These sites are jointly recommended and maintained by librarians at Westminster Public Library and Front Range Community College Library.

BOOKS

Reading Guide Sites
Bookstores
Online books
Lexile Levels
Other great book sites

Reading Guide Sites

• Classic Notes
  http://www.gradesaver.com/study-guides/
  Gives literature summaries and analysis by title and author
   
• Lit Lovers
  http://www.litlovers.com/
  This site provides ideas for book clubs, book suggestions, discussion tips, reading guides for hundreds of books, and even recipe suggestions to match your book discussion.
   
• Reading Group Choices
  http://www.readinggroupchoices.com
  A directory of more than 500 reading discussion guides.  Great for book groups.
   
• Reading Group Guides
  http://www.readinggroupguides.com/
  A web site especially for book groups. Browse by title, author, or genre. Includes summary and discussion questions.
   
• SparkNotes
  http://www.sparknotes.com/
  Study guides for literature, science, mathematics, and other subject areas. Also has complete texts of many great literary works online.

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Bookstores
Not just for buying books. These sites have reviews, author information, and other services.

• Abe Books
  http://www.abebooks.com/
  Search for used, rare, and out of print books.

• BookFinder.com
  http://www.bookfinder.com/
  Another resource for used, rare, and out of print books.
   
• All Bookstores.com
  http://www.allbookstores.com/
  This is a price comparison site for books. It searches different sources, such as Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, and many lesser known bookstores to find the lowest prices for new and used books.

• Amazon
  http://www.amazon.com
  The great big online bookstore

• Barnes and Noble
  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/
  The giant bookseller's online bookstore

• IndieBound
  http://www.indiebound.org/
  Formerly BookSense. A big online bookstore for independent bookstores.
   
• The Tattered Cover
  http://www.tatteredcover.com
  Denver's nationally renowned independent bookstore.

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Online Books

• Librivox
  http://librivox.org/
  Free audiobooks from the public domain available for download.
  
  
• netLibrary
  http://www.netlibrary.com
  Register in the library and then you can access the library's collection  from your home computer.
  
  
• Online Books Page
  http://digital.library.upenn.edu/books/
  Read public domain books on the Internet for free.

• Project Gutenberg
  http://www.gutenberg.org/
  Another website that has free books online.

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Lexile Levels

• The Lexile Framework for Reading
  http://www.lexile.com/
  This website provides general information about Lexile levels and allows users to search for books by specific levels. Especially useful for school assignments.
   
• Reading Counts Lexile List
  http://wr.loswego.k12.or.us/Lexiles/Lexiles.htm
  Another reading list based on Lexile values. The Lexile range is from 0 to 1500.

Another way to use Lexile Levels to search for books is through "Novelist K-8", a database available to Westminster Public Library and Front Range Community College patrons. Please ask a Librarian how to use this database.

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Other Great Book Sites

• Bestseller Lists 1900-1998
  http://www.caderbooks.com/bestintro.html
  Want to read  popular books from the past? This site provides a list of bestsellers for each year from 1900 to 1998.
   
• The Barnes & Noble Review
  http://bnreview.barnesandnoble.com
  Contains reviews, recommended lists, essays, and interviews with authors and critics.
   
• Book Organizations of Colorado
  http://www.coloradobook.org/
  This is a loose collaboration of Colorado organizations involved with books. They publish a monthly online newsletter of meetings and events and have links to the individual organizations.
   
• BookRags.com
  http://www.bookrags.com/
  A student research site that includes literature guides, literary criticism/essays, biographies, and more.
   
• Denver Post's Book News and Reviews
  http://www.denverpost.com/books
  The Denver Post's Sunday book section. Includes information, reviews, and excerpts from current books.
   
• Colorado Book Review Center
  http://www.coloradohistory.org/publications/rev_cntr.htm
  This site, sponsored by the Colorado Historical Society, includes current reviews of recent books on Colorado, new book notices, and special lists of Colorado-related books.
   
• Genrefluent
  http://www.genrefluent.com
  Reviews of genre fiction by category.
   
• Internet Public Library: Literary Criticism
  http://www.ipl.org/div/litcrit/
  Contains critical and biographical websites about authors and their works that can be browsed by author, title, nationality, and literary period.
   
• Modern Library 100 Best
  http://www.modernlibrary.com/top-100/
  This site provides lists of the best English language novels and nonfiction books of the 20th century. They include:
  100 Best Novels
  http://www.modernlibrary.com/top-100/100-best-novels/
  100 Best Novels Rival List
  http://www.modernlibrary.com/top-100/radcliffes-rival-100-best-novels-list/
  100 Best Nonfiction
  http://www.modernlibrary.com/top-100/100-best-nonfiction/
   
• Webrary Reader's Services
  http://www.webrary.org/rs/rslinks.html
  A directory of "web sites for book lovers" done by the Morton Grove Public Library.

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Please send comments and suggestions to drhodes@cityofwestminster.us
Updated: 1/9/2012