NoveList Scavenger Hunt

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 in the series is called The Lunatic Café.

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.

I noticed Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens was in the read-alikes sidebar for Prodigal Summer. That could be one recommendation, if the library has any copies available—I know this one has been popular so there might be a long holds list. I’d also recommend The Stars are Fire by Anita Shreve because it sounds like it starts with some intense action, but still has the lyrical aspect the patron enjoyed.

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!

First, I searched for Keyword:Japan, then refined my search using the genre “historical fiction.” I decided to recommend An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro, because I am familiar with the author and know his writing is rich and detailed. I would also recommend Pachinko by Min Jin Lee because the book was critically well-received, and The Translation of Love by Lynne Kutsukake in case the reader was interested in a younger narrator’s point of view—the starred Booklist review doesn’t hurt, either. I tried to recommend books by authors of color, because diversity and authenticity is important to me.

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 knew right away the book the patron liked is the third of the Detective Lynley series. They could try other books in the series, like the first one, The Great Deliverance. Novelist had several read-alike series (what a great search feature!), but the one that sounded most intriguing to me is Maj Sjowall’s Martin Beck series. Book one is called Roseanna. 

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?

Zombies—not my thing. Overactive imagination, haha. I had to defer to Novelist completely for this one. I searched the “zombie apocalypse” theme and came up with two promising contenders: Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion and Day By Day Armageddon by J. L. Bourne.

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.

Luckily, I noticed a banner on the top of Novelist that asked if I wanted to “find books made into movies.” Bingo! Unfortunately most of the ones on the 2020 list were older books from more than 5 years ago, or they were YA, which I wasn’t sure would qualify under the patrons’ “literary” heading. At the bottom of the list, I saw that I could search for more using the Novelist search “GX books to movies,” so that’s what I did next. Then I refined my search by Adult, Fiction, and a pub date between 2015 and 2020. Julietta by Alice Munro, or for something a little more classic, Who Has Seen the Wind by W.O. Mitchell both sounded like good options.

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

Based on this week’s annotation, I know that the Cross series is not going to be a winner here :) I might ask a follow up question—would the patron like to read a Christian thriller? If so, they could try If I Run by Terri Blackstock, the first in her If I Run series by the same name. When I was browsing around Novelist I noticed a tab at the top called “How Do I?” And from there I found an explainer on how to search for gentle reads, aka books without sex and violence. I tried to search two genres at once—thriller and gentle reads, but that only returned two options that I wasn’t totally sold on. One of them was A Good Year by Peter Mayle, but it sounded more romance adventure to me based on the reviews on Novelist. Perhaps the patron could help me narrow down my search by naming one or two books they have enjoyed in the past.

How I find books to read:

I am loyal to authors once I read a book I love. I will often be drawn in by NPR’s book coverage, either by hearing an author interview on the radio, or reading a review on the website. I like browsing my local book store’s displays. I would guess that about 75% of my reads come from friend recommendations. At the end of the year, I love combing through “Best of” lists (and NPR’s book concierge is so fun to use and reminds me a little bit of NoveList). I follow authors I’m a fan of on Twitter, where they often share what they’re reading. Back when I worked in publishing and was in the habit of reading Publishers Weekly, Booklist, and Kirkus newsletters every day, I’d spot interesting reads there, but beware, usually they’re covering books before they’re officially in stores—waiting can be hard! When it comes to poetry, I often read one poem I like in a newsletter or literary magazine and then find the author’s collections from there. Whenever I hear about a good book I might be interested in, I save it to my Goodreads account. It acts more as a staging ground for my library hold list than a place for personal reviews, however.

I’m definitely going to check out Adult Reading Round Table, Books to Watch Out For, and readalike.org!