Biblio File

Finding a Book When You've Forgotten Its Title

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Library books lined up on a shelf Check out selected results from NYPL Title Quest 2019, held August 2, 2019, equally well equally Title 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 y'all read a long time agone—fifty-fifty if it was a book that was really important to you. Fiction is cataloged past author and championship, not past subject or plot line, which makes identifying books past just their storyline difficult.

Readers often enquire librarians for help finding these kinds of books. And we can't figure out the mystery every single time, but nosotros do accept a few tricks to aid observe the answer.

First, pivot down everything you can remember about the book, plot, character names, fourth dimension menstruum in which the book may have been published, genre, etc. All these details are clues in identifying the title and author of the volume.

Online resources can help with your search for a half-remembered volume, even if all you have is a basic plot line. Searching yourself is a good place to starting time; then, y'all tin post to a listserv or discussion forum, where someone might recognize it. Or, last only non least, go out a comment on this post!

Before You Start

Try Google! Blazon in everything you tin can remember about the book — as in, "picture book rabbi animals advice yiddish" — and coil through the results. (That's a real-life example of a book a patron was asking for: It Could Always Be Worse by Margot Zemach.)

Yous tin also try googling one key detail you remember from a volume. Ane of our librarians solved a book mystery by searching "USS You-Know-Who" — the proper name of a boat in the story that the patron happened to remember. (Another real-life example: She Flew No Flags by Joan Manley.)

Crowdsourcing

  • What's the Proper name of That Book?
    A Goodreads group with searchable word 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 aid solve book mysteries via threaded discussions.

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

  • Reddit'southward whatsthatbook thread
    A well-nigh endless thread of users trying to help other users remember volume titles, including several ofttimes requested books. Especially practiced for science fiction and fantasy.

  • "Stump the Bookseller" web log
    A absurd indie bookstore in Ohio that maintains all-encompassing, searchable archives — and offers a $iv service for personalized help. Lots of children'southward books here.

  • Big Book Search
    If you tin can simply remember what the encompass looks like, 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 Grand-eight (in-library use only)

More than Suggestions

  • If you can remember just one discussion, employ the search part on Goodreads or Library Thing to find long lists of titles with a particular word.

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

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

How to Move On

Sometimes, it's simply not going to happen, and you can't observe that elusive volume you've been searching for. It'due south okay! Great news: The globe is full of not bad books! Hither are a few means to find more...

  • Check out recommendations from our volume experts here at NYPL. We offer suggestions via blog posts, the Staff Picks book finder, The Librarian Is In podcast, and more.
  • If yous'd like a personalized recommendation, find u.s.a. on Twitter or fill out our What Should I Read Side by side? email form.
  • Desire a brand-new read? Check out our favorite New and Noteworthy titles.

Experience free to leave a comment and tell united states nearly a book you're trying to call back! Our library staff members will popular in and check it periodically, and readers of this post are welcome to make guesses and suggestions.