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 next book is The Lunatic Café. I choose this book after using NoveList searching Laurell K. Hamilton, I then clicked on the series tab. I selected Anita Blake: vampire hunter making sure not to click on the graphic novel series of the same name. 

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 would add Charles Frazier’s Thirteen Moons to the conversation. I came across this book by searching for Prodigal Summer, then selecting the tabs relating to the writing style of the book and doing another search. This book was in the top three, but I selected it because of the description that Barbara Kinsgsolver wrote a lot about simple living and nature in Prodigal Summer, and Frazier’s book also features nature strongly.

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!

Golden Arthur’s Memiors of a Geisha is the most popular historical fiction work that results from a keyword search of Japan with a historical fiction filter. The writing style is noted by Novelist to be richly detailed so it could meet what the patron is looking for.

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?

One thing the patron might not know is that Well-Schooled in Murder is the third book in a series about the same detective and assistant, I would let her know about A great deliverance (1st book) and Payment in Blood (2nd book), from the same series. Another book series I might suggest would be the Hanne Wilhelmsen  novels from Anne Holt, they appeared in the read-a-likes and have a 4.5 star rating on good 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?

I think he would like I Am Legend by Richard Matheson, it also was turned into a big budget film experience like the other titles you listed. It shares the survivalist theme with both of those titles also.

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.

This is a fairly open request, there are a lot of books that get turned into movies, one thing that came to my mind immediately Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Ready Player One. I also looked at IMDB to see which books had turned into movies recently, I think the Great Gatsby would be a good recommendation if the “too old” part of the question referred to the movie instead of the book.

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

I found a forum on good reads called “clean reads” where it was noted that the Robert Liparulo Dreamhouse series are both clean and suspenseful. The book has a 3 star popularity on NoveList and 4/5 stars on good reads.

I find books to read mostly from recommendations with my friends and family. I also tend to walk through libraries and bookstores and judge books by their covers. I guess in my mind I’m looking for a particular genre or mood, I’ll probably google search the book on my phone when I’ve landed on one if I am not familiar with the author, if the author’s name rings a bell, I’ll probably leave with it without checking google. This was my first time using Novelist, and it seemed powerful. My biggest hurdle was finding a book that was “clean”, it seemed Novelist wasn’t the best option for that. It would be great if they added in a filter for sex and profanity!

Dustin's Reading Profile

             Honestly, I’ve been staring at this blank page for a while now trying to figure out what kind of reader I am. I go through phases where I read all the time (I’m in one currently), and then I go through some periods of time where I don’t feel the urge to pick up a book. These periods rotate every few months, it may have to do with the fact that I tend to have a lot of hobbies that fight for my free time or I may just burn myself out. I’ve never really questioned it before, I can be sure to say that even when I’m not reading a lot, books are very important to me, from shaping how I view different ideas to pure entertainment, books are always something I think about. I’m lucky to also have a large number of my friends and family who love to talk about books and reading, so I am constantly surrounded by conversations about books even though I do not yet work in a library.

To go about my reading preferences in the recommended style of Saricks, I love books that have a detailed setting, engross the reader in a specific mood, and have a lingering pace. When considering the setting I have to mention I love high fantasy novels, but any author that is able to make the place of their story feel nearly tangible will be able to hook me in. I also love novels to be moody, especially if they are dark, as often found in the horror genre. Stephen King’s It is one of my favorite novels because of his use of mood, I found his play between the ‘impending doom’ feel of the showdown with the monster against the nostalgic feel of childhood memories and innocence delightful. An idea of lingering pace can be embodied in Frank Herbert’s Dune, where a lot of time is spent on the fictional kingdom’s histories and culture description. Dune is a book I really appreciate because it embodies all three of my chosen ‘appeals’, yet it is not in my list of favorite books.

My Top Five Favorite Books (in no particular order)

1. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy- J.R.R. Tolkien
2. The Once and Future King- T.H. White

3. Dracula- Bram Stoker

4. Kitchen Confidential- Anthony Bourdain

5. IT- Stephen King

My favorite book I’ve read this year is Earnest Cline’s Ready Player One, I was encouraged to read it from a few friends who are really into movies, and I was glad to take their advice. For me the commitment to a nostalgic look at the nerd culture of the 1980’s delivered high points in the mood department. I wanted to talk about this book though because, for me, it was a page-turner. In fact I finished it in one sitting, the pace, even though it was not lingering like I cited as my preference, was blistering. The book is filled with action sequences; I have no doubt it was picked up to be translated onto screen because of that fact. I think my enjoyment of Ready Player One and the fact that Anthony Bourdain’s autobiography appears in my top five list can help round out the perception of the kind of reader I truly am. I have preferences, but I’m not afraid to step away from them to enjoy a good book.