Tag: library reads

The Site for Library Recommendations

Posted August 28, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Literature / 0 Comments

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I’m not normally one to write a post promoting another bookish site but I can’t help but want to tell people. Library Reads is a site where regularly employed U.S. public librarians share their recommendations for soon to be released books. I know there are many sites out there dedicated to book recommendations but what I like about this one is that it’s the librarians offering some suggestions. Libraries are such an essential service for a book lover and I know that most public libraries out there are trying to get back into offering the service of book recommending. Library Reads may just be a good starting point for both book lovers and other libraries out there.

How it works is basically it takes the ARCs being submitted on Edelweiss (with the Organization Type “Library – Public”) and works out the 10 most recommended books that will be released in that month and use them to create their list. As these are all ARCs, it will tell readers what to look out for and helps libraries get a sense of what might be good to stock. I’m sure there could be other uses for this site but I like the idea that as you watch this site you might start recognising librarians whose opinions you might trust.

I’m not sure how long this site has been around but currently their September list is up with Library Reads favourite going to Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell (an author I want to try sometime). Other interesting books on the list include Night Film by Marisha Pessl, The Returned by Jason Mott and Burial Rites by Hannah Kent. With each book there is an excerpt from one of the librarians’ reviews so you get an idea of what the book would be like. I know the books I’ve listed here are probably books you’ve already heard of and possibly even read but there are some books there that I’ve never heard of; I think they want to cover all genres. I love the idea of getting an email every month with librarian recommendations so I’ve subscribed to this site. I’ll be interested to see how well it goes and hope maybe one day Australia has a similar service.