Assignment 2
I've never really given book trailers much thought before. If I want to know about a book, I just read the flap or some reviews on Amazon. As I read through the Chicago Tribune article and watched the book trailers therein, I found myself thinking that book trailers were a weird way to promote books. The trailer for Super Sad True Love Story didn't give me much indication about the plot of the book and it was much, much too long. I started to change my tune a little bit when I saw the videos presented by Robin Sloan. He describes these videos as "Reading Rainbow-esque" and they ran only about 2 minutes. I enjoyed just listening to someone talk to me about a book rather than watching a silly, low budget video.
The New York Times article also contained similar book trailers where the author just discusses their book. I think I liked this better because it created a more intimate experience; like sitting down with a friend to talk about a book.
I was pretty shocked to discover that fans often make their own book trailers. I watched several book trailers on YouTube, mostly for books I've already read. I can see where they might be useful for enticing some readers but they just aren't for me. I'm also not really sure how I'd work them into a readers' advisory conversation. I feel like I'd need to have a handle on how good a book trailer was before I showed it to someone. I can't see myself randomly looking for a book trailer to show a customer. I have heard of school media specialists using book trailers and that might be a more appropriate venue and target demographic.
Assignment 3
There was a lot of useful information provided through this training. Somethings were new to me and others were excellent reminders of things I've learned along the way. Remembering to recognize the appeal factors during readers' advisory work will allow me to draw from a wider range of titles. I enjoyed the section on non-fiction readers' advisory. Once again, recommending non-fiction during RA work broadens the possibilities for readers.
I signed up for a couple of newsletters during the training but my favorite is Early Word. I was impressed by all of the information on the Early Word site but I would spend way too much time poking around. The newsletter contains a more manageable amount of information. That's where I found out about Kate DiCamillo's new book, Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures, due out September 24.
In the beginning of the training, I decided to follow Stop, You're Killing Me! and I would have liked to spend more time concentrating on the mystery genre. Maybe in the future, there could be a training like this for specific genres. I also must say that the timing of this training wasn't the best for those of us involved in Summer Reading Club. But I'm proud to say I managed to stay on schedule on complete the training on time!
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
Week 8 - Nonfiction
Assignment 3
For this assignment, I decided to draw from nonfiction titles I've read myself. When I do read nonfiction, it tends to be biographies, memoirs and humor. Once in a while, I step outside the box and read something else in nonfiction. I went back through my Goodreads account and picked out a few.
The Happiness Project (158 R) by Gretchen Rubin
150s Psychology
Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger's (616.8588 R) by John Elder Robinson
612-618 Medical
The Wilder Life: My Adventures in the Lost World of Little House on the Prairie (813 M) by Wendy McClure
810s American Literature in English (although I'd just classify it as a humorous memoir)
Love is a Mix Tape: Life and Loss, One Song at a Time (Bio Sheffield) by Rob Sheffield
Assignment 4
Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger's takes a candid look at Asperger's through the eyes of someone who was diagnosed with the condition later in life. Because of the author's meticulous nature, the writing is very descriptive and detailed. Robinson is a strong "character" and does an excellent job of explaining how he relates to people and things.
I would recommend this title to someone who enjoyed Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and was interested in learning more about Asperger's. As a side note, Robinson is the brother of author Augusten Burroughs so readers who like Burroughs might be interested in learning about his sibling.
With the backdrop of their mutual love of music, Rob Sheffield chronicles his courtship and marriage to his wife, Renee in Love is a Mix Tape: Life and Loss, One Song at a Time. Sheffield writes in a very conversational tone and through his descriptions creates a bond between the "characters" and the reader. Through wit and humor, the author reflects on his relationship with his wife and tackles the difficult subject of her untimely passing.
I would recommend this title to anyone who likes realistic and/or romantic fiction. Fans of Jodi Picoult and Nicholas Sparks would find familiar themes and subject matter in Love is a Mix Tape. I think they would enjoy Sheffield if they are willing to take the leap into nonfiction.
For this assignment, I decided to draw from nonfiction titles I've read myself. When I do read nonfiction, it tends to be biographies, memoirs and humor. Once in a while, I step outside the box and read something else in nonfiction. I went back through my Goodreads account and picked out a few.
The Happiness Project (158 R) by Gretchen Rubin
150s Psychology
Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger's (616.8588 R) by John Elder Robinson
612-618 Medical
The Wilder Life: My Adventures in the Lost World of Little House on the Prairie (813 M) by Wendy McClure
810s American Literature in English (although I'd just classify it as a humorous memoir)
Love is a Mix Tape: Life and Loss, One Song at a Time (Bio Sheffield) by Rob Sheffield
Assignment 4
Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger's takes a candid look at Asperger's through the eyes of someone who was diagnosed with the condition later in life. Because of the author's meticulous nature, the writing is very descriptive and detailed. Robinson is a strong "character" and does an excellent job of explaining how he relates to people and things.
I would recommend this title to someone who enjoyed Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and was interested in learning more about Asperger's. As a side note, Robinson is the brother of author Augusten Burroughs so readers who like Burroughs might be interested in learning about his sibling.
With the backdrop of their mutual love of music, Rob Sheffield chronicles his courtship and marriage to his wife, Renee in Love is a Mix Tape: Life and Loss, One Song at a Time. Sheffield writes in a very conversational tone and through his descriptions creates a bond between the "characters" and the reader. Through wit and humor, the author reflects on his relationship with his wife and tackles the difficult subject of her untimely passing.
I would recommend this title to anyone who likes realistic and/or romantic fiction. Fans of Jodi Picoult and Nicholas Sparks would find familiar themes and subject matter in Love is a Mix Tape. I think they would enjoy Sheffield if they are willing to take the leap into nonfiction.
Friday, June 7, 2013
Week 7 - Not Just for Teens
Assignment 2
I read The Next Big Thing: Adults Reading Teen Literature by Jennifer Rummel and Who's Buying Teen Books? by Molly Driscoll. According to the first article, there is a growing percentage of adults purchasing YA books. For those of us in Library Land, it comes as no big shock that adults enjoy teen titles. The article lists 10 reasons why adults are reading increasingly more from the teen area. I read a fair amount of teen lit just because I think there is a lot of good "stuff" in the teen section. Many of the reasons listed in the article are common sense, such as the large number of crossover writers (Patterson, Grisham, Picoult), the popularity of TV shows based on teen series (Gossip Girl, Pretty Little Liars) and what the author of the article refers to as "The Hunger Games Effect." One reason I hadn't thought about was the amount of teen lit book reviews that appear in various magazines. For example, Redbook recently had a feature called YA Novels for You and Your Kids.
The Molly Driscoll article from The Christian Science Monitor cites the same study as the Rummel article; "55% of customers who buy young adult books are 18 or older." For me, the biggest take away from this article was that young adult books may be less complicated than adult books and therefore offer more pleasure. Also, some of them are just well written. I wonder how many adults would pick up and enjoy a teen novel if they weren't aware that it was labeled as such by the publishing industry.
For the final part of this assignment, I commented on Julie B.'s blog and Erika C.'s blog.
Assignment 3
I am a huge John Green fan so of course I decided to take a gander at his website. Hmmm - not really quite sure what he's aiming for there... I watched a few of the videos he posted but it just seems to be a weird hodgepodge of things he wants to talk about. I guess I was expecting to hear him discuss books. Silly me.
So I moved along to the next site on the list Stacked and I immediately noticed the tag line in the header:
librarians.
reviews.
mayhem.
The authors of this blog are very upfront and straightforward about the purpose of the blog. "STACKED on the surface, is interested in reviewing books for readers while simultaneously enticing non-readers to think about reading in fun and interesting ways." This blog is for anyone who reads teen literature and it's presented in a fairly straightforward manner. There's an extensive list of labels on the left-hand side of the page so you can explore something specific is you do desire.
Teenreads is one of those websites I forgot existed until I saw it on this list. I always thought this site had a lot of really useful information for those who read teen lit. There are lots of reviews and great regular features such as Coming Soon, Books on Screen and interestingly enough, Adult Books for Teens. The site is easy to navigate despite the many links. You can search for reviews by title, author, genre or date; a feature I find useful.
Assignment 4
From the very first look at Teens at Random, it's easy to see that the current trends of paranormal/supernatural, dystopias and alternate realities continue to remain popular. Many of the new releases that are featured are titles that would be considered mash ups of multiple genres; a trend I learned more about last week's assignment. One such title that caught my attention was Golden Girl by Sarah Zettel, which falls into both the historical fiction and fantasy genres. In general, this website is interactive and offers book trailers, eBook samplers and games on Facebook.
Penguin's site for Teens and Young Readers is very similar to Random House's site. Among the featured books there were more post-apocalyptic tales and supernatural offerings. Once again there were interactive/multimedia elements such as eBook samplers, book trailers and a wide variety of apps. These apps range from a Vampire Bite app, a Crypt Radio app and an Alex Rider Gadget app. I can't check any of these out though because I am one of the few people left who has a dumb phone!
Another trend I noticed on both sites was the popularity of series. Kids of all ages seem to enjoy reading books that are part of a series. I hear this time and again from customers in our branch as well as my niece and nephew.
I read The Next Big Thing: Adults Reading Teen Literature by Jennifer Rummel and Who's Buying Teen Books? by Molly Driscoll. According to the first article, there is a growing percentage of adults purchasing YA books. For those of us in Library Land, it comes as no big shock that adults enjoy teen titles. The article lists 10 reasons why adults are reading increasingly more from the teen area. I read a fair amount of teen lit just because I think there is a lot of good "stuff" in the teen section. Many of the reasons listed in the article are common sense, such as the large number of crossover writers (Patterson, Grisham, Picoult), the popularity of TV shows based on teen series (Gossip Girl, Pretty Little Liars) and what the author of the article refers to as "The Hunger Games Effect." One reason I hadn't thought about was the amount of teen lit book reviews that appear in various magazines. For example, Redbook recently had a feature called YA Novels for You and Your Kids.
The Molly Driscoll article from The Christian Science Monitor cites the same study as the Rummel article; "55% of customers who buy young adult books are 18 or older." For me, the biggest take away from this article was that young adult books may be less complicated than adult books and therefore offer more pleasure. Also, some of them are just well written. I wonder how many adults would pick up and enjoy a teen novel if they weren't aware that it was labeled as such by the publishing industry.
For the final part of this assignment, I commented on Julie B.'s blog and Erika C.'s blog.
Assignment 3
I am a huge John Green fan so of course I decided to take a gander at his website. Hmmm - not really quite sure what he's aiming for there... I watched a few of the videos he posted but it just seems to be a weird hodgepodge of things he wants to talk about. I guess I was expecting to hear him discuss books. Silly me.
So I moved along to the next site on the list Stacked and I immediately noticed the tag line in the header:
librarians.
reviews.
mayhem.
The authors of this blog are very upfront and straightforward about the purpose of the blog. "STACKED on the surface, is interested in reviewing books for readers while simultaneously enticing non-readers to think about reading in fun and interesting ways." This blog is for anyone who reads teen literature and it's presented in a fairly straightforward manner. There's an extensive list of labels on the left-hand side of the page so you can explore something specific is you do desire.
Teenreads is one of those websites I forgot existed until I saw it on this list. I always thought this site had a lot of really useful information for those who read teen lit. There are lots of reviews and great regular features such as Coming Soon, Books on Screen and interestingly enough, Adult Books for Teens. The site is easy to navigate despite the many links. You can search for reviews by title, author, genre or date; a feature I find useful.
Assignment 4
From the very first look at Teens at Random, it's easy to see that the current trends of paranormal/supernatural, dystopias and alternate realities continue to remain popular. Many of the new releases that are featured are titles that would be considered mash ups of multiple genres; a trend I learned more about last week's assignment. One such title that caught my attention was Golden Girl by Sarah Zettel, which falls into both the historical fiction and fantasy genres. In general, this website is interactive and offers book trailers, eBook samplers and games on Facebook.
Penguin's site for Teens and Young Readers is very similar to Random House's site. Among the featured books there were more post-apocalyptic tales and supernatural offerings. Once again there were interactive/multimedia elements such as eBook samplers, book trailers and a wide variety of apps. These apps range from a Vampire Bite app, a Crypt Radio app and an Alex Rider Gadget app. I can't check any of these out though because I am one of the few people left who has a dumb phone!
Another trend I noticed on both sites was the popularity of series. Kids of all ages seem to enjoy reading books that are part of a series. I hear this time and again from customers in our branch as well as my niece and nephew.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)