Biblio File

Finding a Book When You've Forgotten Its Title

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Library books lined up on a shelf Bank check out selected results from NYPL Title Quest 2019, held August two, 2019, also every bit Title Quest 2018.

This is an update of a previous post by Sharon Rickson.

It can be tough to recall the title and author of a book you read a long fourth dimension ago—even if it was a book that was really important to y'all. Fiction is cataloged by author and title, not past discipline or plot line, which makes identifying books past only their storyline difficult.

Readers often inquire librarians for help finding these kinds of books. And we tin't figure out the mystery every single time, but nosotros do take a few tricks to assistance find the answer.

First, pin downwardly everything y'all tin think nigh the book, plot, grapheme names, time period in which the book may have been published, genre, etc. All these details are clues in identifying the title and author of the book.

Online resource can assist with your search for a half-remembered book, even if all you have is a bones plot line. Searching yourself is a good place to start; and so, y'all can mail to a listserv or discussion forum, where someone might recognize it. Or, last merely not to the lowest degree, go out a comment on this mail!

Before You Commencement

Attempt Google! Type in everything you lot can remember well-nigh the book — as in, "movie book rabbi animals advice yiddish" — and roll through the results. (That'southward a existent-life instance of a volume a patron was request for: It Could Always Be Worse past Margot Zemach.)

Yous can also try googling one key detail y'all remember from a book. One of our librarians solved a book mystery by searching "USS You lot-Know-Who" — the name of a boat in the story that the patron happened to think. (Another real-life example: She Flew No Flags past Joan Manley.)

Crowdsourcing

  • What'south the Name of That Book?
    A Goodreads group with searchable discussion posts and thousands of questions and answers.

  • Name That Book
    A LibraryThing group of ~3K members — many of whom are librarians or library-next — who help solve volume mysteries via threaded discussions.

  • The Fiction_L listserv
    Stumpers! Search archives of past questions, answered by an intense book-ish customs, or subscribe and post a new one.

  • Reddit's whatsthatbook thread
    A well-nigh countless thread of users trying to assist other users remember book titles, including several oftentimes requested books. Especially good for science fiction and fantasy.

  • "Stump the Bookseller" web log
    A cool indie bookstore in Ohio that maintains extensive, searchable athenaeum — and offers a $four service for personalized aid. Lots of children's books here.

  • Big Book Search
    If you can merely remember what the embrace looks like, try this cover-search tool.

Library Databases (log in with your library bill of fare)

  • Books & Authors

  • Books in Impress

  • The New York Times databases

  • NoveList and NoveList K-eight (in-library use merely)

More Suggestions

  • If you can call up but 1 give-and-take, apply the search role on Goodreads or Library Thing to find long lists of titles with a item word.

  • Goodreads' browse-able lists of titles that readers have shelved in unique categories, such as authors' professions or decades of publication, is also exist helpful.

  • For recently published books, the reviews in Booklist Online are broken down past detailed genre.

How to Motion On

Sometimes, it's just non going to happen, and you can't find that elusive book you've been searching for. It's okay! Great news: The globe is full of neat books! Here are a few means to observe more...

  • Check out recommendations from our volume experts here at NYPL. Nosotros offer suggestions via weblog posts, the Staff Picks volume finder, The Librarian Is In podcast, and more than.
  • If yous'd like a personalized recommendation, detect the states on Twitter or make full out our What Should I Read Next? email form.
  • Want a make-new read? Check out our favorite New and Noteworthy titles.

Feel free to get out a comment and tell us about a book you're trying to remember! Our library staff members will pop in and check it periodically, and readers of this post are welcome to brand guesses and suggestions.