Holiday reading (2)

In the first post in this series I discussed different approaches to acquiring books for holiday reading. If you like the deliberate approach to book selection (as opposed to the accidental approach), here are some suggestions if you have read all the books by a favourite author and are hungry for more.

• Who Else Writes Like...? A readers' guide to fiction is an established reference book designed to help anyone who enjoys reading fiction to expand the number of writers they read. It answers the dilemma facing those who have exhausted the output from a particular author: "What shall I read next?" Your local public library should have a copy.


• The literature-map website is an interesting idea. Its a visual search tool for authors - the closer two writers are on the "map", the more likely someone will like both of them. Just type in a name to find an author on the map.


• Another approach is provided by whichbook, a website that helps readers find books by genre, setting, plot etc. Instead of starting from the overwhelming choice of books available, whichbook starts from the reader and provides an intuitive way to find books to match their mood. The intention is to enable each individual to build the elements of that elusive 'good read' we are all looking for but don't quite know how to define.