# Which book and author got recommended to me? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [June 8, 2023, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-book-and-author-got-recommended-to-me/985223 "2023-06-08T19:51:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![slicedalone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slicedalone/32/12515_2.png) [@slicedalone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slicedalone)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2023, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-book-and-author-got-recommended-to-me/985223/1 "2023-06-08T19:51:03Z")
I got into a conversation with a stranger earlier this week who recommended a book and its author to me; he also said he would be leaving town on Thursday (today) so I can’t hope to run into him any time soon. I thought I’d look for it soon, but I’ve forgotten both the book and the author’s name. The title is two words that are slightly oxymoronic, or vaguely contradictory , I think, an adjective and a noun. I also think there’s a syllable in the adjective that sounds like “div” or “dev” because I keep up with “Deviated Septum” and “Undivided Attention” though neither of those is close to the actual title. The concept of the title is some sort of received phrase of a scientific or literary nature, like “Negative Capability” rather than a concrete noun modified by a concrete adjective. I’d recognize the author’s name if I heard or saw it, too, but I’m even vaguer there. He or she is definitely not famous because I’d never heard the name before, and the book is current. It’s a novel, just published, and the second or third book by the author, who has published a book of short stories a few years ago. It’s not much to go on, but does any of this strike a bell for anyone? ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2023, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-book-and-author-got-recommended-to-me/985223/2 "2023-06-08T20:41:01Z")
Any more info? Genre? Literary fiction? Just how recent, last year or last ten years? Did he recommend it based on something similar he saw you reading or something you said? A few guesses, which are probably wrong: _Truly Devious_ (2018) by Maureen Johnson, a young-adult murder mystery. _The Devil’s Playground_ (2023) by Craig Russell, a crime thriller set in Hollywood of the 1920s. _Demon Divine_ (2019) by John Conroe, 14th installment of an urban fantasy series. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2023, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-book-and-author-got-recommended-to-me/985223/3 "2023-06-08T20:42:54Z")
Do you know anything about the plot? ---
**Author:** ![The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_wind_of_my_soul)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2023, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-book-and-author-got-recommended-to-me/985223/4 "2023-06-08T20:49:54Z")
[White Cat, Black Dog](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61391802-white-cat-black-dog?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=QiGw9MJBI8&rank=5) by Kelly Link ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2023, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-book-and-author-got-recommended-to-me/985223/5 "2023-06-08T21:11:03Z")
> [@slicedalone](#): > > He or she is definitely not famous because I’d never heard the name before, and the book is current. It’s a novel, just published, and the second or third book by the author, who has published a book of short stories a few years ago. If you learned this information through an online search, the search terms you used and sites you visited may be accessible through your browser’s and/or search engine’s history, assuming you haven’t cleared it since. The details of how to access this data depends on the specific platform, browser, and search engine you used. ---
**Author:** ![slicedalone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slicedalone/32/12515_2.png) [@slicedalone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slicedalone)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2023, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-book-and-author-got-recommended-to-me/985223/6 "2023-06-08T21:48:29Z")
> [@bibliophage](#): > > Any more info? Genre? Literary fiction? Just how recent, last year or last ten years? Did he recommend it based on something similar he saw you reading or something you said? The genre was definitely literary fiction. The book he was reading was a novel published this year, and the short story collection was published maybe two or three years ago. He’d seen me reading a book from the local library, and we were discussing library selections, so he showed me his. Why “Kelly Link” @The_wind_of_my_soul ? The first name “Kelly” faintly rings a bell. I don’t think that’s it, but there’s some similarity there in my mind. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2023, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-book-and-author-got-recommended-to-me/985223/7 "2023-06-08T22:26:36Z")
If you know which library he borrowed it from, you might try searching their online catalog. Usually you can narrow it down by publication year (2023), type of material (printed books), and words (and often even substrings like div\* and dev\*) in the title. When I tried that with my library catalog, I didn’t find any good matches. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2023, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-book-and-author-got-recommended-to-me/985223/8 "2023-06-08T22:34:47Z")
Are Bard is likely wrong, but suggests: > [@](#): > > The book you are looking for might be **“The Beautiful Ones”** by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. It was published in 2022 and is her second novel. The title is an oxymoron, as beauty is often seen as something positive and oneness as something negative. The book is set in Mexico City in the 1950s and follows a group of young people who are obsessed with death and beauty. It has been praised for its atmosphere, prose, and characters. ---
**Author:** ![slicedalone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slicedalone/32/12515_2.png) [@slicedalone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slicedalone)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2023, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-book-and-author-got-recommended-to-me/985223/9 "2023-06-08T22:38:56Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > The book you are looking for might be **“The Beautiful Ones”** Nope–the one thing I’m sure of is that the title is two words. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2023, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-book-and-author-got-recommended-to-me/985223/10 "2023-06-08T22:39:25Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > The title is an oxymoron, as beauty is often seen as something positive and oneness as something negative. That’s an impressively terrible statement by BARD. (Not **PhillyGuy** , I know he was just quoting). ---
**Author:** ![slicedalone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slicedalone/32/12515_2.png) [@slicedalone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slicedalone)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2023, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-book-and-author-got-recommended-to-me/985223/11 "2023-06-08T22:40:17Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > an impressively terrible speculation Yes. I don’t see “one-ness” as negative at all. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2023, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-book-and-author-got-recommended-to-me/985223/12 "2023-06-08T22:41:23Z")
Hey, we beat the Discourse system! It let me edit my statement/speculation after I’d been quoted by **slicedalone**. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2023, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-book-and-author-got-recommended-to-me/985223/13 "2023-06-08T22:41:46Z")
ChatGPT suggested: > [@](#): > > Based on the criteria you provided, I couldn’t find an exact match, but I can suggest a title that meets some of the elements you mentioned. Please note that this suggestion may not be the exact book you’re looking for, as it’s based on the information provided and the vast amount of literature available. The book that comes close to your description is: > > Title: “Ephemeral Devotion” > > Author: This author may not be widely famous yet, as you mentioned. However, since you’re unsure about the name, I can’t provide specific details. I think those engines aren’t there yet, but will be able to do this stuff in, maybe, five years. If you want to wait 😊 ---
**Author:** ![slicedalone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slicedalone/32/12515_2.png) [@slicedalone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slicedalone)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2023, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-book-and-author-got-recommended-to-me/985223/14 "2023-06-08T22:42:06Z")
> [@slicedalone](#): > > there’s a syllable in the adjective that sounds like “div” or “dev” because I keep up with “Deviated Septum” and “Undivided Attention” BTW, if I confused anyone, the word “coming” belongs between “keep” and “up” here. ---
**Author:** ![slicedalone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slicedalone/32/12515_2.png) [@slicedalone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slicedalone)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2023, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-book-and-author-got-recommended-to-me/985223/15 "2023-06-08T22:45:12Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > This author may not be widely famous yet, as you mentioned. However, since you’re unsure about the name, I can’t provide specific details. ChapGPT can’t tell you who the author of “Ephemeral Devotion” is? I don’t think that’s it, but I could tell you for sure if I knew the author’s name, I think. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2023, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-book-and-author-got-recommended-to-me/985223/16 "2023-06-08T22:52:08Z")
> [@slicedalone](#): > > ChapGPT can’t tell you who the author of “Ephemeral Devotion” is? > I don’t think that’s it, but I could tell you for sure if I knew the author’s name, I think. My first thought was that there would be multiple titles named that, what with there being a million or more new books annually. Book titles are not unique! But searching at [worldcat.org](http://worldcat.org), I did not find any called Ephemeral Devotion. ---
**Author:** ![The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_wind_of_my_soul)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2023, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-book-and-author-got-recommended-to-me/985223/17 "2023-06-08T22:52:26Z")
> [@slicedalone](#): > > Why “Kelly Link” @The_wind_of_my_soul ? The first name “Kelly” faintly rings a bell. I don’t think that’s it, but there’s some similarity there in my mind. Because that book was just published (in March of this year), because she’s published several books of short stories, and because _White Cat, Black Dog_ is a vaguely contradictory title. ---
**Author:** ![slicedalone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slicedalone/32/12515_2.png) [@slicedalone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slicedalone)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2023, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-book-and-author-got-recommended-to-me/985223/18 "2023-06-08T23:33:35Z")
Ah, ok. The one thing I’m sure of is the two word title. The guy did say he was returning the book to the library today and that he’d found it on the New and Recommended shelf, so i can look there in a day or two. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2023, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-book-and-author-got-recommended-to-me/985223/19 "2023-06-08T23:42:16Z")
The library may have a list of new books online. Or you could try calling the librarian and asking what the new fiction books are. ---
**Author:** ![ChrisM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/47e85d/32.png) [@ChrisM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChrisM)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2023, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-book-and-author-got-recommended-to-me/985223/20 "2023-06-09T00:54:54Z")
“Vintage Contemporaries” by Dan Kois? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-book-and-author-got-recommended-to-me/985223.md?page=2)