Week Three Prompt

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! 

Lunatic Café by Laurell K. Hamilton. When I looked on Novelist for the next in the series, only two books came up in that series. Because the patron is looking for the fourth book, I decided to go to Fantastic Fiction and look up the series. Once I got there, there were several Anita Blake series but there was only one with more than three books so Lunatic Café was the fourth in that 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. 

Wish You Well by David Baldacci. On Novelist I searched for the Kingsolver book and then did a Title Read-Alike. The books that came up did not seem in the same vein as the Kingsolver book even though they shared some commonalities. So I went to my library’s catalog and got the subjects for the Kingsolver book and typed them into Novelist. Since I know Baldacci is a quicker-paced author, I chose that book out of the ones that were returned on that search.

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 Teahouse Fire by Ellis Avery. I did a search on Novelist with “Japan, historical, descriptive” and out of that list I chose this book. The description seemed like it had a good story.

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? 

A Possibility of Violence by Dror Mishani. Looked up Well-schooled In Murder and checked out the Title Read-Alikes. The Mishani book was the first on the list and had a similar mystery with similar settings.

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? 

Blackout by Mira Grant and As The World Dies series by Rhiannon Frater. Since the patron didn’t specify whether they wanted a series or a stand-alone, I offered both. World War Z is a stand-alone and Walking Dead is a series. So I did a Title Real-Alike for World War Z and found Blackout and a Series Read-Alike for Walking Dead and found As the World Dies. Both these titles seemed the most similar to the ones already read so that is why I picked them.

Annotation #1 - Suspense

THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN

By Paula Hawkins

Genre: Suspense

Publication Date: 2015

Number of Pages: 336

Summary

The Girl On The Train by Paula Hawkins is the story of Rachel, an alcoholic woman who rides the train into modern day London every day for work. Over the years, she becomes obsessed with a couple who live in a house on her route. One day, Rachel discovers the woman has been murdered so she decides to go to the police to lend her help at solving the mystery of who killed the woman. Over the course of the novel, the reader gets to see Rachel’s relationships with her ex-husband and his new wife, her roommate and the husband of the woman who was murdered. As Rachel gets more and more involved in the events surrounding the murder, Rachel’s investigation becomes more and more out of control with many twists and turns and surprising revelations.

Subject Headings: 
Railroad Traveling

Witnesses

Murder victims

Commuters

Alcoholics
Strangers

Three terms that describe this book: 
Fast-paced
From the beginning of the story, the author leads the reader on a great mystery that is full of suspense.  The language is not complicated so it is easy to keep the story moving at a very fast pace. Within the story are several sub-plots and the author bounces from one to the other which also keeps the pace. 

An atmosphere that depicts danger 
The author is really good at setting up danger in the places you least expect it. There is tension around every corner which suggests potential danger. Even as Rachel is innocently riding the train past their house, her thoughts become a little creepy and make the reader wonder what danger might be lying ahead in the story. 

Protagonist that is empathetic 
Rachel is a protagonist one can empathize with because she seems to be inherently good and wants to help. Because the reader has the privilege of knowing her thoughts, the reader gets pulled into the confusion and can empathize with her feelings surrounding the circumstances of the mystery. Also, she is human and has human attributes that we have all experienced.

Read-A-likes

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Losing You by Nicci French

The Pocket Wife by Susan Crawford

In the Lake Of The Woods by Tim O’Brien

Reading Profile

I have been reading for as long as I can remember. My undergraduate degree is in English so I have read something in just about every genre between classes and pleasure reading. I love to try new books I never thought I would read - I like to push myself. I love fiction and non-fiction equally but I am definitely a quirky reader - or maybe a reader of quirky things.

Some of my favorite fiction authors are Janet Frame, JD Salinger, VC Andrews (the original one) and Flannery O'Connor. My favorite genre is probably literary fiction. I was introduced to Janet Frame when the movie about her life An Angel At My Table was released. Her life and writing intrigued me and she has become one of my favorites. I love that her novels are semi-autobiographical and deal with her insecurities and her experiences with mental health facilities. Catcher In The Rye has always been one of my favorites and I love Salinger's short stories. I grew up reading VC Andrews, as most girls my age did, and those books are still on my shelf and I do, occasionally, pick them up and read them. I had to read Flannery O'Connor for one of my classes and I loved her writing and her ideas. She is one of many authors I was  introduced to in college that I still read. I also love a good YA novel now and then.

I do love non-fiction. I love to read biographies most of all but I dabble in all forms of non-fiction. I feel that non-fiction really helps me learn. I love to read biographies about people I love. My favorite non-fiction writer would have to be John Waters - he is also my favorite film director. My favorite books of his are the older ones that focus directly on his movies and the cast of his movies (Shock Value) or his own goofy likes and dislikes (Crackpot); he's hilarious! I also like to read about hauntings, Buddhism, film, self-improvement and history. Really, I like just about anything as long as I am in the mood to read about the subject. Poetry is a great love of mine as well; Sylvia Plath is my favorite.

I am excited (and overwhelmed) at the prospect of reading five novels for this class!