Book Display Idea - Read Alikes for The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese

The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese is on the top of holds lists, helped by Oprah's selection of the title as her 101st book club pick. We can't buy copies to immediately fill every hold but you can both advertise your holds list and suggest titles from your collection at the same time. 

If your library has copies in your digital collection, include a QR code or information about that service in the display. Never assume that a patron knows about all of your services. If they come into your library, visit your website, or social media looking for this title, you can show them how to get on the request list while also pointing out that there are great books to read in the meantime. 

Ebsco's Novelist is a good tool to use for discovering read-alikes, if your library subscribes. There are read-alikes listed and you can use the "appeal factors" (things like genre, time period, tone, writing style etc) to find similar enough titles in your collection. If you don't have it, you can search your library catalog using subject headings to find other books that are "close enough." Book displays and lists aren't a test. They are a way to market your collection and to help patrons potentially find their next great read. A patron may not care about The Covenant of Water but might see a cover that catches their eye in your display or on your online list. That's a win. 

Options for read-alikes? There are Verghese's previous titles. Those are an easy pick and your library likely owns Cutting for Stone in physical or digital form. Look at other authors who write about India including Salman Rushdie or other books which are sprawling historical sagas covering generations of a family such as: 

The Old Drift by Namwali Serpell
Palace Walk by Najib Mahfuz
The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri

There are many  titles that are family sagas that are not necessarily about India. 

Barkskins by Annie Proulx
Dust Child by Phan Que Mai
Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
New York: The Novel by Edward Rutherford

A secret is to look for read-alikes for these authors or titles if you these aren't part of your collection. 

There are a few lists with read-alikes- 
Books Similar to The Covenant of Water on Goodreads
Read-Alikes for The Covenant of Water from the Arlington Public Library