Research Guides: Finding fiction (and other books) to read for fun: Finding book recommendations online

Introduction

The internet is full of book reviews and recommendations. Here are a few places to start looking. You can also use our research guide for book reviews to find reviews of specific books.

Book reviews and book review blogs

1000 novels everyone must read
A "must-read" fiction list from the UK newspaper The Guardian, subdivided by theme and genre.
The Book Smugglers
A review blog dedicated to speculative and genre fiction for all ages.
Electric Lit
Electric Literature is a nonprofit digital publisher with the mission to make literature more exciting, relevant, and inclusive. Includes essays, interviews, reviews, and reading lists.
Goodreads
Goodreads is a social reading site that allows users to make lists of books they want to read, post book reviews, and discuss books. The "Explore" menu lets you browse popular new books or see instances of various genres.
LGBTQ Reads
LGBTQ Reads is a site dedicated to promoting curated LGBTQIAP+ literature for all ages, run by author and blogger Dahlia Adler.
LibraryThing
LibraryThing lets you catalog the books you own and browse other people's libraries. It also lets users post book reviews and discuss books on the site's wide variety of group forums.
Literary Hub
Literary Hub is a site for literary news, reviews, and "smart, engaged, entertaining writing about all things books." Includes curated reading lists organized by theme.
The Millions
The Millions is an online magazine offering coverage on books, arts, and culture. Includes book lists, reviews, interviews, and essays.
Shelf Awareness
Shelf Awareness publishes regular newsletters (to which you can subscribe via email) to "help readers discover the 25 best books of the week, as chosen by our industry experts."

Award winners

Looking for award-winning books? Here are some of the websites for major literary prizes and awards, which list current and previous award winners. You can use the Libraries' Catalog to search our collection for titles and/or authors.

Booker Prize winners
The Man Booker Prize "aims to promote the finest in fiction by rewarding the best novel of the year written by a citizen of the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth or the Republic of Ireland."
Edgar Award winners
An annual award for mystery and detective fiction, presented by the Mystery Writers of America. Use this link to search or browse their database of prize winners.
Governor General's Literary Awards
Each year, the Governor General’s Literary Awards (the GGs) honour the best in Canadian literature. As Canada’s national literary awards, the GGs represent the rich diversity of Canadian literature and its authors, translators and illustrators.
Hugo Award winners
The Hugo Awards, presented annually since 1955, are science fiction’s most prestigious award. The Hugo Awards are voted on by members of the World Science Fiction Convention ("Worldcon"), which is also responsible for administering them.
Lambda Literary Awards
The Lambda Literary Awards, presented by the Lambda Literary Association, identify and celebrate the best lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender books of the year.
National Book Award winners
Established in 1950, the National Book Award is an American literary prize administered by the National Book Foundation, a nonprofit organization.
National Book Critics Circle Awards
The National Book Critics Circle awards are given each March and honor the best literature published in the United States in six categories—autobiography, biography, criticism, fiction, nonfiction, and poetry.
Nebula Award winners
The Nebula Awards ® are voted on, and presented by, active members of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Inc.
Otherwise Award
The Otherwise Award (formerly the Tiptree Award) is an annual literary prize for science fiction or fantasy that expands or explores our understanding of gender.
Pulitzer Prize winners
The Pulitzer Prize is an award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature, and musical composition in the United States.
Shirley Jackson Award winners
An award for "outstanding achievement in the literature of psychological suspense, horror, and the dark fantastic."
Stoker Awards
Each year, the Horror Writers Association presents the Bram Stoker Awards for Superior Achievement, named in honor of Bram Stoker, author of the seminal horror work, Dracula.
Women's Prize for Fiction
Formerly known as the Orange Prize, the Women’s Prize for Fiction is the UK’s most prestigious annual book award for fiction written by a woman.
World Fantasy Awards
Awards for fantasy fiction, presented annually at the World Fantasy Convention.

More ways to find book recommendations

What Should I Read Next?
What Should I Read Next? produces book recommendations based on its users' lists of favorite books. Enter a book title or author to see similar books.
WhichBook
WhichBook recommends fiction and poetry based on combinations of factors that you set using sliders. Funny or serious? Bleak or optimistic? Easy or demanding? Short or long? Choose your preferences, then get a list of recommendations.

New York Times Book Review

RSS feeds are a great way to keep up with your favorite blogs and websites. Here is the RSS feed for the latest articles from the New York Times Book Review section: