My Favorite Book Links

Last updated: 22 November 2023

BOOK PORTALS

Online book cataloging, recommendations and reviews, community and genre forums, groups by genre (and every other thing having to do with books), and trivia, quizzes, interviews, and more. Free and highly recommended for all readers and authors.

Goodreads — (My Goodreads account)
Library Thing — (My LibThing account)

GENRE SITES

Stop, You’re Killing Me! – “A website to die for… if you love mysteries”; lists of authors, characters, titles, series, genres, and much more for mystery fans.
Historical Novels – over 5000 listed by time and place from Margaret Donsbach
Historical Fiction Online Forums – “a friendly place to discuss, review and discover historical fiction;” a great resource for writers and readers alike
Uchronia – The Alternate History List, “a bibliography of over 3300 novels, stories, essays and other printed material involving the ‘what ifs’ of history.”
Mystery Readers International – “the largest mystery fan/reader organization in the world”; their quarterly, themed journal is a terrific read.
Cozy Mysteries Unlimited – cozies broken into further categories for all tastes
Looking for a Mystery? – a great series of lists and resources from Linda Bertland to help you find the mystery you want to read
Fantastic Fiction – “an online catalog of authors and books for those of us who love to read fiction.”

BOOK CLUBS & DISCUSSIONS

BookTalk.org – a free book discussion group, book club or online reading group with thousands of members and hundreds of forums
Historical Novel Society – a literary society devoted to promoting the enjoyment of historical fiction.
OnlineBookClub – A Free Online Community For Book Lovers; their forums are super!
Meetup – find a local book club (or anything else that may interest you)
Action Book Club – from Little Free Library; a terrific way to start a book club and help your community at the same time.
Litsy – a free mobile app accesses “a place to share and discover your favorite books with your favorite people”
BookRiot – “dedicated to the idea that writing about books and reading should be just as diverse as books and readers are”
Bookclubs – “Organize your club, start a new one, and find your book people. For free.”

FREE & DISCOUNTED EBOOKS

Free-eBooks.net – free and membership site to download ebooks from a wide variety of categories
Digital Book Index – a Meta-index of other ebook sites; very valuable for research purposes
Bookbub – alerts you to limited-time free and discounted ebooks matching your interests
Digital Book Today – helping book lovers find authors in a digital world
Pixel of Ink – free and bargain Kindle books
Book Gorilla – free and discounted ebooks matching your interests via email
Riffle – free and discounted ebooks in your favorite genres; offers a premium service, too
The Online Book Page – listing over two million free books on the web from the University of Pennsylvania

REVIEW SITES & BLOGS

Reviews from The Historical Novel Society
Omnivoracious – (now The Amazon Book Review) “the place for the Amazon Books editors to talk about [their] passions…”
Powell’s Books blog – “Authors, readers, critics, media — and booksellers”
Netgalley – “Read, review, and recommend;” a super place to get the latest free e-books and audiobooks to review.
The Millions – “an online magazine offering coverage on books, arts, and culture since 2003”
Page-Turner – from The New Yorker magazine, “Criticism, contention, and conversation about books and the writing life.”
BooksPlease – from Margaret in England
Reading the Past – historical fiction reviews and views by Sarah Johnson
Becky’s Book Reviews – Becky reviews books for children, teens, and adults
SFBookReviews – reviews of sci-fi, fantasy, and horror
Modern Mrs. Darcy – “Get more out of your (reading) life”
Publishers Weekly Reviews – from the international book publishing business magazine
Fantasy Book Review – UK-based site with great reviews of all fantasy genres
The Book Blogger List – if you review books or are looking for a reviewer, start here.
Audiobook Jukebox – find links to audiobook reviews from all over the Web
Literary Hub – “a single, trusted, daily source for all the news, ideas and richness of contemporary literary life.”

MAGAZINES ABOUT BOOKS

Shelf Unbound E-magazine from Shelf Media – free subscription
Book Page – “discover your next great book”
Booksmarks Magazine – “so many books, so little time”
The Strand Magazine – for mystery and short story lovers
Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine – “world’s leading crime and mystery fiction since 1941”
Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine – original mystery short stories
Fantasy and Science Fiction – founded in 1949
LOCUS – science fiction and fantasy since 1968
Publisher’s Weekly – “the bible of the book business”
New York Review of Books – “the premier literary-intellectual magazine in the English language”
Clarkesworld Magazine – a monthly science fiction and fantasy magazine

AUDIOBOOKS

All About Audiobooks – my own article with some applicable links
Audible – the queen of audiobook sites; requires a subscription to listen, but even without one, you can read great reviews and find new books.
Downpour – purchase with or without a monthly membership
AudioFile – also a magazine; helps you find great audiobooks
AudioBook Reviewer – great stuff for horror, sci-fi, and thrillers
Books, Music, Reviews, Oh My! – a fun review blog for all books, but especially good for listeners.
Scribd – offers quite a few audiobooks with their monthly membership
LibriVox – for “free public domain audiobook” read by volunteers; it’s somewhat hit-or-miss for narration, but if you enjoy the classics, this is your site.
Tantor Media – “Unforgettable, unabridged audiobooks” Free membership, purchase MP3 files; great selection
Chirp Books – follow the deals for some low-cost audiobooks; sign up for their daily email.

Audiobook meme

PODCASTS

Selected Shorts – “Spellbinding short stories by established and emerging writers performed by stars of the stage and screen.”
LitReading – “Classic short stories, well told” by professional narrator Don McDonald
Lore – the history behind scary stories; “each episode examines a new dark historical tale in a modern campfire experience.”
The Guardian Books Podcast – “Each programme features an interview with a leading author and a reading of the author’s favourite short story by another writer.”
The Disney Story Origins Podcast – “the real stories behind Disney favorites”
Myths and Legends – similar to the above Disney podcast; “fascinating origins of myths and legends from around the world”
The New Yorker: Fiction Podcast – Monthly reading by an author of a story from the magazine’s archives with fiction editor Deborah Treisman
LeVar Burton Reads – “The best short fiction, handpicked by the world’s greatest storyteller.”
Overdue – “a podcast about the books you’ve been meaning to read.”
BBC Book at Bedtime – “Readings from modern classics, new works by leading writers and literature from around the world”
Just the Books – weekly episodes from Heather Ordover—an episodic audiobook that includes background and insights modern readers sometimes need to make a classic book come to life.
The Bookshelf from NPR- “presents daily serialized half-hour book readings Monday-Thursday, featuring local and national authors and read by local Spokane voices.”

CATALOGING SOFTWARE (DESKTOP)

In addition or as an adjunct to Library Thing and Goodreads, both of which allow comprehensive cataloging:

Bookpedia – for Macintosh, iPhone and iPad; Bruji also offers cataloging software for DVDs, CDs and Games.
Readerware – for all platforms; also for videos and music
Delicious Library – for all platforms
Librarian Pro from Koingo Software – good for more than books: stamps, movies, games, music, or wine, too. For Windows and Mac.
Booxter – books, music, movies and comics for Macintosh and iPhone
Book Collector – for Windows and Mac
libib – cloud and mobile app cataloging for everyone with free and paid versions

There are too many book cataloging apps for mobile devices to list here, and they come and go much quicker than the desktop programs.

BOOK STORES

Powells Books – an independent bookseller serving Portland, Oregon
Half Price Books – new, used, rare, out-of-print, and textbooks
Monongahela Books – specialists in American history and culture
Smashwords – ebooks from independently-published authors
Barnes & Noble – “The Internet’s Largest Bookstore”
Amazon – the king of online book (and more) stores
Books-A-Million (BAM) – book chain in the southeastern U.S.; ebooks, retail, gifts, toys, etc.
ThriftBooks – great used books, excellent customer service
Better World Books – used books and philanthropy
Strand Books – new, used, and rare books in NYC

Also see AbeBooks and Alibris under BOOK SEARCHES.

Photo by Fabio Traina on Unsplash

BOOK SEARCHES

Bookfinder.com – searches all of the catalogs of thousands of booksellers around the world
AbeBooks – an online marketplace for books from global independent sellers
Stump the Bookseller from Loganberry Books – a fascinating way to help find a book when you can only remember part of it
Alibris – search for used, rare, out-of-print, and textbooks
Book Series – The “goal is to eventually list every author and book series there is in publication order and chronological order.”
WhatsNext Books in Series – from KDL, is a way to search for series fiction
Book Series In Order – the goal is “to list the series of every book in order”

SWAP & LEND SITES

PaperBack Swap – trade books for free with the online book swap or buy new books at great prices
BookMooch – give books away, get books you want
Lendle – to lend and borrow Kindle books all across the U.S. (no need to own a Kindle device)
BookCrossing – Release your books “into the wild” and track where they go.

FESTIVALS & OTHER CELEBRATIONS

Bouchercon – World mystery conventions
World Book Night – an annual national celebration of reading and books on April 2
Texas Book Festival – “connects authors and readers through experiences that celebrate the culture of literacy, ideas, and imagination”
BookExpo America – the largest annual book trade fair in the U.S.