Week Three prompt

Week 3 and it's time to play with NoveList...luckily, my library uses NoveList to help patrons find similar books as they look up their current favorites through our website.

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!

You just finished reading Circus of the Damned, so now you need The Lunatic Cafe!

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.

You may try reading The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty.  It also features women and focuses on their relationships, while being a "thought-provoking" mystery.

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!

We have Memoirs of a Geisha, which is set in 1929.  We also have Lian Hearn's Tales of the Otori series which goes back to feudal Japan and features ninja clans, although it mixes in a little of the fantasy genre.  I can also track down a copy of Sho-gun by James Clavell if you still want to read about samurai, but do without the mystical powers.

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?

George actually has a whole series based around the main character of Well-Schooled in Murder, if you'd like to keep reading her.  A similar book may be Nora Roberts' The Collector, which is one of her mysteries and she's not known for being creepy.

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?

Your husband may enjoy the Autumn series by David Moody.  It's similar to those titles by focusing on the survivors rather than the zombies.  If he likes humor with his horror, he may try Scott Kenemore's books, each of which takes place in different US state during the zombie apocalypse.  (Example--Zombie, Ohio and Zombie, Indiana.)

------------
To be honest, I don't use NoveList that often.  Usually if I do, it's when a patron tells me a specific title and wants "something just like it."  But never for myself.  I often use Goodreads to look up series or to check on user ratings of interesting-looking books that pass the desk at work, or that I pass by in a bookstore.  If there's buzz about a book on Twitter, I might check it out...but again, I'll go through Goodreads to get more information!  Also, if I get a word-of-mouth recommendation from a "trusted" friend or co-worker, I'll usually check it out on that strength alone.