In Lisa Grunwald’s Whatever Makes You Happy, author Sally Farber is writing a book on the history of happiness.  She discovers that the definition of happiness varies so much from person to person, time, and place; and realizes that with her various relationships in turmoil, and unresolved feelings/situations from the past, she’s not exactly qualified to write about happiness.  Then again, who among us is?  A nice choice for this time of year, when everyone seems to be making resolutions that will lead them to happiness, if only they could keep them.

Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding
It’s over 10 years old! Can you believe it? Arguably the genesis of chick lit as we know it, Bridget Jones’s Diary is the perfect example of a book that gets dusty because we assume everyone has already read it and stop recommending it. But now’s the perfect time of year to dust off this New-Year’s-ready read. Full of resolutions and regrets, this sassy singleton’s diary is fast, fun read with lots of lovely Jane Austen-inspired swoony moments.

Louise Penny‘s award-winning mystery series introduces the endearing Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Sureté du Québec. Gamache is a student of human nature–patient, thoughtful, wise, and madly in love with his librarian wife of 30 years. In the first entry, Gamache is summoned to the quaint Quebec village of Three Pines after retired schoolteacher Jane Neal is killed. His investigation allows him to spend time with her distraught friends–artists Peter and Clara, bookstore owner Myrna, curmudgeonly poet Ruth Zardo, and antique store/bistro owners Gabri and Olivier. One of the remarkable things about this book is Penny’s ability to show how heavily the weight of their friend’s death weighs on the people of Three Pines. After the mystery was solved, I couldn’t wait to read the next one, but felt oddly guilty because I didn’t want anything else bad to happen to my new friends. Then I read them all anyway.

Still Life (2006)
A Fatal Grace (2007)
The Cruelest Month (2008)
A Rule Against Murder (2009)
The Brutal Telling (2009)

Fans of Julia Spencer-Fleming and Jane Haddam will bring you baskets of cookies in thanks for introducing them to these wonderful mysteries.

Earlier this week, Karen shared some readalikes for your patrons interested in the new Sherlock Holmes movie.  This week finds another book-related movie out, The Lovely Bones.

Part of what made this book such a sensation was that it’s a story that hadn’t really been told before.  Sure, there are plenty of ghost stories out there, or stories of the afterlife, but I think the style and the plot were really unique. So it made me wonder… are there really any readalikes for The Lovely Bones out there?  I can think of authors that readers might enjoy, but what about those who want a similar story?

The Mercy of Thin Air by Ronlyn Domigue comes awfully close. It’s the story of a rebellious 1920s girl, Raziela Nolan, who dies in a freak accident, leaving behind her college sweetheart, Andrew. Razi spends the next 70 years "in between" and wondering what happens to Andrew and his life after her.  Interwoven in the story are wonderful glimpses at what life in the Roaring Twenties must have been like for a smart, sassy young woman. A very romantic, very touching tale.

Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger is a little bit more of a stretch, simply because it is completely different from The Lovely Bones  in style and tone, which makes me a little hesitant to recommend it as a readalike.  However, it is indeed the story of a ghost who feels the need to stick around and see what happens on earth.  Elspeth dies, leaving her London flat to the twin nieces she’s never met, Julia and Valentina.  Their mother, Edie, is Elspeth’s long-estranged twin, and boy does this family have some secrets.  Elspeth is trapped in the flat, desperate to live again vicariously through her nieces.  Spooky and grim.

That’s all I could come up with… readers, any other suggestions?

Sailing Alone Around the Room by Billy Collins
The charming poetry of past U.S. poet laureate Billy Collins makes me smile. Don’t confuse accessible for unsophisticated. These mostly free verse gems are deceptively simple and play with language in such an engaging way that the reader is tempted to dump out a box of alphabet blocks and try a new construction for him or herself. In honor of the crispy winter weather (where I live), let me share "Shoveling Snow with Buddha." Happy Holidays!

Holmes is almost here! Expect renewed interest in the Baker Street detective with the opening of the movie Sherlock Holmes on Christmas Day. Arthur Conan Doyle’s timeless stories will sell themselves. Here’s what you can recommend to readers wanting even more:

The Italian Secretary by Caleb Carr
When two workers are killed while renovating Queen Victoria’s Royal Palace of Holyrood, Holmes and Watson are summoned to Edinburgh. Similarities emerge between the killings and the death of Mary, Queen of Scots’s confidant David Rizzio three hundred years earlier.

The Final Solution by Michael Chabon
A pipe-smoking detective briefly comes out of retirement in 1944 when he is asked for help solving the murder of a visitor to his small village. Was the man drawn there by the recent arrival of a young Jewish refugee in possession of a parrot who recites a baffling series of German numbers?

A Slight Trick of the Mind by Mitch Cullin
At 93, Holmes’s days are filled with his beloved beekeeping, daily visits with his housekeeper’s inquisitive son, and writing about his famous cases–including an investigation that left a lasting emotional mark on the man.

Good Night, Mr. Holmes by Carole Nelson Douglas
Opera singer Irene Adler outwitted Sherlock Holmes in the short story "A Scandal in Bohemia," and was never mentioned again. This mystery series imagines a sleuthing career for Miss Adler and her prim sidekick, parson’s daughter Penelope Huxleigh.

Against the Brotherhood by Quinn Fawcett
Holmes’s supersmart older brother Mycroft stars in this entertaining series. In days before World War I, Mycroft infiltrates the  secret society "the Brotherhood" to prevent  the overthrow of European rulers and the ensuing chaos it would cause.

The List of Seven by Mark Frost
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is called to serve Queen Victoria and put a stop to the dangerous group of occultists who call themselves, simply, "7" and plan to reincarnate the devil. (Frost was co-creator and writer for the delightfully odd TV show "Twin Peaks.)

The Beekeeper’s Apprentice by Laurie R. King
The first in this award-winning series introduces 15-year-old American Mary Russell as she first meets retired Sherlock Holmes in rural Sussex Downs. The two collaborate on a several local cases, but things turn dangerous when a London kidnapping case leads to a master criminal who will kill to remain at large.

The Seven-Per-Cent Solution: Being a Reprint from the Reminiscences of John H. Watson, M.D. by Nicholas Meyer
Watson’s memoir reveals that his earlier books did not accurately portray the dark side of Holmes. Here he describes taking Holmes to meet Sigmund Freud and get treatment for his escalating cocaine addiction. Hypnosis reveals the real reason for Holmes’s obsession with the shadowy Moriarity.

Sherlock in Love by Sena Jeter Naslund
Researching a complete biography of his late partner, Dr. Watson discovers unknown cases, a vengeful nemesis, and a tragic love affair.

Largehearted boy is a music blog featuring daily free and legal music downloads as well as news from the worlds of music, literature, and pop culture. And because he is so largehearted, he compiles wonderful, comprehensive lists of all of the best of the year lists–including BOOKS! Perfect for last minute shoppers. (Not that I’d know anything about that.)

In this oft-overlooked 1999 slacker romance novel, Jack and Amy are 
two Londoners who meet, start casually dating, break up, get back together, are unsure about their relationship, etc.  She thinks he just might be The One, he thinks he doesn’t want a real relationship, neither of them know what the other is thinking.  Your typical he-said/she-said romance… only this one is told in actual he-said/she-said speak.  Alternating chapters told from his and her points of view give a spot-on take of what the opposite sex really thinks about the same situation.  Clever, charming characters, and some laugh-out-loud dialogue.

One of the best books I’ve read this year was Stephen King’s Under the Dome. 
I did have a major problem with it, however – it made my hands and wrists numb.  At 1088 pages, it’s a whopper, but I loved every page of it and would have read it at twice as long.  Unfortunately, it won’t be released on Kindle until after Christmas (I just couldn’t wait that long!).  It made me think, what other books are out there that top the 1000 page mark in hardcover?

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
A man steals a loaf of bread and sparks the French Revolution… no, it’s not as simple as that.  Hugo’s sweeping saga of France in the 1800s covers politics, love, war, morals, injustice - basically, the stuff of life.

Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand.
Who is John Galt?  And why do we want to spend 1192 pages finding out? What would happen if society’s innovators, industrialists, and inventors simply stopped working?

World Without End by Ken Follett.
Is there anyone at your library who wasn’t on the reserve list for this back in 2007?  I was amazed at the number of people willing to read a 1024 page work of historical fiction… I guess Oprah will do that.  Not to mention it was a sequel to a book written nearly 20 years prior (Pillars of the Earth, which misses the mark in hardcover by only 10 pages, though!).  14th-century England and all of the scandal, religion, romance, and intrigue that goes along with the times.

Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell.  
I know of no other book that is over 1000 pages, yet is so devourable it reads like a short paperback.  Rich in history, sass, romance-gone-wrong in so many ways, and one of my favorite novels.

A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon.  
The 6th entry in her Outlander series breaks the 1000 page mark (the rest come awfully close), and continues the saga of highlander Jamie and his time-traveling love, Claire. 

Special mentions go to Jean Auel’s Earth’s Children series, and to most of James Michener’s sagas.  While none make the cut in hardcover, they certainly toe the line.

Readers, do you have some favorite loooooonnnng novels?

Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem
This tender, ridiculous, sublimely written crime novel features Lionel Essrog, a P.I. flunkie with Tourette’s syndrome. When Lionel’s boss Frank Minna is murdered, Lionel and the other "Minna Men" that Frank recruited right out of St. Vincent’s Orphanage, search for their surrogate father’s killer. Lionel’s Tourettic bursts are pure absurdist poetry and are just one of the ways that Lethem adds his own spin to a traditional noir story. Lethem’s newest novel, Chronic City, is a great, weird read, too. Easily recommend either to adventurous, language-loving readers.