Category Archives: Good Websites

A quick round-up of some of the things I’ve taken note of online the past few weeks:

* For those who enjoy thrillers, the International Thriller Writers announced the 2012 Thriller Award Nominees

* I’ve been wondering what happened to “chick lit” and was intrigued by the website 20SomethingReads.com, which bills itself as  being “created for readers in their twenties, which we define as, “A decade. A state of mind. An age. A lifestyle. A time for self-discovery. A new perspective. An attitude. A philosophy. Independence. Freedom. A time to re-discover reading for pleasure – and FINALLY – read what you want.””

* This is still on my “to do” list, but it sounds fascinating: a podcast from The Guardian about the value and growing popularity of Science Fiction.  You can read a bit about it from one of the participants or listen to it using the player below.

As our country anticipates another transition in the Oval Office, Book TV (from C-SPAN2) is re-airing interviews with then-Senator Barack Obama about his books. You can watch them any time online or on the C-SPAN2 cable channel this weekend. Check out Book TV on C-SPAN2 for other books and authors as well – a great resource!
mcs

Can you believe 2008 is already almost half over? Take a moment and delight in some enchanting quotes and poems about the month of June, along with a little gardening appreciation, too. Enjoy!

JDC

If you’re like me, you’ve been hearing more and more references to Web 2.0, and you may not know what it refers to. According to Wikipedia (which in itself makes use of Web 2.0 technology) it refers to “web design that aims to enhance creativity, information sharing, and, most notably, collaboration among users.” In other words, it’s web sites that are interactive, and it has led to social networking sites such as MySpace, wikis that anyone can add information to, and blogs (like this one!) It has also allowed for numerous sites for book-lovers- like you. Probably the best known such site is LibraryThing, which was launched in August 2005 and featured on our blog this February. This is a site that will catalog up to 200 of your personal titles for free, as well as keep a list of books, suggest titles based on your catalog, and allow comments on others’ profiles. Other similar sites exist, with Shelfari being perhaps the second best known. Slightly newer, it was launched in October 2006. Again, registration is free, but this site also allows for an unlimited number of books cataloged for no charge. Why not register for both and let us know which you prefer.
TJS

Each day it seems that we are bombarded with web sites that upon first glance seem so appealing and exciting but with further exploration seem boring and rather shallow….Here are a few web sites (preceded by an explanation of their content) whose information we hope will offer useful information:
*Need to find the chronological sequence of all those Stephanie Plum’s titles….the Kent District Library has compiled chronological lists of many of your favorite authors, but be careful, this site is case sensitive.[Capitalize first letter of author's first and last name]
* All Readers features extensive book lists that you can search by mystery, romance, biography, history, science fiction and other genres. It also offers book reviews, summaries, author interviews and interesting articles on the world of books.
*Overbooked offers readers starred reviews, themed book lists and features new titles both fiction and nonfiction.
An exhaustive web page for book lovers.
*When you have read all your favorite author’s books and are looking for similar titles, check out the Boone County Public Library and our own “If You Like” lists for more popular fiction writers.
*If you are interested in a virtual book club that reads historical mysteries, check out author Laurie King’s very own online book club. Each month, discussion centers around one of her popular Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes series.
Donna Seaman, associate editor and reviewer extraordinaire Booklist magazine and host of WLUW Radio’s “Open Books” program, has launched a companion web site to her hour-long radio program at www.openbooksradio.org. She first collected interviews with more than 30 authors who have appeared on her program in the anthology Writers on the Air: Conversations About Books. Now she is able to offer free downloadable audio files of select editions of “Open Books” interviews. New interviews will be added each month, so check back often.
And last but certainly not least……….for those who love to know what’s going on in the Windy City, take a look at Gapers Block…a web site that covers music, dining, sports, dance, books, films and just about anything that’s happening in Chicago. The day’s events are listed with time, place and a phone number. A wealth of information about Chicago with interesting sidebar essays.
MC