BookLamp.org is a web 2.0 application that does something new with book recommendations. Their approach is to avoid any book selling sites and focus only on responses from readers. This provides benefits when one thinks about libraries — people often don’t buy the books they are reading.
The other new approach is how they break down the book information : they create a chart showing, chapter by chapter, the Pacing, Density, Action, Description and Dialog within the book. Here is a chart for one of my favorite reads, To Say Nothing of the Dog (click the image for the larger version):
In the end, this will show similarities beneath the surface, as well as justifying why (in my own opinion) there is a natural progression for readers to begin with Harry Potter, move on to Lord of the Rings (with a brief visit to Narnia), and then onto The Dark Tower series.
If this seems like an interesting approach, sign up for an account. There isn’t much there yet, but what is there looks really promising. I hope they will consider OPAC integration sometime in the future…
found via LISNews
