Best Seller Read-Alikes for the Week of December 2nd

Can’t wait to get your hands on the latest best-seller, but the hold list is too long? To tide you over, every week we’ll offer similar titles and authors to the week’s fiction and nonfiction best sellers.

Fiction

At #1 this week in fiction is Notorious Nineteen by Janet Evanovich.The nineteenth outing for bounty hunter Stephanie Plum finds her working a series of small jobs for her cousin's bail bond business and in serious need of cash. Finally, she lands a case that could put her back in the black: tracking down a con man who has disappeared from the hospital after an emergency appendectomy. When  a second felon goes missing from the same hospital, she must call on Trenton's hottest cop Joe Morelli for help.

Other authors & series similar to Evanovich include:

Lisa Lutz - Lutz’s funny, fast-paced mystery stories feature a large cast of colorful characters. Start with The Spellman Files, the first in her upbeat series following Izzy Spellman and her work at her dysfunctional family’s detective agency. Izzy’s family doesn’t understand the term “boundaries” and she’s had it up to here. She decides to move on with her career, but first she takes on one last case.

Harley Jane Kozak - The author of the humorous Wollie Shelley mystery series, Kozak is known for her witty page turners. The series starts with Dating Dead Men, wherein Wollie Shelley’s research project in dating for a popular talk show host’s upcoming book is complicated by a corpse.

Nancy Martin - Martin's ongoing Roxy Abruzzo mysteries series also features a sassy heroine running with a motley crew of eccentrics. In Sticky Fingers, Roxy does a little debt collection on the side for her jailed mob boss uncle and refuses a hit job on a former high school classmate — but finds herself accused of the murder anyway. Solving the mystery requires a lot of help from her amusing friends and relatives and the smart dialog and fast pace make this series a good match for Evanovich fans.

Click here for more fiction bestsellers... 

Nonfiction
At #1 in non-fiction is is the presidential biography, Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power by Jon Meacham. The Pulitzer-prize winning journalist and historical biographer presents an exhaustive and glowing portrait of the third president. Tracing Jefferson's path from his family's Virgina aristocracy to his role as a Founding Father and then on to his achievements as a master politician, Meacham paints Jefferson as a philosopher president and a political pragmatist, devoted to the success of democratic republicanism in the United States.

Sarah did an excellent post on historical biographies last Friday. Below, find some highlights that are a good match for Meacham's latest biography:

David McCullough - McCullough's engaging and highly respected histories and biographies, his work as the host of American Experience and as a narrator on several historical documentaries have earned him two Pulitzer Prizes, two National Book Awards, and a Presidential Medal of Freedom. He's known for his positive tone and ability to explain the large events of history through their impact on the individual. Try his biography of John Adams or Mornings on Horseback, the story of Theodore Roosevelt's youth.

Ron Chernow - Chernow worked as a journalist and as a member of a Think Tank specializing in finances before becoming a popular and well-regarded author, receiving a Pulitzer Prize for his work Washington: A Life. His writing has a great attention to detail, and tends to be a little quieter and thoughtful in tone. He often uses his experience in finances to write about those who have had a significant impact on our nation's economics, as in his biography of Alexander Hamilton.

Click here for more nonfiction bestsellers ...

If you'd like more recommendations, stop by the Recommendations Desk on the first floor, check out NoveList Plus on the library's website, or visit W. 11th & Bluff next week for more reading suggestions. Or submit a Personal Recommendations request, and we'll create a reading list just for you!

Mrs. Queen Takes the Train by William Kuhn

I had today's review half-written when I picked up Mrs. Queen Takes the Train last week. I'd only planned to flip through and get a sense of the writing, but instead I found myself giggling, out loud, in the staff room on my lunch break. I did not want to put this book down.

This is Mr. Kuhn's first novel; his previous work has been in biography. This was mostly to his benefit, but there were times when the story did not flow as a novel should. While his research of and familiarity with the history of England's royal family and household helped to create believable characters, occasionally the balance tipped from entertaining to educational.

The characters and their interactions are what make this book work. I was instantly charmed by The Queen and found her depression understandable. At first I was annoyed when the narrative shifted to a different perspective, mostly because it wasn't always obvious that the perspective had shifted, but by the end of the book I wanted to know more about all these people living and working in the background of royalty's glamor.

Many of the reviews suggest that fans of Downton Abbey or The King's Speech will enjoy this book, and speaking as a fan, I'd say they are correct. It's a fairly gentle and overall optimistic peak behind the scenes of the lives of the powerful.

Oh! And if you're looking for more books and movies about the British Royals, check out our post from the Royal Wedding. You might also enjoy this recent photo set of The Queen meeting a soldier in full camouflage and a very large horse.

~Sarah

The Hockey News, December's Magazine of the Month

The Hockey News is Carnegie-Stout's Magazine of the Month. Founded in 1947, it remains one of the best sources for hockey information. Don't get checked into the boards without checking out the latest issue from Carnegie-Stout. The NHL might be in the penalty box, but The Hockey News can give you the stats on the excitement on the rink and off. You can take a look at their website for the latest updates.

Luckily Dubuque hockey fans don't have to go far for their fix. The Fighting Saints are having yet another fantastic season! You can keep up on the action on their website or Facebook page, but we recommend cheering them on in person.