Week 3 Prompt Response (Novelist)

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 title in the Anita Blake series of novels is The Lunatic Café, followed by Bloody Bones. If you are looking for the Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series of Graphic Novels the fourth title is The Laughing Corpse, Book 2: Necromancer followed by The Laughing Corpse Book 3: Executioner. For another series of fast-paced adventures in a dark mood try Working for the Devil, the first in the Dante Valentine series by Lilith Saintcrow. 

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. 

For something more dramatic and fast paced I would suggest The Gypsy Moth Summer by Julia Fierro, a suspenseful and poignant story featuring a large cast of characters during one small town summer. Karen Russell’s Swamplandia also invokes a unique natural environment and the encroachment of the modern world with a twisting tale of family told from multiple perspectives. You might also like bestseller Kristin Hannah’s new book The Four Winds. This title features a strong female protagonist contending with the Great Depression in the Texas Dust Bowl and has received great reviews. 

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! 

The Teahouse Fire by Ellis Avery is a richly detailed story takes place in 19th century Japan on the cusp of historic social changes in that country. You might also like the historical mysteries of I.J. Parker set in eleventh century Japan, the series begins with Rashomon Gate. The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet by David Mitchell is a suspenseful novel set in a Japanese port town in 1799 that will send you back in time. 

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? 

Fortunately, there is no shortage of great mystery writers! Try titles by P.D. James or Dorothy Sayers. Louise Penny’s popular Inspector Armand Gamache series, set in Quebec, begins with Still Life. Martha Grimes is known for her Richard Jury series which follows a police detective in modern England, beginning with The Man With a Load of Mischief. 

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 enjoy The Living Dead, a novel from Daniel Kraus and George A. Romero, the godfather of zombie movies such as Night of the Living Dead. Mira Grant’s Newsflesh is series of books about the zombie apocalypse featuring action-packed suspense, beginning with Feed. The Rage is a violent and fast paced graphic novel where the zombies happen to be bloodthirsty children. 

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. 

There are many of these to choose from! On the more literary side there is Joan Didion’s The Last Thing He Wanted, Donna Tart’s The Goldfinch, or Bel Canto by Ann Patchett. Lily Brooks-Dalton’s debut novel Good Morning, Midnight (made into the film Midnight Sky) in another option, with elements of science fiction. On the lighter side, Maria Semple’s Where’d You Go, Bernadette and Patrick Dewitt’s French Exit are humorous choices. 

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

 I would suggest trying Open House by Katie Sise and titles by Mary Higgins Clark. Carol Goodman is another thriller author to try, start with The Lake of Dead Languages. Elizabeth Kostova’s The Historian includes vampires and falls more into the horror genre but the suspense and fast-pace should be appealing. 

How I find books to read:

Since the pandemic shuttered my local library and put the kibosh on my habit of browsing the shelves and book displays, I have started using more online tools to find my next read. I’m a big fan of the website lithub.com which features new books, booklists excerpts, reviews, and general literary musings that often mention a book I want to try out. If I read something that I really like I usually do an internet search for the author, then read an interview or a newspaper article about that author that often includes their recommendations for other books or favorite writers. I do use Goodreads to look up titles I have found out about elsewhere in order to read the synopsis and get a sense of what people are saying about the book, especially if I’m not sure about liking it, but I don’t personally use it for browsing or finding read-alikes. In the past year I have also been using the site the Storygraph.com, an alternative goodreads-esque site that features more focus on appeal factors and is still in “beta” form. I think its much better at suggesting potential reads for me than Goodreads. I have also started paying attention to the read-alike feature on my library’s OPAC, with mixed results. I like to read series in order so a quick check on bookseriesinorder.com is always helpful. I have such a pile-up of books to read that I really don’t need to find out about anymore, but I love to all the same!

Reference:

EBSCO industries. (2021). NoveListPlus.  http://web.a.ebscohost.com/novp/search/novbasic?vid=0&sid=6c99e68d-0abd-4adb-b8a2-a38d1579e823%40sessionmgr4006.