NoveList

One of the greatest joys for a book lover is to look through the shelves of a bookstore or library looking for that next great read. Of course, with the necessary restrictions that are currently in place we are not able to do so for a while. We know that this also makes it harder for our patrons when trying to find new reading material.

As librarians, we often get asked “what do you usually read?” as a preface question when a patron is looking for some suggestions. Librarians are passionate about books, but unfortunately we don’t have time to read everything in our collection. We do have one advantage though; we see what everyone else usually reads. Sometimes we pull from our own reading experience, but most often we rely on feedback from all of our patrons. We know what you usually like, we know what people who enjoy that material also read, and we know what is currently popular, all of which helps us make suggestions.

Even that knowledge has its limitations though. If I am stumped, I have an ace up my sleeve, NoveList. It’s a database made up of book recommendations that helps you find your next great read based on material you like. First, search for a book you enjoyed so you can looking for recommendations. Then, you can select title read-alikes which gives you a list of similar books. Not only does it provide a great list with multiple books, but it gives you a small description of what matches between your original selection and the suggested title. You can also do this for authors and series.

NoveList is just one of the databases offered by EbscoHost which is available on our eResources page. Go directly to NoveList here. Once the link opens, type in your library card and select the NoveList link to begin searching for titles.

This is a great resource to help you find that next amazing book or your new favorite author. After you have found something of interest, you can look for it in our online catalogue and place requests by clicking here on the Catalogue page. You can also look for recommendations from our library staff by checking out the staff picks section on our website’s homepage. Keep an eye on it as we’ll be updating it with our favorite books of 2020!

If you need more help with NoveList, please contact Carson at carson@nullwmrl.ca.