Books, Readers, and Beyond #52 What to Read, Exercise 4

I used NovelistPlus and also MidContinent Public Library as a comparison to find the series and titles for the book by Tamora Pierce. They are:

Series: Song of the Lioness

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

Books, Readers, and Beyond #52, What to Read, Exercise 3

Using NovelistPlus, I found Greg Bear, Dan Simmons, and John Saul as alternative authors to Dean Kootz.

I also went to Allreaders.com, in which you get suggestions after you have specified a title. Authors suggested were Anne Bishop, Tim Powers, and Christopher Tregus.

I prefer the Novelist site, as you can narrow according the the things you liked about the book/writing.

Books, Readers, and Beyond #52 What to Read Exercise 2

I decided to use Library Booklists and Bibliographies, since I use NovelistPlus fairly often. For the 4ht grade girl, I selected Dillon, Dillon, by Kate Banks and Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate Dicamillo. It came under the heading, "Booklists: Children's Fiction Index: Books Featuring Animals/Pets. The website went to Novi Public Library, Mi, which lists titles by grade level.

This site also had suggestions for older children. For the 13 year old brother I found Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz and A Foot in the Grave by Joan Aiken. These might be a bit on the tame side, but without more input about the brother, it might be best to make conservative choices.

Books, Readers, and Beyond #52 Exercise 1

Since I prefer to read nonfiction, I chose the title Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer.
NovelPlus offers more options to limit than the other website, and I chose two, adventure and suspense. 1,700 titles came up! Whew!

I accessed Librarian in Black, where I chose Allreaders.com, and five titles were given. I also went into What Should I Read Next, which gave me 10 titles.

Actually, I was pleased that there were options for nonfiction reader's advisory. I knew it had recently been added to NovelistPlus but its nice to find it other places. What Should I Read Next gives the viewpoint of other readers' suggestions but NovelistPlus is handy for its limiting capability.

Books, Readers, and Beyond #53 Exercise 2

I searched for a mass paperback, Twilight, by Stephanie Meyer. It was available for purchase on Katy Budget Books, for $7.99 plus shipping, Books a Million for $7.99 plus shipping, or $7.61 plus shipping if you paid $20 a year for a membership card. Amazon beat them both, for $6.09 plus shipping, and as low as $4.97 plus shipping for a used copy. Although I did not join, both Swaptree and Paperback Swap listed Twilight as an option for a swap - not sure if those swaps would actually go through.

Books, Readers, and Beyond #53 Finding Books Online Exercise 1

I checked Katy Budget Books and Books A Million, which are closest to our branch. What really would have been helpful and didn't exist, was an inventory of what is actually available in the stores. Both allowed online sales, not that useful. Katy Budget Books does offer an email service where a customer can request a used book title and be notified when one becomes available. Katy has a large component of Christian fiction readers and Books a Million has a Faithpoint option, which features latest releases of this genre.

Since I do not know of other bookstores close to Katy, I also visited Murder by the Book, since we have a mystery book club. For this reason, this website can be useful for its title suggestions (most popular)and author interviews.

I'm not sure about this exercise - was I to write 25 words total for all 3 bookstores or 25 for all?