Biblio File

Finding a Volume When You lot've Forgotten Its Title

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Library books lined up on a shelf Cheque out selected results from NYPL Championship Quest 2019, held August 2, 2019, besides equally Championship Quest 2018.

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

It can be tough to remember the title and author of a book you read a long time ago—fifty-fifty if it was a book that was really of import to you. Fiction is cataloged by author and championship, not past field of study or plot line, which makes identifying books by just their storyline difficult.

Readers oftentimes inquire librarians for help finding these kinds of books. And we can't effigy out the mystery every unmarried time, simply we do have a few tricks to help detect the reply.

First, pin down everything you lot tin can remember about the book, plot, character 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 assistance with your search for a half-remembered book, fifty-fifty if all y'all take is a basic plot line. Searching yourself is a good identify to starting time; then, you can mail service to a listserv or discussion forum, where someone might recognize it. Or, concluding but non least, leave a comment on this post!

Before Y'all Commencement

Endeavor Google! Type in everything y'all tin retrieve most the book — as in, "picture book rabbi animals advice yiddish" — and scroll through the results. (That'south a existent-life case of a book a patron was asking for: It Could E'er Exist Worse by Margot Zemach.)

Y'all can as well try googling one key detail you remember from a book. One of our librarians solved a book mystery by searching "USS You-Know-Who" — the name of a gunkhole in the story that the patron happened to remember. (Some other real-life example: She Flew No Flags by Joan Manley.)

Crowdsourcing

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

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

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

  • Reddit's whatsthatbook thread
    A almost countless thread of users trying to help other users remember book titles, including several ofttimes requested books. Especially practiced for science fiction and fantasy.

  • "Stump the Bookseller" blog
    A absurd indie bookstore in Ohio that maintains extensive, searchable archives — and offers a $4 service for personalized help. Lots of children's books here.

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

Library Databases (log in with your library card)

  • Books & Authors

  • Books in Print

  • The New York Times databases

  • NoveList and NoveList K-viii (in-library apply only)

More Suggestions

  • If you can remember simply one word, use the search function on Goodreads or Library Affair to find long lists of titles with a particular word.

  • Goodreads' scan-able lists of titles that readers take shelved in unique categories, such equally authors' professions or decades of publication, is as well be helpful.

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

How to Motion On

Sometimes, it'southward just not going to happen, and you can't find that elusive book you've been searching for. It's okay! Great news: The world is full of great books! Here are a few ways to detect more...

  • Check out recommendations from our book experts here at NYPL. We offering suggestions via blog posts, the Staff Picks book finder, The Librarian Is In podcast, and more.
  • If y'all'd like a personalized recommendation, find usa on Twitter or fill out our What Should I Read Next? electronic mail class.
  • Want a make-new read? Bank check out our favorite New and Noteworthy titles.

Feel free to exit a comment and tell u.s.a. about a book you're trying to recall! Our library staff members will popular in and check it periodically, and readers of this post are welcome to make guesses and suggestions.