Week Three Prompt Response

Here’s my prompt response for this week! All the quotes I used are sourced from NoveList Plus, unless otherwise designated.

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 of the Anita Blake series is The Lunatic Café (1996). Just to make sure this is the correct book of the series the patron needs, I would also ask them if the book they just finished was book three, which is Circus of the Damned (1995).  

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.

According to NoveListPlus, Barbara Kingsolver’s writing style is evocative, including the specific descriptors of descriptive, lush, and lyrical. Elements of tone included: atmospheric, bittersweet, haunting, moving, and thought-provoking. Expanding on elements of style and tone, I utilized the “Make Your Own Appeal Mix” feature. I entered the three combinations of: Writing style à Lyrical; Pace à Fast-paced; Tone à Atmospheric

I got 91 results from this search. I decided to narrow my search further to the more “gentle,” romance-based looking covers, since the patron had read Kingsolver’s Prodigal Summer that’s summarized as, “weaves together three stories of human love within a larger tapestry of lives inhabiting the forested mountains and struggling small farms of southern Appalachia.” Top recommendation choices I selected:

• The Orchardist by Amanda Coplin (2012). It has an appealing cover, and similarly to Kingsolver’s Prodigal Summer, it has an emphasis on nature and farming life. Additionally, descriptors of the book include a compelling and lyrical writing style and a character-driven plot. Synopsis: “At the turn of the 20th century in a rural stretch of the Pacific Northwest, a gentle solitary orchardist, Talmadge, tends to apples and apricots. Then two feral, pregnant girls and armed gunmen set Talmadge on an irrevocable course not only to save and protect but to reconcile the ghosts of his own troubled past.”

• Love and Ruin by Paula McLain (2018). The initial descriptor of Love and Ruin is engaging, lyrical, and richly detailed. The good things they loved about Kingsolver’s writing, the romance, but including a faster-paced plot. Synopsis: “The author of The Paris Wife returns to her fan-favorite subject, Ernest Hemingway, in a tale set on the eve of World War II that is inspired by his passionate, stormy marriage to a fiercely independent, ambitious young Martha Gellhorn, who would become one of the 20th century's leading war correspondents.”

                                  

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!

For this question, I put in the search term “historical Japan,” with the tags of being adult, fictional, and containing culturally diverse characters. I also went with results that had more immersive writing by using the modifier of richly detailed writing to make readers feel more “there.” The finalists of my searching consisted of:

• Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden (1997). This is atmospheric, richly detailed, as well as historical. Summary: “The "memoirs" of one of Japan's most celebrated geishas describes how, in 1929, as a little girl, she is sold into slavery; her efforts to learn the arts of the geisha; the impact of World War II; and her struggle to reinvent herself to win the man she loves.”

• The Teahouse Fire by Ellis Avery (2006). Avery is lush in her descriptions, which helps immerse readers in the world of 19^th century Japan. Readers get to experience Japan alongside an American perspective; with the epic plot, this makes a compelling and exciting read. Summary: “The fates of two women--one American, one Japanese--become entwined in this sweeping novel of 19th century Japan on the cusp of radical change and westernization. The Japanese tea ceremony, steeped in ritual, is at the heart of this story of an American girl, adopted by Kyoto's most important tea master and raised as attendant and surrogate younger sister to his privileged daughter Yukako.”

• Claws of the Cat: a Shinobi mystery  by Susan Spann (2013). Provides an earlier historical novel, part of a series. Summary: “In sixteenth-century Japan, master ninja Hiro and the Jesuit priest he is sworn to protect race against time to prevent a wrongful execution by solving the murder of a samurai whose death is linked to numerous possible suspects.”

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 suggest Deborah Crombie, since she is a popular author read-alike to Elizabeth George, as they are both American authors who write literate police procedurals. Crombie’s books are set in London, England, and they are leisurely paced, suspenseful mysteries that are intricately crafted. 

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?

• Last Ones Left Alive by Sarah Davis-Goff (2019). Offers a unique, nonlinear zombie apocalypse story full of world-building and complex characters. Summary: “Secluded on an island off Western Ireland, Orpen begins training to fight the skrake, powerful and crazed, flesh-eating zombies that have been devouring the country and must head to the dangerous mainland after her mother is bitten.”

• Under a Graveyard Sky by John Ringo (2013). This is a zombie apocalypse novel that focuses more on the fast-paced action rather than world-building. Summary: “When an apocalyptic plague is released that transforms people into zombies, the Smith family seeks a haven in the Atlantic before joining a small band of Marines to become the defenders of the world's survivors.”

• The Remaining by D.J. Molles (2014). It’s a zombie apocalypse story that has great world-building. Summary: “After a bacterium turns ninety percent of the world's population into violent predators, Captain Lee Harden, who has been trained for this type of scenario, emerges from his bunker and tries to rally survivors and restore order.”

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.

• The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt (2013), which was made into a movie in 2019. The book won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2014 and is described as literary fiction. The themes lie in coping with death, life in art, and has a melancholy tone.

                                           

     
• The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Annie Barrows and Mary Ann Shaffer (2008), which was made into a movie with the same title in 2018.

                           

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

• Lethal Beauty by Lis Wiehl (2015) is a highly rated title I found under thrillers & suspense. The plot is fast-paced, suspenseful, a "race-against-time," and is labeled as Christian suspense. Summary: “When a key witness goes missing in the case she is prosecuting, Mia Quinn discovers that her case is linked to two murder investigations led by Seattle homicide detective Charlie Carlson and together they must race against time to find the truth before another crime hits too close to home.”

• The Kremlin Conspiracy by Joel C. Rosenberg (2018). This title offers a political thriller, that’s full of suspense and fast-paced writing. This is also labeled as Christian suspense, so there’s small likelihood it includes foul language and sex scenes. Summary: “When a rising czar in the Kremlin feverishly consolidates power and plots a lightning-fast military strike to rupture the NATO alliance, former U.S. Secret Service agent Marcus Ryker is challenged to save an America on the brink of war by using the skills he mastered to protect one world leader to take down another.”  

How I find books to read:

• Instagram: I started consistently checking Instagram in 2019, and since then I’ve been connected to more books than I thought by following my favorite authors and publishers.
• Goodreads: I’m a longtime user of Goodreads; it’s where I keep my master to-read list.
• Websites: EpicReads.com, TheYAshelf.com, YALSA, etc.
• BookTubers: Jessethereader, PolandbananasBOOKS, and Daniel Greene.
• Browsing the shelves at libraries!
• Recommendations from co-workers and friends