Dedicated to those who have no idea where to begin when faced with the question “what do I read next?”…let’s have some reading conversations y’all!
Help Them Help You
How to get people to give you more information on what they might like when they ask you for a recommendation but don’t give you any clues at all.
Q: I need something to read, what do you recommend?
A: What was the last book you read?
A: Who is your favorite author(s)?
A: What is your favorite type of book to read – mystery? vampire romance?
A: What did you like the most about the last book you read, was it the character, setting, language, or story?
A: Is there a book that was so awful, you wanted to throw it across the room? Why did you hate it?
Award Winners
- Pulitzer Prize
- Nebula Awards (SciFi/Fantasy)
- Spur Awards (westerns)
- Edgar Awards (mysteries)
- Christy Awards (christian fiction)
- RITA Awards (romance)
- Newberry Medal (kids lit)
- Caldecott Medal (picture books)
- Michael L. Printz Award (young adults)
- ALSC Notable Children’s Books
Other Reading Resources
- Christian Library Journal
- christianbook.com
- Romantic Times
- New York Times Bestsellers
- Chicago Review of Books
- The Millions e-magazine
- LitHub.com
- Literature Map
(oh boy, this one is F.U.N.!!)
Articles to light your RA fire
- Reader’s Advisory: the Who, the How , and the Why
- Get Better at Helping Readers
- Novelist RA Blog: The Latest
- RA for All
- Nancy Pearl’s Book Lust
the ‘four doorways’ explained (PDF) - Reading with Purpose: Nancy Pearl @ TEDxSeattleU (19 min video)
- Perspectives on Reading