Week Three 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 Lunatic Café is the fourth book in the Anita Blake Vampire Hunter series. This is according to the series list on Novelist.

 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 Women of Pearl Island by Polly Crosby. I looked up the Prodigal Summer and clicked through a few of the Readalike suggestions. The person was asking for something a bit faster paced and this book says it’s a leisurely pace. So, I think the definition of faster paced would need to be defined more with the questioner. This writing style of this story is lyrical and has an outdoor focus like the Prodigal Summer.

 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!

This question would need some follow-up as to whether they’re looking for fiction or nonfiction. If they were looking for historical nonfiction I would recommend To hell and back: the last train from Hiroshima by Charlies R Pellegrino. This book is based on the stories of survivors of Hiroshima and has a writing style of compelling and richly detailed.

 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?

I would begin by asking this person if the knew that Well Schooled in Murder was the 4^th book the Thomas Lynley Mysteries series. Then I would ask them if they had read the other books in the series and if not I would begin by recommend the first book, which is called 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 would begin by asking if their husband was interested in graphic novels or regular print books. If the answer was graphic novels I would use the Readalikes option on Novelist and recommend The rage. Volume 1, Zombie generation, a story about a virus that turns children into zombies.

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 would clarify that the person meant movies that were from the past five years and not books from the past five years that have been turned into movies. Then I would use Novelist to search GX Page to Screen, filter down the results and recommend:

• Normal People
• Where the Crawdads Sing
• The Queen’s Gambit

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

I used the appeal mixer and put in fast paced and chased and came up with these recommendations:

• Lights Out by Natalie Walters
• Flight Risk by Cara Putman

Both books are categorized as suspense and fast paced. Both are also categorized as Christian Fiction in nature, which usually means low foul language and no sex scenes.

Tools I use to find books:

Honestly, I use Amazon a lot to jog my memory of other books. I’ll type in a book the person said they last enjoyed and then scroll through the recommended list of titles Amazon brings up. I’ve found this helps me remember what other books we have in our library collection.

Fantastic Fiction is another great place to find book recommendations. I love how the website is organized by genre.

I use Netgalley a lot for ARCs. I’ve found that this is a great way to keep on top of the new things that are coming out. I see titles there that I don’t always come across in the library review journals I read.

I’m also a big fan of review journals like Kirkus and School Library Journal.