COMMENTS:
from goodreads:I ran across 'this wonderful website http://www.literature-map.com If you have a favorite author, you can enter the name here, and it will bring up other authors very similar to the one you entered.'
a similar web site in that it helps the reader find other authors whose style is close to one already being enjoyed is run by the lansing (il) public library. it is called 'if you like ...., try these authors.' again, you write in the name of the author you like or choose him/her from a list and you'll see a list of authors considered (by someone) to be similar.
both of these sites are fun for playing around. on the other hand, you could hang out at a bar!
i came across these sites in a failed search for a study of sara paretsky (v.i. warshawski in chicago), janet evanovich (stephanie plum in new jersey), and sue grafton (kinsey millhone, who has the best deal of the three in that she lives in california). the authors' avatars (v.i., stephanie, and kinsey) are tough talking detectives or quasi-detectives by vocation or avocation. these women crime solvers often find themselves in deep trouble and sometimes need help from male best friends, but more often solve tough crimes that their male counterparts can't.
BOOKS:
they act tough and talk tougher, which brings up the book i'm reading now: break down by sara paretsky. do women past 14 years old really speak with the heavy sarcasm of v.i. warshawski? here she is talking with the unsympathetic mother of her good friend, who is certifiably psychotic, "' your daughter has been a hard burden,' i said, squeezing her hand in mock sympathy. 'and yet you bear up nobly. i'll make sure her doctors know that you're too distraught to be interrupted with bulletins about her health.'" i'm not expecting my 21st century heroine to be a miss marple, but i want a little more sophistication while she kicks ass.
the novel has more characters and plot twists than most. it's best not to worry who all the characters are. their importance (or lack of) to the story will come out in a sentence or two. i'd say the same about the many rapid directions the plot follows. as an old chicagoan, i did enjoy v.i's racing from the rockefeller chapel at the u. of chicago past ravinia, home of the summer symphony series, to some north shore destination.
fans of sara paretsky will continue to love her and v.i. in this 431 page novel published by g.p. putnam's sons. admission: i'm on p. 387 with hopes that in the last few pages paretsky will come up with a plot twist that will link members of her cast of hundreds.
BOOK FAIR:
whether you want to exhibit, browse, or buy, check out the hudson ohio public library for news of its book fair on 14 april.
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