'Staff Picks'

Check out today's blog post with book suggestions from Lewis & Clark Library staff. Are you a Neil Gaiman fan? You'll find plenty to read by Neil Gaiman at the library and within our online resources of eBooks, eAudiobooks, comics and films. A blog post by Beth.

STAFF PICKS – What do I read next? 

As a follow-up to last week’s Staff Picks blog post which looked at two suggested titles by Madeline Miller, The Song of Achilles and Circe, today’s post addresses the question, “What do I read next?” If you enjoy a certain author and want to find something similar, where’s an avid reader to look? 

Well, for starters you can certainly go online and look at the author’s website and see what they have to say. Does your favorite author have any soon-to-be-published books coming out? Or perhaps you’ll find out more about the author’s other titles you haven’t read yet. In the case of Madeline Miller, if you go to her website, www.madelinemiller.com and click on ‘The Books’ heading you’ll see the subheading ‘Other Writing’ which if you click, you’ll find she has a couple short fiction pieces you might enjoy as well as essays and reviews. 

Another useful place to check out your favorite author is www.fantasticfiction.com. Look up your favorite author on this website and not only will you find every fiction book they have published, but by scrolling down towards the bottom of the page, you’ll often find a list of books recommended by that author. Madeline Miller has twenty different books she recommends on Fantastic Fiction. 

After you’re done perusing all the helpful information at Fantastic Fiction, another interesting place to look for reading suggestion is a website called, www.whatshouldireadnext.com. Simply type in either the book’s title or the author’s name and you’ll be given a list of books that you may enjoy which are similar. If you search Madeline Miller, you’ll be given a different list depending on whether you search Circe or The Song of Achilles. The website has links to purchase books, but, of course, you can also just copy the titles and check the library to see if the book is available. 

Another fun online tool you may enjoy is a website called www.literature-map.com
The Literature Map uses authors’ names only. Go to the site and type in one of your favorite authors. The page will come alive with a graphic containing several authors’ names which move around on the screen. After a few moments the names settle and the name you entered will be in the middle of the page with other authors’ names surrounding it. Here’s a screenshot featuring a Madeline Miller search: 

The website claims that the closer two authors’ names are, the more likely a reader will like both of them. Another fun feature of this site is that you can click on any of the names which appear and see another literature map formulate. Check this website out, it's amusing, and you might even find a new author to enjoy. 

Finally, don’t forget you can always ask the friendly library staff for reading recommendations.  

See you at the library! 

Staff Picks – Novels by Madeline Miller 

Madeline Miller is fantastic author you might want to check out. She has two fabulous novels which several of Lewis & Clark Library staff have enjoyed. If you’re into Greek mythology and history, and even if you’re not, Madeline Miller knows how to tell a captivating story. 

Sally and Rachel recommend . . . 

The Song of Achilles (2011)
by Madeline Miller 

Sally says:
If I could pick one book to forget so I could experience reading it for the first time again, it would undoubtedly be The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller. Written in a way that transports you to the Greek Heroic Age, Achilles retells Homer's Illiad from the perspective of Patroclus. It is, at its core, Patroclus and Achilles' love story, following them from childhood through the Trojan War. If it's any indication of how impacted I was by this book, my ID photo will forever bear the puffy-eyed evidence of my 3 a.m. sob session as I raced to finish. I wish I could have savored it more, but it was impossible to put down. I was drawn in because of my deep love for Greek mythology, and you'll encounter familiar characters like Odysseus and Agamemnon, Hector and Thetis. That said, I'd recommend this title to anyone, whether you're a Homer buff or you really hated your Odyssey unit in high school. It's a love story, an epic, and a tragedy in one, and certainly a read that will stick with you long after you're done. Circe, Miller's follow-up book, has all the lyricism and excitement as Achilles, so you don't have to leave the world of the Greeks right away when you've finished with Patroclus. Though, let's be honest, he's not a character that will leave you anytime soon. 

Rachel says: 
This book is phenomenal from the opening line to the last. The story of Achilles is well known but Miller takes her own spin on this classic tale and I couldn't stop listening to it. The Song of Achilles is one of those books that, like Sally said, I also wish I could go back and listen to for the first time over and over. Other renditions of this classic tale don't hold a candle to Madeline Miller's The Song of Achilles.  I HIGHLY recommend the audiobook! 

Find The Song of Achilles in the library catalog Here
Also available in digital format:
Axis 360 eBook
Montana Library2Go eBook and eAudiobook 
Hoopla eBook and eAudiobook 

Bretagne recommends . . .  

Circe (2018)
by Madeline Miller 

Set in ancient Greece follow along with Circe, the daughter of Helios, as she does not fit in with the Gods and turns to mortals for friendship. There she finds her true powers but ends up in a life between the gods and the mortals and must choose between the two worlds. 

Find Circe in the library catalog Here
Also available in digital format:
Axis 360 eBook and eAudiobook
Montana Library2Go eBook and eAudiobook
Interview with Madeline Miller at the Chicago Humanities Festival Here

Have you already read The Song of Achilles and Circe? Are you wondering what to read next? Stay tuned for the next blog post featuring some suggestions and ways to find similar books to read.