Novelist is an online service provided by the state library commission that is designed to help readers find new books to read.  It can be accessed through the library’s webpage.  If you love John Grisham, it will recommend books in a similar vein; if you want to read historical novels set in the Civil War, it will provide suggestions, and if you want to read books about West Virginia, it can also give you plenty of possibilities. 

         

Since it is linked to most library’s online catalogs, it can also tell us what are the top books readers are looking up.  So, for the month of September, the top 10 fiction titles searched in library catalogs were the following. 

         

The top search was for Liane Moriarty’s newest novel, “Apples Never Fall,” which details how a family falls apart when the mother disappears, and the prime suspect is the father.  Two of the children believe their dad’s innocence and two do not, fracturing the family on many levels. 

         

The second book on the list is the latest mystery in the Inspector Gamache series, “The Madness of Crowds.”  The village of Three Pines is enjoying the winter season as is Armand Gamache when he is asked a favor to handle security for a visiting professor who is giving a lecture, but after a little research Gamache is convinced that the lecturer’s agenda is something no one should hear.  Soon, he is being called a coward and the entire village is divided by the message being sent. 

         

“The Midnight Library” by Matt Haig involves a woman’s death by suicide and a mysterious library where every book represents a choice that she could have made resulting in a different life.  “A Slow Fire Burning” by Paula Hawkins reveals exactly how a brutal crime can ripple through everyone involved. 

         

“The Last Thing He Told Me” by Laura Dave was a surprise pick by Reese Witherspoon for her book club.  When her husband disappears leaving a note to “Protect Her” behind, Hannah knows who he wants her to protect.  But soon, she is coping with US marshals, FBI agents and the sinking realization that her husband was not who she thought he was. 

         

The last five books are: “Beautiful World, Where are You?” by Sally Rooney, “Cloud Cuckoo Land” by Anthony Doerr, “The Four Winds” by Kristin Hannah, “Harlem Shuffle” by Colson Whitehead, and “Billy Summers” by Stephen King. 

         

The library has both physical and digital copies of all these books.