The Readers Advisor is In!!

PERSON A

What kind of books do you enjoy reading?
 
Person A is a man in his late thirties who used to enjoy reading but has lost interest over the years.  He feels that he just does not have enough time to read a book and doesn't want to waste his time starting a book just to find out that he does not like it.  Years ago he enjoyed reading book with a paranormal feel to them but not anything with vampires, werewolves, witches, etc.  When he says paranormal he means futuristic, aliens, or telekinesis.  He does not like books with ghosts or demons but does like stories where there is a good versus evil fight.

Do you have a favorite book or author?

Person A does not have a favorite book or author but used to enjoy reading Stephen King or Dean Koontz but was not impressed with their newer stuff.  He really liked the book The Stand by Stephen King. 

Would you be interested in a book that is similar to the stand?

Although Person A enjoyed The Stand, he is not sure that he wants to read a book like it.  I checked Novelist anyway to see what was recommended.  Novelist recommends:

The 5th Wave by Richard Yancey
The Passage by Justin Cronin
Temple of the Winds by Terry Goodkind
I am Legend by Richard Matheson

Person A's response to these suggestions was sounds boring, maybe, no, and saw the movie.  I was beginning to think that I would never be able to find him a book that he would actually enjoy.

What other interests do you have?

This was the key question.  Person A admitted that he is a huge Star Wars fan and used to read some of the books.  He was not interested in any Star Wars books that were about the movies or the characters from the movies.  He enjoyed reading Star Wars books that were years before Darth Vader.  I then went back into Novelist and typed in Star Wars.  I had to filter through quite a few books before I found ones that were not related to the movies.  While doing this, he remembered the he loved the Force Unleashed series from Star Wars.  I was able to narrow my recommendations down to:

Darth Plagueis by James Luceno
Lost Tribe of the Sith by John Jackson Miller
Old Republic Series (Fatal Alliance, Deceived, Revan, and Annihilation)   

Person A checked out Darth Plagueis and The Lost Tribe of the Sith.  He has started reading Darth Plagueis and says that he is enjoying it so far.  He has not read the other title yet.

Wow, what a start to this assignment.  I was not sure if I would find this guy any books that he would actually read.  This was a tough one and I felt like I was pulling his teeth to get answers out of him.

PERSON B

What kinds of books do you enjoy reading?

Person B was a middle aged woman who freely admits that she is a very picky reader.  She loves to read but she is very picky about what she will read but enjoys historical non-fiction, historical fiction, mysteries, and biographies but her favorite genre would be historical non-fiction.

What genre are you in the mood for right now?

Person B replied that she would really like a good historical non-fiction book.

What was the last historical non-fiction book that you read and enjoyed?

Person B has just finished reading The Hidden Whitehouse: Harry Truman and the Reconstruction of America's Most Famous Residence by Robert Klara.

What did you like about the book?

Person B thought that the book was well-written, very detailed and yet very readable.  She stated that although historically accurate, it was not full of technical facts.  She really enjoyed the personal stories told in the book.  I searched Novelist for read-a-likes but she did not think that any of the suggestions sounded interesting.  I then searched for the author and found that he had written another book, FDR's Funeral Train: a betrayed widow, a Soviet spy, and a presidency in the balance.  Person B decided to give this book a try since she enjoyed the author in the last book. 

What is another historical non-fiction book that you really enjoyed?

Person B stated the she loved the book River of Doubt by Candice Millard and that is was one of her favorites.  I went back into Novelist and pulled up some read-a-likes for this title.  A few of the suggested titles she found interesting were:

The Lost City of Z by David Grann
The Emerald Mile by Kevin Fedarko

Person B checked out both The Lost City of Z and FDR's Funeral Train.  She has not started the FDR book yet and has recently returned The Lost City of Z.  She thought that the book was okay but has read other titles that she enjoyed better.

I am not a huge non-fiction reader so this was a tough one for me.  I had never heard of a few of the books and had to read the summaries more than once to get a feel for them.

PERSON C

What kind of books do you enjoy reading?

Person C is a young lady in her early twenties.  She reads all types of books from all genres and all age levels.  She really enjoys murder mysteries, paranormal fiction, dystopian fiction, romance, and some non-fiction.

What was the last book that you read that you really enjoyed?

 Person C had quite a few answers to this question.  She has recently read The Perks of Being a Wallflower, The Maze Runner, A Child Called It, and Twilight.  She would like any books that were along the same lines as those mentioned above.  I started with The Perks of Being a Wallflower.  Novelist read-a-like suggestions that she thought sounded good were:

The Spectacular Now by Tim Tharp
Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Powell

Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Pellaira

My branch did not have any of these titles in so she placed a hold on them.

I then went back into Novelist for read-a-likes for The Maze Runner.  Suggested titles that she found interesting and checked out were:

Variant by Robinson Wells
Ashes, Ashes by Jo Treggiari

I then went back into Novelist for A Child Called it read-a-likes.  The suggested titles she thought sounded interesting were:

A Stolen Life by Jaycee Dugard
Sleepers by Lorenzo Carcaterra

She checked out the Jaycee Dugard title.

Lastly, I searched Novelist for Twilight read-a-likes.  Suggested titles that she thought sounded good and checked out were:

Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick
Spellbound by Cara Lynn Shultz
Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

I have not heard back from her to see if she liked any of these titles but I am sure that she did.  This advisory was the easiest for me as Person C and I have very similar reading interests. 


PERSON D

What types of books do you like?

Person D is a male in his middle to late thirties.  His reading interests are mostly fantasy as well as some science fiction and non-fiction.

What kind of fantasy do you enjoy?

Person D likes fantasy books with sorcery that include plots that are political and/or military.

What is your favorite fantasy author/book/series?

Person D's favorite series of all times is the Malazan Empire by Steven Erikson.

What did you like about this series?

It was very detailed and character driven.  It was a deep novel but a very fast paced book.  It was world building and darkly humorous.  I went to Novelist and searched for the Malazan series by Erikson and found the first book in the series.  I clicked on the first book to get a list of read-a-likes.  The following are the suggested read-a-likes that Person D checked out to read:

Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin
Chronicles of the Black Company by Glen Cook
Legends of the Red Sun by Mark Charan Newton

All three of these books were the first book in a series.  He checked them all out to see whtich series he wanted to start reading first.  As of now, I still have not heard if he liked any of the suggestions or not.

This was another tough advisory for me.  I love fantasy fiction but not the type that this gentleman liked.  I didn't even know books existed that were both magical and military.  Great learning experience and definitely out of my comfort zone.

PERSON E

What types of books do you enjoy?

Person E reads all types of genres and all age levels.  She loves paranormal fiction, in particular, paranormal romance.  She also enjoys a good mystery and on occasion some science fiction.  Lately she has really enjoyed reading books from the young adult section of the library.

What are some examples of books and/or authors that you really enjoyed?

Person E loved the following series: The Hunger Games, Harry Potter, Divergent, and The Mortal Instruments.  I started with the Hunger Games and went to Novelist to find read-a-likes.  The following titles are ones that she thought sounded interesting:

Birthmarked by Caragh M O'Brien
Matched by Allyson Condie
Graceling by Kristin Cashmore

Person E checked out the first two titles.  I have hear back from her and she absolutely loved the Matched series but has not read Birthmarked yet.

I then went into Novelist to search for read-a-likes for Harry Potter.  Unfortunately, none of the suggested titles sounded very interesting to Person E.

I moved on to the Divergent series in Novelist and had a little more luck.  Below are the suggested titles that sounded interesting to Person E.

Uglies by Scott Westerfield
Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi

Person E checked out Uglies and has since returned to check out the rest of that series.  SCORE!!

Lastly, I searched for Mortal Instruments read-a-likes from Novelist.  The following books were of interest to Person E but she has not checked them out yet as she wanted to finish reading others first but she kept the list for a future date.

Paranormalcy by Kiersten White
Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins
White Hot Kiss by Jennifer Armentrout
Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

Again, Person E was easy for me as we read many of the same titles.  Ironically, I found a couple of titles that I would like to read by helping her find books!!