All Libraries will be closed Monday, May 29th in observance of Memorial day.

RPL Readers

Need a Little Help Finding Your Next Great Read?

Blogs and Online Magazines Just for Readers

So many blogs! Check out some of these personal web pages curated by ravenous readers.

Free E-Books and Other E-Content

Who doesn't love free?

"I Know the Cover Was Blue!"

When you can't remember the author or the title, but you really want to find the book!

Organize Your Reading Lists

If you have trouble keeping track of all the books in your To Be Read pile, these sites will help you keep your reading lists organized.

Reviews, Recommendations, Plot Summaries, and More

See what review sources are saying about books.

Series and Sequels

Read books in the right order!

That Personal Touch

Concierge services for readers - get personalized recommendations just for you.

When You've Got to Own the Book

When you just have to own the book, these sites will help you find the best price.

Book Lists - Fiction

All Five Senses

Adult fiction you can see, hear, feel, smell, or taste

Allure: Hollywood Heyday: The Glamour and the Grittiness

"Hollywood isn't a place, it's a way of life" -- Helene Hanff

Always Drink Upstream From the Herd

"The Real West" - cowboy fiction bringing history to life

Among the Missing

Fictional tales of children gone missing.

Asian-American Stories:

Contemporary Fiction: Dark or Dystopian

Asian-American Stories:

Contemporary Fiction: Literary

Asian-American Stories:

Contemporary Fiction: Rom-Com

Asian-American Stories:

Mysteries and Historical Fiction

Back in the Office

Remember offices? If you enjoy novels about corporate culture - check out this list of titles about office life.

Bad Girls & Nasty Women

Fiction featuring ladies we love to loathe.

Bah! Humbug!

fiction featuring curmudgeons, grumps, grouches, grinches, sourpusses, and other solitary creatures.

By the Numbers

Fiction you can count on.

Cooking Up a Mystery

Culinary Whodunits

Danger! Plot Twists Ahead!

Fiction with unexpected twists and turns, propulsive plots, and some surprise endings.

Dear Diary

Fiction in the form of diary entries, journals, screenplays, marginalia, and more.

Disobedient: Women Who Stepped Out of Line

"Good girls go to heaven, bad girls go everywhere". -- Mae West

Don't Squat With Your Spurs On

genre mash-up: westerns plus: horror, fantasy, science fiction, and more!

Epistolary Fiction

Fiction in the form of letters, notes, and other correspondence.

Foodie Fiction

fiction good enough to eat!

Funny How It All Began

Titles that are all first in a series, but various fiction genres: mysteries, romance, science fiction, and more. All of them are also very, very funny.

Go Where There is no Path and Leave a Trail

Fiction with classic "Old West" themes

Going to the Dogs

A fiction sampler featuring "man's best friend"

Haunted Houses

Enter if you dare ...

He's a Cowboy, Ain't He?

Western romance: historical, contemporary, and more

Horror Fiction

because pandemic life is scary

An Illusion of Magicians

Fiction featuring magic and magicians.

I'm Not Much, But I'm All I Have

Fiction about loneliness, and the pleasure and pain of solitude.

Indomitable: Women Who Survived (and Thrived) Against All Odds

"Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will" -- Mahatma Ghandi

Kind of Like a Love Story

Contemporary fiction that gets to Happily Ever After. Eventually.

Majesty: Queens, Princesses, Consorts, and other Royal Women

"heavy is the head that wears the crown"

Modern Noir

Mostly Southern, a little bit redneck gothic, kinda gritty, somewhat bleak; but all good.

"Most Ardently" - Jane Austen Re-mixed

Prequels, sequels, re-imaginings, modern day re-tellings, and other homages to Jane Austen classics.

Muse: Wife, Mother, Sister, Daughter

Women we know (or think we know) in the orbit of famous men.

Native American Fiction

Fiction of all kinds - historical, contemporary, funny, sad, even horror - by or about Native Americans.

Never The Same River Twice

Fiction titles that are perfect to read right here in "River City".

O.M.G.!!!

Decidedly irreverent fiction featuring angels, demons, assorted lesser gods and deities, and even the Big Guy upstairs.

Once Upon a Time

Fairy Tales, Re-mixed

Once Upon a Time, Again

More Fairy Tales, Re-mixed

Poets and Poetry

Fiction (of all kinds) about poets and poetry

Political Families

Political power is ... relative

Political Fiction

Historical, Literary, or Satirical

Political Plot Twists

Not Quite Historically Accurate

Political Thrillers

Pulse-pounding DC beltway suspense

Political Wives

First Ladies (or First Lady adjacent)

Popcorn, Peanuts, Cotton Caaaaandy!!

Fiction with circus themes or settings.

Professional Food

fiction set in restaurants, bakeries, and cooking schools

A Taste of Love

delicious love stories

These are NOT "how-to" Books

fiction with misleading titles

Scandalous: Ladies With Less-Than-Perfect Reputations

"Love and scandal are the best sweeteners of tea" -- Henry Fielding

Silenced: She Has Secrets

"Some secrets are meant to stay secret forever" -- Liane Moriarity

There is No Plan(et) B

Climate change fiction - cautionary tales, ripped from the headlines

Too Much Tumbleweed in Their Blood to Settle Down

Contemporary fiction with classic western themes, settings, or characters

Transgender Visibility

Fiction featuring authors and characters of various gender identities.

The Truth Is Slippery

Unreliable narrators in fiction. Can you ... trust them? Believe anything they say? What happens when you catch them in a lie? "Who you gonna believe? Me or your lying eyes?"

When the Secret Ingredient is ... Magic

fiction with food, and a little bit of magic

Will of Avon; or, The Bard, Re-mixed

Prequels, sequels, re-imaginings, modern day re-tellings, and other homages to the Bard of Avon, William Shakespeare.

Booklists - Nonfiction

Great books.  All true.

Adult Children, Aging Parents

Swapping roles with dignity, humor, and respect.

The African-American Experience in Richmond

Celebrating Black History Month 2020

All Great and Precious Things are Lonely

Nonfiction about loneliness, solitude, loss, and more.

The Black Family: Representation, Identity, and Diversity

Celebrating Black History Month 2021.

Celebrate National Cocktail Day

March 24th is National Cocktail Day.

Climate Change:

Looking at History (and Politics) as a Way Forward

Climate Change:

What the Experts Have to Say

Climate Change:

What We Can Do Before it's Too Late

Cockeyed Optimism

nonfiction titles to help you find your own optimistic outlook

Costing the Earth

How to live greener and more cheaply

Families Sure are Funny

Memoirs of unconventional upbringings

Family Secrets

Memoirs about things we don't talk about.

First, Do No Harm

True tales of medical mysteries and histories.

Gap Year for Grown-Ups

Very few of us have the time (or privilege) to take a year off from work or family obligations. But we can read some true accounts of people who did.

Get it Together

Organizational tips for the wildly successful procrastinator.

Getting Above Your Raising

Memoirs of overcoming toxic childhoods

Good Good Dog

companionship, love, and loss

The Ignominy of Abundance, the Plight of Plentitude; or, First World Problems

A problem at odds with most of the world -- that of having too many things, too many choices -- an abundance of stuff.

It's Simple, Really

Our lives are frittered away by detail ... simplify, simplify. - Thoreau

Lost Time is Gone Forever

It's your only time, spend it wisely.

Money! Money! Money!

Books to help you get your financial house in order - whether you are managing millions, or living paycheck to paycheck.

No No Bad Dog

Training for you and your good good dog

Passport Not Necessary

Humorous travel memoirs. Stay home with your feet up while you explore the world.

RPL - Moments in History

Bestsellers and more from important years in RPL history

So You Want to Be a Writer

Resources for the budding wordsmith

What a Disaster:

True tales of the fury and splendor of Mother Nature, man made disasters, and their survivors and victims.

What Doesn't Kill You

Stress can find you at home, at work, at play.

Working Dogs

Dogs with jobs - all sorts of jobs

On Beyond Chick Lit

“Chick Lit” has evolved from a somewhat derogatory term for “fluffy” contemporary romance into a genre of literature that is not exactly highbrow, but very popular — and quite addictive.

Check out these lists of contemporary romance fiction that go way beyond “chick lit books”.

ASIAN LIT

Contemporary romance fiction by and about Asians and Asian-Americans.

BRIT LIT

From 20-somethings just starting on careers (and romance!) to finding love at any age, the Brits know how to do contemporary fiction.

CHICA LIT

Contemporary Latina fiction with romance, humor, sadness, and hope.

DESI LIT

Contemporary romance featuring Indian and Indian-Americans.

HEN LIT

Contemporary fiction, mostly romantic, humorous, and featuring "ladies of a certain age".

LAD LIT

Contemporary fiction featuring players, geeks, nerd boys, hipsters, dude bros, and just regular guys.

MOM LIT

What happens after "Happily Ever After"?

RAINBOW LIT

Contemporary fiction with LGBTQ+ characters.

WOC LIT

Contemporary romance fiction by and about women of color.

Read Around the World

Fiction from ALL the continents

Africa

Fiction from the "cradle of humankind", also called "the Mother continent."

Antarctica

Fiction from the most inhospitable place on Earth, which has no permanent human residents.

Asia

Fiction from the continent with all the superlatives: the oldest civilizations, biggest land mass, most people, most languages, highest mountains, tallest buildings.

Europe

Fiction from the continent with less than 10% of the world's population - but they consume 50% of the world's chocolate!

North America

Fiction from the only continent that includes all of the major "biomes" (types of "climate").

Oceania and Australia (Australasia)

Fiction from the continent with two (or maybe three) names.

South America

Fiction from the home of the Amazon rainforest, the world's most biodiverse place, containing 40% of the world's plant and animal species.

In Case You Forgot: Library Book Groups 2020

Patterson Pages @ West End

Mainly Books 2020

Westover Hills - General Interest Book Group 2020

In Case You Forgot: Library Book Groups 2019

Mainly Books

Main - Not Another Book Club

Belmont - Senior Fiction Focus

Broad Rock

East End - Classics You Forgot to Read

Ginter Park

Hull Street

North Avenue - Senior Fiction Focus

West End - Patterson Pages

Westover Hills - Senior Fiction Focus

Westover Hills - General Interest Book Group 2019