Assignment 1: In week 1, I said I was going to follow Mystery Readers International but I quickly decided I didn't like that site very much and switched to Stop, You're Killing Me! I didn't think Mystery Readers International was too helpful because you have to pay to download Mystery Readers Journal.
While Stop, You're Killing Me! has a limited offering of author read-alikes, the category read-alike list is more extensive. I also thought the genre index as well as the location index, job index and historical index would be very helpful for readers advisory. Maybe there are lots of people out there who want to read about mysteries involving pilots, pet sitters or even librarians!
I also signed up for the newsletter which is released twice a month. The first issue has new authors and characters that have been added and the mid-month issue lists current and future book and audio releases. This site is a useful tool and it's free.
Assignment 2 & 3: I decided to explore cozy mysteries, techno thrillers and psychological thrillers.
Culinary Capers
There are many fans of culinary mysteries and that made it fairly easy to locate fan sites. After Googling "fan websites culinary mystery" I came across a blog - cozy-mystery.com/blog. The author of the blog was excited about Susanna Calkins' A Murder at Rosamund's Gate. Other entries discussed the Charmed Pie Shoppe Mystery series by Ellery Adams and The State of the Onion (White House Chef mystery #1) by Julie Hyzy.
Popular authors in this genre include Joanne Fluke, Diane Mott Davidson, Laura Childs and Jenn McKinlay. Culinary mysteries are often upbeat, witty, engaging, funny and heartwarming. They are considered part of the cozy mystery subgenre and as such are not very violent.
Techno Thrillers
A lot of the blogs and fan sites I found for techno thrillers seem to be for aspiring techno thriller authors. However, some of them actually discuss the genre. One such site was The Pulp Super Fan. The blogger discusses Fragment by Warren Fahy and brings up the concept of New Pulp - "stories by modern fans and authors that recreate the style of adventures
that appeared in the pulp magazines during the pulp era."
Dan Brown, Douglas Preston, Michael Crichton and Stephen Coonts are among the top authors in the genre. Techno thrillers are plot-driven, fast-paced, suspenseful and descriptive.
Psychological Thrillers
Again, there are many sites devoted to psychological thrillers. People are passionate about the types of novels they like to read and write. Fans still seem to be buzzing about Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl, which reminds me that I really need to read it...
I liked the description Novelist provided for this genre, explaining that it "answers the question: 'what really goes on in people's minds?'" Books in this category are fast-paced, menacing, suspenseful, violent and intricately plotted. Dean Koontz, Thomas Harris, Tara French and Gillian Flynn write in this genre.
Mashups
I read an interesting article in Publishers Weekly from last September that discussed the trend of genre mashups in young adult literature. The Diviners by Libba Bray, a book I annotated in Week 2, was mentioned in the article. Bray combines historical fiction with elements of the supernatural and the occult and tosses in a little bit of romance to boot.
Another example of a genre mashup is the Merry Gentry series by Laurell K. Hamilton. This series features a crime-solving fairy princess, crossing over into both mystery and fantasy. I read about this series on a blog called Read Learn Write. The author of the blog nicely described why mashups are popular and why they broaden readership for various genres. "Readers that might not read straight horror, or fantasy are more likely to test their taste buds on a lighter, less strongly flavored version." From the little I've read about mashups and from the books I've read recently, it seems like genre mashups are becoming more common.
Friday, May 31, 2013
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Week 5 - Building Base Knowledge
Assignment 1
Since Week 1 I've been following NPR Books. There is a lot of interesting information on this site but I think it's geared more toward someone who's more interested in literary fiction rather than Patterson, Grisham, etc. NPR Books might be a good place to turn to for someone who's looking for something different to read. I've started to think of it as a book person's book information site (if that makes sense).
There are many different genre lists available and of course the site is filled with reviews. In some of the reviews, an excerpt of the book is available and there's also an option to purchase the book. (But why would I buy a book when I work at the library??) There are bestseller lists available which are pulled from a survey of independent booksellers. Again, this might give you a different perspective from the New York Times bestseller list.
NPR Books also offers several unique sections such as Kids Backseat Bookclub, You Must Read This (suggestions from writers), Three Books (recommendations of three titles on the same theme) and Summer Books. I enjoy reading these features but they don't seem to be published regularly. I'm glad I discovered NPR Books but it probably won't be my go-to RA site.
Assignment 2
Early Word - WOW! There is a LOT of information on this site. I think there's really a ton of useful information but it's kind of busy and a bit overwhelming upon first glance. For example, you have to scroll down about half way down the page to see all the links on the right hand side. I will say that those links would definitely be helpful for readers' advisory for all customers. I liked the Movies & TV Based Books section. I will definitely remember to check Early Word for reviews from magazines. I always like the reviews in People Magazine but I often forget to look there. It's nice to be able to browse a wide variety of magazines under the Consumer Media Coverage section. This section will be handy for the customer who comes in saying they saw a book on a certain talk show but can't remember the title! There's also a pretty comprehensive list of awards and various bestsellers lists. I'm glad to have discovered the Indie Next Lists because I often read things that are a bit out of the mainstream. I'm not quite sure how I would utilize them, but it was interesting to see a list of links to publishers' catalogs.
I think this site is very worthwhile but it will take some getting used to as far as the display and where to find what I need. I do plan to sign up for the newsletter.
Assignment 3
I decided to blog about And the Mountains Echoed, the highly anticipated third novel by Khaled Hosseini. Based on the popularity of The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns, this title is also expected to be a hit. As in his previous books, Hosseini tackles the complexity of families and relationships as well as social and class issues on a global scale. Readers who are drawn to lyrical writing and intricate storylines will certainly enjoy Hosseini's latest offering. And the Mountains Echoed would also be of interest to anyone who likes international settings, particularly the Middle East. Fans of Barbara Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible and The Lacuna might be pleasantly surprised if they branched out and gave And the Mountains Echoed a chance.
Since Week 1 I've been following NPR Books. There is a lot of interesting information on this site but I think it's geared more toward someone who's more interested in literary fiction rather than Patterson, Grisham, etc. NPR Books might be a good place to turn to for someone who's looking for something different to read. I've started to think of it as a book person's book information site (if that makes sense).
There are many different genre lists available and of course the site is filled with reviews. In some of the reviews, an excerpt of the book is available and there's also an option to purchase the book. (But why would I buy a book when I work at the library??) There are bestseller lists available which are pulled from a survey of independent booksellers. Again, this might give you a different perspective from the New York Times bestseller list.
NPR Books also offers several unique sections such as Kids Backseat Bookclub, You Must Read This (suggestions from writers), Three Books (recommendations of three titles on the same theme) and Summer Books. I enjoy reading these features but they don't seem to be published regularly. I'm glad I discovered NPR Books but it probably won't be my go-to RA site.
Assignment 2
Early Word - WOW! There is a LOT of information on this site. I think there's really a ton of useful information but it's kind of busy and a bit overwhelming upon first glance. For example, you have to scroll down about half way down the page to see all the links on the right hand side. I will say that those links would definitely be helpful for readers' advisory for all customers. I liked the Movies & TV Based Books section. I will definitely remember to check Early Word for reviews from magazines. I always like the reviews in People Magazine but I often forget to look there. It's nice to be able to browse a wide variety of magazines under the Consumer Media Coverage section. This section will be handy for the customer who comes in saying they saw a book on a certain talk show but can't remember the title! There's also a pretty comprehensive list of awards and various bestsellers lists. I'm glad to have discovered the Indie Next Lists because I often read things that are a bit out of the mainstream. I'm not quite sure how I would utilize them, but it was interesting to see a list of links to publishers' catalogs.
I think this site is very worthwhile but it will take some getting used to as far as the display and where to find what I need. I do plan to sign up for the newsletter.
Assignment 3
I decided to blog about And the Mountains Echoed, the highly anticipated third novel by Khaled Hosseini. Based on the popularity of The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns, this title is also expected to be a hit. As in his previous books, Hosseini tackles the complexity of families and relationships as well as social and class issues on a global scale. Readers who are drawn to lyrical writing and intricate storylines will certainly enjoy Hosseini's latest offering. And the Mountains Echoed would also be of interest to anyone who likes international settings, particularly the Middle East. Fans of Barbara Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible and The Lacuna might be pleasantly surprised if they branched out and gave And the Mountains Echoed a chance.
Friday, May 17, 2013
Week 4 - Goodreads
I first joined Goodreads in 2007 and have used it very regularly to keep track of books I've read and books I'd like to read. For the first few years I used Goodreads, I only had 2 shelves - read and want to read. One day I was looking through my read shelf, trying to find a particular teen book that I had read. After sifting through too many titles, I decided to create shelves for teen fiction, children's fiction and children's picture books.
Until this assignment, I hadn't rated any of my books because I simply wasn't interested in what Goodreads might recommend to me. I went through and rated a bunch of my books but not all of them. I was pleasantly surprised by many of the recommendations generated by Goodreads. There were even a few books that I know I've read but must have forgotten to add to my shelves. I like that when you scroll over the recommendations, it gives you an annotation. However, I think the most valuable part of the recommendations was that Goodreads shows you the covers of books that you've already read that generated the suggestions. Seeing the covers of books I've liked provided insight as to why I might enjoy the suggested books. I know you're not supposed to judge a book by its cover but seeing the books I've read brought to mind why I liked those books and I automatically made associations to the suggested titles. In the future, I will make a point to check the recommendations.
In the past, I've occasionally looked at Listopia but I haven't found it as helpful as a readers' advisory tool as other sites. I probably wouldn't use it with a customer who was in a hurry because I find it often takes some time to sift through the lists. On the other hand, there are some unique lists you might not find elsewhere such as Best Kick-Ass Female Characters From YA and Children's Fantasy and Science Fiction. There are also a wide range of genre lists that you can explore to find new releases. Once in a while, I enter the giveaways and a few years ago I won a copy of The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown. That was pretty cool. I also use Goodreads to see what my friends are reading. There are a few friends on Goodreads who have similar taste in books and I like to see if they've read anything I might like.
Since Goodreads is user driven, I think it is a good way to stay informed about trends and popular books. For example, you can see the top 200 books published in the current month that have been added. I have recommended Goodreads to customers and I will continue to use it as a way to keep track of books I've read and would like to read.
I "made friends" with several colleagues and suggested the following titles to Tom M. through Goodreads:
I noticed that you had a couple of LEGO-related books on your read bookshelf and wanted to recommend another title you might be interested in. A Million Little Bricks: The Unofficial Illustrated History of the LEGO Phenomenon by Sarah Herman details the history of the toy "its inception in the early 1930s right up until today". I thought you might enjoy this book because it appears you read a lot of non-fiction and are also interested in history. Another book that might appeal to you is The Cult of LEGO by John Baichtal. This book features full color photos of various LEGO creations as well as exploring "serious side of LEGO, used in therapy, prototyping, and teambuilding." I think you would appreciate the history as well as the humor in this book.
Until this assignment, I hadn't rated any of my books because I simply wasn't interested in what Goodreads might recommend to me. I went through and rated a bunch of my books but not all of them. I was pleasantly surprised by many of the recommendations generated by Goodreads. There were even a few books that I know I've read but must have forgotten to add to my shelves. I like that when you scroll over the recommendations, it gives you an annotation. However, I think the most valuable part of the recommendations was that Goodreads shows you the covers of books that you've already read that generated the suggestions. Seeing the covers of books I've liked provided insight as to why I might enjoy the suggested books. I know you're not supposed to judge a book by its cover but seeing the books I've read brought to mind why I liked those books and I automatically made associations to the suggested titles. In the future, I will make a point to check the recommendations.
In the past, I've occasionally looked at Listopia but I haven't found it as helpful as a readers' advisory tool as other sites. I probably wouldn't use it with a customer who was in a hurry because I find it often takes some time to sift through the lists. On the other hand, there are some unique lists you might not find elsewhere such as Best Kick-Ass Female Characters From YA and Children's Fantasy and Science Fiction. There are also a wide range of genre lists that you can explore to find new releases. Once in a while, I enter the giveaways and a few years ago I won a copy of The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown. That was pretty cool. I also use Goodreads to see what my friends are reading. There are a few friends on Goodreads who have similar taste in books and I like to see if they've read anything I might like.
Since Goodreads is user driven, I think it is a good way to stay informed about trends and popular books. For example, you can see the top 200 books published in the current month that have been added. I have recommended Goodreads to customers and I will continue to use it as a way to keep track of books I've read and would like to read.
I "made friends" with several colleagues and suggested the following titles to Tom M. through Goodreads:
I noticed that you had a couple of LEGO-related books on your read bookshelf and wanted to recommend another title you might be interested in. A Million Little Bricks: The Unofficial Illustrated History of the LEGO Phenomenon by Sarah Herman details the history of the toy "its inception in the early 1930s right up until today". I thought you might enjoy this book because it appears you read a lot of non-fiction and are also interested in history. Another book that might appeal to you is The Cult of LEGO by John Baichtal. This book features full color photos of various LEGO creations as well as exploring "serious side of LEGO, used in therapy, prototyping, and teambuilding." I think you would appreciate the history as well as the humor in this book.
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Week 3: Readers' Services Conversations
Conversation 1:
This customer enjoys good stories as well as travel stories with descriptions of various countries. Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes immediately came to mind and then I did an author search on Mayes. She also wrote A Year in the World: Journeys of a Passionate Traveller in which she chronicles her journey to 12 new destinations. I also came across a book by Alice Steinbach, Without Reservations: The Travels of an Independent Woman. Like Elizabeth Gilbert and Frances Mayes, Steinbach records her travel experiences as well as her life experiences. Although I have not read any of these titles myself, they seem to have the same basic feel as Eat, Pray, Love.
As for the book club suggestion, I would ask the customer if she was aware that Oprah restarted her book club in June 2012. Since I read The Twelve of Hattie by Ayana Mathis, the December 2012 selection, I might suggest that title since it is very discussable. I also looked on Oprah's website and discovered that the editors O Magazine and Oprah.com have a book of the week. There's a nice annotation of each book and there would be many to choose from for a book club. In the past I've also referred customers to dateLines so they can see what some of our library book clubs are reading.
Conversation 2:
This Twilight-hating customer is looking for a fast-paced vampire story without any elements of romance. I started my search by going to Novelist Plus and doing a general search for vampires. I then narrowed my results by selecting plot-driven storyline and suspenseful tone. The Morganville Vampires series by Rachel Caine looks like a good choice because it is described as action-packed, fast-paced and compelling. The Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead was among the results but I might be hesistant to recommend this series to this customer because it is described as steamy and this customer wanted to avoid love stories. Another suggestion would be the Drake Chronicles by Alyxandra Harvey. The short annotation on Novelist describes a fast-paced plot sans romance.
Conversation 3:
Once again, I turned to Novelist to assist this customer who is looking for fast-paced, true adventure stories. I took a look at the title read-alikes listed for River of Doubt but many of the titles listed seemed to have been chosen simply because they are about Theodore Roosevelt. Based on the appeal factors of River of Doubt, I searched for more titles by selecting adventure writing, fast-paced, dramatic and compelling. This search resulted in a small but viable set of suggestions: In Harm's Way: the Sinking of the USS Indianapolis and the Extraordinary Story of Its Survivors by Doug Stanton, The Cruelest Miles: the Heroic Story of Dogs and Men in a Race Against an Epidemic by Gay Salisbury and finally, Frozen in Time: an Epic Story of Survival and a Modern Quest for Lost Heroes of World War II by Mitchell Zuckoff. These titles are real-life, historical adventure stories that may appeal to our adventure-seeking customer.
This customer enjoys good stories as well as travel stories with descriptions of various countries. Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes immediately came to mind and then I did an author search on Mayes. She also wrote A Year in the World: Journeys of a Passionate Traveller in which she chronicles her journey to 12 new destinations. I also came across a book by Alice Steinbach, Without Reservations: The Travels of an Independent Woman. Like Elizabeth Gilbert and Frances Mayes, Steinbach records her travel experiences as well as her life experiences. Although I have not read any of these titles myself, they seem to have the same basic feel as Eat, Pray, Love.
As for the book club suggestion, I would ask the customer if she was aware that Oprah restarted her book club in June 2012. Since I read The Twelve of Hattie by Ayana Mathis, the December 2012 selection, I might suggest that title since it is very discussable. I also looked on Oprah's website and discovered that the editors O Magazine and Oprah.com have a book of the week. There's a nice annotation of each book and there would be many to choose from for a book club. In the past I've also referred customers to dateLines so they can see what some of our library book clubs are reading.
Conversation 2:
This Twilight-hating customer is looking for a fast-paced vampire story without any elements of romance. I started my search by going to Novelist Plus and doing a general search for vampires. I then narrowed my results by selecting plot-driven storyline and suspenseful tone. The Morganville Vampires series by Rachel Caine looks like a good choice because it is described as action-packed, fast-paced and compelling. The Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead was among the results but I might be hesistant to recommend this series to this customer because it is described as steamy and this customer wanted to avoid love stories. Another suggestion would be the Drake Chronicles by Alyxandra Harvey. The short annotation on Novelist describes a fast-paced plot sans romance.
Conversation 3:
Once again, I turned to Novelist to assist this customer who is looking for fast-paced, true adventure stories. I took a look at the title read-alikes listed for River of Doubt but many of the titles listed seemed to have been chosen simply because they are about Theodore Roosevelt. Based on the appeal factors of River of Doubt, I searched for more titles by selecting adventure writing, fast-paced, dramatic and compelling. This search resulted in a small but viable set of suggestions: In Harm's Way: the Sinking of the USS Indianapolis and the Extraordinary Story of Its Survivors by Doug Stanton, The Cruelest Miles: the Heroic Story of Dogs and Men in a Race Against an Epidemic by Gay Salisbury and finally, Frozen in Time: an Epic Story of Survival and a Modern Quest for Lost Heroes of World War II by Mitchell Zuckoff. These titles are real-life, historical adventure stories that may appeal to our adventure-seeking customer.
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