# Is there a plot database for books? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 23, 2004, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-plot-database-for-books/241686 "2004-04-23T18:48:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Stainz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Stainz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stainz)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2004, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-plot-database-for-books/241686/1 "2004-04-23T18:48:41Z")
What I’m wondering is, if there is some kind of database where I could search for key words to do with the plot of a novel? I realize it would be HUGE, but it drives me crazy when I remember a book that I read a few years ago, but I can’t think of the title or the author … I’m a voracious reader, and I’ve read so many books that after a while they just all blur together. Anyway, maybe it’s just wishful thinking, but a database like that would sure be nice for forgetful people like me! S. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2004, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-plot-database-for-books/241686/2 "2004-04-23T20:13:40Z")
I don’t know of one, but if you can remember any characters’ names, or some lines from the text, Amazon’s new search feature might be helpful. I haven’t fully explored it, but lately when I’ve done a search on an author, I’ll get hits where the author’s name was mentioned in another book. (Weird.) Sometimes a Google search works. I’ve used it in a name-that-movie contest – choose some key words from a plot summary or character names, and very often you’ll get a good hit. I’ll be watching this thread, just in case there a database exists. It’d sure come in handy. ---
**Author:** ![DrewG27](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DrewG27](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrewG27)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2004, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-plot-database-for-books/241686/3 "2004-04-23T20:50:43Z")
I’ve thought that All Media Guide, the company that owns [allmovies.com](http://allmovies.com), [allmusic.com](http://allmusic.com), and [allgames.com](http://allgames.com) should do an AllBook. With a bunch of good writers and editors it might be a very interesting and popular resource–I sometimes trudge around [amazon.com](http://amazon.com) just for the staff reviews. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2004, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-plot-database-for-books/241686/4 "2004-04-23T21:10:41Z")
Does your local library have home access to a site called “NoveList”? That site allows you to search on plot points or to do “find me books like this based on x criteria.” Mine requires a valid library card. ---
**Author:** ![Stainz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Stainz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stainz)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2004, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-plot-database-for-books/241686/5 "2004-04-23T22:47:07Z")
\*\*jsgoddess \*\* … no, our local library isn’t that advanced … but thanks anyway. The novel that is currently stuck in my brain is just paperback fiction … about Las Vegas … and a guy that figured out how to predict when a slot machine was going to pay out … Having recently been to Vegas, and since I’m also going through a bunch of my books to sell at a garage sale, it’s really been bugging me that I didn’t hang onto this book. I work for the casino division of our provincial lottery corporation, and when I read this book a few years ago, I remember thinking I should get someone at work to read it as well, and tell me how plausible the technical explanations etc. were. Oh well …