Books and Reader's &
Writer's Resources
General Guides & Directories
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- 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.
- Librarians'
Index to the Internet: Literature
- A large directory of librarian
selected links. Check out the many resources listed under their Literature
sections.
- 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.
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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.
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- 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.
- FictionDB
- Searchable
database of fiction in the mystery, romance and western genres. Search by
author, title, or series. Note: additional features require paid subscription.
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- 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.
- If
You Like...Database
- From
the Hennepin County, MN Library. Enter an author's name or a theme and retrieve
a booklist of similar fiction titles. Note: the Springfield Library may not
own all titles listed; try the expanded CWMARS
catalog.
- 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.
- Waterboro
Public Library: Book Lists and Bibliographies
- Lots and lots
of booklists for adults from libraries around the world, indexed and presented
by the Waterboro PL in East Waterboro, ME. You're sure to find something of
interest here! Includes additional sections for teens and children.
- 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.
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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. From the WMRLS
Readers Advisory Workshop series.
- Bibliomysteries
- A fun resource. Mysteries
set in the world of books and libraries.
- ClueLass
HomePage
- Includes the Bloodstained
Bookshelf, a list of soon-to-be-released books, and the Deadly Directory Online,
a database of mystery bookstores, fan organizations, and mystery conventions.
- Fantastic
Fiction Bibliographies
- Lists of titles by over
one thousand science fiction, fantasy and horror authors.
- 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.
- Mysterious Home Page
- A guide to mystery and detective fiction on the Internet, with links to
author sites, awards, publishers, book lists, themes in detective fiction,
newsgroups and listservs, fan conventions, reviews, booksellers, and much
more. A part of the Cluelass site.
- 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.
- Soon's
Historical Fiction Site
- Links to information, booklists,
a master list of writers of historical fiction, reference works, and more,
including archives of the historical fiction newsgroup.
- 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.
- Oprah's
Book Club
- Information about Oprah's
current pick, a chat group, and links to the full list of Oprah's Books and
other book-related information.
- 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.
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- 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.
- BookSense
- The online presence of the American Booksellers Association, representing
independent bookstores around the country. Check here for the latest news
in the book trade, the Book Sense Bestsellers list, and a directory of independent
booksellers.
- 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.
- 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.
- Rare
Books on the Web
- A directory of online resources for the rare book collector, including libraries
and special collections, book dealers, the history of the book, conservation,
glossaries, and other specialist topics.
- VarsityBooks.com
- The online bookstore for discounted college textbooks.
- Your
Old Books
- An online guide to frequently
asked questions about rare books and book values. From the Association of
College and Research Libraries.
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Literature & Literary Criticism
- InfoTrac Databases
- InfoTrac includes several databases helpful for literary research: Contemporary
Authors, Contemporary Literary Criticism, General Reference Center, and Expanded
Academic ASAP. Search for author biographies, literary criticism, book reviews,
and academic articles. This is a subscription database available to C/WMARS
library cardholders only. Enter your library card number without spaces
and click on the 'Proceed' button. Make sure you click on "Reformat for printing"
before beginning the printing process. You may also e-mail articles. For more
information, visit our Electronic Resources
page.
- 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.
- Internet Public Library Online
Criticism Collection
- Another fine resource from the IPL, 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.
- Invisible Library
- A charming site, listing imaginary books as mentioned in literature. Indexed
by author, title, pseudo-author, pseudo-title, and a smattering of oddities.
- 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.
- Literary Resources on
the Net
- A no-frills list of links for literature and literary studies, from Classical
to hypertext. Compiled and annotated by Jack Lynch at Rutgers University.
- 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.
- Modern Word
- Formerly known as the Librynth, this introduction to twentieth-century experimental
literature features such authors as Joyce, Borges, Beckett, Pynchon and others,
with extensive links to other literary resources on the Internet.
- 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
Concordance
- Search the complete works
to find that elusive quote.
- 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.
- 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.
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Poetry
- The
Academy of American Poets
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- 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.
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- Lannan
Foundation Video Library
- The Springfield 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!
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- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
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- Karla's Guide
to Citation Style Guides
- Annotated directory of online citation style resources: APA, MLA, Chicago,
Turabian, legal citation and more.
- 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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Springfield
Library
http://www.springfieldlibrary.org/
220 State Street
Springfield MA 01103
413-263-6828
This
page last updated: August 11, 2007