Week Three Prompt

1. The Lunatic Café

        I went to the author’s page and found the Anita Blake series and looked for the fourth book.

2. The Great Alone by Kristen Hannah

        For this book, I first found Prodigal Summer on Novelist to look at the details and summaries. I had searched for books that had the same writing style but wasn’t finding as much that were fast-paced, so I went back to the page for the book and looked at read-alikes. The Prodigal Summer has a strong setting in the Appalachian mountains, and The Great Alone has a strong sense of place in the Alaskan wilderness. In both, the setting complimented the stories of the characters and had a descriptive writing style.

3. The Blossom and the Firefly by Sherri L. Smith

When looking for books, I wanted to find those whose tone included a strong sense of place with a richly detailed writing style since the patron appreciates books where it feels like you’re there. This book is set in 1945 Japan. Novelist lists the tone as hopeful, bittersweet, and strong sense of place. The writing style is richly detailed and engaging. The summary and reviews say that the novel tells a story in wartime Japan. The Publisher’s Weekly Review states that “the novel—rich with Japanese cultural details (kimono, gifts of salted plums) and a sense of place—ably portrays the stakes of war and love” (Publishers Weekly, vol 266, issue 47, p). Kirkus states that the novel was thoroughly researched which helps immerse readers in the lives of the characters and that “romanized Japanese words are used throughout the text, grounding the novel in its setting” (Kirkus Reviews, December 15, 2019).

4. A Possibility of Violence by D.A. Mishani

After finding Well-Schooled in Murder, I looked at the different read-alikes that were suggested on the right side of the screen. This is the first book on the read-alike list. Both have complex characters and intricate and character-driven plots. They also have similar writing styles. Reviews for both books say there is an undercurrent of humanity and heartfelt writing to the stories, so I believe this cuts back on the creepiness while still keeping the suspense and tense settings of a mystery.

5. Cell by Stephen King

        I went to Novelist and found both The Walking Dead and World War Z so I could look at the themes, tones, and writing styles of each. Then I searched for Zombies and Zombie apocalypse. Cell is fast-paced and plot-driven like World War Z with a compelling writing style. Cell also includes a band of survivors like The Walking Dead. This gives a mix of those two stories with a new take on zombies from Stephen King.

6. Erasure by Percival L. Everett

        I first looked for recent book-to-movie adaptions. Then I went to Novelist to check if the genre was literary fiction. The movie this book is based on is American Fiction which came out in 2023 with actor Jeffrey Wright taking the lead role. In the reviews on Novelist, this book was named the author’s best work. The movie has also garnered positive reviews from critics.

7. Age of Vice by Deepti Kapoor

        I went to Novelist and checked some of the pages under Thrillers and Suspense. I did Must-Read Thrillers (Adults) and Literary Thrillers. When looking for books, I was looking for ones that were fast-paced and did not include steamy in the tone. The reviews for this book focus mainly on the crime that starts the story and the family involved. It is highly rated, and reviews say it is impossible to put down, especially for thriller lovers.