Week 3: Prompt Response

 Part I 

1. 1. “Hi! So you just finished Circus of the Damned? The next book is The Lunatic Cafe. Would you like me to put that on hold for you?” 

2. 2. “If you want something that has similar use of language and more interconnected stories, I recommend The History of Bees by Maja Lund. Of course, this is set against the backdrop of climate crisis, so if you want something that is a little more distracting, you can’t go wrong with Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens! This one also has a bit of mystery and a lot of nature talk. It has been on the best seller list for so long for a reason!” 

3. 3. “Well if you are wanting historical Japan the first thing that of course comes to mind is Memoirs of a Geisha, that is set around World War 2. If you want something that takes place in the 19th century, I recommend The Teahouse Fire by Ellis Avery. It’s  a coming of age story with a bit of a mystery!” 

4. 4. “It looks like Well-Schooled in Murder is part of the Inspector Lynley Series, so if you are wanting something that follows the same characters, I would recommend the most recent book Something to Hide. If you want books that have similar setting-murders that take place at schools- then some other recent releases include Ruth Ware’s The It Girl and Alex Michaelides’ The Maidens. Personally, I liked The Maidens more.” 

5. 5. “Those are two very important works in the zombie canon! If you think he might be interested in another graphic novel, there is a graphic novelization of The Last of Us! These zombies are also caused by a virus, but with a twist!” 

6. 6. “One of my favorite literary book-to-movie titles is The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt. The book is nearly 800 pages, so the movie is much less of a time commitment. If you want something a little more upbeat, I recommend Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris!” 

7. 7. “If you want a fast-paced thriller without anything ‘spicy’ I think Mary Higgins Clark might be the author for you!” 

8. 
   

Part II 

When I am looking for books for myself, I generally go to the new releases shelf first! I look for familiar authors or even just book covers and titles that catch my eye. Personally, I think it is perfectly ok to judge a book by its cover since that is most of the marketing and opportunity that books have to grab their reader. Occasionally I’ll know about a highly anticipated release like a celebrity memoir and put it on hold as soon as I can. Sometimes a book has been popular for such a long time that I finally break down and want to see what all the commotion is about- hence the reason I am finally reading Lessons in Chemistry. I don’t intentionally avoid titles because they are popular, but sometimes that is just how it works out! Usually when I am late to read a popular title I find that I love it and wish I had read it sooner. I discover other titles through “Book Tok,” from the Book of the Month subscription social media page, or some other social media trend or marketing. Overall, I feel like I don’t put much time into researching my next read and generally just go with the flow; I get all my books from the library so there isn’t a financial consequence if I don’t like a book after I’ve taken it home. When people recommend books or authors to me, I keep a note in my phone and add the most appealing titles on GoodReads for later!