Week 3 Prompt for Readers’ Advisory

My library doesn’t have Novelist, so I had to use other RA sources.

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!

It seems like many series are not clearly marked and that makes it difficult to figure out what order the books are in. Kent District Library’s What's Next®: Books in Series database has been very helpful when patrons want to know the next book in a series. 

According to What’s Next, the fourth book in the Anita Blake series is Lunatic Café.

I entered Hamilton in the last name search box on What’s Next and Laurell K. was one of the listed authors. Clicking on her name led me to a list of series she writes. I then went to the Anita Blake series and looked at the fourth book.

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.

What else did you like about the book? Jeanette Walls’ Half Broke Horses might be a good one. It features a strong female character. Cold Sassy Tree by Olivia Burns is an older book that has strong characters and takes place in the south during the early 1900s. Sing Them Home by Stephanie Kallos takes place in a tight-knit community and features an interesting cast of characters. Another author you might like is Anne Tyler. 

I used Reader’s Advisor Online to find a related read. Unfortunately, RA Online does not give me a way to search by pace. These authors and books were all listed as related reads for 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!

I would suggest The Teahouse Fire by Ellis Avery. It is set in Japan in 1866. 

I used Reader’s Advisor Online to search for Historical Fiction. I divided it further into Traditional Historical Fiction, and subgenre Asia, Africa, and The Antipodes. I then chose Japan as the location. I also went to Amazon and read the synopsis and it seems to fit what the patron is looking for. According to the summary, “Told in an enchanting and unforgettable voice, The Teahouse Fire is a lively, provocative, and lushly detailed historical novel of epic scope and compulsive readability.” 

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?

Well-Schooled in Murder is part of a series. Are you interested in reading another book in that series? Deborah Crombie and Martha Grimes are writers who are similar to Elizabeth George.

I visited Reader’s Advisor Online and searched for Elizabeth George. I then clicked on Well-Schooled in Murder. The two authors were listed as related reads.

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?

When you say The Walking Dead, do you mean the novels or graphic novels? If your husband hasn’t read both of them, he might be interested in the other. There is a novelization of Dawn of the Dead by George A. Romero. The Newsflesh trilogy written by Mira Grant might also interest your husband. The first book in the series is called Feed. 

On Reader’s Advisor Online, I searched for Max Brooks and clicked on World War Z. The suggested title was Dawn of the Dead. I visited Goodreads and Feed was on a list of zombie books. I also googled World War Z read alikes and Feed was on the list. 

How I find books:

I don’t really have a method. I purchase the fiction and nonfiction for the adult collection at my library, so I read reviews, I look at the New York Times best sellers lists, and look through the Kirkus Reviews and Forecast magazines. I have found books by browsing Amazon and looking at what others typically purchase together. I also like reading books movies are based on. There never seems to be a shortage of them.