Assignment : Answer the following questions using Novelist as much as you can. Explain why you chose the books you did.
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!
Answer: This was a very challenging search! The Anita Blake series includes graphic novel links as well as book links. I used the book links.
Within the graphic novels, there are volumes and books within volumes so it is hard to know if the reader is looking for a book within a volume. For purposes of this exercise, I am going to assume the reader wants exactly the fourth book in the Anita Blake series. To determine this, I did a search based upon publication date. Using that criteria only, the fourth book published in the Anita Blake series is, and the book I would recommend to the reader:
- Taken from Novelist:
- Series:
- Anita Blake: vampire hunter, 4
- Description:
- Preternatural expert Anita Blake meets an interesting array of monsters that includes jealous vampires and killer zombies, but her work with a group of besieged werewolves is threatened when she falls in love with its leader.
Answer:
I did a search for this author and looked up the appeal factors. Unfortunately, there was no Appeal Factor listed for any of her books that allowed me to find a faster pace for the book. So, I am assuming all of her books have the same sort of pace. Since the reader wanted something a little faster pace, I decided not to recommend any more of her books but a read-alike author who has same writing appeal factor, but faster pace.
I went back to the appeal factors I thought the reader was looking for which was Mainstream Fiction, and Romance, then searched for fast paced and writing style similar to Kingsolver. Keeping in mind, that PACE was not necessarily an option for many books, and this was the biggest factor, it was difficult locating by subject matter what I thought she would be interested in. This is the book I came up with to recommend:
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(Note: For some reason I cannot pull the duplicate jpg of this book cover without losing all of my answer, so I'm leaving two copies on this answer.)
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!
Answer: Search for Historical Fiction, Japan. First person narrative.
This search yielded two books I would suggest, based upon the subject matter. The subject matter was very diverse. One book was a diary of a woman and was more romance focused. The other book was a WWII diary. I would suggest both and let the reader choose, but based upon Japanese Historical Fiction, Adult, First Person narrative, these are the only two:
- Book:
- The book of loss (Jan 2005)
- Author:
- Jedamus, Julith
Adults
Fiction
- Description:
- A lady-in-waiting to a tenth-century Japanese empress engages in a bitter rivalry with another lady-in-waiting for the love of a banished nobleman, in a diary account in which she records the complex social and hierarchical structures of court life. A first novel. 35,000 first printing.
- Genre:
- Diary novels; First person narratives; Historical fiction; Love stories
- Book:
- The war journal of Lila Ann Smith (Dec 2007)
- Author:
- Warner, Irving, 1941-
- Genre:
- First person narratives; 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?
Answer:I did a search on both authors to see what the difference was. For Sandford in addition to some of the same appeal factors that George had, it listed it also as Suspense, so don't need a Suspense genre. The book is about serial killer, is suspenseful and violent. So, I referred to the Read Alike suggestions. Since the reader liked mysteries, police procedurals and this was the first suggestion that said it was like the detective in Elizabeth George, I opted for it, It seems a little more light hearted, not "creepy" and not about serial killers :
- Book:
- Still life (Jul 2006)
- Author:
- Penny, Louise
- Series:
- Inspector Armand Gamache mysteries, 1
- Description:
- In a small town in Quebec a woman supposedly loved by her community is found in the woods, murdered. Chief Inspector Armand Gamache looks for the small clues which will point him to the killer.
- Genre:
- Canadian fiction; Mystery stories; Police procedurals
- Storyline:
- Character-driven; Intricately plotted
- Pace:
- Leisurely paced
- Tone:
- Atmospheric
- Writing Style:
- Lyrical; Richly detailed
Answer: Search for Zombies and both titles. Revealed appeal factors to look for.
I finally went with the Read-a-Like for The Walking Dead while keeping in mind the appeal factors for World War Z. The second book in the Read-a-Like section is the one I decided on because of the appeal factors of tone which had same tone as books he liked, is a series like The Walking Dead, and is about Zombies.
The first one Novelist suggested was in the Romance category, which after looking at the details of the two books her husband liked, was definitely not the book for him. Writing style as Gritty and the descriptions of the illustrations are what cinched my decision.
- Series Title:
- Criminal macabre
- Also Known as:
- Cal McDonald graphic novels
- Series Author:
- Niles, Steve
- Description:
- (First book in series) The creative team behind 30 Days of Night, 2002?s breakout hit of the year, launch a new series of occult detective stories featuring the hard-boiled Cal McDonald, a reprobate detective who fights zombies and vampires.
- Genre:
- Comic books; Graphic novels; Hardboiled comic books; Horror comic books; Mystery comic books
- Storyline:
- Plot-driven
- Tone:
- Atmospheric; Creepy; Gruesome
- Writing Style:
- Gritty
- Illustration:
- Dark; Muted; Nightmarish
