Week 9 #3

Now that we are finished (has it really been nine weeks – where does the time go?)I’m going to have to get my thoughts together.  Admittedly, there have been some ups and downs, but the training as a whole was very well conceived and usable, if not in every detail.   What I mostly enjoyed was the assignment on narrative nonfiction, the articles on overlap with fiction, and choosing books to write about.  The teen articles and flowchart were very helpful as was trolling through the teen resources. Following the genre links is something I will follow up on, they are great resources; Salon Books and Early Word, though different in style and offerings, both have excellent content.  Spending time with a genre outside your interest level or comfort zone was very valuable as was the RA conversation and appeal factors brush-up of skills.

What I liked less were the subgenres, the fan websites, mashups and book trailers.  Taking time to research these topics was pretty much a teeth-gnashing experience and my further use of them will probably be limited at best.  That being said, I do need to be more aware of the growth of additional resources, and will try to keep up as best I can.

 As far as the pacing, I was able to stay on track with the assignments with a concerted effort, though I’ve heard that those with more projects and meetings going on at the moment had a more difficult time.  One week for each assignment was probably not enough to digest the information, and I felt that, though my responses were technically “finished,” they weren’t that great - just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak.

 However, many thanks to the committee for a terrific effort – it’s much appreciated.

Week 9 #2

I have not had much experience with book trailers, and after doing the first assignment, I don’t think they will be very useful to me.  As mentioned by a few others, I feel that reading a book is an individual experience and is diluted by preconceived character and visual references (ask me why I don’t for the most part enjoy movies made from books)  The idea of book trailers, whether high or low budget, is something I really need to work on to benefit from.  I did enjoy some of the author interviews, but was somewhat put off by what seemed a very slick treatment of Jeanette Walls’ trailer for Glass Castle.  Of course, Super Sad True Love Story was incredibly funny and can stand on its own as entertainment.

Teens might be drawn to trailers, hopefully piquing interest in the books, but for me, they are hard to find, and probably will not work as a readers advisory tool.  Other than informing customers that they exist, I’m not really sure how to make use of them.

Week 9 #1

Read the articles and watched the embedded videos and several on You Tube.

Week 8 #4

Shadow Divers: The True Adventure of Two Americans Who Risked Everything to Solve One of the Lost Mysteries of World War II by Robert Kurson tells the story of a pair of deep-shipwreck scuba divers, Richie Kohler and John Chatterton, who make an unbelievable discovery.  Diving off the New Jersey coast in 1991, they come upon the “holy grail,” what turns out to be a German U-boat sunk in US territorial waters, one that proved to be the elusive U-857.  History, adventure, heartbreak, personality clashes and life and death stakes combine in this non-stop tale of discovery.  Almost unbelievably, it’s all true.

I would recommend this title to followers of high adventure and World War II fiction, with the following caveat.  Shadow Divers is brimming with factual information, and might be overwhelming to those who just want a casual read with an exciting story line. Though back stories and personal details do exist for Kohler and Chatterton, as well as a wealth of fascinating characters to round out the picture, this complex story is unraveled detail by detail. A reader with a love of history and adventure will hopefully enjoy this memorable book.

Week 8 #4

My Life in France by Julia Child with Alex Prud’homme is a title I would definitely recommend to a fiction reader.  Detailing Julia’s years in France to her return to the states and the post-tv series era, this particular biography focuses on the quintessential Julia, her incredible personality, her drive and dedication, her new home in France, and the food.  Based on reminiscences with her grand-nephew Alex and published 2 years after her death, the book begins with Julia and Paul’s arrival in France in 1948 and their life-changing meal at La Couronne in Rouen, where the experience of French cooking took on an almost religious significance.  Julia was hooked, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Strong, likeable and funny characters dominate, Julia and Paul, and the wonderful (and grumpy) French men and women they befriend along the way.  A love affair with Paris and the French countryside is evident in descriptions of their daily living and road trips, all beautifully detailed in Paul’s evocative black and white photographs.  Humorous and robust, the writing style perfectly depicts Julia’s life-affirming gifts.  Anyone  who enjoys a funny, heartwarming novel with a touch of place and history is sure to be charmed by this work.

Week 8 #3

The four genres and titles I have chosen are:

Biography
My Life in France by Julia Child

History (900s)
Shadow Divers: The True Adventure of Two Americans Who Risked Everything to Solve One of the Last Mysteries of World War II by Robert Kurson

Travel (900s)
Paris to the Pyrenees: A Skeptic Pilgrim Walks the Way of Saint James by David Downie

Crime (300s)
Manhunt: the Twelve Day Chase of Lincoln's Killer by James Swanson

Week 8 #s 1 and 2

I read both articles and watched the video.  I enjoy reading narrative non-fiction and agree that the overlap factor certainly enhances my own appreciation of both fiction and non-fiction, especially historical mysteries and nonfiction titles about similar places and time frames.  This might be extreme, but when reading titles with a strong sence of place, I have been known to have a large map book at my side, looking up where the fictional stories take place or following the progress over distances  (I love my map book of the British Isles - very handy!)

Week 7 #2 - out of order

I have posted comments on April Fell's and Regina Rose's blogs.

Week 7 #3

Okay, so I'm looking through Cassandra Clare's Tumblr, and not really understanding anything at all.  This leads me to believe that this site is indeed intended for and used by younger (than me) people.  Judging from the spirited responses in the included blogs, it's probably pretty successful.  Attractive layout, photo shots of darkly brooding adolescents in book and movie roles and lots of other features give this a lot of visual interest.  MundieMoms fansite includes new releases, live author chats, book lists and more in a vibrant format.  So, I can see followers of this author getting hooked.

Week 7 #3

Teenreads is put out by The Book Report Network, and that says a lot.  This site seems to be written by adults, the reviews and everything else very lengthy, paragraph after paragraph on each title.  Hard to plow through for adults let alone teens.  Although the site is enlivened by some teen-oriented features, the 24-member Teen Board, Books on Screen, The Ultimate Book List, surveys, contests and giveaways, it's not clear how many responses those received.  A monthly poll, however, "what character in a YA novel would you like to be?" apparently garnered 738 votes in May, so, who knows...it's difficult to judge what this site is used for and by whom.

#4 continued

Harlequin Teen is a rather basic looking site that essentially lists their recently published titles.  One nice point is the "if you like this..." recommendations.  Viewing The Goddess Inheritance by Aimee Carter, we find other titles in the series and other recommendations. As far as what's trending, the lists seem to be a bit of everything, fantasy, steampunk, and romance related.  Also, titles are listed by publication date, not genre or even interest level.  Kind of an uninspired experience.

Week 7 #4

The first imprint I'm looking at is Harper Teen, which nicely lays out most popular books, authors, and Epic Reads, blogs and forums for teens.  It looks like fantasy/sci fi trilogies, series and sagas have been and are remaining popular.  Goddess - the Starcrossed Trilogy by Josephine Angelini, Fall of Five by Pittacus Lore, Michael Grant's Light, last of the Gone series feature gods, mortals, immortals, and epic battles of good versus evil.  Pretty Little Liars has a few new entries, and Towering by Alex Finn, a retelling of the Rapunzel tale is on the most popular list.  A tv pilot of Delirium by Lauren Oliver seems to be causing excitement.

Week 7 #2

I read the two PW articles, YA Comes of Age (9/2011), and New Adult: Needless Marketing-Speak or Valued Subgenre? (12/2012)  They were both pretty good at defining the genre and subgenre and delineating the differences between them.  YA focuses on the darker side, paranormal, violence and assorted disasters, though I did not completely agree with the author's view that this generation's teens have a worldview formed by our society's participation in war.  Though that of course is a reality, Vietnam, Korea and World War II most certainly had a greater impact on the everyday life and mindset of our population.  So, for whatever reason, generalized angst or entertainment, teen literature has followed the "darker side" trend.

Anyway, New Adult, however clumsy the appellation, seems to have a broader base of appeal, dealing with life transitions and "figuring things out."  The romance fiction is more age specific, and the genre gives the post-YA reader more substance to choose from.

week 7 #1

I pretty much enjoyed looking through the Lawrence Public Library's chart - it's got a clean, kind of light look about it, despite the apocalyptic, dystopian and other disaster-related categories (which I also liked).  It's a keeper, but does it ever get updated?

mashups

The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, combines many categories.  Primarily falling under magical realism, there is  a good dose of history, romance, intrigue and gothic/supernatural, all written in a literary style.

Kindred by Octavia Butler certainly encompasses and transcends many genres.  Though classified as Sci Fi, it deals with the major moral and historical issues concerning slavery in this country.

Week 6 #3

A Google search for western + ranger + fiction yielded Ralph Cotton's website, www.ralphcotton.com, devoted to the series and individual titles of this prolific author.  Montana Red, Jurisdiction and Guns on the Border were just a few of the many featured titles.  Described in another review as "...blood-soaked, sweat-stained, gritty believability...", these titles are heavy on history, plot and characterization.  The search for justice, and clearly cut situations of good vs evil, make for historically interesting and entertaining reads with possibly predictable moral outcomes.

Week 6 #3

www.rakehell.com, a website devoted to Regency romances  (Google search regency romance + novel) mainly features reviews of existing and upcoming works.  Some titles mentioned were The Last Hellion by Loretta Chase, The Wagered Heart by Rhonda Woodward, and The Greatest Sins by Christine Merrill.  Character-driven, these stories take place in Regency England in the early 19th century, and focus primarily on the romantic plot.  Class distinctions, social activities and other period trappings round out the picture.

Week 6 # 2 and 3

After checking out the Prezi link (fantastic, Alex!), I have chosen Steampunk, Regency Romance and Westerns - Rangers to explore.
For Steampunk, www.rantingdragon.com (Google search steampunk + novels) seems to be pretty popular.  Contributors are excited by the Twnety Must Read Steampunk Books list, offering comments about the books and their own favorites.  They also seem to be excited by the Anticipated Novels, movie and video game releases.  Some book titles would be The Diamond Age: Or, a Young Lady's Illustrated Primer by Neal Stephenson; The Difference Engine by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling, and Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve.
Appeal factors might include all things fantasy, taking place in Victorian, future or post-apocalyptic times, or a combination of those.  They are imaginative, adventuresome, and plot-oriented.

Week 6 #1 genre resource

I have quite mixed feelings about the Street Fiction genre link, and my introduction to Urban Fiction. The resource is clear and well-designed, visually appealing, with  its sub-categories of Street Fiction, Urban Nonfiction, Urban Christian Fiction and Urban Teen Fiction, each of which hold a wealth of information.
Browsing the featured books, generally in the street fiction category, I was frankly initially shocked at the content and cover images.  As I read through more reviews, however, it seemed that thematically, though in the setting of the street and criminal worlds, many titles dealt with universal issues, love, despair, revenge, and just getting by.  Reading author interviews, I learned that many of the themes in the stories are not plans for action, but cautionary tales. 
What I am having a rather difficult time with is under the tab "topics."  This is so sad I feel I could cry.  A representative sampling of what these books deal with are: Abuse, Addiction, Car thieves, Conspiracy, Drug dealing, Gangs, Homeless, Iraq War, Kidnapping, Mafia, Murder, Pimps, Prison, Prostitution, Sex Trade and Suicide.  If these books are presenting a realistic picture of life in our contemporary urban areas, I feel hopeless and powerless, and I am just looking in from the outside.
As I sample these titles, I will hopefully gain a greater understanding of a vital part of our society.

Highly Anticipated title

In the highly anticipated category, I chose Last of the Doughboys: the Forgotten Generation and Their Forgotten War, by Richard Rubin.  In 2003, the author began to track down veterans of the Great War, by then all over 100 years old, managing to find dozens.  Traveling all over the country, he interviewed those individuals, and their resulting stories make up this book.  Rubin has done a great service, not only for that generation, but for all of us who are only too likely to overlook or forget their contribution.  Informative, emotional, heartbreaking, and above all respectful of the interviewees,  these characteristics make a great book, and not only for those who have an interest in history.  That being said, I plan to recommend this title to my husband, a military history buff.  I also include The Great War: A Combat History of the First World War by Peter Hart as a similar read, in that the focal point is the war itself.

I am relatively new to Early Word, and many features are attractive.  Nonfiction readalikes seem especially useful, front lists and back lists broken into helpful categories.  Coming Soon, both kids and adults New Title Radar is great, and Books to Movie and TV will probably be useful.  I love the publishers catalogs, and since I am especially partial to SOHO Books, am happy to find this resource.  That being said, the format of the page is a bit of overload.  Scrolling through tons of different visual information on a screen is difficult for me and gives me a literal headache - something to do with my extreme farsightedness I suspect.  I will try to keep up with it, and hope to discover lots of new stuff.

Building base knowledge - week five

I have been following Salon - Books since week one.  I was attracted to its clean look in comparison with some of the other choices, and am finding it easy to navigate and informative to use.  Instead of a multitude of smaller bits of information, Salon's focus is very in-depth book reviews contributed, mostly, by Laura Miller, senior writer.  Her long descriptive and insightful reviews give a clear taste of the books, and are certainly complete enough to provide an excellent basis for Readers Advisory.  After reading her reviews each week, I feel I have almost read the book!  Recently, some of the choices have been The Unwinding: What's Gone Wrong with America, She Left me the Gun: Her Mother's Shocking Past, Wave: A Family Vacation Turns into the Worst Nightmare, The Woman Upstairs, and The Astor Orphan: Rich Little Poor Girl.

Salon also offers excellent audiobook reviews and does have an archive of former reviews.  Though I may not find something new every day, I will continue to follow this resource for in-depth reviews on varying topics.

Goodreads

I've been on Goodreads for about two years, have added many books, rated them, and received recommendations.  In the fiction, mystery and historical genres I favor, many of the recommendations overlap, and, though I have discovered a few new titles/authors, similar selections appear to come up.  I have not really found the lists to be helpful and don't rely on them for Readers Advisory. 

If this seems not terribly positive, well - it's not.  As a quiet non-joiner, social media in general, and in this case, Goodreads, are TERRIFYING! No, I'd prefer not to put all that out there, and though it's nice to keep up with your friends' reading, I'm afraid it's just not for me.  So there you have it.

In any case, based on her interest in historical nonfiction, I recommended to my friend Cassie the following:

Open Secret: The Autobiography of the Former Director-General of MI5
byStella Rimington

Dame Stella Rimington writes of her time with MI5, climbing from clerk (in India) to the first female Director General. Not only dealing with the stresses of motherhood and then single motherhood, she worked in what was very much a man's political world. Historical and personal at the same time, this book is a fascinating look at Cold War and post-Cold War England.

The customer seems to be looking for fast-paced vampire stories without any teenaged emotional overtones.

I would recommend the Fever series by Karen Marie Moning, which makes Twilight, etc. seem pretty immature.  Power, seduction, evil, and the paranormal are ramped up to a "fever" pitch in an apocolyptic Dublin, as humans battle it out with the Fae.  Heart-thumping stuff.

Doris S says:

May 6, 2013 at 6:42 pm

This customer seemed to enjoy a nonfiction book containing many elements of fast-paced thriller/mystery/adventure fiction.

I would recommend Destiny of the Republic, a tale of medicine, madness and the murder of a president. The title sums it up in this story of the life of James Garfield, tragically shot in the back in the fourth month of his presidency. A cast of bizarre characters, and even more bizarre scenarios of the shooting, the long aftermath and the wierd pseudo-scientific ideas of the day, include all the elements of genre fiction, but is heartbreakingly true.

Doris S says:

May 6, 2013 at 6:57 pm

It sounds like the customer enjoys a character-driven book, possibly a strong woman sharing adventures and emotions.

I recommend  Almost French, by Sarah Turnbull, which I just finished. Young Australian journalist and world traveler Sarah meets Frederic, quintessentially French, on her travels, visits him at his home near Paris, and the adventure begins…Moving to France entails not only learning a language but adapting to a seemingly endless array of cultural differences. Often hilarious, always fascinating, the story moves along with Sarah and her quest to maintain her Australian identity but to become “Almost French.”

I have commented on my friend and fellow librarian April Fell's blog, recommending The Madonnas of Leningrad and 1222 to her.

In The Crossing Places, by Elly Griffiths, forensic archaeologist Ruth Galloway gets involved in modern and ancient mysteries due in part to her specialization in bones.  Setting takes precedence in this lyrically written story set on the marshy northeast coast of England, the "crossing place," where land meets sea.  Feisty Ruth, seeking solace and independence in the desolate but gorgeous landscape she has come to love, is very much a part of the modern world, while exploring the ancient, and unearthing fascinating evidence of how landscape shaped early cultures, their rites, rituals and spiritual places.  Dialogue and character interaction move the story along, resulting in a finely wrought mystery tied inextricably to its incredible setting.

Hell or High Water by Joy Castro, a story of post-Katrina New Orleans, is a terrific read. Journalist Nola Cespedes, the mouthy, quirky and flawed heroine, immediately grabs the reader with her dialogue and headstrong activities.  Though you probably wouldn't do what she does, you can't help but love her.  The book is fast paced, dealing with a kidnapping/murder, the criminal world of New Orleans, and flashbacks into the past.  The language is brisk and snappy, reflecting contemporary dialogue, but what really shines is New Orleans itself.  I love books with a strong sense of place, and this is truly outstanding.  History, physical place, and characters combine in a fresh and totally non-touristy picture of the city. Differences in socio-economic backgrounds play a large part in establishing the theme of the book, characterized by Nola's search for her own identity.

The book cover exercises were a lot of fun.  I did quite well on the adult game, not so well on the children's...so...looks like that's where some attention needs to be focused.

After looking through the offerings for genre and ra resources, I chose Salon-books, and Street Fiction.  Both have clean, attractive layouts which appeal to me, and good content.  Street Fiction includes catergories, Urban fiction, Urban nonfiction, Urban Christian fiction and Urban teen fiction, which have good author, series and title lists.  I'm looking forward to exploring a genre I have not much experience with.

Day one - first success