Week three prompt response:
1. I am looking for a book by Laurell K. Hamilton. I just read the third book in the Anita Blake series and I can’t figure out which one comes next!
The fourth book in the Anita Blake series is called The Lunatic Café.
2. What have I read recently? Well, I just finished this great book by Barbara Kingsolver, Prodigal Summer. I really liked the way it was written, you know, the way she used language. I wouldn't mind something a bit faster paced though.
I would recommend the book Bloodroot by Amy Green. The author has the same lyrical language as Kingsolver and it is listed as fast paced.
3. I like reading books set in different countries. I just read one set in China, could you help me find one set in Japan? No, not modern – historical. I like it when the author describes it so much it feels like I was there!
I would suggest the book Child of Vengeance by David Kirk. The novel is set in 17th century Japan and based on the life of a real person named Musashi Miyamoto who was a warrior poet. The description on Novelist says that this book is good for fans of historical fiction, which is what it sounds like you’re after.
4. I read this great mystery by Elizabeth George called Well-Schooled in Murder and I loved it. Then my dentist said that if I liked mysteries I would probably like John Sandford, but boy was he creepy I couldn't finish it! Do you have any suggestions?
Well-Schooled in Murder is actually the third book in the series. If you liked it so much, I would suggest going back and reading the first two, A Great Deliverance and Payment in Blood. Or you could move forward and read the fourth book in the series, A Suitable Vengeance. But if you’d like to break away from the series for a while, I would recommend Gallows View by Peter Robinson. This is the first book in a series, also about a person in law enforcement, in this case, an ex-policeman. From the description it seems like it would be a moderately paced mystery without the creepy factor like John Sanford.
5. My husband has really gotten into zombies lately. He’s already read The Walking Dead and World War Z, is there anything else you can recommend?
He might want to try Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith. It’s a different take on a zombie novel in that it basically just adds zombies to the classic novel, Pride and Prejudice. Or if he isn’t into that sort of thing, I would recommend The Passage by Justin Cronin. This book deals with a virus that is turning people into zombies in the future. Your husband might enjoy a not so classic take on the zombie novel.
6. I love books that get turned into movies, especially literary ones. Can you recommend some? Nothing too old, maybe just those from the last 5 years or so.
Can You Ever Forgive Me?: Memoirs of a Literary Forger by Lee Israel is an interesting option. The book is from 2008, but the movie adaptation was made in 2018. It follows a multi-year stunt by the author to make money forging letters by famous writers. It was written by someone who obviously writes well enough to fool experts so I would say it is quite literary. I would also recommend The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt. Her writing is easy to read but she says a lot in just a few sentences. The movie adaptation of the book came out last year and didn’t receive strong reviews, but that’s not to say it wasn’t a good movie or adaptation of the book. Sometimes it’s fun to see what has changed between the book and the screen.
7. I love thrillers but I hate foul language and sex scenes. I want something clean and fast paced.
If you want fast-paced books with no language or sex, I would recommend some of the classics: Sherlock Holmes series by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, books by Agatha Christie such as Murder on the Orient Express, or And Then There Were None, or the Mrs. Polifax series by Dorothy Gilman. My grandmother really enjoys the last series, and if she will read them, they must be interesting yet very clean.
How I find books:
I don’t often use online tools to decide what to read next. I frequent book sales and bookstores (I know, I know, I’m a future librarian! I should be using the library!) so I have many books at home to choose from. Since I have bought them all because they sound interesting to me, I know I can choose whichever and I will probably like it for its theme/genre/author. Before learning of different readers’ advisory tools, I would just use Google to find read-alikes for friends and family. Then I would see if the results had any books that I have read before so I could more confidently suggest something. It is much more useful to have a tool like Novelist put those things all together in one place and I don’t have to search multiple places to find information like series numbers or read-alikes.
1. I am looking for a book by Laurell K. Hamilton. I just read the third book in the Anita Blake series and I can’t figure out which one comes next!
The fourth book in the Anita Blake series is called The Lunatic Café.
2. What have I read recently? Well, I just finished this great book by Barbara Kingsolver, Prodigal Summer. I really liked the way it was written, you know, the way she used language. I wouldn't mind something a bit faster paced though.
I would recommend the book Bloodroot by Amy Green. The author has the same lyrical language as Kingsolver and it is listed as fast paced.
3. I like reading books set in different countries. I just read one set in China, could you help me find one set in Japan? No, not modern – historical. I like it when the author describes it so much it feels like I was there!
I would suggest the book Child of Vengeance by David Kirk. The novel is set in 17th century Japan and based on the life of a real person named Musashi Miyamoto who was a warrior poet. The description on Novelist says that this book is good for fans of historical fiction, which is what it sounds like you’re after.
4. I read this great mystery by Elizabeth George called Well-Schooled in Murder and I loved it. Then my dentist said that if I liked mysteries I would probably like John Sandford, but boy was he creepy I couldn't finish it! Do you have any suggestions?
Well-Schooled in Murder is actually the third book in the series. If you liked it so much, I would suggest going back and reading the first two, A Great Deliverance and Payment in Blood. Or you could move forward and read the fourth book in the series, A Suitable Vengeance. But if you’d like to break away from the series for a while, I would recommend Gallows View by Peter Robinson. This is the first book in a series, also about a person in law enforcement, in this case, an ex-policeman. From the description it seems like it would be a moderately paced mystery without the creepy factor like John Sanford.
5. My husband has really gotten into zombies lately. He’s already read The Walking Dead and World War Z, is there anything else you can recommend?
He might want to try Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith. It’s a different take on a zombie novel in that it basically just adds zombies to the classic novel, Pride and Prejudice. Or if he isn’t into that sort of thing, I would recommend The Passage by Justin Cronin. This book deals with a virus that is turning people into zombies in the future. Your husband might enjoy a not so classic take on the zombie novel.
6. I love books that get turned into movies, especially literary ones. Can you recommend some? Nothing too old, maybe just those from the last 5 years or so.
Can You Ever Forgive Me?: Memoirs of a Literary Forger by Lee Israel is an interesting option. The book is from 2008, but the movie adaptation was made in 2018. It follows a multi-year stunt by the author to make money forging letters by famous writers. It was written by someone who obviously writes well enough to fool experts so I would say it is quite literary. I would also recommend The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt. Her writing is easy to read but she says a lot in just a few sentences. The movie adaptation of the book came out last year and didn’t receive strong reviews, but that’s not to say it wasn’t a good movie or adaptation of the book. Sometimes it’s fun to see what has changed between the book and the screen.
7. I love thrillers but I hate foul language and sex scenes. I want something clean and fast paced.
If you want fast-paced books with no language or sex, I would recommend some of the classics: Sherlock Holmes series by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, books by Agatha Christie such as Murder on the Orient Express, or And Then There Were None, or the Mrs. Polifax series by Dorothy Gilman. My grandmother really enjoys the last series, and if she will read them, they must be interesting yet very clean.
How I find books:
I don’t often use online tools to decide what to read next. I frequent book sales and bookstores (I know, I know, I’m a future librarian! I should be using the library!) so I have many books at home to choose from. Since I have bought them all because they sound interesting to me, I know I can choose whichever and I will probably like it for its theme/genre/author. Before learning of different readers’ advisory tools, I would just use Google to find read-alikes for friends and family. Then I would see if the results had any books that I have read before so I could more confidently suggest something. It is much more useful to have a tool like Novelist put those things all together in one place and I don’t have to search multiple places to find information like series numbers or read-alikes.
Arianna,
ReplyDeleteI also found Bloodroot and think it would be a great read-alike. I also really wanted to suggest Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, partially because I loved it, and also because I think it's such a fun horror retelling, but I wasn't sure a guy would actually enjoy a Jane Austen retelling- I guess I shouldn't limit titles that way, though, now that I'm thinking about it.
I am actually super interested in Child of Vengeance now, and I'm adding it into my Want to Read list on Goodreads. Great suggestions!
I was also a little worried about recommending Pride and Prejudice and Zombies! The only other zombie book I could think of off the top of my head was Warm Bodies, which also seemed a little risky (although it's probably wrong to make that assumption). I completely missed the zombie trend, though, so I'm not very well versed in what's out there (thank goodness for Novelist!).
ReplyDeleteCan You Ever Forgive Me was a great idea- I hadn't really thought about nonfiction book to movie adaptations! That's really creative (and it's a great movie). Also your idea to delve into older/"classic" books to avoid swearing or sex scenes was great. In the past, I've thought about recommending books aimed at younger audiences, but that might make the patron feel, well, patronized. Your idea is much better- I hope you don't mind if I borrow it at work!
Good catch that Well-Schooled in Murder was actually the third book in the series! I didn't think to look that up. Sometimes I find that patrons get easily confused when it comes to figuring out the order of the series, and some don't even seem to care very much and are happy to read things out of order. I'm definitely not that way, but to each their own! Either way, fantasticfiction.com is a great resource for quickly figuring out all the works by a particular author in the order that they were published. I use it all time and it's definitely one of my favorite websites I've discovered at one of my jobs. I recommend it to people as much as I can! I'm also like you, I love owning books even if I'm at the library all the time and could easily pick up books there. I'm a little more picky though, so I tend to only buy books by authors I've already read.
ReplyDeleteExcellent recommendations! Full points! Besides your expertise what online tools did you consult? Great job!!
ReplyDeleteHi Erin,
DeleteI used Novelist and Thriftbooks.com for the order of some series.
Perfect thank you :)
Delete