I chose to use GoodReads for these prompts, since it's a website I'm familiar with using.
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 book in question is The Lunatic Cafe. I chose this book because it's the next one in the series.
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 have picked out A Place on Earth by Wendell Berry. I chose this book because it's very similar to Prodigal Summer in its language usage and writing style, with a slightly quicker pace.
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!
The Tale of Murasaki by Liza Dalby is my pick. I chose this book because it's incredibly descriptive and attempts to stay true to the culture.
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?
Kylie Brant wrote a book titled Pretty Girls Dancing that may be a good fit. I've chosen it because it's a mystery novel, but it doesn't have the unsettling 'creepy' factor that John Sandford's novels have.
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 would recommend Zombie Fallout by Mark Tufo. I recommend this book because it's all about dealing with zombies, and it's the first in a series. If the reader enjoys it, there's plenty more to offer.
6. I love books that get turned into movies, especially the literary ones. Can you recommend some? Nothing too old, maybe just those from the last 5 years or so.
I would recommend starting with the Hunger Games series, since all of the books have since become movies. It was difficult for me to find books that are more literary that get turned into movies that are also recent. If the 5 year limit weren't an issue, then Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile by Stephen King are both good books that were adapted into good movies.
7. I love thriller's but I hate foul language and sex scenes. I want something clean and fast paced.
Mary Higgins Clark is a good author to start with. She's written a wide range of novels and is generally clean in regards to foul language and sex scenes.
I personally don't ask anyone for help when I'm finding books to read. Does the title sound interesting? Then I read the description on the back. Does that sound interesting? Then I give it a try. I think that's why I find it difficult to perform readers advisories. I can't imagine using someone else to recommend a book to me, so it's hard to put myself in the patron's shoes.
Dear Brittany,
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your decision to utilize the Goodreads website for answering the prompt, although I think that your answers might be more incorrect for applying the mechanics of a different method from the website. I also believe that you could have easily utilized the NoveList and the Goodreads websites together to support your answers. In addition, besides The Hunger Games series, there are actually a great number of young adult novels that have become films in the past five years. I imagine that it might have been difficult for you to utilize the Goodreads website for discovering recent film adaptations.
I agree that it can be difficult for librarians to recommend books for library patrons. Reading books can be a sensitive subject for library patrons. When I was younger, I would judge a book by its cover and the information placed on the outside and the insides of the book’s jacket. While this may have been poor strategy for choosing novels, I usually wasn’t disappointed by the selected novels. I think that visually imagining the content of the book can also determine how disappointed one can be with a novel. While the majority of written descriptions in a book are disappointing to me in the present and have been in the past, I believe that the visualization of a book’s events are key to a patron’s enjoyment of a novel. This is especially relevant in a culture that is saturated with visual forms of communication. Also, considering that fans can react fiercely when elements from their favorite book are not adapted for film in a proper visual manner, one’s mental visualization of elements from a book is significant.
Brittany,
ReplyDeleteI like that you used Goodreads to get some different responses! NoveList is a great tool and I love using it, but I will be curious to compare your responses to everyone else's- I noticed that you and I had no answers in common except the first. Although I'm not familiar with many of the books you recommended, I love that you pulled in Mary Higgins Clark for question seven!
I agree with you that some book recommendations can be difficult. At my library, some of our regular patrons know which librarian to go to for the recommendations that fit them the best. I work primarily with children, and some of my regular readers know that they'd want to talk to me for fantasy, but others might prefer speaking with one of my coworkers if that isn't quite their jam. It helps, as staff, knowing what your coworkers are interested in too- if someone asks me for realistic fiction, I know I can turn to our main teen librarian if she is on desk with me, because she will answer them much more quickly than I could.
You did a good job using Goodreads but it would have been nice to see what functions, lists, or groups on the site led you to find your answers to the queries. Did you look at reviews or lists? The answers seem pretty spot on but I would have liked a little more description (for ex. how do you know there wasn't an unsettling creepy factor present in #4?
ReplyDelete