iHCPL #54: Social Networking Through Books

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First, a disclaimer. I wrote most of this post, so I'm already very familiar with social networking with books.

Exercise #1: I've never been a member of a book club - in person. I'm intrigued by the possibility of joining an in-person book club, I'm just not sure if I'd like "forced" reading of specific titles. On the other hand, it would probably be good for me to stretch my reading choices a bit.

Exercise #2: Well, if I'm going to implement a book club, it's going to be online. From our experience with the teen book club online, I'm a bit cautious about starting one. However, I think if we try a general book discussion, that might be better. On The Gargoyle theme, I found a discussion guide on Reading Group Choices.

Exercise #3: Well, we'll go ahead and end with The Gargoyle again. On LibraryThing it has an average rating of 4.14/5 (with 716 members having it in their collection).
On Visual bookshelf on Facebook, the average rating is 4/5 with 539 reviews.
For good measure, I also checked Good Reads (4.05/5) and Shelfari (4/5 from the community).

A point of interest, LibraryThing, Shelfari, and Visual Bookshelf all offered similar titles. LibraryThing and Shelfari both had excellent suggestions. Visual Bookshelf's suggestions weren't very good. I couldn't find anything on Good Reads that offered similar books.

I'm personally a big fan of LibraryThing and Visual Bookshelf. I like the first to catalog my books (what can I say, I am a librarian) and have a lifetime membership. I like the second because I connect to my friends who read and can see what they're reading and it's a part of a service I actively use. I do have accounts at both Good Reads and Shelfari but don't use them very often, although I may have to do more with Shelfari after the suggestions I found.

iHCPL #53: Finding Books Online

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Exercise #1: I wasn't overly impressed with the Houston.com search, so I went to my tried and true local search, Yahoo Maps. You can plug in your location and then search for nearby businesses. Searching around Admin doesn't bring up much - except for the Half Price Books warehouse nearby. The other stores are college oriented. When I expand the map out, I come up with more possibilities including Half Price Books in Rice Village. While they have an online presence, there really isn't an online search - there's a link to an Amazon search from the site.

Exercise #2: Well, I went to Amazon and found The Gargoyle in a variety of editions including for the Kindle and used editions. Having listened to this, I know it's available on CD and as a download from the Digital Media Catalog.

Exercise #3: I've tried eBooks, they just don't appeal to me. I look at the computer too much every day - at work and at home - to want to read a book online. I did find reading one on the Sony eReader was a bit more appealing and I'll be interested to see what it's like on the Kindle. The screens are not as tiring.

iHCPL #52: What to Read

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Exercise #1 - I'm using The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson, a recent favorite for my search.

In Novelist Plus, I did the find similar books search using all of the subject terms. The first four suggestions are:
- A Road through the Mountains by Elizabeth McGregor
- Lost in the Forest by Sue Miller
- The Truth of the Matter by Robb Forman Dew
- Dante's Daughter by Kimberley Heuston

Of the four, the last one sounds somewhat promising, but none of the descriptions really stood out as being what I liked from the book.

I next tried What Should I Read Next?. The first four suggestions here are:
- Dead and Gone - Charlaine Harris
- The Reluctant Widow - Georgette Heyer
- Lucia Victrix: Mapp and Lucia; Lucia's Progress; Trouble for Lucia - E.F. Benson
- The Clothes They Stood Up In and The Lady in the Van - Alan Bennett

Again, none of these really strikes me as terribly similar in plot, theme, or feel to The Gargoyle, although from the Amazon.com description of The Clothes They Stoop Up In, that is probably the most likely similar title.

I didn't have any luck with either Fiction_L or Library Booklists as there was nothing specific to the author or title. So, I decided to try a tried and true method for me - a Google search on the title (or author) and readalike (or read-a-like). Through this, I found a Book Discussion Guide that included further reading. The first four suggestions are:
- The Name of the Rose, Umberto Eco
- The Shadow of the Wind, Carlos Ruiz Zafón
- The Time Traveler’s Wife, Audrey Niffenegger
- Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, Susanna Clarke

Of the four, I have only read (listened) to Jonathan Strange. I have seen the movie of The Name of the Rose and know of The Time Traveler's Wife. All three of these strike me as similar to The Gargoyle.

Exercise # 2: I'm trying Library Booklists for this one, specifically the Children's Lists. For our fourth grade girl:

• I first go to Books Featuring Animals
• Next, because I don't know if she wants a particular animal, I choose Animals (General)
• There are a number of book lists to choose from, but the first one looks very promising as it breaks the books down by grade level, so I go to YouthLink - Animal Booklist for Grades 3 & 4. I especially like that the list includes both fiction and nonfiction titles. The two I'll choose are: Wackiest White House Pets by Kathryn Davis & Diary of a Killer Cat by Anne Fine.
  

For her brother, since he's going to be more likely to read in the YA, I went to the YA Booklists

• So, I clicked on Horror Fiction/Scary Stories
• I scrolled through them and found a couple that had ghost stories.
• The first I clicked on was a broken link, as was the second - and third. So, I moved on to Novelist.
• In Novelist, I clicked on Recommended Reads under Teens
• Then clicked on Horror, then Ghosts. I pick: Kit's Wilderness by David Almond (this sounds perfect as the protagonist is 13) and Storm Catchers by Tim Bowler.

Exercise #3: Well I love Dean Koontz, so this is a good one for me.
From Novelist (Since I'm there from the previous exercise):
I go to Author Read-a-Likes under Adult, as I've used this before and it's a great resource. I like that they are choosy about who they recommend as a read-a-like and it's centered on the author, not just a specific title.

• Robert McCammon (specifically Boy's Life) - I really agree with this recommendation.
• Dan Simmons
• Greg Bear (specifically Darwin's Radio & Vitals)

I then tried Library Booklists, which pointed me to If You Like Dean Koontz
They had the above author's listed as well as several others including Peter Straub and Relic by Lincoln/Child

Exercise #4: The Alanna Series in Order using the What's Next Database

1. Alanna: The First Adventure
2. In the Hand of the Goddess
3. The Woman Who Rides Like a Man
4. Lioness Rampant