If you liked...

Ever wonder where to turn to find books similar to others that you liked? Librarians call this quest looking for “read-alikes”. One super easy way to find lists like this is to put a search like this “dan brown read-alikes” into your favorite search engine. You will find lists, mostly constructed by various libraries, of authors or books that are comparable to the one you liked.

There is a way you can be much more specific in trying to pinpoint some element of the book that you particularly would like to see in other stories. Your Sno-Isle library card provides you with access to a database called NoveList Plus. This is a great resource for readers in many different ways, including finding your read-alikes. Here is a link to it.

Once you get there, you have multiple options. The simplest one is to click on “Author Read-alikes” on the right side of the page. This takes you to a huge alphabetical list of authors. Choose the one you like in order to find out which other authors write similar types of books. For example, if you really liked Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings series, you can learn about Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series, as well as others that are comparable in some way.

To find books that share similar specific elements that you enjoy, from the NoveList Plus main page, search for the title of a book that you like. I did a search for Something Borrowed, Something Bleu, by Cricket McRae. On the right side of the page, there is a “Search for More” option. I chose to focus on the elements “women artisans” and “women detectives”.

That search gave me the name of another author, Barbara Burnett Smith, who also writes mysteries that include a crafting element.









Try it--you'll like it, but don’t forget to check with your library staff for reading suggestions as well !

Do you have any read-alike suggestions to share for your favorite authors?

Eileen--Snohomish Reference