Week 3 Prompt

 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 is called The Lunatic Café. I chose to search by series. The search results showed a graphic novel series and the novel series. I went with the novel series and found the fourth title. I would also like to check with the patron to see which series they want without assuming they only want to read the novels.

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.

The first thing I did was look up the book to read the reviews and get a sense of what the patron meant by her language comment. I also wanted to understand what type of book they wanted before recommending anything. After that I looked at the read-alike suggestions to see if I could find a couple to recommend to the patron based on what they requested about language and pace. I found a few that were faster paced and some that seemed slower. I would recommend the faster paced ones since that is what the patron is wanting. One I chose was Something Rich and Strange by Ron Rash. I chose this one because it is a collection of short stories. This would mean the stories would be faster paced and the language style matches what the patron requested. I also would recommend Bloodroot by Amy Greene. It is fast paced and has lyrical and simplistic writing style similar to Kingsolver. The geographic location of the Prodigal Summer is the same as these two suggestions.

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 did a keyword search for Japan then used the Refined Results to narrow down the options. I chose historical fiction, set in Japan, and a richly detailed writing style. I also read the descriptions to make sure they were set in Japan and historical. With this search I would recommend The Teahouse Fire by Ellis Avery and The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet by David Mitchell. I chose these because they had a strong sense of Japan and were from different time periods. I want the patron to have options for the time periods. 

After this I refined my search for adult, Japan, the 11th century, and a strong sense of place. I chose The Fires of the Gods for this search. The patron wanted something that was descriptive and historical. This book also is a mystery and I wanted to get a genre that was not just historical fiction.

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?

 

A couple of  books I would recommend are Dorothy L. Sayers’ Whose Body? and Martha Grimes’ The Man with a Load of Mischief. Since they enjoyed a book in Scotland they can try out these novels set in England. Dorothy Sayers is one of the queens of the mystery genre. Martha Grimes’ books are a cross between suspense and a cozy mystery. They are not as creepy as John Sandford. Since the book’s tone says violent I would also recommend some that have more descriptors with violence or the like. A few that were on the read-alike list that I would recommend are P.D. James’ Cover Her Face and Peter Robinson’s Gallow Views. I would warn the patron that these both contain violence. 

Also, since the patron enjoyed Elizabeth George I looked to see if it was part of a series and it was. If they are wanting to read more of her novels I would also recommend the rest of the series and let them know the next book is A Suitable Vengeance.

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?

I looked at both books read-alike lists to determine a couple of books that the husband might enjoy. For books similar to World War Z I would recommend The Zombie Autopsies by Steven Schlozman. This book follows a doctor who wants to find a cure for the zombie epidemic but then he starts turning into a zombie. For a book similar to The Walking Dead I would recommend the Resurgam trilogy by Joan Frances Turner. Jessie must choose between helping save both humans and zombies or the life she now lives as a zombie. Both these suggestions have subject headings similar to the titles the husband has read and the same feel as the zombie books he’s been enjoying.

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.

I did a search by genre for literary fiction then refined the search with adult books, books to movies, and doing anything from 2015 to now. I chose 2015 because 2021 just began and did not want to only have a month of results for one of the years. From the results I would suggest The Good Liar by Nicholas Searle, The French Exit by Patrick DeWitt, and Cherry by Nico Walker. They are all literary fiction and are book to movie adaptations. I tried to pick three books with different genres besides only having literary fiction to give the patron options of what type of literary work they would enjoy reading.

7. I love thrillers but I hate foul language and sex scenes. I want something clean and fast paced.

I did a search for thrillers and gentle reads. I would suggest looking at Chasing Cezanne by Peter Mayle and any Stephanie Black novels. I did not yield many results from my first search and found Stephanie Black from searching for chaste thrillers. A handful of books by her popped up and they are all clean reads.

How do I find books?

I browse titles through the stacks at work to find books or get recommendations from my friends and coworkers. As for sites and lists I like using Bookseriesinorder.com for authors, GoodReads for read-alikes, and I look through catalogs like Library Journal, Publisher Weekly, and School Library Journal. The library I work at gets the catalogs to share among the staff. I also like to look by genre on Overdrive, Libby, and Hoopla to get ideas that I never would have thought of. For the most part I tend to take the recommendations I get from word of mouth. I have a couple coworkers, friends, and patrons who like to let me know if they have read anything that would appeal to me. The Youth Services Librarian I work with is used to me going into the Children's Room and just asking what is good. I like trying new things with children's books and some of my favorite authors have come from getting recommendations based off what she has read and liked. Now that I have explored NoveList more I am definitely going to start utilizing it when I want to find something new!