Mentor Monday--What to Read Next?

If you're a writer of fiction, you must be a reader. You should read extensively in the particular genre (mystery, contemporary, speculative, fantasy, etc.) you wish to write in. But sometimes, you draw a blank. What to read next?

There are online places to go to for direction. All you need is the title and author of a book you've read and liked previously. You can look for either adult or children's books.

What Should I Read Next? is an easy to remember site! It's recommendations are based on those of other readers.

The Book Seer gathers its recommendations from Amazon and Library Thing. What I like about this site is the wise advice, "Of course, you could go ask your local bookshop or your local library."

At tastekid there is a definite "young adult" feel to the site. The search engine is named "Emmy" and is represented by a cute little Japanese manga character. Emmy suggests not only books, but also music and movies.

For the above three sites I used The Giver by Lois Lowry as my test. Not every suggestion made sense. Here are a few examples: Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg, and The White Rose and the Swastika (Oxford Modern Playscripts) by Adrian Flynn.

Another place to look for suggestions is NoveList, an EBSCO product. Check your local public library to see if it offers this great database. One of its search options is "describe a plot." This can come in handy if you've read a book and can no longer remember the title, but you want to read something similar!

--Diane

Photo by Marco Bellucci