Using Novelist - Week Three Prompt Response

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 Anita Blake series is The Lunatic Cafe. I found this by putting Laurell K. Hamilton’s name in the search and then clicking the “series” tab. The Anita Blake series was the first result. I clicked that and easily found 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.
My first choice for this request would be House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus. I chose this one after looking into Prodigal Summer and noticing it had a lyrical writing style. So, I went and searched in “Appeal” and put in “fast paced” for pace and “lyrical” for writing style. Then I narrowed it down by selecting Adult, Fiction, and Literary Fiction.
A second option for this request would be The Overstory by Richard Powers. This was one of the read-alikes for Prodigal Summer. I thought The Overstory seemed like a subject and plot that transitioned well from Prodigal Summer. Unfortunately, it did not state if it was fast-paced or not, but the plot sounded like it would move quickly.

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!
My two choices for this are The Samurai’s Garden by Gail Tsukiyama and Pachinko by Min Jin Lee. The only thing with these two is that they start somewhere else and then move to Japan. The Samurai’s Garden goes from Hong Kong to Japan and is set in the 1930s. I thought this was an interesting time period and it starts in China, the country the patron just read about. Pachinko starts in Korea and goes to Japan and is set in the early 1900s. This one really seems like the main portion is set in Japan like the patron is asking for. I found both of these by searching for “Japan” and then setting the limiters of Adult, Fiction, and Historical Fiction.

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?
Both of my choices for this request are from the read-alikes column Well-Schooled in Murder. The first is Still Life by Penny Louise. This a mystery set in a small town and the cover has bright colors which sends a message that is a less violent and creepy mystery. The second book I found is The Missing File by Dror Mishani. This one does not seem as calm as the first one, but it still seems quite similar to Well-Schooled in Murder. Plus, it has complex diverse characters, suspenseful tone, and richly-detailed writing style.

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?
To find suggestions for this request, I searched for zombies and zombie apocalypse in addition to looking at the read-alikes for The Walking Dead and World War Z. My first suggestion would be some books by George A. Romero, the creator of the Night of the Living Dead film series. Two specific titles I would recommend from Novelist are Dawn of the Dead and Nights of the Undead: An Anthology. Another series would recommend is the Black Tide Rising series by John Ringo. There are several books in the series with the first one being Under the Graveyard Sky.

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.
Conveniently, the homepage of Novelist had a header about finding book to movie adaptations coming in 2020. The closest released adult book from that list was Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson which came out in 2014. After looking at that list I searched for other book to movie suggestions. My main suggestion from that search is The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt published in 2013 and the movie came out in 2019.

7. I love thrillers but I hate foul language and sex scenes. I want something clean and fast paced.
This was the most difficult request to look up. There is nothing to narrow down in Novelist for “clean” books. I just have to avoid anything that states it is violent or sensual. That can be very time consuming. So, pressed for time, I searched for Christian thrillers because I knew that would ensure it was clean. Yet, because this request does not ask for that I tried to find a Christian author that did not make their religion very prominent.
One author I found was actually someone I read before, Ted Dekker. I read one of his teen fantasy series and remembered how it was not until I looked him up that I found out he was a Christian author. So, my first suggestion with this request is the Outlaw Chronicles because it is suspenseful and fast paced. The first title in the trilogy is Eyes Wide Open. As I looked for one more suggestion, I found the author Joel Rosenberg. He is the author of a political thriller series, The Last Jihad. So, my second suggestion is to start with the first book, The Last Jihad.

Where do I find books?
My first way of discovering books was to just browse the stacks in my local public library or school library. I also often get book recommendations from friends. Sometimes I see a movie trailer for a book to movie adaptation and decide to go read the book before watching the movie. More recently I have mostly been using Goodreads to discover new books. Since Goodreads provides summaries and ratings, I am able to decide well enough if I really want to read a certain book. To pick books for the annotations we need to do for this class I have actually been using Novelist a bit. I really like being able to narrow down genres and appeals.