Shelf Help

New!

Shelf Help is a new Adult Service for RDPL Members. Please follow the link below for the Shelf Help form below to have library staff develop a personal reading list for you based on the information that you provide. The more information you can give us, the better your list will be. Your list will take approximately three weeks to complete and we will call or email you when it is ready.

Name:
Phone #:
E-mail address
Library Card Number

Reader Profile

Gender:	Male Female
Reading Interests:	Fiction Non-fiction A mix of fiction and non-fiction titles

Age Group:	This service is intended for readers of adult fiction and nonfiction. Under 18 Over 18

Tell us about what you like to read. Why do you enjoy this type of book?

Tell us about books or authors that you’ve enjoyed in the past. Why did you enjoy them?

Tell us about a book or author that you didn’t like. Why didn’t you like them?

What kinds of books would you like us to include on this list?
Examples: a list of books similar to John Grisham’s books; fiction books that have recipes in them; books set in Italy; or a mix of book based on your reading preferences.

Don’t put these authors on my list because I’ve read all their books! Please list the authors.

Fiction Preferences

Check the top five types of fiction that you enjoy reading:

	Action/Adventure		Legal Thrillers
	Bestsellers/Popular Fiction		Literary Fiction
	Canadian Literature		Military/Technothrillers
	Children’s Literature		Movie and TV Tie-Ins
	Christian Fiction		Mystery/Suspense*
	Classics		Psychological Suspense
	Espionage		Romances*
	Fantasy		Sea Sagas
	Gay/Lesbian		Science Fiction (Series )
	Historical Fiction (time period? )		Short Story Anthologies
	Horror		Westerns
	Humour		Women’s/ Men’s Lives
	Inspirational		Other (please state)

Please check your preferences for the following:

MAIN CHARACTER :

Female Male No preference

APPEAL FACTORS: What aspects of a book are most important to you?

Characters - characters more important than plot
OR
Action and Events - the action drives the story

Setting - extensive descriptions of life in a particular time period or setting

Issues and Ideas - ideas and issues (often the author’s personal philosophy) are the focus of the book

Language and Style - lyrical
OR
straightforward, conversational

Please check your preference for the following:

Length: Short    Medium    Long
Pace:     Slow    Medium    Fast
Mood: Light (uplifting)    Medium    Dark (serious)

Nonfiction Preferences

Please check the top five types of nonfiction that you prefer to read:

	Biography/Memoir		Spirituality
	Cooking/Food		Sports
	Current Affairs		Travel
	History		True Adventure
	Humour		True Crime
	Nature		Other (please state)
	Popular Science

If you selected any of the subject headings above, please use the space below to provide more detail. For example, if you chose “Sports”, you might say golf and curling or, if you chose “History”, you might say World War 11 or Medieval times.

Ratings:
Different readers have different tolerance levels for the use of sex, violence and/or foul language in the fiction they read. How would you describe your threshold for tolerating the potential appearance of sex, violence and/or foul language in the novels we recommend?

No preference
“G ” - I prefer gentle reads.
“PG 13” - Moderate amounts of sex, violence and/or foul language are acceptable
depending on the context.
“R” - I can take whatever you throw at me.

Please write comments about the usefulness of this form below:

Thanks for your help!