Read-Alikes and Bestsellers - Some things to remember

 The idea of choosing read-alikes, even for favorite books, makes some people more anxious than it should. As I mention when I teach passive readers advisory, there are many ways to approach a book. They are all legitimate as readers will approach the same book in different ways and will find themselves drawn to different parts, characters, or themes in a book. If you are providing readers advisory to an individual, you should ask the reader some questions about what they loved about the book to help find the best read-alike.

An always great display pairs a bestseller that has ever increasing holds with your library's backlist. This way you help the books in your collection find new readers while highlighting your holds service. While a request or hold list is something that library workers live with everyday, not every person who comes into your library or visits your social media or website is familiar with how they work or that they exist. Include a QR code and the URL that they need to add a popular title to their list to the display or post. 

If your library subscribes to NoveList by EBSCO, you can use their subjects to find books that will attract someone who has heard of the book or loved the book and wants something else. If you look at the entire list of read-alikes NoveList provides, there are details about why that title was suggested. There are similarities but what they all have in common is that they read-alikes for the selected title even if different facets are reflected. 

To demonstrate what I mean by there are different ways to approach a book, I will use a bestseller that has many holds in my library, Whistler by Ann Patchett. From the publisher's website: 

When Daphne Fuller and her husband Jonathan visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art, they notice an older, white-haired gentleman following them. The man turns out to be Eddie Triplett, her former stepfather, who had been married to her mother for a little more than year when Daphne was nine. Now fifty-three, Daphne hasn’t seen Eddie for many years, not since the fateful event that changed the direction of both their lives. Meeting again, time falls away; while their relationship was brief, it had a profound impact on them both, and now that they are reunited, they have no intention of ever being separated again.

Whistler is a story about two adults looking back over the choices they made, and the choices that were made for them. It’s a story about bravery, memory, the often small yet consequential moments that define our lives, and the endless stream of loss that in time comes for us all. Beautiful in its simplicity, it is ultimately about how love endures, and how the feeling of being known by one other person, even for a short period of time, can change everything.

Remember that you do not need to limit yourself to books you have read. Marketing the collection is the goal, the entire collection not just what you have personally been able to read. From the publisher's description, you can see that is is about - 

Family Relationships
Fathers - Daughters
Choices
Memory
Love Over Time

I would suggest that next you browse readers comments on Goodreads. For a popular book like this, there will be many reader reviews. You will see themes repeated and those that remind you of other books.Here is a brief list: 

Authentic characters
Tragic events
Stories of reconciliation
Divorce 
Complicated childhood
Stepfamilies

You will come up with enough subjects and themes to fill a display more than once. You might even get creative inspiration. A reader named Ron mentions Patchett's books are like "opening a box of old photographs." Use that as a theme for a sign, add face outs of your read-alikes, information about holds and you have a display. There is enough information on Goodreads, so you can proceed even if you don't have NoveList. 

A final place I will suggest to get ideas is Reddit. If you search for Reddit.com and the book title with author, you will find posts in a variety of subreddits. One theme from there is that there is a lot of love for Eddie Triplett, the stepfather. Some readers identify it as a love letter to New York City. The subreddit, suggestmeabook, is a place where readers suggest books to other readers. 

Have fun with a display like this, remembering that the main point is to showcase your backlist while marketing a valuable service. 

Reach out to me if you would like me to train your library staff in how to use passive readers advisory to market your collection. In the near future, I will be discussing more ideas to harness the power of the bestselling author and book to market your collection. Come back for more ideas!