Fiction_L Archives City of Lights Readalikes Dates: 1/11/01,2:23 PM  through  1/16/01,12:16 PM  (15 postings) Search for: Select one or more indexes to search: 2011-current     2009-2010     2004-2008    1995-2003    (Matches from each index will be displayed separately in the results page.) Return to January 2001 thread menu   |   Fiction_L Archives Menu

FROM: "Held, Ruth" <[removed]@plcmc.lib.nc.us>
REC'D: 1/11/01, 2:23 PM

Hi everyone,

A patron asked me to recommend some books that are similar to two books
she's recently read: City of Lights, by Lauren Belfer and Jekyl Island
Club, by Brent Monahan. She enjoyed the historical settings, the characters
who were real people, and the element of mystery in these titles. She's not
interested in formula mysteries. Can anyone suggest other books she might
enjoy?

Thanks for your help!

Ruth Held
Information Specialist
Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County

Check out Reader's Club (www.readersclub.org)

FROM: "Cynthia Baskin" <[removed]@erols.com>
REC'D: 1/11/01, 2:27 PM

Caleb Carr's first two works, The Alienist and I can't remember the other
one, would fit the bill.

Cynthia

FROM: Tish Calhamer <[removed]@nslsilus.org>
REC'D: 1/11/01, 2:33 PM

Fortune's Rocks and The Weight of Water, both by Anita Shreve

**************************************************************************
Tish Calhamer
Gail Borden Public Library
200 N. Grove
Elgin, IL 60120
PH#: 847-742-2411
e-mail: [removed]@nslsilus.org

FROM: Mary Ann Bakken <[removed]@linc.lib.il.us>
REC'D: 1/11/01, 2:43 PM

This is a chance to recommend one of my favorites....Miriam Grace Monfredo.
Her Seneca Falls mysteries have some wonderful history, beginning before the
Civil War, talk a lot about women's rights, and weave actual historical
figures into the lives of her fictional characters, chief among them a
librarian in a small town in Western New York. They are also ripping good
stories! I enjoyed City of Light very much and find many similar elements in
Monfredo's books.

Mary Ann Bakken
St. Charles (IL) Public Library

> ----------
> From: Held, Ruth[[removed]@plcmc.lib.nc.us]
> Reply To: Fiction_L
> Sent: Thursday, January 11, 2001 2:27 PM
> To: Fiction_L
> Subject: City of Lights
>
> Hi everyone,
>
> A patron asked me to recommend some books that are similar to two books
> she's recently read: City of Lights, by Lauren Belfer and Jekyl Island
> Club, by Brent Monahan. She enjoyed the historical settings, the
> characters
> who were real people, and the element of mystery in these titles. She's
> not
> interested in formula mysteries. Can anyone suggest other books she might
> enjoy?
>
> Thanks for your help!
>
> Ruth Held
> Information Specialist
> Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County
>
> Check out Reader's Club (www.readersclub.org)
>
> ......................................................................
> Need to subscribe, unsubscribe, search the archives?
> Everything Fiction_L: http://www.webrary.org/rs/flmenu.html
>

FROM: "Mary Rindfleisch" <[removed]@biblio.org>
REC'D: 1/11/01, 3:19 PM

Frederick Busch -- The Night Inspector
E.L. Doctorow -- Waterworks
Jody Shields - The Fig Eater
Eric Zencey -- Panama
Margaret Atwood -- Alias Grace

Just for a start...

Mary Rindfleisch
Adult Services/Readers' Advisory Librarian
Ridgefield Library
472 Main St.
Ridgefield, CT 06877
Phone: 203-438-2282
e-mail: [removed]@biblio.org

-----Original Message-----
From: [removed]@maillist.webrary.org
[[removed]@maillist.webrary.org]On Behalf Of Held, Ruth
Sent: Thursday, January 11, 2001 3:20 PM
To: Fiction_L
Subject: City of Lights


Hi everyone,

A patron asked me to recommend some books that are similar to two books
she's recently read: City of Lights, by Lauren Belfer and Jekyl Island
Club, by Brent Monahan. She enjoyed the historical settings, the characters
who were real people, and the element of mystery in these titles. She's not
interested in formula mysteries. Can anyone suggest other books she might
enjoy?

Thanks for your help!

Ruth Held
Information Specialist
Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County

Check out Reader's Club (www.readersclub.org)

FROM: "Tom Dillie" <[removed]@wadsworth.lib.oh.us>
REC'D: 1/11/01, 3:35 PM

Ruth,
How about Henry James Midnight Song by Carol DeChellis Hill, Poseidon Press,
1993. Edith Wharton, Henry James, and Sigmund Freud all become involved in the
hunt for a Viennese serial killer. Another choice is Panama by Eric Zencey,
Farrar, Strauss, and Giroux, 1995. Henry Adams finds himself involved in a
murder investigation in 1892 Paris.

Tom Dillie, Adult Services Librarian
Wadsworth Public Library
132 Broad St.
Wadsworth OH 44281

"Held, Ruth" wrote:

> Hi everyone,
>
> A patron asked me to recommend some books that are similar to two books
> she's recently read: City of Lights, by Lauren Belfer and Jekyl Island
> Club, by Brent Monahan. She enjoyed the historical settings, the characters
> who were real people, and the element of mystery in these titles. She's not
> interested in formula mysteries. Can anyone suggest other books she might
> enjoy?
>
> Thanks for your help!
>
> Ruth Held
> Information Specialist
> Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County
>
> Check out Reader's Club (www.readersclub.org)
>
> ......................................................................
> Need to subscribe, unsubscribe, search the archives?
> Everything Fiction_L: http://www.webrary.org/rs/flmenu.html

FROM: [removed]@aol.com
REC'D: 1/11/01, 4:07 PM

In a message dated 1/11/2001 3:20:13 PM Eastern Standard Time,
[removed]@plcmc.lib.nc.us writes:

<< A patron asked me to recommend some books that are similar to two books
she's recently read: City of Lights, by Lauren Belfer and Jekyl Island
Club, by Brent Monahan. She enjoyed the historical settings, the characters
who were real people, and the element of mystery in these titles. She's not
interested in formula mysteries. Can anyone suggest other books she might
enjoy?
>>

Peters' Cadfael; Anne Perry's Inspector Monk. Is Sherlock Holmes too
formulaic?

Binnie Syril Braunstein
romance novelist/former librarian

FROM: "Adrienne Furness" <[removed]@rochester.rr.com>
REC'D: 1/11/01, 4:30 PM

This patron might enjoy _The Voyage of the Narwhal_ by Andrea Barrett. It
has more of an element of suspense than mystery, but it smoothly combines
history with fiction the way _City of Light_ does.

Adrienne Furness
Genesee Community College
Batavia, New York

----- Original Message -----
From: "Held, Ruth" <[removed]@plcmc.lib.nc.us>
To: "Fiction_L" <[removed]@maillist.webrary.org>
Sent: Thursday, January 11, 2001 3:19 PM
Subject: City of Lights


> Hi everyone,
>
> A patron asked me to recommend some books that are similar to two books
> she's recently read: City of Lights, by Lauren Belfer and Jekyl Island
> Club, by Brent Monahan. She enjoyed the historical settings, the
characters
> who were real people, and the element of mystery in these titles. She's
not
> interested in formula mysteries. Can anyone suggest other books she might
> enjoy?
>
> Thanks for your help!
>
> Ruth Held
> Information Specialist
> Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County
>
> Check out Reader's Club (www.readersclub.org)
>
> ......................................................................
> Need to subscribe, unsubscribe, search the archives?
> Everything Fiction_L: http://www.webrary.org/rs/flmenu.html

FROM: "Peel, Nancy" <[removed]@city.windsor.on.ca>
REC'D: 1/11/01, 5:18 PM

Sarah Smith has written three linked novels that might fit the bill (I'm not
sure if there were real people in them - certainly characters based on real
people interacted with the major characters). The first two, The Vanished
Child and Knowledge of Water, each revolves around a mystery, although
there's nothing formulaic about them. The first is set in early
twentieth-century America, the second shortly afterward in Europe. The
third, Citizen of the country, I haven't read yet.

Nancy Peel
Windsor Public Library

-----Original Message-----
From: Held, Ruth [[removed]@plcmc.lib.nc.us]
Sent: Thursday, January 11, 2001 3:20 PM
To: Fiction_L
Subject: City of Lights


Hi everyone,

A patron asked me to recommend some books that are similar to two books
she's recently read: City of Lights, by Lauren Belfer and Jekyl Island
Club, by Brent Monahan. She enjoyed the historical settings, the characters
who were real people, and the element of mystery in these titles. She's not
interested in formula mysteries. Can anyone suggest other books she might
enjoy?

Thanks for your help!

Ruth Held
Information Specialist
Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County

Check out Reader's Club (www.readersclub.org)

FROM: "Baxter, Barbara" <[removed]@aclibrary.org>
REC'D: 1/11/01, 6:21 PM

I would recommend SCARLET WOMEN by J.D. Christilian. Set in New York, after
the Civil War, it reminded me of The Alienist. Good historical feeling
about the city, interesting characters and a compelling mystery.

Barbara Baxter
Reference Services
Alameda County Library System

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Held, Ruth [[removed]@plcmc.lib.nc.us]
> Sent: Thursday, January 11, 2001 12:20 PM
> To: Fiction_L
> Subject: City of Lights
>
> Hi everyone,
>
> A patron asked me to recommend some books that are similar to two books
> she's recently read: City of Lights, by Lauren Belfer and Jekyl Island
> Club, by Brent Monahan. She enjoyed the historical settings, the
> characters
> who were real people, and the element of mystery in these titles. She's
> not
> interested in formula mysteries. Can anyone suggest other books she might
> enjoy?
>
> Thanks for your help!
>
> Ruth Held
> Information Specialist
> Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County
>
> Check out Reader's Club (www.readersclub.org)
>
> ......................................................................
> Need to subscribe, unsubscribe, search the archives?
> Everything Fiction_L: http://www.webrary.org/rs/flmenu.html

FROM: Jean Langlais <[removed]@linc.lib.il.us>
REC'D: 1/12/01, 7:49 AM

Termination Dust by Sue Henry is a mystery in a series but also historical
as the action is interspersed with diary entries of a man from the Gold Rush
period. Would be more similar to City of Light, though a very different
setting. Also strongly agree that Voyage of the Narwhal would be another
good choice. Allende's Daughter of Fortune would be another-definitely
element of mystery in several historic settings.

> ----------
> From: [removed]@aol.com[[removed]@aol.com]
> Reply To: Fiction_L
> Sent: Friday, January 12, 2001 7:32 AM
> To: Fiction_L
> Subject: Re: City of Lights
>
> In a message dated 1/11/2001 3:20:13 PM Eastern Standard Time,
> [removed]@plcmc.lib.nc.us writes:
>
> << A patron asked me to recommend some books that are similar to two books
> she's recently read: City of Lights, by Lauren Belfer and Jekyl Island
> Club, by Brent Monahan. She enjoyed the historical settings, the
> characters
> who were real people, and the element of mystery in these titles. She's
> not
> interested in formula mysteries. Can anyone suggest other books she
> might
> enjoy?
> >>
>
> Peters' Cadfael; Anne Perry's Inspector Monk. Is Sherlock Holmes too
> formulaic?
>
> Binnie Syril Braunstein
> romance novelist/former librarian
>
> ......................................................................
> Need to subscribe, unsubscribe, search the archives?
> Everything Fiction_L: http://www.webrary.org/rs/flmenu.html
>

FROM: "Marsha Valance " <[removed]@mpl.org>
REC'D: 1/12/01, 8:12 AM

In addition to Sarah Smith--who IS wonderful--she might enjoy the Inspector Rutledge mysteries of Charles Todd--not at all formulaic--a shellshocked WWI vet returns to Scotland Yard. Fascinating depiction of postwar Britain.


Marsha Valance
Regional Librarian
Wisconsin Regional Library f/t Blind & Physically Handicapped
813 West Wells St.
Milwaukee, WI 53233
<[removed]@mpl.org>

>>> [removed]@city.windsor.on.ca 01/11/01 04:46PM >>>
Sarah Smith has written three linked novels that might fit the bill (I'm not
sure if there were real people in them - certainly characters based on real
people interacted with the major characters). The first two, The Vanished
Child and Knowledge of Water, each revolves around a mystery, although
there's nothing formulaic about them. The first is set in early
twentieth-century America, the second shortly afterward in Europe. The
third, Citizen of the country, I haven't read yet.

Nancy Peel
Windsor Public Library

-----Original Message-----
From: Held, Ruth [[removed]@plcmc.lib.nc.us]
Sent: Thursday, January 11, 2001 3:20 PM
To: Fiction_L
Subject: City of Lights


Hi everyone,

A patron asked me to recommend some books that are similar to two books
she's recently read: City of Lights, by Lauren Belfer and Jekyl Island
Club, by Brent Monahan. She enjoyed the historical settings, the characters
who were real people, and the element of mystery in these titles. She's not
interested in formula mysteries. Can anyone suggest other books she might
enjoy?

Thanks for your help!

Ruth Held
Information Specialist
Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County

Check out Reader's Club (www.readersclub.org)

FROM: Stacey Cisneros <[removed]@bal.alibrary.com>
REC'D: 1/12/01, 4:25 PM

Ahab's Wife, by Sena Jeter Naslund, is a book set in the mid-1800s. Like
City of Light, it's a big, gorgeous story with a strong, somewhat
mysterious, female main character.

Stacey Cisneros, Librarian
Barrington Area Library
505 N. Northwest Highway
Barrington, IL 60010
Phone: 847/382-1300
FAX: 847/382-1261
Email: [removed]@bal.alibrary.com
The views expressed represent my personal opinion and not necessarily the
opinion of the Barrington Area Library.

-----Original Message-----
From: Held, Ruth [[removed]@plcmc.lib.nc.us]
Sent: Friday, January 12, 2001 4:16 PM
To: Fiction_L
Subject: City of Lights

Hi everyone,

A patron asked me to recommend some books that are similar to two books
she's recently read: City of Lights, by Lauren Belfer and Jekyl Island
Club, by Brent Monahan. She enjoyed the historical settings, the
characters
who were real people, and the element of mystery in these titles. She's
not
interested in formula mysteries. Can anyone suggest other books she might
enjoy?

Thanks for your help!

Ruth Held
Information Specialist
Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County

Check out Reader's Club (www.readersclub.org)

FROM: "Held, Ruth" <[removed]@plcmc.lib.nc.us>
REC'D: 1/16/01, 11:37 AM

Thanks to all of you who recommended titles for my patron who wanted to read
other books like City of Lights. She was thrilled with the list. I'm
attaching the compiled list below.

Ruth Held
Information Specialist
Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County

City of Light Readalikes

Allende, Isabel Daughter of Fortune
Atwood, Margaret Alias Grace
Barrett, Andrea The Voyage of the Narwhal
Busch, Frederick The Night Inspector
Carr, Caleb The Alienist, The Angel of Darkness
Christilian, J.D. Scarlet Women
Doctorow, E.L. Waterworks
Henry, Sue Termination Dust
Hill, Carol DeChellis Henry James Midnight Song
Monfredo, Miriam Grace Seneca Falls mystery series
Naslund, Sena Jetter Ahab's Wife
Shields, Jody The Fig Eater
Shreve, Anita Fortune's Rocks, The Weight of Water
Smith, Sarah The Vanished Child, Knowledge of
Water
Todd, Charles Wings of Fire (and other is this
series)
Zencey, Eric Panama

FROM: "Carol Kubala" <[removed]@columbiapl.libct.org>
REC'D: 1/16/01, 12:16 PM

Lauren Belfer is a favorite author of Anita Shreve. Ms. Shreve's two books Weight of Water
and Fortune's Rocks do fit the bill!

--
Carol Kubala
Adult Services Librarian
Saxton B. Little Free Library/Columbia, CT
860 228-0350 - voice
860 228-1569 - fax

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