Chester County Hospital is taking some of its Spring 2020 free Community Wellness and Education presentations, classes, and support groups online!

Virtual presentations include “Reversing Pre-Diabetes,” “Your Heart, Your Life,” “Eat Right, Bite by Bite,” “Inside the Mind of a Pain Doctor,” and more. The Chester County Hospital is also offering a seven-week virtual “Stop Smoking Now!” smoking cessation course, beginning Thursday, June 4th.

Virtual events are free of charge, but registration is required. Visit the Chester County Hospital’s Virtual Wellness Presentations and Classes page for more information and to register.

Tune in to WRTI 90.1 on May 10, 17, and 24 from 4:00-6:00 pm to listen to broadcasts of past concert performances from the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra! Click here for ways to listen, concert details, and more.

“The renowned Philadelphia Youth Orchestra organization, now in its 80th season, is one of the nation’s oldest and most respected community music education and youth orchestra performance programs.” – WRTI

Would you like some new sounds to transport you to a different location or time, or provide you with interesting or comforting background sounds to work or relax to?

Library Journal‘s recent article “Ambient Pleasures and More: 9 Sounds Libraries to Whisk You Away” connects you with options, including the New York Public Library‘s new album Missing Sounds of New York, sounds from various libraries (including University of Oxford’s Bodleian Libraries), sounds from nature, historical recordings, imagined sounds from Hogwarts Library, and more!

Have questions about repairing your generator, lawn mower, or other small engine? Use your library card to access the Small Engine Repair Reference Center (a resource from PA’s Power Library) and find answers!

The Small Engine Repair Reference Center contains “detailed repair guides for all types of small engines” and “offers assistance in providing routine maintenance (tune-ups, break service) as well as extensive repairs such as engine and transmission disassembly.”

“Search by product type, brand, model/engine type, specific area of model/engine type and model numbers.”

Access the Small Engine Repair Reference Center through the library by visiting chescolibraries.org, selecting “Tools and Research” from the ribbon of choices at the top of the page, selecting “All CCLS Databases,” and then select Small Engine Repair Reference Center. Enter your library card number when prompted.

“Join the National Air and Space Museum for a YouTube concert event, sharing songs about space and isolation to celebrate how extreme situations can bring out the very best in us all and why there’s no challenge we can’t face together. The concert, hosted by Tested’s Adam Savage, will feature special guests and performances by Sting, Clipping, Bethany Cosentino of Best Coast, Dan Deacon, Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie, Valerie June, Lukas Nelson, Grace Potter, John Roderick, and Vagabon.”

This concert event was held on April 30th, but you can still learn more and find the link for viewing the concert here.

Interested in other online events and programs from the National Air and Space Museum? Visit their online events page to start exploring!

Are you a fan of historical fiction, mystery, romance, science fiction, or another book genre? Would you like some new ideas for what to read next based on your favorite genre?

Here are a few resources to help you find reading ideas:

NoveList Plus: Start here to find reading ideas by genre! Access NoveList Plus through the Library by visiting chescolibraries.org, selecting “Tools and Research” from the ribbon of choices at the top of the page, selecting “All CCLS Databases,” and then NoveList Plus. Enter your library card number when prompted.

Once you’re in NoveList Plus, there are a few ways to find ideas by genre:

• Under “Recommended Reads,” on the left-hand side of the NoveList Plus homepage, hover over a broad genre category to choose from related lists. Select a list of interest to view title suggestions, and then click on a specific book title to read a book description, professional reviews, and more.

OR

• Hover over “Browse By” at the top left-hand side of the NoveList Plus homepage; select “Genre” to peruse new and popular titles by genre. Below each broad genre, click on “Explore [Your Genre]” for more related lists.

NextReads: Sign up to receive free monthly or bimonthly NextReads emails loaded with great book suggestions by genre or subject area. Sign up here, or view the NextReads Archives here.

Beyond great library resources like NoveList Plus and NextReads, there are many additional resources for finding book ideas by genre! Here are just a few:

Multi-Genre

The Reading List (from America Library Association/RUSA CODES): The Reading List highlights outstanding genre fiction in eight genres: “adrenaline titles (suspense, thrillers, and action adventure), fantasy, historical fiction, horror, mystery, romance, science fiction, and women’s fiction.” Scroll down the page to see current and past lists.

Mystery/Thriller

Agatha Awards: Honoring “the Traditional Mystery, books typified by the works of Agatha Christie.” View current nominees here, or select “Agatha Award History” to see past winners.

Cozy Mysteries: Find “cozy” mystery reading ideas by theme, place, and much more!

Edgar Awards: Presented by Mystery Writers of America, and named after author Edgar Allen Poe. View 2020 Nominees, or visit the Edgars Database to search current and previous nominees, or view by category.

Science Fiction

Hugo Awards: “Awards for excellence in the field of science fiction and fantasy…run by and voted on by fans.” Hover over “Current/Past Hugos” to view award-winners.

Nebula Awards: “The Nebula Awards® are voted on, and presented by, active members of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Inc.” Hover over “The Awards” to search awards or view them by year.

Romance

RITA Awards: Romance Writers of America awards for “excellence in published romance novels and novellas.” Scroll down the homepage to click on “Current Winners” or “Past Winners.”

And finally, while not technically a genre, here’s just one resource for finding audiobook listening ideas:

Audiobooks

Audie Awards: “Each year the Audio Publishers Association honors the best titles in audio publishing.” Scroll down the page to link to current and past honorees.

Earlier this week, we discussed Author Read-alikes and Title Read-alikes. No matter which approach you take, we hope that you find good ideas for books to try.

Enjoy exploring, feel free to contact us with your Novelist Plus or other questions, and happy reading!

Have a favorite book? Wishing you could find something like it to read next?

Here are a few ways to find find new books to try, based on a favorite book title:

NoveList Plus: You can start your search for title read-alikes here! Access NoveList Plus through the Library by visiting chescolibraries.org, selecting “Tools and Research” from the ribbon of choices at the top of the page, selecting “All CCLS Databases,” and then NoveList Plus. Enter your library card number when prompted.

Once you’re in NoveList Plus, use the search box at the top of the screen to search by title (hover over “Keyword” to select “Title”). Enter the name of a favorite title, select “Search,” and you’re on your way! From the main page for your book, you’ll find:

• A list of “Read-Alikes” (other titles you might enjoy) on the right-hand side of the page. Select “View All” to see the complete list, along with reasons why NoveList Plus thinks you might like those titles.
• “Lists and Articles” related to your book, to connect you with even more reading ideas.
• A “Search For More” option (towards the bottom of the page) that lets you create a customized search for more title ideas, based on criteria you select.

Want to know more about a title that NoveList Plus suggests? Search for your new title idea in NoveList Plus, and then scroll down that title’s page to read professional reviews and more.

Here’s a brief video from NoveList for a helpful recap of how to find both Title and Author Read-alikes.

In addition to NoveList Plus, many libraries publish their own read-alikes on their websites, and no two lists are likely to be the same! Here are examples of the types of Google searches that can help you find more lists to peruse.

In these search examples, the titles are in quotes so that they’re searched as a complete phrase:

“Where the Crawdads Sing” library read-alikes

“A Gentleman in Moscow” library read-alikes

In this example, the author is included since the title is short, and may not be unique:

Outlander Gabaldon library read-alikes

Happy exploring! Earlier this week we discussed finding Author Read-alikes; stay tuned for more on finding reading ideas by book genre.

Already read all of the books written by your favorite author? Would you like to discover a new author or two to explore?

Here are a few resources to help you find new authors to try, based on authors you already like:

NoveList Plus: Start your search for author read-alikes here! Access NoveList Plus through the Library by visiting chescolibraries.org, selecting “Tools and Research” from the ribbon of choices at the top of the page, selecting “All CCLS Databases,” and then NoveList Plus. Enter your library card number when prompted.

Once you’re in NoveList, use the search box at the top of the screen to search by author (hover over “Keyword” to select “Author”). Enter the name of a favorite author, select “Search,” and you’re on your way! You’ll find a description of your author, and on the right-hand side of the screen, a list of Read-alikes (other authors you might enjoy). Click on “View All” to see the complete list, along with reasons why NoveList thinks you might like those authors.

Find a new author you’d like to explore? Search for this new author in NoveList. The description of an author ends with a “Start with” suggestion about which of their books to try first if you’re new to the author.

In addition to NoveList, here two more fun ways to discover new authors based on old favorites:

Fantastic Fiction: Use this site to find books recommended by your favorite author! Search for an author, then scroll down their page to find the “[Your favorite author] recommends” section. Note: You do NOT need to sign up with the site to use this feature.

Literature-Map: The Tourist Map of Literature: Enter a favorite author to see a visual map of other authors you might like.

Happy exploring! Stay tuned for more on title read-alikes and finding reading ideas by book genre.

You can transcribe or otherwise work with historical documents to help make them more searchable and accessible to researchers and others!

Interested in volunteering your time? Below are a few crowdsourcing projects to explore. Each project site has its own instructions for getting started, as well as project-specific guidelines/support/help to aid you in your work:

• By the People from the Library of Congress: Campaigns include “Letters to Lincoln,” “Suffrage: Women Fight for the Vote,” “Clara Barton: ‘Angel of the Battlefield,'” and many others. Visit the By the People Help Center to learn how to get started.
   
• Citizen Archivist from the National Archives: Missions include “Franklin D. Roosevelt Master Speech Files,” “American’s Scenic Byways” [photographs], “Amistad,” and more. Select “Register and Get Started” to begin.
   
• Freedom on the Move from Cornell University and others: “Rediscovering The Stories Of Self-Liberating People: A database of fugitives from American Slavery.” Help transcribe “runaway ads” and related ads posted in newspapers. From the Freedom on the Move homepage, click on “Crowdsource and Search Ads” to get started.
   
• Smithsonian Digital Volunteers from the Smithsonian Institution: A new featured project is “Letters from Paris: American Artists in Paris, 1860-1930.” For more projects, hover over “Projects” at the top right of the Smithsonian Digital Volunteers: Transcription Center to browse by theme or museum/archive. Scroll down to the “Join Us!” section to get started.