The next Reader’s Advisory Roundtable (RART) meeting will be
on Wednesday, April 12th at 9:30am in-person at the O’Neal
Library. If you’d rather attend online,
keep an eye on your email for a Zoom link to this hybrid meeting as the meeting
date approaches. The topic up for discussion
will be Afrofuturism.
Click here for more information about this topic: https://newsroom.ucla.edu/magazine/afrofuturism
RA Roundtable met on Zoom today to talk about romance of all
kinds!
In attendance:
Holley W, O’Neal
Bridget T, Homewood
Melanie L, Hoover
Cara W, Center Point
Maura D, Trussville
Tamara H, Irondale
Samuel R, Springville Road BPL
Alisha J, Central BPL
Kenyata R, North Birmingham BPL
Research on the benefits of reading fiction:
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/02/02/81-year-old-neuroscience-shares-brain-rules-that-keep-his-memory-sharp-as-a-whip.html
(Thanks to Bridget T. at Homewood!)
More research may be found here:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-art-effect/202203/the-mental-health-benefits-reading
https://www.realsimple.com/health/preventative-health/benefits-of-reading-real-books
https://www.webmd.com/balance/health-benefits-of-reading-books
https://www.today.com/life/inspiration/benefits-of-reading-rcna61735
When looking for spicier romance or finding the next in a
spicy series, the splendid Fantastic Fiction series site has a separate sister
webpage for erotica: www.ffadultsonly.com
Several in the group mentioned that Colleen Hoover is our
most common ask at reader service desks.
In polling participants, several were willing to share the work they’ve
done in assembling readalike books and authors.
A big thank you to Rebecca O. at Trussville for this list of
authors!
Lucy Score
Emily Henry
Alyssa Cole
Ali Hazelwood
Alex Michaelides
Elena Armas
Jenny Han
Elle Kennedy
Helen Hoang
Christina Lauren
Taylor Jenkins Reid
Ashley Audrain
Tessa Bailey
Katie Cotugno
Akwaeke Emezi
Abby Jimenez
Jasmine Guillory
Micalea Smeltzer
Kimberly Belle
Samantha Downing
Jay Crownover
Jane Green
Carley Fortune
K.A. Tucker
Abbi Glines
Rebecca Serle
Sally Thorne
Jojo Moyes
Tia Williams
Jill Santopolo
Katja Millay
Rebecca Donovan
Stephanie B. at Hoover created this CoHo readalike list:
The Two Lives of Lydia Bird by Josie Silver
Burying Water by K.A. Tucker
Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren
Wish You Were Here by Renee Carlino
Before I Go by Colleen Oakley
Maybe in Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid
In Five Years by Rebecca Serle
The Last Letter from Your Lover by Jojo Moyes
Good Girl Complex by Elle Kennedy
Bully by Penelope Douglas
More Than Words by Mia Sheridan
Second First Impressions by Sally Thorne
This CoHo readalike list is from NoveList:
The Push by Ashley Audrain
Love Her or Lose Her by Tessa Bailey
Birds of California by Katie Cotugno
The Light We Lost by Jill Santopolo
You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi
Every Summer After by Carley Fortune
Archer’s Voice by Mia Sheridan
Vanessa Jared’s Got a Man by LaQuette
Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez
Seven Days in June by Tia Williams
The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang
One Day by David Nicholls
To these lists, Holley at O'Neal adds a couple more:
Dear Wife by Kimberly Belle
The People We Keep by Ally Larkin
Such a Pretty Girl by Laura Wiess
Every Last Fear by Alex Finlay
Here are the love & romance titles we discussed this morning:
Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield
Hither, Page by Cat Sebastian (the 2nd in the series is The Missing Page)
Under the Bayou Moon by Vanessa Frasier Luesse
It Happened One Summer by Tessa Bailey
Hook, Line, and Sinker by Tessa Bailey
Slippery Creatures by K. J. Charles
The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang
The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood
Devotion by Hannah Kent (not available in the JCLC system, request from Interlibrary Loan)
The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller
The Bodyguard (film)
Email additions:
One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston
Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall
Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert
The books of Eloisa James (the penname of Mary Bly, a Shakespeare professor at Fordham University) and Sarah MacLean
