Looking for your next favorite book?

I just stumbled upon this website ... but I don't remember how - radio... internet...

Either way, LibraryThing's Suggest feature is an amazing tool to help you find your next favorite book. It works a little like a subject directory. Type in the name of a book that you enjoyed (LibraryThing has an "Unsuggest" feature as well, for those books you didn't quite like), and LibraryThing brings you to a results page populated with titles that match the title you typed. Click on the link that matches the title, and view the books that are similar to it.

For example, let's say that you really enjoyed Sarah Gruen's Water for Elephants. You are now on a mission to read books that have a similar appeal - maybe you liked the strong characters, the alternate settings and points-of-view. Instead of relying on Google for read-alikes, go to www.librarything.com/suggest. Here, you will see two search boxes: one for books you like, one for books you do not like. Since you liked Water for Elephants, type the title in the "Suggest" box. On the next page, click the first link for Water for Elephants. The page that follows is a list compiled by LibraryThing, using its user's profiles and picks, that contains books with similar appeal elements. So if you liked the strong characters in Water for Elephants, you will love the story of the Henry family in The Memory Keeper's Daughter.

So if you are at a loss when it's time to find a new book, try LibraryThing Suggest: www.librarything.com/suggest.

If you enjoy our April book group selections ...

Each month, our book discussion groups in Berea and Richmond choose the book they will read and discuss for the next meeting. In my opinion, both groups made intriguing choices for April.

I am almost finished with Berea's selection, Girl with a Pearl Earring, and even though I've seen the movie, I'm really enjoying the narrative. I got an email today from a book group member who said she found herself wanting books from a similar prospective -- namely, a story behind a work of art.

I went online and looked for books that are similar to Girl with a Pearl Earring – click the following links to find these titles:
http://www.westlib.org/pdf/biblio/pearlearring.pdf
http://www.wmrls.org/services/colldev/HistoricalGenre/0706readalikes.pdf (scroll down to the very bottom)
http://www.elcslpl.org/resources/readalikes/girlwithpearl.html

After I finish Berea's selection, I will start on Richmond's: Burr (as in Aaron Burr) by Gore Vidal. This novel is the first of Vidal's Narratives of Empire series, a series of historical fiction novels about the "rise and fall" of the "American Empire." For more information on the Narratives of Empire series, click here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narratives_of_Empire.

For titles similar to Burr, keep reading the Narratives of Empire series (if you like Vidal's style, which admittedly, many folks do not). Check out the following links for more fiction based on US History:
http://www.cincinnatilibrary.org/booklists/?id=americanhistoricals
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Plot_Against_America -- this is one of my personal favorite books, Philip Roth's The Plot Against America. It falls in the subcategory of Alternate History -- a genre of fiction consisting of stories in which history has diverged from the actual history of the world.

Please join us at our book group meetings! Berea's Tuesday Night Book Group meets on Tuesday, April 20, 2010, at 6:30PM at MCPL's Berea location; Richmond's Thursday Night Book Group meets on Thursday, April 21, 2010, at 6:30PM at MCPL's Richmond location.

Enjoy!
CC

MCPL One of Five Libraries to Win 100 BBC Audiobooks!

Thanks to a generous donation, MCPL is now home to 100 new BBC audiobooks!

Recently, five libraries were awarded brand-new audiobook collections thanks to the friendly efforts of some audiophiles. Hundreds entered BBC Audiobooks America's Facebook Holiday Giveaway by becoming a new fan during the month of December for the chance to give the gift of listening.

The randomly selected sweepstakes winners each chose their favorite US library to receive a diverse prize package of 100 audiobooks (with a retail value of more than $8500), including titles by bestselling and classic authors such as Mark Twain, Joyce Carol Oates, Neil Gaiman, Jonathan Lethem, Pat Barker, Thomas Friedman, and more.

Sweepstakes winner Robert Cornelison, a resident of Richmond, chose to donate this prize package to the Madison County Public Library!

To help you find these books, the Richmond location offers a list of new audiobooks each month, and the Berea location has a new audiobook section where they are shelved.

The Madison County Public Library is thrilled to have been selected to receive these high-quality audiobooks. We hope that you enjoy them and that you will becomes fans of BBC Audiobooks America and our local donor, as we have.

Baby, Our Library Dog, Turns 4 on April 3!

Baby, our lovable Library Dog, will be 4 years old on Saturday, April 3rd. She hopes everyone will celebrate her birthday by taking a romp through the woods, followed by a good long nap and then by eating something really yummy. (Pup-Peroni, anyone?!?)

Stop by MCPL's Berea location and wish Baby a happy birthday!

Book Talk: Lucy’s Story: Right Choices but Wrongs Still Left

This book talk is by MCPL Director, Sue Hays.

The Madison County Public Library is pleased to offer a book which has Black History, Women’s History, and Local History appeal in one moving story. Author Larry Hamilton lives in Ohio, but still has relatives and other close ties to Madison County. He has generously donated a copy of his book to the library so all Madison Countians may enjoy it.

Lucy’s Story: Right Choices but Wrongs Still Left
By Larry Hamilton

Larry Hamilton, the author, was challenged by a meeting with Alex Haley that inspired him to do an oral history with his grandmother. This book is a novel, but is based on that oral history.

Lucy, a young slave, was raised on a plantation in Madison County, Kentucky. She lived there with her mother and her sister, knowing little of the outside world. Lucy’s story picks up from 1850 through the end of the Civil War. As the story progresses, Lucy, her mother and her sister are given to the owner’s daughter when she marries, and they move down the road to their plantation. After an incident on the new plantation, Lucy’s mother, in an attempt to protect her daughters, takes them and flees to Camp Nelson in Jessamine County. Camp Nelson is being built as a supply station for the Union Army and has become a refuge. There Lucy finds a whole new world, learns to read and write through the efforts of John Fee and his family, falls in love and begins to understand life outside the confines of slavery. Kentuckians will appreciate learning about Camp Nelson and Madison County history in this novel based on fact.

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