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 The Lunatic Café.
[On Novelist, I did an author search for Laurell K. Hamilton. I clicked on the Series tab to find the Anita Blake series, and then I looked at which book is fourth in the series.]
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 suggest two of Kunal Basu’s books: Yellow Emperor’s Cure and The Miniaturist. They use a descriptive and lyrical style of language that is similar to Barbara Kingsolver’s writing style, but they are faster paced.
[On Novelist, I did a title search for Prodigal Summer. I looked at the Writing Style, which is Descriptive, Lush, and Lyrical. I scrolled down the results page to Search for More, and I searched for more titles with the same Writing Style limiters. I refined the results by choosing the Fast-paced limiter under Pace.]
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!
A few Historical Fiction titles that are set in Japan and are written with rich detail are The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet by David Mitchell, Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden, and The Teahouse Fire by Ellis Avery.
[On Novelist, I did a subject search for Japan and limited the results to Historical Fiction and richly detailed writing style.]
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?
You might like to read books by Dorothy Sayers and Deborah Crombie. They’re writing styles are more comparable to Elizabeth George’s style. You could also try some of the other books in George’s Thomas Lynley mysteries series. Well-Schooled in Murder is book #3 in this series; the next book is For the Sake of Elena.
[On Novelist, I did an author search for Elizabeth George and looked at her appeal terms. I did the same for John Sandford to compare their appeal terms. Both have the same tone, as well as compelling and richly detailed writing styles. Where they differ is that George’s writing style is lyrical whereas Sandford’s is gritty. I then looked at the read-alikes for Elizabeth George and chose Sayers and Crombie. I chose Sayers because, according to Novelist, she is the best match for fans of George because her “rich use of language and stylish prose will especially please those who enjoy George’s literary approach to the Mystery genre.” I chose Crombie because her stories, characters, settings, and writing style are all very similar to George’s.]
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?
It sounds like he is interested in fast-paced, realistic tales of a zombie apocalypse. I would suggest Blackout by Mira Grant, The Dead Run by Adam Mansbach, and the As the World Dies series by Rhiannon Frater.
[On Novelist, I browsed the read-alikes for World War Z and The Walking Dead. I looked for books that are similar to these two titles—fast-paced stories of a plausible zombie apocalypse.]
How I Find Books to Read
I have never done Readers’ Advisory for patrons, but I do use a couple of sites to find books for myself. Goodreads (http://www.goodreads.com) is primarily what I use to find books to read. I love that it gives recommendations based on what I’ve already read. Not only that, but it categorizes recommendations based on genres I’ve read and shelves I’ve created. This is great because if I’m looking for a particular kind of book (say, a memoir), it is very easy to just click on the link for recommended memoirs. I also get recommendations based on individual titles I’ve read. I can see what other Goodreads users are reading (and what they think about the books they have read), find book lists, join book clubs, and do reading challenges. All of these are ways to find great books to read—this site has really started to expand my reading tastes, and I definitely intend to use it when I provide Readers’ Advisory services in the future.
Sometimes I also like to look at Kirkus Reviews (https://www.kirkusreviews.com) to decide whether or not I would like a certain book. I like these short reviews of titles and the suggested similar books when you search for a specific book. One of my favorite features is that you can look at reviews of bestsellers and the critics give a “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” (Buy It or Skip It) verdict. I’m always leery of reading bestsellers because I never know if they are actually worth reading or if they’re popular for reasons that don’t appeal to me. This aspect of Kirkus is a quick way to help me decide if I would like a book or not.
0 comments:
Post a Comment