I'm going to admit the unthinkable: I had never heard of or used NoveList until this assignment. Yikes. I can't believe I admitted it. Do I need to give back my librarian card? After using NoveList, I wonder where it has been my whole life. It makes suggestions so much easier! On to the assignment...
- The fourth book in the Anita Blake series (of which I read up through Bullet), is The Lunatic Cafe. It was published in January 1996. Keep on reading! The series only gets better ;)
- If you like the feel of Prodigal Summer but are looking for something a little more fast-paced, you should read Anthill by E.O. Wilson. Wilson's book is more suspenseful, but it maintains the lyrical writing style of Kingsolver's book. I think it's a perfect fit!
- If you like historical books, you might want to try The Painting by Nina Schuyler. This book is set in 1869 Japan and is very atmospheric. The main character uses painting to escape her arranged marriage. The twist? The painting is of her lover and, after being secretly sent away, ends up with a European young man. Ultimately, the painting connects and changes the lives of many different people.
- I would suggest Haunted Ground by Erin Hart. This book is also part of a series and has similarities to the Thomas Linley Mysteries series. It is set in Ireland (close to England) and is also crime novel. It might be a little more complex stylistically, but I don't think it will be too difficult (or creepy) for you.
- I don't even need NoveList for this question! As a fellow zombie enthusiast, I would suggest he read The Remaining by D.J. Molles. I loved World War Z because it was straight-forward and really descriptive. The Remaining is a military-inspired adventure that I think he will really like.
As for how I find books to read, I mostly use Amazon recommendations and Goodreads shelves. I also really like BookBub's emails. I subscribe to it based on the type of genres I have chosen, and they email me the current Amazon deals for those genres. I like a cheap book as much as a good one ;) Once I find a book I might want, I use Goodreads and Amazon to look at reviews. I also ask my sister, an English teacher, and my mom, a former English teacher/librarian, for suggestions. They're always reading something new, but we sometimes have much different tastes. Overall, I just love to read, so I'm up for anything!
Lucy, you are not the only one! I only found out about NoveList a few months ago. My coworkers hardly use it and seem dismissive of it, one librarian told me today after the site made changes a while ago, she felt it wasn't as user-friendly. Our branch is pretty small and so everyone wears many hats, I never have the time at work to play around on the site. So it's up to me to do this at home and get comfortable with it. I never heard of BookBub either! Glad to find all these new - to me - resources.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to hear I'm not alone! You should definitely try BookBub. I like that it send books to me...I'm often too busy searching for others, so I don't have time to search for myself :)
DeleteBookBub and One-click shopping from Amazon are a dangerous combination!
ReplyDeleteDon't my credit card and I know it ;)
DeleteGreat job on answering the questions. The best part is that the only answer we agree on is the first one and yet I still think we are both right. That is the best part of Novelist, so many suggestions that are suitable for answering a patron's question.
ReplyDeleteCrazy, isn't it? I love that there are so many options!
DeleteLucy, the minute I read your blog entry I added Nina Schuyler's The Painting to my TO READ list. It sounds right up my alley!
ReplyDeleteYay! My advisory worked on someone :)
DeleteDon't feel bad. I have never used it either! I love it though, and plan on using it in the future. There are so many databases and sources out there, it is hard to know who has the the best until you wade through all of them.
ReplyDeleteSo true! It's nice to have fellow librarians not know about NoveList too. I don't feel quite as bad. Haha.
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