Readers’ Advisory Resources Worth Having in Your Back Pocket by Grace Croken
Readers’ advisory can sometimes feel intimidating, but the good news is you don't have to have read everything, you just have to know where to look. Whether you’re new to RA, or just building out your toolkit, here are some resources worth checking out.
Professional Reviews
Publisher’s Weekly, Library Journal/School Library Journal, Kirkus, Horn Book, BookList, and BookPage:
The leaders in professional book reviewing. These journals and magazines go beyond plot summary and genre to consider craft, audience, appeal factors, and reading levels. These reviews are written by professionals specifically for library workers for collection development in their libraries. Most are available in both print and digital formats, with some offering free online access. Others may require a subscription, but your library may already have purchased a subscription.
Publisher’s Book Talks, Author Events, and Previews:
Many major publishing houses, including Penguin Random House, Hachette, and Sourcebooks, offer monthly and quarterly online webinars and in-person events featuring upcoming titles and authors from their companies.
Online Tools
NoveList, NoveList K-8:
A readers’ advisory and book discovery database built specifically for libraries that provides read-alike and listen-alike recommendations for titles, authors, series and audiobooks. NoveList uses an extensive tagging system that incorporates appeal factor language, genres, reading levels, author characteristics and more to help librarians connect patrons with their next book. New Jersey Librarians have access to it for free through the NJ State Library’s JerseyClicks Program. Learn more here: JerseyClicks Statewide Electronic Resources | NJ State Library
RUSA’s Reading List:
ALA’s annual top genre fiction picks across eight categories; ‘adrenaline,’ ‘fantasy,’ ‘historical fiction,’ ‘horror,’ mystery,’ relationship fiction,’ ‘romance,’ and ‘science fiction.’ It’s a great starting point for a quick recommendation for a genre you may not be familiar with.
ALA Books & Media Award Lists:
Curated lists covering everything from the Paultzer Prize to the Alex Award. Useful for both adult and youth services, and can be a good resource to share directly with patrons who are looking for award-winning titles.
NPR’s “Books We Love”:
A searchable, annually updated database of titles by NPR contributors, organized by genre, audience, and tags. It’s easy to use, visually appealing, and has over 380 titles.
DoesTheDogDie.com:
Crowdsourced content warnings across a range of books and other media. The site covers a variety of triggering content including violence, grief, substance abuse, and more. It can be a useful resource to point a patron towards if they’re interested in a title, but are concerned that it may contain something they’d rather not read about.
Staying Current
LibraryReads:
A monthly national library staff pick list for adult fiction and non-fiction. It represents the books library workers loved reading, collection favorites, and is designed to showcase a broad range of diverse tastes.
BookTok, Instagram, Reddit:
Useful for understanding what readers are excited about in the current moment, particularly among genre fiction and YA. The algorithm tends to amplify what people are talking about, and can be a good look into how patrons are discovering books outside the library. Be forewarned that the algorithm will be showing you titles skewed slightly towards your reading preferences.
Goodreads, StoryGraph, LibraryThing:
Platforms for logging what you’ve read, what you want to read, and how you felt about it, with opportunities to connect with others and share reflections. Useful for getting a sense of how general readers are responding to a title.
Adapted from “Yes, You Can Do RA!” presented by Maribeth Fischer (she/her), Scotch Plains Public Library, and Rachel Talbert (she/her), Jersey City Free Public Library. NJLASL/NJASL Conference, 2026.