Week Three Prompt
Q1. 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!
A1. A quick search on NoveList using the terms "anita blake #4" returns the fourth volume of Laurell K. Hamilton's Anitta Blake, Vampire Hunter series as The Lunatic Cafe.
* Note: As an expert in all things related to Laurell K. Hamilton, my wife pointed out that I simply had to ask her, but this is cheating, and, as a general rule, cheaters suck.
* 2nd Note: Admittedly, I did cheat completely by using goodreads in addition to NoveList to find recs. Cheaters may suck, but liars go to hell, so I've been told.
Q2. 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.
A2. I would recommend Richard Powers's Pulitzer Prize winning novel The Overstory. In Powers's work, the reader will find a familiar lyrical quality to the writing, reminiscent of Barbara Kingsolver, as well as a shared sense of the enormous importance of place (and especially the natural world) to the story. A search on NoveList for read-alikes of Prodigal Summer turns up The Overstory, as well as Delia Owens's 2018 novel Where the Crawdad Sing.
Q3. 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!
A3. The popular Memoirs of a Geisha became a blockbuster after being adapted to film and is a captivating and richly-detailed story of a young girl who, after being sold into slavery, studies the art of the geisha, eventually becoming a celebrated geisha in her own right. Set in Japan during World War II, this is the story of a woman who reinvents herself, motivated by her longing for the man that she loves. Another recommendation would be David Mitchell's The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet. David Mitchell, renown for his blockbusters The Bone Clocks and Cloud Atlas, writes long-reaching and sweeping novels of rich detail and stylistic complexity.
Q4. 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?
A4. I would try P.D. James's Adam Dalgliesh series. P.D. James writes with similar sensibilities to the classic British mysteries while also managing to take an unflinching look into the nature of contemporary violence. Readers who find John Sanford to be too much may find P.D. James to be a bit easier on the palate.
Q5. 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?
Over the last decade or so, there has been a surging interest in zombie literature and films. If you husband enjoyed The Walking Dead and World War Z, he may also enjoy Stephen King's Cell and Justin Cronin's The Passage, as well as David Wellington's Positive. All three of these novels would fall safely into the zombie apocalypse genre.
Q6. 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.
A6. For literary fiction titles that have been made into movies in the last five years, I would recommend The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt and Room by Emma Donoghue. It is worth mentioning that, in addition to writing the novel, Emma Donoghue was the screenwriter for the film adaptation. Margaret Atwood's dystopian novel The Handmaid's Tale was first adapted to film in 1990, but has since been revisited as a popular and critically acclaimed television series. This book is certainly worth a read, in addition to its 2019 sequel The Testaments, which was a Man Booker prize winner.
Q7. I love thrillers but I hate foul language and sex scenes. I want something clean and fast paced.
A7. I would recommend Mary Higgins Clark, who, unfortunately, passed away just this past week. Her books are fast-moving, suspenseful, and have little in the way of harsh profanity and descriptive sex scenes. If your interests are more toward Christian Thrillers (absolutely no sex and cursing), you might try Ted Dekker, whose work is suspenseful, but tends to push the boundaries on realism.
Though I have heard of NoveList and was familiar with its purpose, I have not actually used the database much beyond toying around with it as an undergraduate (the library at Western Carolina University had a subscription). My typical MO for finding books to read is through the New York Times book reviews, both by reading reviews and by checking out the bestsellers list, and by using goodreads I also regularly check the New Fiction sections at my local library and bookstores. I will frequently check out or purchase any new fiction that sounds interesting; afterwards, if I especially enjoyed a particular work, I will frequently search out and read the writer's entire bibliography. For authors that I've come to admire, I maintain Google Alerts to keep up with upcoming releases and news tidbits. Finally, there are several people (my brother, a couple of old college professors with whom I've maintained friendships, bookstore owner I used to work for, etc.) for whose tastes and recommendations I have such respect that I will read any title that they recommend to me.
A1. A quick search on NoveList using the terms "anita blake #4" returns the fourth volume of Laurell K. Hamilton's Anitta Blake, Vampire Hunter series as The Lunatic Cafe.
* Note: As an expert in all things related to Laurell K. Hamilton, my wife pointed out that I simply had to ask her, but this is cheating, and, as a general rule, cheaters suck.
* 2nd Note: Admittedly, I did cheat completely by using goodreads in addition to NoveList to find recs. Cheaters may suck, but liars go to hell, so I've been told.
Q2. 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.
A2. I would recommend Richard Powers's Pulitzer Prize winning novel The Overstory. In Powers's work, the reader will find a familiar lyrical quality to the writing, reminiscent of Barbara Kingsolver, as well as a shared sense of the enormous importance of place (and especially the natural world) to the story. A search on NoveList for read-alikes of Prodigal Summer turns up The Overstory, as well as Delia Owens's 2018 novel Where the Crawdad Sing.
Q3. 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!
A3. The popular Memoirs of a Geisha became a blockbuster after being adapted to film and is a captivating and richly-detailed story of a young girl who, after being sold into slavery, studies the art of the geisha, eventually becoming a celebrated geisha in her own right. Set in Japan during World War II, this is the story of a woman who reinvents herself, motivated by her longing for the man that she loves. Another recommendation would be David Mitchell's The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet. David Mitchell, renown for his blockbusters The Bone Clocks and Cloud Atlas, writes long-reaching and sweeping novels of rich detail and stylistic complexity.
Q4. 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?
A4. I would try P.D. James's Adam Dalgliesh series. P.D. James writes with similar sensibilities to the classic British mysteries while also managing to take an unflinching look into the nature of contemporary violence. Readers who find John Sanford to be too much may find P.D. James to be a bit easier on the palate.
Q5. 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?
Over the last decade or so, there has been a surging interest in zombie literature and films. If you husband enjoyed The Walking Dead and World War Z, he may also enjoy Stephen King's Cell and Justin Cronin's The Passage, as well as David Wellington's Positive. All three of these novels would fall safely into the zombie apocalypse genre.
Q6. 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.
A6. For literary fiction titles that have been made into movies in the last five years, I would recommend The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt and Room by Emma Donoghue. It is worth mentioning that, in addition to writing the novel, Emma Donoghue was the screenwriter for the film adaptation. Margaret Atwood's dystopian novel The Handmaid's Tale was first adapted to film in 1990, but has since been revisited as a popular and critically acclaimed television series. This book is certainly worth a read, in addition to its 2019 sequel The Testaments, which was a Man Booker prize winner.
Q7. I love thrillers but I hate foul language and sex scenes. I want something clean and fast paced.
A7. I would recommend Mary Higgins Clark, who, unfortunately, passed away just this past week. Her books are fast-moving, suspenseful, and have little in the way of harsh profanity and descriptive sex scenes. If your interests are more toward Christian Thrillers (absolutely no sex and cursing), you might try Ted Dekker, whose work is suspenseful, but tends to push the boundaries on realism.
Though I have heard of NoveList and was familiar with its purpose, I have not actually used the database much beyond toying around with it as an undergraduate (the library at Western Carolina University had a subscription). My typical MO for finding books to read is through the New York Times book reviews, both by reading reviews and by checking out the bestsellers list, and by using goodreads I also regularly check the New Fiction sections at my local library and bookstores. I will frequently check out or purchase any new fiction that sounds interesting; afterwards, if I especially enjoyed a particular work, I will frequently search out and read the writer's entire bibliography. For authors that I've come to admire, I maintain Google Alerts to keep up with upcoming releases and news tidbits. Finally, there are several people (my brother, a couple of old college professors with whom I've maintained friendships, bookstore owner I used to work for, etc.) for whose tastes and recommendations I have such respect that I will read any title that they recommend to me.
Excellent job on this response! You made me chuckle again, full points! You did a great job outlining how you utilized Novelist to find the perfect recommendations. I too am also a huge fan of NYT book reviews and have found many a good book that way. Keep it up!
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