Let NoveList help you find next great read

There’s something about deciding on your next great read that’s exciting. We may say we are in the mood to read a certain type of book, something that will make us laugh, or maybe we want to be drawn into a good mystery. It’s second nature to rely on favourite authors to provide that, but what happens when we have read all their books?

Then it’s definitely time to use NoveList (find it under Digital Content at www.lethlib.ca). This database allows you to search for books using “appeal,” and assists readers in determining why they enjoy a book and whether a particular book will fit their style. You can search for books based on the type of character you like, the pacing or tone, or even the style of illustrations.

It’s easy to combine genre, appeal, and subject to find your perfect read. NoveList provides reviews, summaries, author read-alikes, recommendations, book discussion guides, book talks, and annotated book lists. For the K–8 crowd and their teachers, there is NoveList K–8 with picture book extenders, articles on teaching fiction, and plenty of young adult and children’s book recommendations.

NoveList describes appeal as “a way of determining why people enjoy the books they read. Some readers already have a good vocabulary for talking about the books they love, while some do better in talking about books they never want to read again — but framing these conversations around appeal is the foundation for helping people find what to read next. Appeal factors help readers decide whether or not a book fits their style or mood. What is ‘heartwarming’ to one reader may be saccharine to another; what is ‘mildly sensuous’ to you may be quite shocking to others. You can create your own appeal mix.”

NoveList's appeal terms fall into a few broad categories including: character (e.g. duos, flawed, quirky, etc.); storyline (e.g. action-packed, characterdriven, sweeping, etc.); pace (e.g. fast-paced, leisurely paced); tone (e.g. bleak, funny, and sarcastic); writing style (e.g. descriptive, gritty, and lyrical); illustration (e.g. cartoony, impressionistic, and realistic); and audio characteristics (e.g. folksy, energetic, and read by the author).

Award-winning books often attract the attention of readers and, NoveList keeps track of over 1,000 different book awards: click on “Browse By” in the top toolbar. Then, click on “Award Winners”. This will take you to the awards landing page. To find Canadian awards, find awards by “Genre” on the right-hand side of the page and select “Canadian”.

So, contemplate what you would like to read next, and then create your very own speciality serving of hours of enjoyment with NoveList.