http://www.oregon.gov/OSL/LD/aboutcenter.shtml

The first statewide community reads coincides with the Oregon's sesquicentennial celebration in 2009. In order to include all Oregonians, three books were selected: Stubborn Twig by Lauren Kessler for general readers, Bat 6 by Virginia Euwer Wolff for upper elementary school students and Apples to Oregon by Deborah Hopkinson for younger readers.
Seattle Reads: http://www.spl.org/default.asp?pageID=audience_current_seattlereads

Librarian Nancy Pearl originated this popular program, formerly known as "If All of Seattle Read the Same Book", which has been emulated by other cities.

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Genre fiction

All About Romance: http://www.likesbooks.com/home.html

Lovers of romance novels contribute reviews, write original commentary and use message boards to explore the genre. Special features include author readalikes, reader polls, Desert Island Keepers and topical lists, from Beta Heroes to Unrequited Love.
ClueLass.com: http://www.cluelass.com/index.lasso

Find detailed information about mystery authors, bookstores, events and organizations. Special features include the Mysterious Home Page, with links to mystery, crime and suspense literature websites, and the Bloodstained Bookshelf, with lists of new and recent mystery releases.
Comic Book Resources: http://www.comicbookresources.com/

News and information about the comic business and links to companies and series.
Detectives, By Profession: http://www.wright.edu/~martin.kich/DetbyProf/IndexDbP.htm

This site offers a listing of fictional, professional and amateur detectives by profession, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity and physical disability, as well as animal detectives and their creators.
HistFiction.net: http://www.histfiction.net/

Browse new and old historical novels, search for authors and link to historical fiction Web sites. Find prehistoric fiction, medieval romances, historical mysteries and nautical adventures.
Horror World: http://www.horrorworld.org/

Read reviews of the latest horror releases, use message boards to get in touch with authors and find links to more horror websites.
No Flying No Tights: http://www.noflyingnotights.com/

The original graphic novel review site for teens now includes Sidekicks, a review site for kids, and The Lair, featuring graphic novels for older teens and adults.
SF Site: http://www.sfsite.com/

Science fiction and fantasy book reviews, author interviews, publisher reading lists, links to magazines and fan tribute sites.
Stop, You're Killing Me!: http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/index.html

Lovers of mystery, crime, thriller, spy and suspense books can browse authors' works by date and series. Find read-alikes for favorite authors, select a character by job or location, and scan the new hardback and paperback releases.

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Online book-sellers

Alibris: http://www.alibris.com/

Inventory includes selected titles from the library's Title Wave Used Bookstore.
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/browse/-/283155/ref%3Dtab%5Fgw%5Fb%5F3/104-4193457-7716749

Search millions of titles including best sellers, award winners, books by subject, and book club suggestions. Explore the International Sites links and view what's popular in the UK and selected countries around the world.
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/index.asp

Sign up for Writers Alerts to be notified when your favorite author publishes a new book. Browse Coming Soon to scan titles by release date and subject. Join Book Clubs to chat with writers and other readers.
Best Web Buys: http://Bestwebbuys.com/

Searches online book stores to find the best price for new and used titles.
BookFinder: http://www.bookfinder.com/

Scans thousands of book-seller databases to find new, used, rare, and out of print books. Searches run in real time on the collections of the top book vendors and sites online, including Powells, Bibliofind, Amazon.com and Bibliocity.
Books and Book Collecting: http://www.trussel.com/f_books.htm

For book collectors searching for rare, out of print books, or volumes to complete sets. Includes a list of author pseudonyms, dealers' price guides, and information on specialty collecting and preservation of fine books.
FetchBook.Info: http://www.fetchbook.info/

Scans 125 bookstores to compare prices of new and used books. A quick way to search by title, author and subject.
IndieBound: http://www.indiebound.org/

Shop online or find out what titles your favorite independent bookstore recommends. Staff members from independent bookstores throughout the United States contribute their book sense and comments to the site. (Formerly Booksense.com)
Powell's Books: http://www.powells.com/

Search Portland's largest new/used bookstore in the world. Features local best sellers, international award winners, and author interviews.

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Online texts

Bartleby.com: http://www.bartleby.com/

Offers fully searchable full-text editions of reference titles and classic works of fiction, non-fiction and poetry.
Bibliomania: http://www.bibliomania.com/

Offers fully searchable full-text editions of classic works of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and some reference titles. Includes the complete plays of Shakespeare and major titles from Austen, Dickens, Twain, Freud, Benjamin Franklin and host of other English language authors.
ChapterOne: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/books/chapterone.htm

Provides first chapters from current popular fiction and non-fiction. The full text of these chapters can be searched by keyword, title or author's surname.
Daily Lit: http://www.dailylit.com/

Too busy for books? Sign up for this free daily e-mail service that delivers under-five-minute bites of the classics.
Electronic Literature Directory: http://directory.eliterature.org/

A comprehensive directory of electronic literature including experimental Internet novels and animated poems.
Google Book Search: http://books.google.com/

Use a keyword or phrase to browse books online. Results are displayed with a preview, full text or content within the book. Reference pages link to reviews, web references, maps and more. Books in the public domain can be downloaded as PDF files.
Internet Archive Text Archive: http://www.archive.org/details/texts

In partnership with the Open Content Alliance, the Internet Archive Text Archive offers free access to over 350,000 books out of copyright, out-of-print books and orphan works. Formats include PDF, text and DjVu.
National Archives: http://www.archives.gov/

The National Archives is the U.S. government's collection of documents that records important events in American history. Over 95 percent of the records are declassified — available to all researchers — and include census records, land records, military records, immigration and nationalization records, maps, motion pictures and sound recordings.
The Online Books Page: http://digital.library.upenn.edu/books/

Lists over 25,000 online books that can be searched by title, author or subject. Site includes the full text of many literary award winners and banned books and provides links to electronic (ebook) sites.
Project Gutenberg: http://www.gutenberg.net/

Fine literature digitally re-published: from Alice in Wonderland to the Bible to Shakespeare. Full-text literary works online to read, use and search.
Read Print: http://www.readprint.com/

Designed for students and teachers, Read Print is a free online library with thousands of classics such as Animal Farm, Paradise Lost and Pride and Prejudice, and author biographies.
University of Texas at Austin: http://www.lib.utexas.edu/books/etext.html#books

UT Austin's exhaustive list of e-text sites includes links to free and fee-based services. Find world literatures, computer and medical books, manuscripts, poetry and banned books.

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Poetry

About.com Poetry Page: http://poetry.about.com/arts/poetry/mbody.htm

Provides the latest information about the poetry scene. Updated daily.
American Verse Project: http://www.hti.umich.edu/a/amverse/

An electronic archive of volumes of American poetry prior to 1920.
Academy of American Poets: http://www.poets.org/
The sponsor of National Poetry Month, their site describes programs, awards and exhibits, includes a calendar of national events, and provides extensive links to literary sites.
The Poetry Archive: http://www.poetryarchive.org/poetryarchive/home.do

Listen to recordings of poets reading their work. Download Real Player and hear the voices of Alfred Tennyson, Allen Ginsberg, Margaret Atwood, Adrienne Rich and other English-language poets.
Poetry Society of America: http://www.poetrysociety.org/

The sponsor of Poetry in Motion, this site includes award-winning poems and a directory of over 200 poetry-related sites.

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Readers advisory

AllReaders.com: http://www.allreaders.com/

A book review search engine designed to help you find the kind of book you're looking for.
Bookreporter.com: http://bookreporter.com/

This lively, comprehensive, up to date site contains information on contemporary fiction and nonfiction.
Fiction Connection: http://www.fictionconnection.com/

Use the title or author of a favorite book to find your next great read. Search novels and biographies by genre, topic, setting, location, time frame and location.
Good Reads: http://www.goodreads.com/

See what your friends are reading, keep track of what you've read and what you'd like to read, get recommendations from people you know. Email and password required.
LibraryThing: http://www.librarything.com/

Join the tagging revolution and use this service to catalog your book collection. Create a virtual card catalog, share your favorite reads and meet like-minded book lovers.
Native American Authors: http://www.ipl.org/div/natam/

Provides information on Native North American authors with bibliographies of their published works, biographical information, and links to online resources including interviews, online texts and tribal Web sites.
Northwest Books: http://www.northwest-books.com/index.html

Recent books by Northwest authors and titles about the Pacific Northwest region, both fiction and non-fiction. The site also includes the region's weekly bestsellers.
The Online Literary Criticism Collection: http://www.ipl.org/div/litcrit/

Over 2500 critical and biographical websites about authors and their works that can be browsed by author, title, nationality and literary period.
Overbooked: http://www.overbooked.org/

A site for ravenous readers interested in literary and genre fiction.
Readalike.org: http://www.readalike.org/ra/booklists.html/

"If you like" author and genre book lists created by students at the Indiana University School of Library and Information Sciences.
Readers: http://www.multcolib.org/books/

Created by Multnomah County librarians to highlight good books, introduce new authors and explore reading trends.
Waterboro Public Library: http://librarybooklists.org/index.html

The busy librarians of the Waterboro Public Library collect booklists from all over the U.S., with topics that range from adventure and animal stories to sports fiction and travel books.
What's Next: http://ww2.kdl.org/libcat/WhatsNextNEW.asp

Search adult fiction in series.
Whichbook.net: http://www.whichbook.net/index.jsp

Unique software gives readers a way to find books to match their mood. Search for books by genre, type and types of characters, plots and settings. The UK's Society of Chief Librarians manages the database developed for library staff.
Words Without Borders: http://www.wordswithoutborders.org/

Browse this online magazine of international literature and enjoy writing in translation from around the world. Articles are searchable by language, country, time period, genre, title, author or translator.

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Reviews

ACQWEB's Directory of Book Reviews on the Web: http://www.acqweb.org/bookrev.html

Provides links to actively maintained sites done by experienced reviewers or subject experts. Access reviews of audio visual materials and books on special interest topics as well as general and academic reviews.
Fiction Review Source: http://employees.oneonta.edu/coanj/top.html

Links to reviews of current fiction in newspapers on the web, arranged by date. Some links go directly to the review, others to a search page. Some sites require registration.
Midwest Book Review: http://www.midwestbookreview.com/

Volunteers read and review over 400 books each month, giving preference to small press publishers. Extensive links to other book reviewers.
Reviews of Books.com: http://www.reviewsofbooks.com/

Displays full-length reviews of recently released books, including bestsellers, nonfiction, mysteries and thrillers, UK releases and select award winners.

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