Week Three Prompt

Pull up a chair, the owl is in. Before this week's annotation, here is a lovely prompt about using Novelist and other book sites when looking for something to read.

First Part 1- Using Novelist.

1. I typed in "Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter" and it instantly came up. I then set it sort  by " Volume" and after scrolling past the seven graphic novels, I found the regular books. I look for the fourth book and got-
The Lunatic Cafe.


2. I reset the search to title and typed " Prodigal Summer". Once I got the book, I click on the " Print All" on the box of Read-a-likes. Browsing over how each book is described, the one that might work for fast-paced is-  
Queen of the Big Time by Adriana Trigiani  ( it lists Pace as " Fast Paced)

3. This was been a bit of a challenge based on how I worded the search.I decided to do an Advanced  Search, so I typed in " Historical" (and set it " GENRE")  and " Japan" and  about 400 results. I then went to location and just selected " Japan" which shorten it to 287. I then clicked on genre and  selected " historical fiction" which shorten the results to 89.I would probably need to ask  what type of aspects  the patron wants to learn about historical Japan ( and maybe what the book set in China that they  read) to get a better picture of what to recommend. I might even read or show the patron some of the titles to get their opinion. Some of the recommended titles are:

• Shogun (Asian saga 1) by James Clavell (along with five other books in the Asian saga series)
• The Pure Land by Alan Spence
• Scent of Sake by Joyce Lebra
• Pillow Book of the Flower Samuri by Barbara Lazer
• Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden

4. I typed in " Well-Schooled in Murder" and got four books written by Elizabeth George. I went to " Title Read A Likes" and got nine recommendations, including -

• Still Life by Louise Penny
• The Man with a Load of Mischief by Martha Grimes

I'm thinking these titles since it sounds like the patron were prefer leisure, gentle reads than dark and edgy.
5. I entered " World War Z" in the Search Bar, then once I got the entry page, I went to Title Read A Likes. Some of the  recommended titles include:

•  Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
• I am Legend by Richard Matheson
• The Dead Run  by Adam Mansbach

Part B- What exactly do I use?

I'll be honest. I actually do not use a whole lot of book databases when it comes to selecting what I read. My method would actually need a whole another entry to explain other than it kind of works by the seasons and holidays ( for example, during November, December and maybe early January, I would be doing light, heartwarming holiday reads by Richard Paul Evans or Debbie Macomber). I do use them occasionally. Here is what I use:

• Novelist - I  use more for the patrons if needed ( actually used today because a mom was looking for a Read-a-Like similar to Fablehaven series for her 8-yr-old ( who also read all the Harry Potter and Percy Jackson books). Found Spiderwick Chronicles and a lot of YA fantasy series). I use it sometimes for myself, but not all the time ( will be to look for Read-A-Likes for the annotations).
• Shelfari (http://www.shelfari.com)) - I have an account, I use to keep track of the books I read ( currently about 1,200 books. Yes, I read a lot, about 2-4 some books a week.) 
• Goodreads (http://www.goodreads.com/)-Just learned about this at work ( and they do have their own account, listing a lot of the books that are part of the staff-recommended display). Other than also using it for the Read-a-Likes for the annotations, I prefer Shelfari.
•  Cozy Mysteries ( http://www.cozy-mystery.com/)- This is just a site featuring cozy ( amateur) mysteries, also regular mysteries and non-mysteries. I haven't read a cozy in a while, but love Laura Levine ( Jaine Austen), Cleo Coyle ( Coffee House Mysteries) and Laura Childs ( Tea Shop Mysteries)

Well, I hope that covers all that is required for this prompt.  Thank you for your time