Summer Reading

If you're looking for some recommendations on a new author to try this summer, here are two links to help you in your search.

1.
The site: http://www.gnooks.com/trip.php
How it works: You type in the name of three authors whose work you enjoy. This site will crunch some kind of algorithm and spit out an author recommendation.
Results: For fun (i.e., not for serious), I typed in Samuel Beckett, Arthur Golden, and Anthony Bourdain. Mind you, I only enjoy the work of one of those authors. Anyway, the algorithm spit out "Barbara Ehrenreich" of Nickel and Dimed fame. I have no idea if that's a legit or meaningful recommendation, but given that I dislike two of those three authors, perhaps I should steer clear of that book.

2.
The site: http://www.literature-map.com/
How it works: You plug in the name of one of your favorite authors. This site shows you a mapping of supposedly similar authors whose work you might enjoy. Your plugged-in author name appears at the center of the map and other authors fill the surrounding space. I think there is an implied relationship between the relative spatial closeness of any given authors whose names appear on the map.
Results: I've not tried it out myself (as in, I've yet to take the site up on a recommendation and read a recommended author to evaluate for similarity to the original author I provided). I can tell you that one of my sample authors did turn up several names of other authors whose work I've also read and enjoyed. I just don't know how directly similar I would call them, necessarily.