Books and Reader's & Writer's Resources

General Guides & Directories

Arts and Letters Daily

A daily newsletter of articles, essays and book reviews from online newspapers, journals, magazines, book reviews, news services and pundits. Grab a cup of coffee and enjoy. Now hosted by The Chronicle of Higher Education.

BookSpot

A commercial site, featuring quick links to book reviews in national newspapers and periodicals, first chapters, booklists (including many compiled by librarians), authors, awards, online and e-books, genres, and more. From the StartSpot network.

BookTour

Searchable database of author appearances, book events and literary happenings.

Local Authors and Illustrators from Western Massachusetts

Listing of authors and illustrators from Western Massachusetts, compiled and updated by the Forbes Library in Northampton MA.

Overbooked

A website for ravenous readers, specializing in literary and genre fiction information. In addition to numerous links to other resources, Overbooked includes lists of recommended fiction, hotlists of new releases, book reviews and awards, children's literature, and Book Talk, a discussion area for readers and authors.

Today in Literature

Great stories, people, books and events in literary history.

WATCH File

A database of copyright contacts for writers, artists, and prominent figures in other creative fields. From the Harry Ransom Center and the University of Reading.

 

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Booklists and Reading Suggestions

Springfield Library: Recommended Reading Lists

Our librarians have compiled lists of recommended reading in different fiction genres and selected subject areas. We will be adding new lists frequently, so check back often.

NoveList Database

Check here for your next "good read." Search by author, title or keyword to get a list of novels that you might like. Lists of award-winning titles are also available. Suitable for readers of all ages. Please note that this is not a catalog of books owned by the Springfield Library. This is a subscription database available to Springfield Library cardholders only. Click on the 'Start' button, enter your library card number without spaces and proceed.

African American Literature Book Club

A site focusing on African American literature, hosted by an online bookstore, with author profiles, interviews, bibliographies, book reviews and excerpts, writer's resources, upcoming events, online chat, and more.

Best Seller Lists, 1900 - 1998

Lists hardcover best sellers, fiction and non-fiction, by year since 1900.

BookBrowse

Read excerpts from recently published books, reviews and author biographies, and previews of forthcoming books.

Booklist Center

With over 300 booklists in over 80 categories, this site is one-stop shopping for the bookaholic. Check categories in both fiction and nonfiction, with special lists for young adults.

Books for Understanding

A free, easy-to-use resource to help you find books on current events. New bibliographies are compiled when a major news story breaks or public debate heats up. From the Association of American University Presses.

FictionDB

Searchable database of fiction in the mystery, romance and western genres. Search by author, title, or series. Note: additional features require paid subscription.

Goodreads

Goodreads is the largest social network for readers in the world, with more than 3,400,000 members who have added more than 100,000,000 books to their shelves. A place for casual readers and bona-fide bookworms alike, Goodreads members recommend books, compare what they are reading, keep track of what they've read and would like to read, form book clubs and much more. Requires free registration.

Great Books and Classics

Gateway to great books from the ancients to the modern era. Includes links to online texts, where available, and to print editions available for purchase.

Great Books Lists

Reading lists of great books: the classics, the Eastern and Western canons, the contemporary canon, and other lists. From Robert Teeter.

Juvenile Series & Sequels

Database from the Mid-Continent Public Library. For young adults (YA) and juveniles.

Malaspina Great Books

Interactive biographical database of Great Ideas. Includes suggested reading and weblinks. Based upon the framework of a Great Books Core List developed by Mortimer Adler (1902-2001) nearly 50 years ago. Maintained by Russell McNeil, Ph.D.

Outstanding Books for the College Bound and Lifelong Learning

Prepared by the Young Adult Library Services Association of the American Library Association, this list is divided into fiction, biography, nonfiction, poetry and drama. Links to websites that provide more information on particular authors or titles are included.

Reviews Of Books

A website that gathers multiple online reviews of recently released books, mining the Internet to find reviews that the casual web surfer can access without registration or paying a fee. Includes fiction and nonfiction titles.

What's Next Database of Kent District Library

"What's Next" helps you search adult fiction in series. A "series" is two or more books linked by character(s), settings, or other common traits. Searches can be made by title, author (last name, first name), or series.

YA Books in Series and Sequels

Lists of young adult and teen series arranged alphabetically by series name and by author. From the Bettendorf Public Library in Iowa.

 

 

Genre Fiction

Springfield Library: Murder in the Stacks: Reader's Advisory for Mystery & Detective Fiction

Historical overview of the mystery genre, with recommended print and web reference resources for librarians and mystery fans.

Bibliomysteries

A fun resource. Mysteries set in the world of books and libraries.

Bloodstained Bookshelf

Check out upcoming mystery fiction releases here.

EuroCrime

This is a site for fans of British and European crime fiction, including novels in translation. Reviews the latest books and its other features include a comprehensive bibliography section, a summary of upcoming titles, author websites, details of events, links to newspaper reviews, crime fiction award results and more.

Fantastic Fiction Bibliographies

Lists of titles by over one thousand science fiction, fantasy and horror authors.

Historical Fiction Network

Links to information, booklists, a master list of writers of historical fiction, reference works, and more, including archives of the historical fiction newsgroup.

Literary Gothic

Website devoted to Gothic and supernatural literature, with biographies of major authors, a database of Gothic novels and stories in full text, research help, links to discussion groups, and more.

The Mystery Reader

News and reviews of current mystery and detective fiction.

The Romance Reader

News, reviews and features about romance novels, with special attention to historicals, category romances, Regency and more.

Romance Writers of America

Homepage of the association of writers of romance fiction, with links to news about the genre, current bestsellers, and more.

SciFan

Books and links for the science fiction fan. Includes a database of SF/F books and authors, with bibliographies as well as coverage of series, themes, and forthcoming publications.

SF Site

"The Home Page for Science Fiction and Fantasy." This site includes news, reviews, interviews, reading lists, and suggestions for younger readers.

Stop You're Killing Me!

For mystery lovers, this site includes chronological lists of titles, indexed by author and series character.

 

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Reading Groups & Book Discussions

Springfield Library Book Discussion Groups

Join one of our many book discussion groups!

MassLive Book Forum

Chat with local readers at the new MassLive Book Forum, hosted by the Springfield Republican.

BookMuse

An aid for book discussions and book clubs: read reviews of new titles, browse for recommendations, check out notes for discussion, or write your own review!

Books@Random: Reading Group Guides

Guides for titles published by Random House. They include a description of each book, questions, discussion topics, author biography, and sometimes a note from the author to assist the group in having a stimulating and interesting discussion.

Faithful Reader

Study guides and discussion questions for Christian books.

LitLovers

Ideas for book discussion groups.

Reader's Circle

Reader's Circle is a free public directory that specializes in listings for book clubs and reader's circles. Anyone may post a listing or search for a group by zip code � all for free.

Reading Group Guides

Over 1400 online guides for book discussion groups, including classics, bestsellers, non-fiction, and other categories.

 

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Bookstores & Book Collecting

Amazon.com

The first 'virtual bookstore' allows you to search for books and music, videos, online auctions and more. You can also check reviews, recommended book lists, award winners, and read selected pages.

Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America

Find a rare books store or book fair near you, search for an out-of-print or rare book, or browse the resources on building a book collection.

abebooks.com

Looking for an out-of-print book? Interested in starting a rare book collection? Abebooks.com searches the catalogs of thousands of independent booksellers. Another site, Bookfinder, searches several online databases of used and rare books available for sale.

Barnes & Noble

The major bookstore chain.

Book Sales in Massachusetts

A list of used book sales in the state, listed by date and location. Most sales are run by libraries or Friends groups. Part of the Book Sale Finder site, a directory of used book sales throughout North America.

Books and Book Collecting

An extensive list of links, resources and search engines for the serious book collector.

The Essentials of Book Collecting

A no-frills introduction to buying and collecting rare and first edition books for the beginning collector. Includes a glossary of book-selling jargon and an overview of buying and selling books on the Internet. By Robert F. Lucas; now hosted, in a truncated version, at Trussel's Books and Book Collecting site.

IndieBound

The online presence of the American Booksellers Association, representing independent bookstores around the country.

Library Book Sales

Matches you with rare, collectible and quality books that have been donated to public libraries. The money you spend goes directly to the library that sells you the book.

LibraryThing

LibraryThing is an online service to help people catalog their books easily. You can access your catalog from anywhere—even on your mobile phone. Because everyone catalogs together, LibraryThing also connects people with the same books, comes up with suggestions for what to read next, and so forth. A free account allows you to catalog up to 200 books. A paid account allows you to catalog any number of books.

MARIAB: Massachusetts and Rhode Island Antiquarian Booksellers

A directory of antiquarian and used booksellers in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, including subject specialists and links to online catalogs where available.

NewPages

A portal for independents: bookstores, publishers, periodicals, records and more for alternatives in print, zines and other media.

Preservation

From the Library of Congress, information on preserving your book collections.

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Literature & Literary Criticism

 

a.k.a.

A list of author pseudonyms, aliases, nicknames and noms de plume.

American Writers

This companion site to C-SPAN's 2001 series includes essays, biographical material, video clips, and web links for outstanding American writers from 1600 to 1975.

Bibliomania

Free online literature and study guides, with teacher resources.

IPL2 Online Criticism Collection

Another fine resource from the IPL2, this page offers access to biographical and critical resources on the Web for many American and British authors, as well as critical overviews of literary periods in the UK and the US. Highly recommended for students preparing papers requiring literary criticism sources. Recently updated and expanded.

 

Library and Archival Exhibitions on the Web

This is a great site for browsing. Online exhibits, many of them book-related, at libraries and archives around the world are listed here. A service of the Smithsonian Institution.

Luminarium

Resources in British literature for the medieval period, the Renaissance and the seventeenth century. Includes biographies and bibliographies for the major authors of the period, links to online texts where available, essays and reviews, and additional resources. A great site for students!

Massachusetts Center for the Book

An affiliate of the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, which works with the national center and within a network of 50 state-center affiliates to promote "books, reading, literacy, and libraries." Sponsors the annual Massachusetts Book Awards.

Mr. William Shakespeare and the Internet

A great resource for all aspects of Shakespearean scholarship. This is a continuously updated meta-site, with annotated links to information on Shakespeare's biography, writings, criticism, the historical background, theater productions, the 'authorship' debate, and much more. Includes a Shakespeare Timeline and biography quiz, links to 'amusing and/or distracted' websites, and even translations into Klingon!

Shakespeare: Internet Editions

The aim of the Internet Shakespeare Editions is to inspire a love of Shakespeare's works in a world-wide audience. Includes scholarly, fully annotated texts of Shakespeare's plays, multimedia explorations of the context of Shakespeare's life and works, and records of his plays in performance.

Shakespeare Online

A resource for students and lovers of Shakespeare, with commentaries and essays on the plays and other writings, sections on English history, the Elizabethan theatre, and the life of Shakespeare, and other resources.

Shakespeare Searched

A search engine designed to provide quick access to passages from Shakespeare's plays and sonnets. From the Folger Shakespeare Library.

Shmoop

This site covers literature, US history, and poetry, and much more, with study guides, research content, and links. An excellent starting place for student research. Additional tools provided for registered users.

Voice of the Shuttle: English Literature

A web page devoted to literary research, with a link to the main page at the Voice of the Shuttle, now a dynamic database devoted to the humanities.

 

Poetry

 

 

Springfield City Library: Poetry Page

Upcoming poetry events, reading lists and links to local poetry happenings.

The Academy of American Poets

A great resource for poets, educators and students, with a "listening booth," information about the Academy's awards, resources for National Poetry Month, and much more. Check out the Massachusetts poetry links on the nation-wide "poetry map."

American Verse Project

Searchable database of online poetry texts by American poets published prior to 1920. From the Humanities Text Initiative at the University of Michigan.

Bartleby.com: Verse

The online reference giant includes a section on verse, which features a search engine and a long list of anthologies of classic poetry for browsing.

Boricua Poetry

A collection of work by poets of Puerto Rican heritage.

Lannan Foundation Video Library

The Springfield City Library is pleased to provide this series of full-length video programs featuring major poets and writers from around the world reading and discussing their work. The intent of the video series is to promote the work of contemporary writers, to broaden the audience for literature, and to record writers for archival purposes. Search our online catalog under "Lannan Literary Series" for a complete list of available videos.

Magnetic Poetry

Play online!

Poet's Corner

Online texts of more than 6700 poems by more than 780 poets, bibliographies, portraits, biographies and more.

Poet's House

Located in Manhattan, Poet's House is the largest poetry collection available to the public in open stacks in the country. Their searchable database of poetry books published since 1990 is available online.

Poetry Archive

Online recordings of poets and poems.

The Poetry and Literature Center of the Library of Congress

Read about the current and past poets laureate, appointed annually since 1937 to "raise the national consciousness to a greater appreciation of the reading and writing of poetry."

Poetry Magic

A resource center for the theory and craft of writing poetry. Presented by LitLangs, a small literary magazine in England.

Poetry Portal

A directory of worldwide poetry online.

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Online Texts

The Online Books Page

An index to over 16,000 books available electronically at various locations. Searchable by title and author, with links to other book-related sites.

Free Content for Nook & Kindle

Blog posting from Ebooks in Libraries listing online sources of free eBooks.

The Perseus Digital Library

Hosted by Tufts University, this searchable library includes primary and secondary sources on the Greco-Roman classics, Shakespeare, and Christopher Marlowe.

SearcheBooks.com

A search engine for online texts. Search results include the page on which terms are found, and the main page of the book.

Folklore and Mythology Electronic Texts

An extensive collection of links to online texts of stories, folklore and mythology, from Aesop's Fables to Yggdrasil.

Writing Resources and Citation Guides
Note: For additional links to dictionaries, grammatical aids, and foreign language resources, visit the Quick Reference page.

Online! Citation Styles

Quick links to citation styles for citing electronic resources under MLA, APA, and Chicago styles. Includes web pages, electronic journals, e-mail messages, telnet, FTP, gopher and more, with links to other online citation guides.

Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation

Quick reference guide to proper English usage and punctuation.

Karla's Guide to Citation Style Guides

Annotated directory of online citation style resources: APA, MLA, Chicago, Turabian, legal citation and more.

KnightCite

KnightCite is an online citation generator service provided by the Hekman Library of Calvin College. The service is provided free of charge by the college, and is available to members both within and outside of the Calvin community.

Purdue OWL: Online Writing Lab

Links to resources for creative writing, business and technical writing, theses and dissertations, writing for children, and much more.

The Nuts and Bolts of College Writing

Helpful guide to writing college theses, essays, reports, and other forms of academic papers.

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