The Library’s website offers several tools to help you find books you’ll enjoy.On the Library main page (sfpl.org) you’ll find the Books & Materials tab. Click on this and then on Reader’s Corner for lots of ideas on what to read next.
The book icon labeled On the Same Page provides a description of a featured title. These books are selected bi-monthly for their wide appeal and good reviews. The books are almost always out in paperback and there are usually lots of brand new copies available. If the current selection is not of interest, click on the Previous Selections link on the right of the screen to see On the Same Page titles for the current and previous years.
If you’ve enjoyed an On the Same Page title view the Read Alikes, also on the right side of the screen, to find books that are similar in theme or tone.
Click on the One City One Book icon to learn all about the annually selected title and about programs related to the book, such as author visits.
The Lit Databases icon will take you to all of the Library’s subscription databases that deal with Books and Literature. To access these databases from outside the Library you’ll need your Library card number and your Library PIN. If you don’t have a PIN just stop by any of the service desks at any San Francisco Library. It only takes a few seconds to create a PIN.
The first database listed, BookBrowse, provides recommendations for fiction and non-fiction titles, reading guides and advice for book clubs and previews of soon to be released items. You can also use this database to search for recommendations based on setting, theme or time period. The read-alikes feature allows you to search for books similar to titles you’ve enjoyed in the past. BookBrowse also offers subscription e-mail newsletters so you can stay up to date on new books and all the great BookBrowse recommendations.
Further down the list of databases you’ll find Fiction Connection and Non-fiction Connection. Using this database you can search by topic, genre, setting, time period and type of character. You can also enter a favorite title, search for read-alikes and then limit the results by various aspects of the book, such as setting and genre.
The fourth book icon links to lists of items recently acquired by the Library. New lists appear at the beginning of each month.
For more recommendations check out the box labeled Next Reads. Here you can select newsletters by genre or non-fiction topic and have recommendations delivered straight to your e-mail address.
Finally, visit our new SF Bay Reads blog with recommendations and reviews by Library staff. From the Library’s home page click on the last tab, About, and then on Blogs. SF Bay Reads is the first blog listed.
