Resources for the "Best" Genre Books: A Follow Up To Yesterday's Post

Well I am happy to say that many of you are taking yesterday's Call to Action seriously. How do I know? I have been inundated with requests to help people pick a good book in their "fear" zone because NoveList and Goodreads have been a little bit overwhelming.

So, for the benefit of all here is what I have been telling people who have contacted me:

• Click here for my 2015 Attack of the "Best" Lists slides from the webinar I did for PLA members last December. In it I break down last year's best books by genre and I even threw in a few backlist readalikes.
• If your ILS allows you to sort your stats by genre, filter out last year's most popular books in your chosen genre and read one of those.  Why last year's? Well if you do the current hottest books they probably won't be on the shelf and that will make you procrastinate on doing this exercise even more. I want to harness this energy and get you all going. So last year's favorites are good enough.
• "Oh, I can't do that with my ILS," you say.  Nice try, but I have that covered too. Goodreads has their Reader's Choice lists neatly separated out into genres. Let a fan choose a title for you. Don't just look at the winners, you can see all of the finalists in each category if you click on the genre name.
• Still not convinced...Ask someone for a recommendation, a real live person, patron or staff, someone you know likes a genre you do not. If you ask a patron, you will go a long way toward earning their trust for future RA transactions. 

Now I know some of you may still drag your feet, so here is a testimonial email I received from a regular reader to the blog, Carol Ann from the Merrick [NY] Library, to help inspire you:

In the past you've written how we should get out of our comfort zone and read something we would never read or have a fear of reading.

I read horror/sci/fantasy/historical fiction/literary fiction...  the one thing I am terrified of? Romance, chick lit, and "women's lit" (whatever that means). Yikes!

So. Okay, challenge accepted!  

I took your advice a few months back and read, "Leave Me" by Gayle Forman. And lo and behold, my review was the #1 pick for September's Library Reads. Now if THAT isn't a success story, I don't know WHAT is! 

So, thank you!

She took my advice already and now she is reaping the benefits. What are you waiting for?