Reader’s Advisory
We love to recommend books to a variety of readers!
| Award Winners | Historical Fiction | Middle Grade | Sci Fi & Fantasy |
| Book Club Picks | If You Like... | Mystery | Staff Recommendations |
| Christian Fiction | Juvenile | Romance | Young Adult |
- Starred Reviews (Picked by multiple staff members)
- All 2024 Staff Picks
- Fiction
- Nonfiction
- Young Adult
- Middle Grade
- Juvenile (Chapter books, graphic novels, nonfiction)
- Early Literacy (Picture books, board books, readers)
- Audio
- Visual
- Games
PREVIOUS YEAR'S STAFF PICKS
HIGHEST CIRCULATING TITLES LAST YEAR
BOOK BITES WITH CHRISTINE & SARAH
- Video Book Reviews by SCLS staff
- 2024 Book Bites Recommendations
- 2023 Book Bites Recommendations
- Christine's reviews for Library Journal
Read the reviews on Goodreads.
- Amish Fiction
- Contemporary Christian Fiction
- Christian Mystery and Suspense
- Historical Christian Fiction
- New Christian Fiction
- Large Print Christian Fiction
- Popular Detective & Mystery Authors
- Cozy Mysteries
- Classic Mystery Authors
- Thrillers
- Spy Fiction
- Action & Adventure Fiction
- Psychological Thrillers
- Puzzle Based Mysteries
- Medical Thrillers
- Legal Thrillers
- Large Print Mysteries
- Young Adult Mysteries and Thrillers
Did you know? Cozy mysteries are murder mysteries in which sex and violence is downplayed and treated with humor. The crime and detection generally take place in small town America and recipes or crafts are often involved.
A psychological thriller is a story which emphasizes the abnormal psychological states of its character and spends a great deal of time of internal characterization.
- Gentle Romance
- Paranormal Romance
- Romantasy (Romance + Fantasy)
- Romantic Suspense
- Erotic Fiction
- Historical Romance
- Large Print Romance
- Time Travel & Romance
- Popular Romance
- Chick Lit & Beach Reads
- Science Fiction
- Fantasy Fiction
- Alternative Histories
- Dystopian Fiction
- Stand alone science fiction
- Stand alone fantasy
- Clean Fantasy for Adults & Teens
OTHER GENRES
- Christmas Fiction
- Community Cookbooks
- Family Stories
- Horror Fiction
- Humorous Fiction
- Iowa authors
- LitRPG (Combines role playing games with sci fi and fantasy)
- Native American authors
- New Adult Fiction
- Western Fiction
- Urban Fiction
- Fiction with Iowa Connections
- Fiction with Diverse Characters
- Large Print
- LGBTQ
- Memoirs
- Seniors as Main Characters in Fiction
- True Crime Stories (at any SCLS branch you can also browse the 364s to find these)
- Women's Fiction
"New Adult" Fiction is an emerging genre geared toward 18-25 year olds. It is advertised as between the Young Adult and Adult Fiction genres. Leaving home, sexuality, education, and career choices are common themes.
As with all genre labels, Urban Fiction can mean different things to different people. Some common themes are street life, sex, and drugs. Protagonists are often people of color and the setting is gritty and urban.
- SCLS Book Club Boxes
- Top Goodreads Picks for Book Clubs
- Rivershare Book Club Kits (Note: Some libraries shelf their book club books individually, so multiple holds may need to be placed to get enough copies. Please ask library staff if you need assistance).
- First Books in Popular Series
- If you like the Alice Network
- If you like All the Light we Cannot See
- If you like Big Little Lies
- If you like the Bridgerton series
- If you like Colleen Hoover
- If you like Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
- If you like Game of Thrones
- If you like Girl on the Train
- If you like Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
- If you like Gone Girl
- If you like Harry Potter (for grown-ups)
- If you like Hazel Gaynor
- If you like the Help
- If you like the Housemaid
- If you like J.A. Jance
- If you the Jack Reacher Series
- If you like James Patterson
- If you like Janet Evanovich
- If you like Joanne Fluke
- If you like Jodi Picoult
- If you like Kristin Hannah
- If you like the Women by Kristin Hannah
- If you like A Man Called Ove
- If you like Stranger Things
- If you like Tessa Bailey
- If you like Virgin River
- If you like Where the Crawdads Sing
- If you like William Kent Krueger
- If you like Yellowstone
- Agatha Awards (Mystery Fiction)
- Christy Awards (Christian Fiction)
- Edgar Awards (Mystery Fiction)
- Hugo Awards (Science Fiction)
- National Book Awards
- Vivian Awards (Formerly RITA Awards) (Romance Fiction)
- Spur Awards (Western Fiction)
- Iowa High School Award
- Iowa Teen Award
- Iowa Children's Choice Award
- Iowa Goldfinch Award
- Caldecott
- Newbery
- Schneider Family Book Award (Artistic expression of disability experiences)
- Stonewall Book Award (LGBTQIA+)
Note: Complete award lists can be found on the websites for the various awards. SCLS puts winners in the catalog on an annual basis to aid in online browsing.
- New Young Adult
- Action & Adventure Fiction
- Christian Fiction for Teens
- Christian Fantasy for Teens
- Dystopian Fiction
- Fantasy Fiction
- Graphic Novels
- Top Ten Graphic Novels for Teens
- Historical Fiction
- Horror Fiction
- If you like the Hunger Games
- If you like Wednesday (TV Show)
- Iowa Teen Award 2023
- LGBTQ
- Mysteries and Thrillers
- Novels in Verse
- Paranormal Fiction
- Romance Fiction
- Romantasy Fiction
- Science Fiction
- Sports Fiction
- Survival
- Youth Large Print
YA "SAFE BETS"
Safe bet titles have clean language and fewer "edgy" behaviors.
- Graphic Novels & Comics
- Clean Novels
- Mysteries & Thrillers
- Sci-Fi Thrillers
- Historical
- Fantasy
- Sports
- Survival
- Romance
- Tear Jerkers
- Grab Bag
- Action & Adventure Fiction
- Animal Fiction
- Animals (recommended reads)
- Christian Fiction for Kids
- Christian Fantasy for Kids
- Crushes & Romance
- Detective & Mystery Fiction
- Detective & Mystery (recommended reads)
- Dyslexic Characters in Fiction
- Early Chapter Books (Acorn, Branches & Aladdin Quix publishing series)
- Early Chapter Books (not in the above publishing series)
- Family Stories
- Fantasy Fiction
- Graphic Novels
- Graphic Novels for Beginning Readers
- Historical Fiction
- Horror Fiction
- Science Fiction
- Spooky Reads
- Sports Fiction
- Sports (recommended reads)
- Spy Fiction
- Superheroes
- Tearjerkers
- Youth Large Print
IF YOU LIKE...
- If you like Dog Man
- If you like Diary of a Wimpy Kid
- If you like the I Survived series
- If you like Percy Jackson
- If you like Stranger Things
JUVENILE PICTURE BOOKS
- Alphabet
- Black Voices
- Counting
- Dental Health
- Death of a pet or family member (Tip check out our Parents Collection for more)
- Family Stories (0-4 years)
- Family Stories (5-8 years)
- First Day of School
- Look and Finds
- Interactive Picture Books
- Moving
- Potty Training
- Seasons
- Shapes
- Superheroes
- Wordless Picture Books
HOLIDAY PICTURE BOOKS
Note: You can find holiday nonfiction for kids in J 394
- Chinese New Year
- Christmas
- Cinco de Mayo
- Earth Day
- Easter
- Father's Day
- Fourth of July
- Groundhog Day
- Halloween
- Hanukkah
- Kwanzaa
- Memorial Day
- Mother's Day
- Ramadan
- Saint Patrick's Day
- Thanksgiving
- Valentine's Day
JUVENILE NONFICTION
SPECIAL JUVENILE TOPICS
- Mars recommendations in honor of the 2021 Perserverance Rover landing
- Books printed in dyslexia-friendly font