Pierce County Library > Books and Literature

Books and Literature

Selected web links related to books. Series resources are near bottom of page.

Please also see our Book Selection Tools page and Books/Materials* section for special resources just for valid Library card holders.

*The Books/Materials section includes access to downloadable audiobooks.

Book Related Links

Accelerated Reader - Read the Books.com Services for AR lists for our local area schools, including sortable title lists, with links back into our library catalog, and reviews online. (ReadTheBooks.com)

Genres Links to genre-related web sites. (Vancouver Public Library) Website: www.vpl.ca

Genreflecting Selected authors and book suggestions arranged by genre, with links to additional genre resources on the web. (Based on readers advisory books published by Libraries Unlimited.) Website: www.lu.com

Fanstastic Fiction Many lists and reviews of popular contemporary authors. Website: www.fantasticfiction.co.uk

New York Times - Books section Includes reviews of recently published books and the NYT best sellers lists. Website: www.nytimes.com

Online book club via e-mail Sign up for a daily preview sample of new book via e-mail. New book started each week, with daily excerpts of approximately 5 minutes of reading. (DearReader.com) Website: www.dearreader.com

Online Literary Criticism collection Links to online literary criticism websites, with indexes by author and title, and literary period. (Internet Public Library.) Website: www.ipl.org

Publisher's Weekly - Bestseller lists Links to recently top selling books in a variety of categories. (Publishers Weekly) Website: www.publishersweekly.com

Readers Advisory Web resources, book lists, best sellers, award winners. (Mid-Continent Public Library, MO) Web site: www.mcpl.lib.mo.us/readers

Recommended Reading Lists and resources for recommended books and media for all ages. (From the Book Lovers section of ILoveLibraries.org )

Romance Writers of America - Information on popular romance authors and lists of RITA award winners. Website: www.rwanational.org

SparkNotes Literature Study Guides Online study guides for many titles studied in literature classes (Sparknotes.com) Website: www.sparknotes.com

Washington Book Blog A state-wide blogging site about books, designed especially for middle school-aged library patrons to share reviews and comments about their favorite books. (Washington Reads - Washington State Library) Website: www.secstate.wa.gov/library/wa_reads/

Washington Talking Book and Braille Library Services WTBBL offers services separate from Pierce County Library, but any Washington resident who qualifies as legally blind, visually impaired, otherwise physically unable to use regular print books may be eligible. (WTBBL - administered by the Seattle Public Library) website: www.wtbbl.org

Whichbook.net A new and different method of looking for a book to read, offering a sliding range of types of book characterisics (happy-sad, gentle-violent, easy demanding, etc.) The books in this UK-based database are all fiction and poetry in paperback written in or translated into English and published since 1995. To see a list of titles go to www.openingthebook.com.

Series Related Links

Anime News Network - encyclopedia This site offers bibliographic information and news on popular series of both manga (Japanese comics) and anime (Japanese animated films). Website: www.animenewsnetwork.com

Juvenile Series and Sequels Junior and young adult (teen) titles in series, browsable by author, series title, or subject or searchable by book title. (Mid-Continent Public Library, MO). WebSite: www.mcpl.lib.mo.us

What's Next? - Series Lists A searchable database of book titles in adult fiction series of all genres. Searches can be done by author, specific book title or series name. (Kent District Library, Michigan.) WebSite: www.kdl.org

Library Resources

Adult booklists - (and book lists e-mailed via) Pierce County Library

Library Sources for Literary Research and Criticism (PDF, 13kb) a guide to useful readers resources within the Pierce County Library.

Multicultural Booklists

African-American Fiction writers: A Selected List (The Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, OH) Website: www.cincinnatilibrary.org

African-American Writers: A Celebration (Mid-Tennessee State University) Website: www.mtsu.edu

Publisher Resources

AcqWeb Links to many publisher's web sites. (A. B. Leiserson, Vanderbilt U. Law School). Website: www.acqweb.org

E-Books

See our downloadable eBook collection via OverDrive

Beside our OverDrive collection above, there are many e-Books available via sources on the open web, (some for free, some for a price):

http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page Project Gutenberg. Maybe it is time to jump into a few classics? Generally, there is a reason these books have survived and remained favorites over the years – many are really good!

http://www.manybooks.net They offer many formats.

http://www.baen.com/library If you like science fiction. Some are new titles, some from current popular authors, who are posting their materials directly for free.

http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/20-best-websites-to-download-free-e-books More resources, from a blog called "20 best websites to download free e-books".

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