By: Tynan Edwards, Programming and Outreach Administrator
How can you find your next great book to read?
Do you ask a friend? I know I trust my friends to the world and back, but I’ve seen their bookshelves; there is more dust than actual books.
Your friendly local librarian? Always a great choice, but what if I’m horribly shy and they look too darn nice to bother?
Walk around bookstores and hope a catchy title catches your eye? In this economy? And with whose time?
Accost random citizens on the street and demand to know the last book they read? Generally frowned upon, there are probably better ways to do this without scaring the community.
Luckily for you, the Dauphin County Library System has a perfect (non-confrontational) answer to your problem! A database that lets you use the books you’ve already read to recommend titles that might be similar. The NoveList Plus database allows you to search titles and authors, read reviews, and find books that have the same ‘appeal factors’ or similar titles that might fit that great, book-shaped hole in your To Be Read List.
I finished 70 books last year, some were great, and others, better consigned to those dusty shelves. To try to beat that number, I have to make sure I avoid those dreaded ‘DNFs’ (Did Not Finish) and see what NoveList can provide based on my top 5 books of 2025.
One of the best books I read this year was The Lilac People by Milos Todd. It follows the story of a transman named Bertie living in Berlin. The book spans the eve of World War II, the rise of the Nazi Party, and the liberation of the camps. One of the best historical fiction books I’ve ever read, it is at times uplifting and heartbreaking as we watch these characters live in a world that does not want them to exist. The appeal factors of the book, or the call words that capture the essence of the novel, were moving, uplifting, and LGBT+. Some of the recommended titles were The Sunflower House, Bonfire Night, The Teacher of Auschwitz, and We Must Not Think of Ourselves.
If you want a novel about found family, hidden histories, and a novel that stays with you long after you’ve put it down, you can’t go wrong here.
The second novel is a debut, and what a debut it was. Nesting by Roisin O’Donnell is about Ciara Fay, a pregnant single mother navigating both the broken housing system of Ireland and an emotionally abusive marriage that has caused her to flee with her two daughters to start over. This book sits on your chest like an elephant; it is tense, suspenseful, and never lets you feel comfortable in the world that Ciara finds herself thrust into.
O’Donnell will have a hard time following this novel because it drags you into a world of a desperate, scared mother trying to do the best for her family as her emotionally abusive husband, his family, and the systems surrounding her gaslight her into believing he might not be as bad as it seems, and it’s certainly better than what she has done to her family now. The appeal factors NoveList recommended included Thought-provoking, Suspenseful, and Homelessness, and some similar books were The Axeman’s Carnival, Saints for all Occasions, and The Women on Platform Two.
It can’t all be doom and gloom, so my next book is something totally different. The Dallergut Dream Department Store by Lee Miye is a cozy Korean fantasy novel about a magical department store where people buy dreams. Picture FAO Schwarz, but instead of fighting an old lady for a tickle me Elmo doll, you get to buy a dream about winning the lottery. All you need to do is pay with the emotions that the dream elicits. It’s a short, magical book, with characters that make you want to curl up with a blanket and drift off into someplace wonderful. The appeal factors for this were Feel-good, whimsical, and magical realism.
I actually read many of the books recommended by NoveList (completely by accident) and can say that they all filled the same niche but were distinct enough to keep me coming back. Some of the recommended books were The Rainfall Market, A Harvest of Hearts, and What You Are Looking For, which can be found at The Library.
Three down, two to go. Full Disclosure, I’m a huge nerd, and I’ve been playing Dungeons and Dragons since I was 13. Still do. That said, Kings of the Wild by Nicholas Eames feels like a Dungeons and Dragons campaign spilled onto a page. Aging mercenaries, witty banter, and nonstop action highlight this novel about the frontman of the group, Clay Cooper, getting the band together for one last mission to save the girl (his daughter) from an impossible battle. While it’s part of a trilogy, this is good enough to read on its own. If you love fantasy books that lean into poor planning, inappropriate one-liners, and a large helping of hack-and-slash, then this could be perfect for you. Appeal factors: Amusing, World-Building, Cinematic, and recommended reads: The Blacktongue Thief, The Devils, Hunting, and Herbalism
Last call! The Lies of the Ajungo by Moses Ose Utomi is an African fantasy novella (read: short) about a boy named Tutu as he journeys across a devastated world to find water for his dying mother and city. This book explores how history is shaped and passed on, and the power of a story. Despite its length (and the follow-up novella), it packs a lot into its pages, and I loved the sense of exploring a whole new world rooted in West African folklore. This felt like the type of story that deserves a village elder, a firepit, and a dark night. This isn’t a happy tale, but one that needs to be told. Appeal factors: Afro-fantasy, Haunting, Character-driven, and the recommended reads were: She Who Knows, A Guardian and a Thief, and The Poet Empress.