Despite all the books we have on our shelves, sometimes nothing sounds good. And you sit there and stare at the pile, wondering what am I in the mood for? What should I read next? Well, I discovered through Jenners of Life With Books, (she's a hoot by the way, be sure to check her blog out) some widgets that will help you decide or pick something new to read. Great when doing a theme based book challenge.
Whichbook.net is an interesting search engine with 12 choices and their opposites from such as happy or sad, beautiful or disgusting, easy or demanding, etc. You get to make up to four choices, then press go and see what books come up. I recently discovered through this process a really interesting book called Salamander by Thomas Wharton. It's on my shelves waiting to be read. You can also come up with some rather interesting finds and unusual names.
Picking 'happy', 'larger than life', 'optimistic', and 'short', the first thing that came up was "The Voluptuous Delights of Peanut Butter and Jam" by Lauren Liendenberg. Stop. I know what you're thinking but nope. There isn't anything hinky about it. I looked it up and sounds rather interesting. You can get lost for a while, plugging in various choices and seeing what the engine comes up with. A fun diversion and who knows, you may just discover a new author or interesting book.
Other interesting book search engines:
The Book Seer
What Should I Read Next
Library Things Zeitgeist
Or pick a book randomly using Random.org and New York Times Best Seller Listing. Plug in 1950 to 2011 into the Random generator, then go to the New York Times list, pick the year, then your birth month and see what comes up.
Have fun!
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Link to your most current read. Please link to your specific book review post and not your general blog link. In the Your Name field, type in your name and the name of the book in parenthesis. In the Your URL field leave a link to your specific post. If you have multiple reviews, then type in (multi) after your name and link to your general blog url.
If you don't have a blog, tell us about the books you are reading in the comment section of this post.
I'm still behind, trying to catch up. :)
ReplyDeletehow delightful but dang it, I don't really need another way to spend hours looking at books ;-)
ReplyDeleteI enjoy your weekly posts very much, thank you for the challenge
Oh I can't wait to check out those book search engines. Like I really need more books to read! :-)
ReplyDelete@Anne - Don't worry. You still have half a year left. :)
ReplyDelete@Book Dragon - pure torture. More ways to find books.
@Leah - We all need books. Can't live without them.
I've been doing the Take a Chance challenge and just did The Book Seer! My result was The Pedant and the Shuffly
ReplyDeleteOh, dear, I have so many books waiting to be read (or reread) that I have no space in my life for more right now!
ReplyDeleteIf that ever changes, though, I will try out these searches. They sound great.
Thanks!
Annie Kate
Thanks, this made me smile :)
ReplyDeleteI have bookmarked the site and will also take a look at Jenner's blog .
Great to read as always.
Paul
I'm excited about checking out some of the websites you cited. I need new book ideas!
ReplyDelete@Jean - sounds like an interesting title
ReplyDelete@Annie - things to add to wishlist perhaps
@Paul - So welcome
#Fairy Tale Mama - Have fun!