Books are great gifts, but what books should you give? Even if you know some of a person’s favorite books, it can be hard to think of new ones to buy as gifts. A few places to look for ideas for giving books (as well as ideas for new books to read) are listed below.
One great website to look at this holiday season is the NPR Book Concierge. It is a listing of the many books reviewed on NPR radio stations over the course of 2015.
On the site you can chose to look at books by cover or by title and author. To choose between the two, select either the “Covers” or “List” button at the top right of the page.
On the left side of the page is a list of categories. When you select a certain category, only books of that type will appear on the main page. Click “Mysteries and Thrillers” and only mysteries will show on the main page.
You can also combine categories. Choose “Mysteries and Thrillers” then “Science Fiction & Fantasy” and you will see three SF-mysteries reviewed by NPR this year with a fantastic twist.
http://apps.npr.org/best-books-2015/
Throughout the year you can also keep aware of new books in your favorite genres by signing up to one of the library newsletters.
The newsletters are sent to your email and focus on the type of books you want to read. Also, all the books mentioned in the newsletters can be found at the library.
Some book newsletter topics include: “Arcmchair Travel, Home, Garden, and DIY, Tween Reads, and New York Times Bestsellers. “ There are many more to explore on the website.
https://pmlib.org/newsletters-media-lists/?
For readers interested in exploring Spanish literature, or Spanish readers looking to read a familiar classic in English, Patchogue-Medford Library provides a list of “Great Translations from Spanish to English” compiled by our librarians on the Pinterest website.
Pinned on “Great Translations” are pictures of the books’ covers and summaries below. When you click on the title or cover-image, you are taken to the library catalog. Here you can find exactly where the book is on a library shelf and easily find other books by the same author.
If you use Pinterest, you can pin these Great Translations, share them with other users, or even pin book suggestions or photos of your own.
https://www.pinterest.com/PMLIB/great-translations-from-spanish-to-english/
Another great resource you can access through the library is Novelist Plus, which can be found under the Books & Literature heading on pmlib.org.
To begin, Novelist has Recommended Reading lists that can be found in the left side of the screen.
Choosing between a number of categories allows you to narrow your search. First, select Fiction or Non-Fiction; then the age category of book you are looking for; then one of the 14 genres available.
Each genre has a number of reading lists you can choose.
Besides the reading lists, you can also search for books and authors directly.
At the top of the page there is a searchbar. A dropdown menu allows you to search by title, author, or the series of book you are looking for. Choose one, then type in the title, author, or series you would like to find.
Once you have found the book you like, you can easily find Author and Book Readalikes. These Readlikes are lists of authors and books that have similar features to the one you have already done a search for.
The 
library catalog itself is linked to the extremely popular book recommendation site Goodreads. If you have searched the library catalog for a certain book, you may have seen the link at the bottom of the page.
Goodreads consists of reviews and booklists from readers across the world. When looking at a certain book you liked on this website, you can find more similar books by looking to the right for a list “Readers Also Enjoyed.” Clicking on the name of a book reviewer also allows you to see what other books they have reviewed. If you agree with the opinions of a certain reviewer, it can be useful to see what they think about other books.
These are just a few ways to see more books of a certain type when you already have a favorite in mind. Each of the four websites and databases mentioned above has additional features to explore and expand your reading experience.