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Books / Literature

Databases

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Book Review Digest   Additional information   Remote access
Books in Print   Additional information   Remote access
Essay And General Literature Index   Additional information   Remote access
Granger's World of Poetry   Additional information   Remote access
Humanities Abstracts   Additional information   Remote access
Library2Go   Additional information   Remote access Remote access only
Literature Resource Center   Additional information   Remote access
LitFinder   Additional information   Remote access
MasterplotsMasterplots   Additional information
MLA Bibliography   Additional information   Remote access
NetLibrary   Additional information   Remote access
New York Times (1999-present)   Additional information   Remote access
New York Times Historical (1851-1999)   Additional information   Remote access
New York Times Ondisc (1994-June 2002)New York Times Ondisc (1994-June 2002)   Additional information
Novelist   Additional information   Remote access
Oxford English Dictionary   Additional information   Remote access
Papersfirst   Additional information   Remote access
ProceedingsFirst   Additional information   Remote access
Readers' Guide Retrospective   Additional information   Remote access
Short Story Index   Additional information   Remote access
WorldCat Additional information   Remote access

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.

Best sellers

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.
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.
Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association
http://www.pnba.org/bestsellershome.htm
A weekly list of the bestselling books in the independent bookstores of Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana.
Publishers Weekly
http://www.publishersweekly.com/bestsellersindex.asp
An international news magazine of book publishing and book-selling that contains author interviews as well as early reviews of books for all ages.

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.
Online Book Clubs
http://www.dearreader.com/library/multnomah/
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.

Everybody Reads projects

The Center for the Book
http://www.loc.gov/loc/cfbook/one-book.html
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/
A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah was the 2008 selection. Visit Everybody Reads Selections to find a complete list of titles from previous years.
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.

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.
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.

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.
BookSense
http://www.booksense.com/
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.
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.
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.

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.

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.

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.
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://www.waterborolibrary.org/oldsite/bklista.htm
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.

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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