Week 16 Prompt

Reading has changed a lot for me since I was a kid. As a kid I very much enjoyed going to the library or a bookstore and browsing the shelves. I reveled in picking out a book and feeling it in my hands and the satisfaction of turning the pages as I enjoyed the story. When Ebooks first came out I was averse. I thought it would be a quick fad and they would disappear. I could never see myself using an ereader or a computer to read a book and thought that it would take all of the satisfaction out of reading. 

As I got a little older I realized that Ebooks might be a convenient compromise. At the time I was living in a very small and remote town. To say that the library was lacking would be an understatement and going to a bookstore was not realistic financially or practical in that the closest bookstore was over an hour away. So, I acquired an Ebook and compromised with reading Ebooks over not being able to read at all. I changed my opinion of Ebooks after that, simply out of convenience. My pleasure in reading a physical book hasn’t changed but I rarely have the time to acquire one and store it afterwards, because I know I’ll refuse to give it up. I can tote an entire Ebook collection with me taking up less space than one book, it’s hard to beat when traveling.

I’ve had a similar experience with audiobooks. I had previously thought of audiobooks with distaste, something that I would just never be able to get into. At a young age I tried them and could never sink into the story, always wishing I had a physical book instead. Within the past few years I ran into a new challenge, trying to fit reading for leisure in with working a very demanding job, being in school, and a social life. I found very little time to read, and when I did I was too exhausted to really be able to enjoy it. My eyes would cross trying to read the lines. But, I found my library’s collection of audiobooks and gave it a shot. Now I am able to listen to audiobooks at work and go through multiple books a week. It helps me enjoy my work and satisfy my need for reading at the same time.

In the future, I think that we will continue to read at the same pace and volume, but in continually different ways. Just like I described the rise of Ebooks and the growing popularity of audiobooks, I think that convenient and innovative ways to read will be developed and slowly, readers will adapt.

Week 15 Prompt

I think that there are a lot of possibilities for marketing a library collection and I’ve seen a lot of them used in tandem. I feel like an effective way to market a library’s fiction collection is to use multiple marketing tools to create a cohesive and far-reaching strategy to intrigue patrons.

1. Displays: I think we can all agree that displays are an effective way to bring attention and interest to the books being display can be placed near the fiction collection close to a high traffic area of the library. The display can have information on the fiction genre and can include some suggestions of best sellers or popular and new fiction to grab interest. The display can change as often as staff resources and time will allow. I think this form of a display will draw interest from patrons already using the library facilities.


2. Online outreach: I think it is fair to say that a lot of patrons may not visit the brick and mortar library very often due to inconvenience, conflicting schedules during business hours, or any other number of reasons. This is why I think marketing the library’s fiction collection online is necessary. Depending on the size of the community the library could have links on other town websites. The library website itself could have a fiction collection spotlight, essentially a digital version of the physical display described above. It can have information on the fiction genre, include suggestions, and provide suggestions for fiction books that are electronic formats so that users browsing the library website can still have access to the content.


3. Fiction monthly highlights: In addition to the previous two marketing tools I think that a fiction monthly highlight program would be very beneficial to the regular users. The display, even updated often is really only designed in my description to draw in library users that may not otherwise have looked at the fiction collection. The fiction monthly highlights is designed to continue to draw interest from current readers. The fiction monthly highlights could be a newsletter/email/blog post that users can subscribe to to get a regularly recurring recommendation for lesser known or older fiction books in the library’s collection. Again this could be maintained by the staff and give staff the opportunity to spotlight materials in the collection that are not checked out as much, and aren’t seen on bestseller lists, or considered new.

Week 14 Prompt

This is a decision to make for this week’s prompt, and one that I am not 100% positive of my decision. I think it will be interesting to see other people’s responses and what their reasoning was for their choice. I decided to justify keeping street lit, African American lit, and LGBTQ lit mixed in with the rest of the collection, not on a separate shelf. My reasons are below:

1.  Avoid segregation/ separation that may upset some patrons. I think that by treating every book the same we can avoid alienating patrons for their reading choices. I feel like this can kind of go along the same lines as my prompt points for the young adult books last week. Some people may not feel comfortable venturing to a certain area that is designated for one type of books, like adults not feeling comfortable going into the young adult section to look for books. For those patrons that are requesting the genres be separated we can have resources available for quick searching the genres such as lists of titles in each genre along with spotlights available for quick recommendations.

2. Improve likelihood of exposure from being in the general collection. So, in a similar train of thought, if people aren’t having to venture off to another section of the library to seek out street lit or LGBTQ lit, or otherwise, than those that are browsing through the stacks might be more likely to stumble across one of these books and pick it up. So, by not separating these books out of the collection, we may improve the chances of patrons deciding to read them. By not labeling the books to indicate such a niche genre we take out the factor of patrons dismissing the books as non-relatable or otherwise simply because of the genre. If they are mixed in with the collection they may be perused more, and discovered by patrons.

3.  Avoid controversy with any patrons that may not feel comfortable with separated displays. While I personally think it is important to have street lit, African American lit, and LGBTQ lit, some patrons may not feel the same way. And while I don’t agree, it is not my place to dictate their beliefs, but to make the library as welcoming and comfortable for everybody as possible. So, I think in some instances a separate display may makes some patrons uncomfortable and could cause backlash in a decrease in patrons of backlash from committees or community groups that control funding. While these books have a right to be on the shelves, this is just another scenario that feeds into the decision of keeping these books shelved in the general collection.

Week 13 Prompt

I think that the picture in this week’s prompt is a great example of what we as librarians need to be doing to serve patrons that may want to read YA lit and expose others to it. I agree with the sign, that there can be a certain stigma against reading YA literature or graphic novels as an adult. I for one am just as likely to be reading an adult fiction book as a YA fiction book. I’ve even gone back and reread some of my favorite novels as a youngster and reveled in the elements that made me remember so long afterwards. I think that a few things need to happen to help de-stigmatize and bring awareness for adults to YA literature. The first is to bring the books and displays out of “kid” areas. I know my local library has all young adult books in a designated area with the YA computer and some kid furniture. While this isn’t the worst setup for those in the conventional YA reading range, it can easily prevent others from venturing into the area. Keeping the YA area of the library slightly removed from ALL access to YA books would help adults to feel like they could browse the stacks just as they do for adult fiction.

Another way to do this is through displays and information on YA books. Being open about other adults enjoying YA literature can help patrons to feel more at east browsing YA literature and allow others to start looking at YA books if they hadn’t before. Bringing displays into the adult fiction section like the picture in the prompt show a good example of this. Other ideas for displays could include showing an adult fiction book and shelving it on a display with a YA book with similar theme, plot, character, etc with a brief description. A display could also have authors books displayed that write both adult fiction and YA fiction. These types of displays I feel would target adults who maybe have never considered YA fiction as potential reading material but might be drawn to the display seeing and adult fiction book or author that they have enjoyed in the past.

I think that Graphic Novels may be a littler harder for adults to breach if they never had exposure to them at the conventional age. A display with graphic novels in the adult fiction section with a visual aid of how to read graphic novels along with some popular novels and suggestion could help. There are graphic novels that have been converted to recently popular movies and tv shows, these novels might be a good attention grabber and draw to patrons that are new to them.

Finding Audrey By Sophie Kinsella

Synopsis: Because of some never quite explained past social tragedy, 14 year old Audrey is faced with working through her social anxiety and mental health issues. Audrey narrates her life and documents her family for a therapist-assigned project as she battles with leaving the house and interacting with anyone but her family. Her older brother Frank, and her mother battle over video game addiction while Frank’s friend Linus takes an interest in Audrey. Linus helps Audrey work through her issues and open up to the outside world. The family home gains unity through the unexpected connection of video games.

Genre Characteristics:

Identity

Humor/Clever writing

Rebirth



https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1422689464l/23305614.jpg

Appeal:

Mental Health

The topic of mental health is a theme throughout the book, but in a relatively light manner. This may be a trigger for those suffering from severe mental illness, but the book does show improvement in mental illness through the protagonist.


Video Games

Video games and video game addiction is seen throughout the book. Video game addiction popularized through media is discussed in an over-the-top sarcastic manner, and video games are a strong plot-driving device throughout the book for multiple characters.


Romance

The main character discovers a romantic relationship in the story, containing appropriate content for a young adult book.


Brother-Sister Relationship

The main character discusses heavily her relationship with her brother and is seen through the eyes of the main character. This is a relatively central aspect of the book and shows a healthy but realistic relationship between brother and sister.




Read-A-Likes:

Don’t Touch by Rachel M Wilson

Kiss of Broken Glass by Madeleine Kuderick

Trouble Is a Friend of Mine by Stephanie Tromly

The Improbable Theory of Ana and Zak by Brian Katcher

The Reader’s Advisory Matrix

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote


1.Where is the book on the narrative continuum

Highly narrative (reads like fiction)



2. What is the subject of the book

The depiction of the murder of a small town family and their killers’ lives



3. What type of book is it?

True Crime

4. Articulate Appeal

What is the pacing of the book? 

The pacing is casual but encapturing for the reader

Describe the characters of the book. 

The characters are very important to the book. There is the family of the farmhouse that is murdered. They are typical small town good natured people, and then there are the murderers. They are flawed but humanized.

How does the story feel? 

The story feels gut-wrenching at times but very interesting all the way through

What is the intent of the author? 

The intent of the author is to describe the murder and motive of the crime, expose the true personality of the offenders and victims and shock the reader with the brutality of the crime.

What is the focus of the story?

 The focus of the story in the lives of the victims and murderers along with the motive.

Does the language matter?

 The language helps to put the reader in the time period that the book is set.


Is the setting important well described?

 The setting is important in that it adds to the shock value of the brutality of the crime and adds to the personality of the victims. The setting is thoroughly described.




Are there details and, if so, of what? There are many details, particularly of the crime scene, the act of murder, and details of the lives of the victims and criminals.




Are there sufficient charts and other graphic materials? Are they useful and clear? No charts or graphs


Does the book stress moments of learning, understanding or experience? 

Understanding of just how unexpected and undeserved the crime was, and what let the offenders to commit it. Experience of the time and how unsettling the crime was at that time and in the town.



5. Why would a reader enjoy this book (rank appeal) ?


Tone


Detail


Setting

At the Water's Edge By Sara Gruen

Synopsis: Maddie and her husband Ellis are well adjusted to high society in Northeast America with a backdrop of World War II. But, their unsavory behavior in the presence of influential class members create a rift between Ellis and his family. With discord in the family, Maddie and Ellis must deal with the embarrassment of being cast off from the family, and the family fortune. Ellis devises a scheme for redemption by doing what his father failed to do, find the Lochness monster. During their stay in Scotland Maddie finds herself alone with nothing but her thoughts. As she finds herself exposed to the working class of the inn she begins to reassess her values, herself, and her love for Ellis.

https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1412194706l/23209927.jpg

Genre Characteristics: Historical Fiction

• Historical settings
• Suspenseful 
• Believable plot
• Casual unfolding of storyline

Appeal:

• Lochness Monster
• High Class Society
• Scotland
• Romance

Read-A-Likes:

The Girl You Left Behind by Jojo Moyes

Secrets of a Charmed Life by Susan Meissner

The Sandcastle Girls by Chris Bohjalian

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder

Synopsis: Yelena is found in the dungeons awaiting to be hanged for murder. Then assassin and right hand man to the commander of Ixia, Valek, offers Yelena a second chance. Valek offers Yelena the chance to avoid execution and become the commander’s food taster. Yelena has to reconcile with her past crimes while juggling the ever impending threat of finding poison in the commander’s food. As Yelena learns her role she develops a passionate relationship with Valek and finds trustworthy friends among the commander’s ranks. Her past and present collide as the father of the person Yelena murdered becomes a threat and Yelena discovers she may be more than just an orphan food taster.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/photo/3462638-poison-study

Genre Characteristics: Fantasy

• Fantasy World
• Magic
• Suspense
• Character Driven
• Good vs. Evil
• Part of a series

Appeal:

• High Fantasy
• Female protagonist
• Poison
• Mind control
• Magic
• Romance
• Fighting/Action

Read-A-Likes:

Star of the Morning by Lynn Kurland

Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas

Graceling by Kristin Cashore



Storm Glass by Maria V Snyder

Ebooks & Audio Books

The change in medium to audio books and Ebooks create some very unique changes in what will appeal to patrons. Browsing the stacks can give a sense of comfort and familiarity to patrons, I know it does for me. And so getting an electronic device to appeal to these patrons may be difficult without the ability for them to glance from cover to cover and physically pick up a book. I personally find it harder to search for a Ebook or have an Ebook grab my interest just because it can be less satisfying to search a database, especially if there isn’t cover art. Patrons may feel the same way. There may also be smaller factors that patrons may attribute to an Ebook or audio book being less appealing, such as having less of a sense of the length of a book in an electronic format or less of a connection to the story due to the platform.

With audio books and Ebooks other aspects of the format will become a factor not seen or realized with physical books. The different settings available for changing font and compatibility for different Ereaders are going to change appeal. For audio books, something that I can personally attest to, is that a story could be phenomenal or something that would normally appeal to me, but if the narrator doesn’t suit me, or if there are different audio enhancements such as music, or reading more like a play than a book it can be very hard for me to enjoy the audio book.

On the other hand, and again from personal experience I think that electronic formats can appeal to users that otherwise might not be reading. I am an avid reader, but with work hours, school, and social obligations I rarely have time to sit down and read a book, and when I do, I don’t have the energy for it. But, with audio books I have the opportunity to experience the stories while doing other things. Mostly, I listen to audio books at work (I’ve gone through about 15 so far this year), or while cleaning or cooking. Ebooks also come in handy because of the convenience. If I do get the compulsion to physically read something I can pull out my Nook, download a book and be reading within a few minutes (assuming that it’s charged).

Ebooks and audiobooks create a lot of different factors that may turn off some patrons, but I think they offer a unique and important opportunity for readers in situations that would make them appealing. It’s just a matter of finding those patrons and fitting the right formats and files to the reader.

Book Club Experience

I chose an online book club for this assignment, as my work schedule did not line up with any book club meetings locally. I feel like there probably would have been much more actual discussion regarding specific books if I were able to attend a live discussion, but an online book club is very intriguing. This book club is hosted by a local library and states that it is an online book club via a Facebook Group for patrons to discuss books, just as if they were to have meetings. While I would have liked to attend a live book club discussion if my schedule would have allowed, I feel the online environment could allow for interesting discussion and I was glad to have the opportunity to “observe” one for this assignment.

The Group is viewable to the public and a little over 140 members. There was a library staff member that was there to moderate with the position of ‘admin’ and would post questions regarding the book or genre the group was reading at the time. The leader did not participate in answering questions, but they would occasionally comment on another member’s response to give feedback or spur conversation. Looking back at discussion history I can see that there has been multiple library staff under the ‘admin’ position. I’m not sure if this just has just transferred to different staff member’s responsibility or if being the administrator of the online book club is a rotating responsibility.

The questions brought up in the group discussion seem to vary. Sometimes it appeared to be just whether or not everyone is enjoying the book, sometimes it is an open-ended question regarding the book or a genre. Every month there appears to be polls and group member can vote on what book they would like to read next. There were other posts that I noticed fairly frequently by the admin linking to articles, pinterest posts, etc that were not necessarily directly relevant to the book they were reading or the book club, but seemed like they might be interesting to general “book lovers”. I feel like these kinds of posts could go two ways. 

Unfortunately, I think some members might see it as a nuisance or ‘spam’ getting in the way of their other social media, but some might like it. For members that do enjoy these types of posts I think it is an added bonus and good use of the online platform for the book club. For posts like that to go over well I think the admin would need to get an idea of how active the members of the club want to be, and how much they would or would not appreciate the posts.
Unfortunately, it appears that most members do not actively participate. Scrolling pretty far into past postings I saw maybe 20 different members posting and discussing topics. I did notice that there were maybe four members that would reply first and often on pretty much every post. Since there was not a whole lot of activity otherwise I wouldn’t necessarily say that these members where stealing the spotlight.

Even though in the information about the book club on the library’s website and in the ‘About’ section of the group page it said it was an online only book club, I noticed a post about once a month reminding people of an in-person book club meeting for the group. This was slightly disappointing because I really thought the idea of an active online-only book club was kind of awesome. The online element allows for asynchronous communication, which allows for people to participate who live on all types of schedules. Also, I thought people may be more likely to participate due to the convenience. The library is already utilizing the popular social media website Facebook, and no one has to go out to be able to be a part of the group. So, while it appears that this online book club isn’t exclusively online only, I feel that the lack of activity from so many members may be due to the fact that they do have in person book discussions.

Something that I found interesting was how they chose the books for their discussions. As mentioned above, they often used a built in polling system through their Facebook group, picking between 4 or 5 options. The books appeared to be familiar, mostly bestseller fiction books. The interesting part though, was that on some months I noticed that they all didn’t read the same book. Some months they were to read any book from a particular genre, or pick books that all had a similar theme. For examples, one of the themes was books related to fairy tales. I had never heard of this before. I thought the whole point of a book club was for everyone to read the same book together. But, the more that I thought about it, the more I liked the idea. The occasional discussion where people read different books with similar themes has the opportunity to create some awesome comparisons and debate surrounding the different books. This would also get around the possible problem of the library not having enough copies of a book for each member to be able to gain access to the book for that month.

A Summary of Reader’s Advisory Resources: Embracing Social Media

The utilization of social media websites would allow library staff to have immediate contact with patrons and patrons to have a convenient and trustworthy connection to the library for reader advisory purposes. A survey reported that enthusiastic and positive responses have been elicited from patrons when presented with online reader advisory services and that online reader advisory services allows for a higher quality and more deliberate interaction presented from library staff (Burke 4). Despite the evidence of better service few libraries offer online readers advisory services ( Burke 4). Capturing the power of online social media can allow a higher quality of reader advisory services to patrons while allowing for an easy and direct connection to patrons for library staff.

Within the realm of social media websites, there are specific “reader-centered social media” like Goodreads, Shelfari, and LibraryThing. Reader-centered social media website mix the benefits and community of social media often with reader advisory services, but also tools from which “readers” and library patrons would benefit. These websites are where users can turn to discuss books, look for reviews, and catalog their reading lists (Trott, Naik 320). Goodreads has over 40 million users (Goodreads). With that large of a user base, and ever growing, it is important for reader advisor’s not only to be aware of the existence of these website but also know what they offer and how they can incorporate them into the library’s own reader advisory services. Goodreads offers the ability for users to create their own book lists and share with the community, it also offers access to over 47 million book reviews, and the ability to add books to their own personal catalog. Many websites offer similar services, such as LibraryThing. In addition to reviews LibraryThing also allows users to submit and view community submitted meta tags for each book (Librarything). On Shelfari you can follow different community members to track authors, friends, and familiar book reviewers (Shelfari). Librarians can help users and assist in teaching them how to utilize these websites (Trott, Naik 322). Another way that librarians can utilize websites like Goodreads is to create an account for the library, participate in community discussions, create book lists, and more, then invite library patrons to follow the account on Goodreads (Trott, Naik 322). This can create a connection between the library and patrons while both take advantage of the reader’s advisory resources on the websites. The Salt Lake City public library is an example of a library already implementing this concept (Trott, Naik 322).

Beyond reader-centered social media websites there are the all too familiar traditional social media websites. Traditional social media websites like Facebook, Twitter, and blogs do not have a reader-centered or any reader’s advisory elements built in, but they can still be beneficial to reader’s advisory services (Anwyll, Chawner 19). These websites allow for informal and constant access to patrons opening an outlet for discussion and exposure to the library’s reader’s advisory services through a different medium. By creating library accounts on these social media websites reader’s advisors have the opportunity to extend reader’s advisory services to their patrons over the web. Facebook can present a platform for library sponsored book clubs and book discussion. Twitter, a form of microblogging, can be an outlet for librarians to broadcast short blurbs on books, announcements of reader’s advisory events, and link to relevant blog posts (Anwyll, Chawner 19). Blogs can be used to post book reviews and other detailed information surrounding reader’s advisory. The Seattle Public Library is an example of this type of blog. They use the social media outlet to bring attention to particular books and publicize library events (Anwyll, Chawner 19). A blog can be utilized in many innovative ways, with library staff alternating scheduled posting times to post reviews or begin any number of discussion regarding certain genres, books, or available reader’s advisory services (Anwyll, Chawner 19).

It is important that we extend reader’s advisory services to utilize the internet to reach patrons as well. Not only can we utilize reader-centered social media and traditional social media, but library staff can scour these websites to learn about patron interests and allow a further glimpse of reading trends, negative appeal, and reviews to provide to readers. Reader-centered social media websites also offer tools that can be added to the reader’s advisory arsenal of resources. Trott and Naik advised, “If librarians can gain the trust of their patrons by interacting with them in the online book browsing environment, then they can begin to give RA suggestions to patrons at the point of need, at the time and place that a patron expresses the desire to know about more books of a certain type” (322).

Sources

Anwyll, R., & Chawner, B. (2013). Social media and readers' advisory: A win-win combination? Reference & User Services Quarterly, 53(1), 18-22. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1462526736?accountid=7398


Burke, S. K., & Strothmann, M. (2015). Adult readers' advisory services through public library websites. Reference & User Services Quarterly, 55(2), 132-143. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1753222369?accountid=7398


"Goodreads." Goodreads. Web. 01 Mar. 2016.<http://www.goodreads.com/>.


"A Home for Your Books." LibraryThing. Web. 01 Mar. 2016. <https://www.librarything.com/>.



"Shelfari." Web. 01 Mar. 2016. <http://www.shelfari.com/>.
Trott, Barry, btrott@wrl.org, and Yesha Naik. "Finding Good Reads On Goodreads." Reference & User Services Quarterly 51.4 (2012): 319-323. Library & Information Science Source. Web. 29 Feb. 2016.

Pretty Girls By Karin Slaughter

Synopsis: Well into adulthood Claire is haunted by the childhood trauma of the disappearance of her older sister Julia. Julia’s disappearance, still a mystery, was never something that her family has been able to get over. Now, many years later Claire witnesses her husband violently murdered in front of her while the victims of a back alley mugging. Grieving the death of her husband, Claire begins to discover her late husband, Paul’s, secrets. The further Claire digs, the further she realizes that Paul isn’t who she thought he was. With the help of her estranged sister, Lydia, Claire follows the clues and discovers how her husband’s death and the decade past disappearance of her sister are connected.

Image from: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2557478 2-pretty-girls?from_search=true&search_version=service

Genre Characteristics:

• Unsolved crime
• Amateur investigator following clues
• Dark and suspenseful tone
• Foreshadowing

Appeal:

• Sadism
• Serial Killer
• Extreme violence and sexual content
• Amateur detective
• Abduction
• Woman protagonist

This Mystery novel is a very descriptive and explicit tale. Appealing elements listed above may also be considered a word of warning for certain patrons that may not want to be exposed to sexual content, graphic violence, or similar themes. This book may be appealing to those that enjoy other serial killer stories, or stories involving sexual sadism.

Read A Likes:

• Chevy Stevens - Still Missing

• Marrow by Tarryn Fisher

• Grand County Series by Karin Slaughter

Week 7 Prompt

Prompt:
For our prompt this week, I want you to think about fake memoirs, author mills, and celebrity inspired book clubs. Basically write a readers' response to one of the articles you are reading for this week (see syllabus for readings) - or talk about a time when a book or author that made headlines affected you personally or your work.

The article by The Smoking Gun regarding the evidence they’ve found against the non-fiction claims of “A Million Little Pieces” was rather alarming to me. It’s not that I have never anticipated that a non-fiction book would have falsities or stretch the truth, but that’s always been vague assumptions. When presented with a case so specific and in-depth regarding aspects of “A Million Little Pieces” struck me with a very uneasy feeling. I never before had to face this issue and I didn’t quite know how to feel about it.

So, as I read the article I continued to try and reconcile with myself. How does this make me feel? Why do I feel this is wrong? Because, certainly stretching the truth and inconsistencies can be okay in literature. I mean, I’m a huge fan of all things fiction, and I can certainly see how embellishing on certain aspects or dramatizing them for the sake of the story would create a greater/more enjoyable experience for the reader. But, and I feel this is a huge but, The book was marketed and sold as non-fiction. Non-fiction obviously implies a level of truth, and it is a promise to the reader that what is in-between the covers is true. As a reader, I would take in the content of a nonfiction book completely different that one that is known to be inspired by true events or completely fiction.

This, I think, is where my major hang ups come from, and my feelings of injustice as this author sold their book as nonfiction and tried to cover up the evidence, or lack of evidence. The author and the book are deceitful. In the literary world I guess I find sacred the implied truths in a nonfiction book. It’s more than false advertising because a story is more than a commodity. A story can resonate with someone, it can change their perspective or their beliefs. So, if a reader is promised that what they are reading is factual it’s a major issue to find out they have been deceived. They are being manipulated into thinking differently, and I feel this is a cardinal sin.

Nights In Rodanthe By Nicholas Sparks

Synopsis:
Adrienne Willis, a mother of three grown children helps console her daughter about the loss of her husband by retelling the story of her own loss. After Adrienne’s husband left her for a younger woman, Adrienne takes a weekend trip to a friend’s inn in Rodanthe North Carolina. Whilst worrying about her kids back at home, and preparing the inn for a storm Adrienne falls for the only guest at the inn, a divorced Paul Flanner. As they weather the storm together they fall into a deep love that ends in tragedy.

Image from:
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show
/15926.Nights_in_Rodanthe

Genre Characteristics:

• Central love story
• Optimistic ending
• Gentle/Easy tone
• Upbeat mood

Appeal:

• Cancer Victim
• Losing a spouse
• North Carolina
• Mature Couple

This romance novel, similar to other Nicholas Sparks books is comfortable reading, verging on the gentle reads genre. Appealing elements are listed above and may be especially relate-able for those dealing with the loss of a spouse or coping with a loss due to cancer. This book may also be relate-able for the setting of North Carolina, and a coast. Lastly, this novel may be relate-able for those looking for middle-aged characters that are dealing with raising children, mending relationships, coping with divorce, and aging.


Read A likes:

• Sam’s Letters to Jennifer by James Patterson

• A Bend in the Road by Nicholas Sparks

• Follow the Stars Home by Luanne Rice

Week 6 Prompt: Promoting Horror

My idea centers around a single event and allows for residual involvement through social media. This single event would be a ‘Read-In’. Patrons could come, with their favorite horror fiction, movies, audiobooks and more (along with the materials available through the library) and share in their love for horror. Patrons can be together while experiencing their favorite horror of all types. Discussions are encouraged or patrons can just enjoy reading their books around others, watching a movie in a group, or listening to an audiobook with other fans of the genre. At the end of the event a list can be created through collaboration of everyone’s favorite piece of the genre for patrons to take home for later reference.

To stay in touch with patrons who have attended the event, and to create a community of local horror lovers a hashtag can be created so patrons can check back to see what others are reading/watching/listening to. This hashtag can allow patrons to communicate outside of the library and continue to get recommendations and share a connection with local like-minded readers (the library can also utilize the hashtag to gather interest in new horror selections at the library. A small display and flyers can be created to promote the event along with information on the library website.

Integrated advisory lends itself well to this event as different formats can be easily shared, whether it’s reading together, playing a movie, or listening to an audiobook as a group.

Prompt 5: Reviewing Reviews

The reviews on the Holly Rayner novel didn’t paint much of a picture of the novel nor did they really give an idea of what the story would read like. I understand a large aspect of a review is to give your opinion on the story, but the reviews seemed unprofessional and lacked information. I cringe every time I read a review where the author states how long it took them to read a book. This is such a subjective/dependent variable and not one that I’m going to base whether I read a book on. Based on the reviews even if this was a great book, I wouldn’t be so inclined to purchase it for a library collection. I also did not gather the suspense aspect of this romantic suspense novel. Whether it was just left out of the reviews or the book doesn’t really fit the genre I couldn’t figure out.

I think it can be a little unfair the certain books get a lot of coverage and lots of reviews written about them while other books get little to none. The quality of book or the enjoyment a reader might get out of a book is not dependent on how much exposure the book gets, and I think this can hurt great books that never get to be part of the ‘lime light’ and probably diminishes the possibility of readers expanding horizons simply because they don’t know what’s out there besides what they read about. I also think this affects a library’s collection in the same way. Too many books are published for Libraries to be aware of all books, it’s unrealistic and unfathomable. So, libraries must depend on reviews, publishers, and media to know what books are coming out, what is popular, and what they need to stock their shelves with. If reviews are not written about certain books or one genre does not get as much exposure as another, I think this will affect the library’s collection.

I do not think that it’s wrong that some review sources do not publish negative reviews. All books published have some value and will interest some readers, regardless of if a review is negative or positive I think the type of audience that will be drawn to that book will be evident in the review without having to bash certain aspects of why on reader did not like it.  In addition to this we all know that other resources DO print negative reviews and for a more balanced opinion of how readers felt about the book they can seek out multiple sources. I feel like regardless of if a review is negative or positive I am able to determine from what they liked or didn’t like how I will feel about the book. 

Kirkus-Style Review: Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman

Neil Gaiman’s story begins with “Fat Charlie” Nancy, an employee at a travel agency and an impending marriage to the love of his life, his fiancé. Charlie gets the news that his Father has passed away. As Charlie mourns the loss of his father, and deals reconciles their troubled relationship with himself, his past begins to unravel.  In dealing with the loss of his father Fat Charlie learns that he may not have known his father as well as he that he had. As he digs into the past Fat Charlie learns of the existence of his brother, Spider. Further does Charlie’s life goes awry as he adjusts to living with his brother’s charming personality.

Gaiman’s narration weaves a tale reminiscent of age-old folk tales and urban fantasy as Charlie faces the reality of Gods and magic while trying to maintain his normal everyday London life. The story is light and whimsical as Gaiman builds this alternate reality where Gods walk among humans and their mischief and power disrupts daily life. The novel still holds an edge of excitement and anticipation as the reader hangs on to the decisions and whim of Charlie’s brother Spider, unpredictable in nature and magically mischievous. The reader aligns with Charlie and we learn together about who his father was, his past, and how to reconcile with each of these things in order to put his present back together.

The novel is laugh-out-loud funny with enough adventure to keep you reading. The memorable characters with realistic faults with not so realistic problems allows for the reader to relate to the characters without keeping it too real. A story solid enough to feel ancient and that will stay with you for ages. A great introduction to Gaiman’s work.

Secret Shopper

I chose a small, fairly local, standalone library for this experiment. I walked in a little before 6pm and immediately noticed that there was no one stationed at the reference desk. Not a good sign. I’m not sure if the reference librarian is not that after a certain time, or what the circumstances were. But I did notice that the library was quite busy and the only employees visible were high school students checking customers out. With no one at the reference desk I started browsing the aisles looking around the genres that I might be interested in and hoping someone might ask me if I needed help. After about five minutes I concluded that probably was not going to happen and asked one of the students behind the check-out desk if they might be able to help me find a good book, or if they could direct me to someone that might be able to help. She was friendly and deferred to ‘the’ librarian that was stationed in the children’s room farther down. I thanked her and moved down the hall.

The librarian’s desk was immediately inside of the children’s desk and I only had to stand there for a few seconds before she realized was there and asked if she could help with anything. I said I was looking for a good book to read, either a standalone or trilogy fantasy series. When asked what I like in that genre, I explained that the Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind is my all-time favorite fantasy books. With that she went silent and started clicking away on the keyboard. I was dying to know what resource she was using and I was already standing a a 90 degree angle from the computer due to the positioning of the desk, so I scooted over just a little so I could get a glance of the monitor. I didn’t feel that I could do this in an obvious manner as she was as of yet, not explaining any of her steps to me, nor did she invite me to look.

When I was able to see the screen I noticed she was not using any resources that I would have expected. She had searched for the sword of truth series in the OPAC and was looking through MARC records. I can’t say that I wasn’t disappointed. After learning of all of these awesome tools available for situations like this, I was really excited to see some on real-life application. I still had not completely lost hope though, perhaps she has enough knowledge to be confident that she can find one using memory based on the questions she might ask. Though, she wasn’t asking that many questions. She mentioned that Terry Goodkind has many standalone books in addition to his Sword of Truth series. I didn’t know that and was quite surprised to hear it, though she didn’t mention anything specific and quickly moved to asking another question, if I had ready any Jim Butcher. I explained that I have read a little Jim Butcher but it was one of the few books I’ve never finished and I did not enjoy it very much due to the amount of politics in the book. From here she asked if I have read the Game of Thrones series, to which I replied that I have.


She was looking for a while before asking me if I have read of any of the Charlaine Harris books. I have and I told her so, with not that much enthusiasm, I mentioned that I enjoyed the character development and magic more seen in the sword of truth series. Even though my answer wasn’t really indicating she was on the right track for the type of book I am looking for right now, I noticed she got a little more energetic and it seemed, involved in the search. I took this as a good sign, maybe with some sort of connection with the librarian she would be more interested in finding the right book for me.


The librarian went on to describe more paranormal romance series moving increasingly towards series that she described as being heavy romance. I felt like we were getting more off track and at this point was disappointed and didn’t want to waste any more of the librarians time as we clearly were not going in the right direction. I said I will go back and look for more Terry Goodkind series and look for a series by Dean Koontz that she described as being a fantasy series (without much more explanation than that). She did offer to show me incase I didn’t think I could find them myself. I declined as I was certain I could, and she told me if I was not happy with those, that I could come back and she could try again.

I felt like the choices that she offered did not necessarily have anything in common with the series that I had offered as a read-alike and was confused by the lack of a trend to the suggestions or any seemingly related aspects between her choices and mine. I went back to the shelves to look for the different recommendations to see if maybe, despite my initial thoughts that one of them might be what I was looking for, if nothing else another Terry Goodkind book might be worth reading. Once I got back to the shelves her recommendations made sense, but not in the way I was hoping. My heart sank as I saw each book or series she recommended basically right next to each other on the shelves. I have a very strong feeling that she was not recommending books in the nature of having similar aspects to the Sword of Truth Series but was scrolling alphabetically in the records for fantasy novels. Because this is a small library the Jim Butcher books were only a few above Terry Goodkind, just below Goodkind was Harris and just next to Harris was Koontz. Any hope I was holding out was gone after this realization. I took a quick look for any of the standalone Terry Goodkind books, which they did not have. After that, I left.

I went in to the experiment wanting the library to do well and I wanted to walk out with a couple good recommendations as I really am looking for a some standalone or trilogy fantasy series that capture some of the things that made Sword of Truth so great for me. I left disappointed and for a few reasons. I was disappointed that no tools were used other than searching alphabetically through records to find books. I was disappointed that she didn’t explain what she was doing, and I was disappointed that despite going in there and trying to make it easy and having the pre-existing information that I have about libraries and reference interviews and the such that I was not able to stir/feel comfortable enough to steer the interview into a successful one. I tried to give as much information as possible about what I was looking for and not looking for, but I felt like I was halfway inconveniencing her (even though she really was pleasant). In the end I was disappointed that when she gave a few suggestions in a row that were getting further away from what I was looking for, that I did not tell her these were not what I was looking for. Whether it was frustration, feeling hopeless, or just not wanting to waste anymore of her time I just couldn’t continue the interview. I felt defeated and really understood that as someone who was going in with a mission and optimism if I did not get a recommendation that I felt was helpful there are probably a lot more that don’t even get as far as I did.

Reader's Advisory Questions and Suggestions

1. I am looking for a book by Laurell K. Hamilton. I just read the third book in the Anita Blake series and I can’t figure out which one comes next!

The Lunatic Cafe is the next book in the series. You can probably find this information on a lot of sites, or even just a quick google search, but I used GoodReads

2. What have I read recently? Well, I just finished this great book by Barbara Kingsolver, Prodigal Summer. I really liked the way it was written, you know, the way she used language. I wouldn't mind something a bit faster paced though.

You Must Remember This by Joyce Carol Oates. Using the literature map website I saw that Joyce Carol Oates was showing as a similar author and in the results from “What Should I Read Next?” This book is listed as a similar book that might be enjoyable for those that enjoyed Prodigal Summer. I also have some experience with the first book and other Joyce Carol Oates and can see a similarity in the writing/language that might be what the user is looking for.

3. I like reading books set in different countries. I just read one set in China, could you help me find one set in Japan? No, not modern – historical. I like it when the author describes it so much it feels like I was there!

The House of Kanze by Nobuko Albery. This is a historical fiction novel set in Japan with a level of accuracy demanding footnotes that follows the drama of the development of 14th century Japan and follows characters of uprising japanese actors. I found this selection through a historical novels database (Historicalfiction.info) and searched individual book reviews on Kirkus to make sure it appeared to fit the requirements of the user.

4. I read this great mystery by Elizabeth George called Well-Schooled in Murder and I loved it. Then my dentist said that if I liked mysteries I would probably like John Sandford, but boy was he creepy I couldn't finish it! Do you have any suggestions?

All Shall Be Well by Deborah Crombie. Deborah Crombie is listed as a similar author as Elizabeth George and this book shares a lot of the sames traits as a the previously read novel such as being set in England and having a police element. This is also listed as a suggestion on “What Should I Read Next?”.

5. My husband has really gotten into zombies lately. He’s already read The Walking Dead and World War Z, is there anything else you can recommend?

I am Legend and Other Stories by Richard Matheson. This is also a mainstream zombie book that would be along the lines as The Walking Dead and World War Z. While it has similar name recognition as the other titles it is also listed in zombie book lists that are similar on GoodReads

I pretty much only find reading for my own use. I have used GoodReads off and on for quite a few years utilizing their reviews, and user submitted lists as well as just scouring the database. I also work a lot off of friends recommendations. I feel like it can add value to the reading if you’re reading a book the same time or just after a friend has read the same book. This can make reading into a social experience too and plus, I get a recommendation for a read from a trusted source and someone who I know there tastes.

Reading Profile

Hello!

I don't think it's hard to deduce that I love to read. The feeling of being completely enveloped into a story, connecting to the characters, following the story line, and walking away having gained the experiences that you've read is definitely one of the most enjoyable and satisfying things I've found in my life. With that being said I don't always have the time to fully enjoy the books that I would like to. Because of this I have begun to open up to lighter, shorter reads and have realized that with expanded reading interests I can enjoy reading more and more often.

When time is not a factor I love a good long fantasy or science fiction series. My favorite of all time being the Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind. I loved the use of magic, the lovable and ever-enduring characters and the balance of action and resting points in the plot.

When looking for a short read, or indulging in re-reading a favorite I adore Kurt  Vonnegut. The writing is so distinct with multiple levels that it is really enjoyable for me to read and often times feels like visiting an old friend, picking up one of his stories. My favorite? Probably Welcome to the Monkey House.

In the past year and a half or so I have found a love for audio books as I juggle a full time job and school. At the end of the day I often do not have a desire to pick up a book, but the lack of great fiction in my life found an outlet through audio books that I listen to during my daily commute or whenever I have a moment at work. Experiencing  books in this way, one book can stretch over weeks or over a month and I am often interrupted. Because of this I have had to open my tastes up to easier to follow books, and this has given me the opportunity to really enjoy some popular fiction. I just recently finished The Longest Ride by Nicholas Sparks. While I did not fully enjoy this one due to the setting and a lack of character development, I did enjoy some elements and appreciated the fairly lighthearted story and fun banter between the characters. I might find myself trying a different novel by the author in the future. Some other popular fiction that I have enjoyed in the past year include some suspenseful books including Gone Girl and Silent Sister, both of which I enjoyed.

I am looking forward to further expanding my horizons as well as finding books similar to my favorite fantasy series to cater to the part of me that enjoyed reading them in the past.