Book recommendations from the Biblioracle

John Warner tells you what to read based on the last five books you’ve read

1. “The Lady in the Lake” by Raymond Chandler

2. “Farewell, My Lovely” by Raymond Chandler

3. “The Big Sleep” by Raymond Chandler

4. “The Maltese Falcon” by Dashiell Hammett

5. “Blood Harvest” by Dashiell Hammett — Mark V., Chicago

Mark indicates that these are all rereads that he returns to time and again. I’m going to take a shot at giving him a contemporary writer working in the same hard-boiled detective vein that he might not be aware of, Charlie Huston, with the first book in his Henry Thompson series, “Caught Stealing.”

1. “Vampires in the Lemon Grove” by Karen Russell

2. “Lost and Wanted” by Nell Freudenberger

3. “Writers & Lovers” by Lily King

4. “Circe” by Madeline Miller

5. “It Ends with Us” by Colleen Hoover — Lisa P., Glenview

I just finished reading Alison Espach’s

“Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance” and thought it was terrific, the kind of book that makes you not want to start another book for a couple of days so you can just savor the experience. I think it will strike home for Lisa. 1. “Cloud Cuckoo Land” by Anthony Doerr

2. “The Maidens” by Alex Michaelides

3. “How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America” by Kiese Laymon

4. “The Goldfinch” by Donna Tartt

5. “Everything I Never Told You” by Celeste Ng

— Mandy T., New York City

This is a bit of a tough one, with a fair range of subjects and genres. I need a good story that gives Mandy something to sink her teeth into that maybe also has a unique storytelling voice that draws you in. I’m going with “The Sellout” by Paul Beatty.