For Miyazaki Fans

MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO (1988). Photography. Britannica ImageQuest, Encyclopædia Britannica, 25 May 2016.
quest.eb.com/search/144_1473505/1/144_1473505/cite. Accessed 19 Jan 2017.

We are big fans of the animated films of Japanese director, producer, and screenwriter Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli, the film and animation studio he co-founded in 1985. The films of Miyazaki first gained renown in the west with Princess Mononoke  in 1997, after he had already created 6 full-length animated movies to great acclaim in Japan. Fans of manga and anime will enjoy his films, which are catalogued as children's DVDs in the library catalog, but can be enjoyed by all ages.

Once we watched the films, we got to wondering - if you love the worlds and vision created by Miyazaki, where might you go from there? There are some picture books based on the films and screenplays of the films available in the library catalog, and a couple of his movies have been based on books, but we thought it might be interesting to provide a list of readalikes not so much based on the book, or in manga format, but with similar subjects that might entertain Miyazaki fans. We've used NoveList, which you can access from the Quick Links in our Books and Literature guide, to find suggested titles. We've tried to provide a couple suggestions for each Miyazaki scripted-and-directed film in the catalog, with readalikes mostly for more than one age range (assuming most adults won't mind young adult titles). Let us know how we did in the comments!

Princess Mononoke
readalikes: Wildwood by Colin Meloy [J]; The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland In a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne Valente [YA]

Spirited Away
readalikes: The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles by Julie Edwards [J]; The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman [YA]

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
readalikes: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle [J], Meridian by Barbara Kesel [YA]

Porco Rosso
readalikes: Riddle in Ruby by Kent Davis [J]; Dark Run by Mike Brooks [adult] 

Lupin the III: The Castle of Cagliostro 
readalikes: Newt's Emerald by Garth Nix [YA]; The Accidental Highwayman: Being the Tale of Kit Bristol, His Horse Midnight, A Mysterious Princess, and Sundry Magical Persons Besides by Ben Tripp [YA]

Howl's Moving Castle
readalikes: Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones [J]; A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin

Ponyo
readalikes: Lies Beneath by Anne Greenwood Brown [YA]; The Mermaid's Sister by Carrie Ann Noble [YA]

Kiki's Delivery Service
readalikes: Egg & Spoon by Gregory Maguire [YA]; Worst Witch by Jill Murphy [J]

Castle in the Sky
readalikes: The Apothecary by Maile Meloy [J]; Airman by Eoin Colfer [YA]

My Neighbor Totoro
readalikes: Pip Bartlett's Guide to Magical Creatures by Jackson Pearce and Maggie Stiefvater [J]; Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier [YA]

The Secret World of Arrietty
readalikes: The Borrowers by Mary Norton [J]; The Carpet People by Terry Pratchett [J]

The Wind Rises
readalikes: Dragonwings by Laurence Yep [J]; The Invention of Everything Else by Samantha Hunt [adult]


If you are a Miyazaki fan, also consider checking out the films of Isao Takahata, another Studio Ghibli co-founder. To learn more about the workings of Studio Ghibli's animation studio, also check out the documentary The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness. We hear Miyazaki might be coming out of retirement to make one more film! Fingers crossed.

Adult Fiction Readalikes Based on Childhood Favorites

Often what we love as children stays with us long into adulthood – this is true of me, at the very least - from dearly loved movies to comfort foods to favorite reads. While the beloved classics of my childhood may not hold up under my more discerning adult scrutiny (ahem, Nancy Drew), that does not mean that I don’t get all warm and fuzzy when I think about Nancy’s adventures. Certain children's books are classic for a reason. Through their characters and themes, they become an ineffable part of our reading identity. So it only makes sense that thematically similar books, whether intended for younger or older audience, would be enjoyed based on said similarities That is my goal with these recommendations, to pair the books I loved as a child with books I've loved as an adult, based on their themes, characters, and storylines. Because who doesn't want to find out how Nancy Drew would fit into the world of adult fiction?!
~Rory O'Connor, "All Grown Up: Discovering Adult Fiction Based on Your Childhood Favorites"


In our peregrinations around the worldwide web, we found the nifty article referenced above (along with a similar list on Buzzfeed) and our interest was piqued. There are lots of children's books we love, but sometimes, to paraphrase Thomas Wolfe, it is hard to go home again. So, enlisting the help of our free eResource NoveList (which is useful for researching readalikes as well as for finding new authors and titles, fiction and non fiction for all ages), we made a list of some of our childhood favorites, and recommended readalikes based on genre, tone, character, subject, and/or writing style. Each listing begins with the children's book title, and the grownup readalike follows after the dash.

Caddie Woodlawn - The Flying Circus by Susan Crandall

Pippi Longstocking –  Fried Green Tomatoes At the Whistle Stop Café by Fannie Flagg

Ramona the Pest – The Wangs vs. the World by Jade Chang

A Wrinkle in Time - The Runes of the Earth by Stephen R. Donaldson

Kristy's Great Idea [Babysitters' Club #1]  - Sweetwater Creek by Anne Rivers Siddons

The Phantom Tollbooth - His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik

The Westing Game - Heads You Lose by Lisa Lutz

Comet in Moominland  - Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore

Anne of Green Gables - Y by Marjorie Celona

The Egypt Game - The Goddesses of Kitchen Avenue by Barbara Samuel

Little House in the Big Woods - O Pioneers by Willa Cather

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones - Monstrous Regiment by Terry Pratchett [eAudio]

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone - The Oversight by Charlie Fletcher

Are You There, God, It's Me, Margaret - A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan

The Secret Garden - Everyone Brave is Forgiven by Chris Cleave

Black Beauty - The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

The Wizard of Oz - Deathless by Catherynne M. Valente

Goosebumps: Welcome to the Dead House - The Passage by Justin Cronin

Esperanza Rising - Caramelo by Sandra Cisneros

A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginning - Redshirts by John Scalzi

Walk Two Moons - Power by Linda Hogan

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Seconds by Bryan Lee O'Malley

Harriet the Spy - The Moneypenny Diaries by Kate Westbrook

Betsy-Tacy - Something I've Been Meaning to Tell You by Alice Munro

From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler - An Object of Beauty by Steve Martin

Magic Tree House: Dinosaurs Before Dark - The Gunslinger by Stephen King

Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle - The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett

A Single Shard - The Calligrapher's Daughter by Eugenia Kim [eAudiobook]

The Giver - Red Rising by Pierce Brown

The Little Prince - Luka and the Fire of Life by Salman Rushdie

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry - The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

What do you think of our recommendations? Let us know in the comments!

If you like Game of Thrones...

HBO's Game of Thrones gallops apace through Season 4!  If you are a fan, we can't recommend highly enough George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire books, on which the series is based.  However, if you've already read all the books (we're on tenterhooks for the next title, The Winds of Winter - still no release date listed on Martin's website, but he has been tantalizing us with excerpts!) or perhaps want to skip the books to avoid spoilers, we have compiled a list of some other titles that might tickle your fancy.


Swordspoint: A Melodrama of Manners by Ellen Kushner

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin [eBook]

Acacia by David Anthony Durham

Dune by Frank Herbert

A Cruel Wind: A Chronicle of the Dread Empire by Glen Cook [eBook]

Gardens of the Moon: Book One of the Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson

The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie

Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey

Pawn of Prophecy by David Eddings

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan

Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb [eBook]


Looking for more readalikes?  If you search for books from the series in the catalog, you can scroll down past the "Copy Status/ More Details/Find Similar Items"  to find Reader Ratings and Reviews, a list of Books in the Series, and You Might Also Like These...Series, Titles, and Authors!

Of interest to Game of Thrones fans


A Game of Thrones - Volume 1: The Graphic Novel by George R.R. Martin

The Hedge Knight: The Graphic Novel by George R.R. Martin

A Feast of Ice and Fire: The Official Companion Cookbook by Chelsea Monroe-Cassel and Sariann Lehrer [eBook]

Inside HBO's Game of Thrones by Bryan Cogman

Game of Thrones DVDs

A Song of Ice and Fire
...audiobooks 
...eAudiobooks 

 
Links

What Will Be The Next 'Game of Thrones?' We've Got Some Ideas

Goodreads: Popular Game of Thrones Readalikes

What to Read Now That You've Read Gone Girl

By now, seems like every mystery and thriller lover in the United States has read Gone Girl (or least, all the ones in our library system).  What to read next?  What's this summer's Gone Girl? These are the kinds of questions librarians get every day.  Here's one way to answer them...

 NoveList Plus describes the novel as

Most readalike lists that you'll find will build off of genre or tone, giving you a list of books that are also "psychological suspense".  Others will take elements of the plot such as "unreliable narrator" or major themes of the story to create a list of similar books.  It all depends on the kind of novel you enjoy!

You can also try readalikes by author.  NoveList also recommends, in its "You Might Also Like These..." feature in the Gone Girl library catalog record (scroll down to the bottom of the page), authors such as Tana French ("both French and Flynn write dark, literary suspense stories...[with] extremely flawed narrators..."), Erin Kelly ("keen insight into troubled characters"), Minette Walters ("Disturbing, Suspenseful, and Compelling"), and Michael Robotham ("Disturbing, Suspenseful, and Character-driven").

Here is a list of some likely contenders for a place on any mystery-lover's bookshelf, but particularly if you enjoyed Gone Girl:

Missing persons

Never Look Away by Linwood Barclay
He's Gone by Deb Caletti
Visitation Street by Ivy Pochoda


Family secrets

The Dinner by Herman Koch
Defending Jacob by William Landay
The Drowning House by Elizabeth Black
Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly McCreight
The Execution of Noa P. Singleton by Elizabeth L. Silver

Suspense

Heartbroken by Lisa Unger
Afterwards by Rosamund Lupton
Cover of Snow by Jenny Milchman
The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes
The Never List by Koethi Zan

Psychological thrillers

Drowned by Therese Bohman
Kiss Me First by Lottie Moggach
The Vanishers by Heifi Julavits


Most titles were suggested by a magazine insert created by Check Me Out.

Glass Castle Readalikes

Did you enjoy Jeannette Walls' The Glass Castle? Check out these similar titles!

Gal: A True Life by Ruthie Mae Bolton *

All Over But the Shoutin' by Rick Bragg

Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs

Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood by Alexandra Fuller

Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Grealy

Sickened: The Memoir of a Munchausen by Proxy Childhood by Julie Gregory

Ten Thousand Sorrows: The Extraordinary Journey of a Korean War Orphan
by Elizabeth Kim

There Are No Children Here: The Story of Two Boys Growing Up in the Other America
by Alex Kotlowitz

Blackbird: A Childhood Lost and Found by Jennifer Lauck

All Souls: A Family Story from Southie by Michael Patrick MacDonald

Falling Leaves: The True Story of an Unwanted Chinese Daughter by Adeline Yen Mah

The Color of Water by James McBride

This Boy's Life by Tobias Wolff

Smashed: Story of a Drunken Girlhood by Koren Zailckas

Polite Lies: On Being a Woman Caught between Cultures by Kyoko Mori

Like this list? It's from the Morton Grove Public Library's Webrary. I found a link to it on a list called Nonfiction Readers’ Advisory Toolbox.


*not in the ABC Libraries catalog

Are you waiting for your copy of the new Sue Grafton?

The library's copies of Sue Grafton's latest Kinsey Millhone mystery, U is for Undertow, have arrived...and there's quite a hold list on copies of the book, the large print book, & the audiobook, so if you haven't put a hold on it yet, now's the time! While you're waiting you could relive Kinsey's past adventures by rereading the first 20 books, from A is for Alibi to T is for Trespass. But if you are looking to wile away your wait with a book not written by Sue Grafton but similar to her mysteries, may we suggest the following titles/series?

The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler

Edwin of the Iron Shoes by Marcia Muller

the Anna Pigeon mysteries by Nevada Barr, beginning with Track of the Cat

the Anna Lee mysteries by Liza Cody, beginning with Dupe

the V.I. Warshawski mysteries by Sara Paretsky, beginning with Indemnity Only

For more readalikes, check out this list by Bettendorf Public Library.