Week 9

 Assignment 1:

I read the Chicago Tribune and New York Times articles and watched the embedded book trailers.  So-So impact…

Assignment 2:

The comment in the CT article rings very true: because reading is an act of personal visual imagination, it’s impossible to “show” a scene from the book, similar to a movie trailer, without probably repelling the very readers it is meant to entice.  I see two current audiences for book trailers: ardent readers who search out videos of their favorite authors to feel a further connection, and teen readers, for whom book trailers are a routine way to discover new material to read—as the NYT article points out so convincingly.  In the first case, the Corporate Marketing Machine has a new tool to create word of mouth; a compelling corollary would be to have a bestselling author “blurb” a lesser-known author’s work.  In the second case, a new generation is growing up with a new art form/advertising angle.  It’s going to be a very interesting twenty years for publishing, and the book trailer can only increase its impact—once publishers figure out how to best exploit them for profit. 

Re: readers’ advisory?  It would be fun to point out the existence of book trailers to avid readers who are unaware of them.  In their current incarnations, however, I don’t see book trailers being of much practical use for readers. 

Assignment 3:

This was an extremely well-planned and presented training opportunity.  The segments were cohesive and challenging.  I liked seeing how colleagues progressed and seeing their comments—it made it almost interactive, beyond the two instances of being required to comment on another’s blog posts.  I’ve learned a lot about electronic resources that I was unaware of before, and I am certain that I will continue to use segments of this training in the years to come.

 

(Whew!!)

Week 8

Assignment 1:

I read the two articles.

Assignment 2:

I viewed Pratt’s E-Learning video.

Assignment 3:

• Biography (BIO): Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow
• Memoir (BIO): Breaking Night: A Memoir of Forgiveness, Survival, and My Journey from Homeless to Harvard by Liz Murray
• History (940-British, 970-American…) Mrs. Robinson's Disgrace: The Private Diary of a Victorian Lady by Kate Summerscale
• Science (500): The Violinist's Thumb: And Other Lost Tales of Love, War, and Genius, as Written by Our Genetic Code by Sam Keen 

Assignment 4:

Mrs. Robinson's Disgrace: The Private Diary of a Victorian Lady by Kate Summerscale is the character-driven yet issue-oriented story of Isabella Robinson, the unhappy second wife of a businessman.  Intellectually and sexually frustrated, lonely Isabella confides her thoughts and secret infatuations—they might well have been be dalliances—into her private diary.  When it is discovered by her dictatorial husband in 1858, the diary becomes the basis for one of the first scandalous divorce proceedings to take place among the middle class in Victorian Britain.  This is personal history merged with a social history of marriage, class and hypocrisy.  Devotees of British and women’s history will enjoy this steamy, thought provoking work which is amply supplied with background notes.  Fans of Hilary Mantel, Philippa Gregory, Frank Horan and even Downton Abbey are a likely audience for Mrs. Robinson.

The Violinist's Thumb: And Other Lost Tales of Love, War, and Genius, as Written by Our Genetic Code by Sam Keen merges science with quirky personal stories.  The discovery and influence of human DNA is illuminated and its past and future ramifications are explored by Keen’s witty recounting of the human stories behind the science.  Readers can learn the scientific basis for crazy cat ladies, why JFK was perpetually tanned and why Einstein was a genius, and why thumb flexibility is a prerequisite for world class violinists.  Accessible and engaging, this is the story of the interplay between science and history.  Readers who have enjoyed Dava Sobel, Richard Dawkins, Mark Kurlansky and Bill Bryson should appreciate Sam Keen.

 

 

Week 7

Assignment 1:

I found this flowchart so useful and pertinent that we put a color copies in plastic sleeves and posted the flowchart prominently in our Teen area!

 Assignment 2:

I read “Not Just For Teens.”  I think the YA crossover trend is due to many of the factors cited in the article: arrested development on the part of adult readers and the universal appeal of the coming-of-age story (very little is ever more vividly felt or remembered than those agonizing teen years), along with a higher quality of writing that one finds in many books written for high school aged readers these days.  Teen novels can be another form of escape for adults who want to retreat from the pressures of routine adult concerns, like the genres of romance, mystery, sci fi, teen vampires….

 I also read “New Adult: Needless Marketing-Speak or Valued Subgenre?”  “New Adult” won’t catch on with readers who are adults: they associate “New Adult” with newly released books for adults.  Duh.  I do see that marketers could find a niche for the college-age/post college-age female reader—and as one person commented, why not call this subgenre “college-age fiction”?  And let’s be frank here:  we all are really talking about books that have girl-appeal.  Even John Green.  (How many teen boys are reading John Green?  Do you know any?)  The mother/daughter aspect cannot be overstated, either: helicopter moms who themselves are not willing to grow up and are too involved in their girl’s lives, and their teen girls who may cringe at being their mom’s “best friend.”  But I rant…

I posted to Drennan N.’s “Bookish Spring Blog” and Mercedes M.’s “CubanCookingMama” blog.

Assignment 3:

I followed johngreenbooks.com and Stacked.

 John Green’s site is wildly successful due to two factors:  his teen novels resonate with his audience due to their realistic, often heartbreaking content and truly relatable characters—paired with his genius in marketing himself through social media.  With his brother, he posts two videos each week to his site and his YouTube channel, vlogbrothers, which has been viewed more than 200 million times.  He also has over 1.2 million followers on twitter: he may be a married man in his 30s, but he sure speaks teen (and pre-teen).  He has been able to create a community of “nerdfighters” who are committed to “decrease the overall worldwide level of suck” through meaningful community service activities throughout the U.S.

Stacked’s motto is “librarians. reviews. mayhem.”  This site is a moderated free-for-all for bookloving librarians to interact with other librarians and share their love of books.  All forms of media are reviewed and dissected, with guest articles written by experts in their field.  Opinions reign here—this site is not affiliated with ALA or PLA, but it’s easy to see why it engages librarians and attempts to entice them to read outside their comfort zone for the love of books.  All topics are welcome here and visiting it frequently, reader’s will be engaged in topics and materials they may never have considered before.  A winner to remember.

Assignment 4:

I visited HQ Teen.  While touting its “unforgettable characters and extraordinary stories” for teens, it seem to be a recent, tiny incubator for the more mainstream women’s  fare that the publisher is best known for.  Publishing just 1-3 titles per month (July and August 2013 only), it is obvious the HQ Teen imprint is looking for high concept, ultra-commercial fiction—the next Hunger Games or Twilight series .and Teens at Random.  Finding a successful teen author, I can only imagine that the publisher hopes to develop their work into more adult, mainstream romance fare. This is not a teen friendly site and seems to be an afterthought--in reality, trolling for teen authors as a prelude to finding additional authors to join their "stable."

 I also visited Teens@ Random.  Given the immense size and diversity of the Random House global empire, it’s logical that this site is sprawling and inclusive and savvy to teen media: the homepage is visually fun, book trailers are prominent, a You Tube site, links to popular authors, recommendations for parents, “fun,” “community,” you name it.  If I was an avid teen who reads, I’d “belong.”  This site really can hook and drag you in.

 

Week 6:  Building Base Knowledge

Assignment 1:

Following stopyourekillingme.com, I continue to be amazed by the thoroughness of its compilations and especially by its indexing.  The list of Awards just hints at the number of subgenres that fans follow: they celebrate traditional, private eye, thriller, Australian and Canadian crime, humorous and historical mysteries.  (I don’t see there any recognized awards yet for cat/dog, embroidery or food mysteries---surely in America food mysteries would be formally lauded.)  I can see myself consulting the Historical Index by time period looking for recommendations for myself and for customers.

 

Assignment 2:

The genre Prezi is amazing!!!  What a handy reference!  Thanks, Alex.

Assignment 3:

Subgenre fansites—

Time Travel Science Fiction:  I wasted an hour of my time looking but could not find any fan sites that are so very specific.  I ended up reverting to Goodreads (Yay!) and discovered an active “Time Travel” group of 941 members.  Some notable/recognizable authors in this subgenre would be Diana Gabaldon, H.G. Wells, and Audrey Niffenegger.  Often intricately plotted, the appeal factors center on “what could have been,” both in a nostalgic/romantic way and/or have an alternative history bent.

 Paranormal Romance:  After losing so much time looking for a fan site for above, I stuck with Goodreads and found “Paranormal Addicts & Newbies - Paranormal Romance & Urban Fantasy,” a group of 7103 members.  Think Stephanie Meyer, Charlaine Harris, J.R. Ward.  The group self-describes as vampires, werewolves, shifters, witches, fae and everything else paranormal--often with a bit of a twist or extra hot spice.

Apocalyptic Horror: Goodreads offers the 6354-member fan group Apocalypse Whenever, which describes itself as “the most active Goodreads group for apocalyptic, post-apocalyptic and dystopic fiction!”  Appeal factors focus on the quick pace, the atmospheric, suspenseful and gruesome tone plus the guaranteed shivery thrill factor of contemplating a scary alternate reality.  Some classic authors in this subgenre are Aldous Huxley, George Orwell and Stephen King.

Subgenre Mashups—

How does urban fantasy mystery strike you?  Try Street Magic by Caitlin Kittredge (Book 1 of her Black London series).  Contemporary murder, a mage strung out on heroin, a girl kidnapped in the fey underworld, and a female detective named Pete who must sort out the mess….With elements of a police procedural, gritty urban life and fantasy, Street Magic has slick crossover appeal for the younger adult set.

And what about steampunk romance? Soulless by Gail Carriger is Book 1 of the Parasol Protectorate.  As the publisher states succinctly, Soulless is “comedy of manners set in Victorian London: full of werewolves, vampires, dirigibles, and tea-drinking.” ‘Nuff said.

Week 5

 

Assignment 1:

The more I investigate SYKM, the more amazed I am.  I especially like the character and author lists; the author lists link to the author sites, if available.  The indices that are listed in the left column are really helpful to hard-core mystery readers: you can search for books and characters by location/setting, jobs, historical period, diversity, genre, etc.  The Read-Alikes section was a little disappointing at first.  The author section is barely fleshed out but has a disclaimer that the section is being worked on.   The Categories section is more useful and complete, and overlaps the Author section somewhat.

 

Assignment 2:

Towson’s most popular collections are pretty predictable for a large, diverse branch—a mix of bestsellers and literary fiction.  The Early Word site covers all the bases.  My most recent discoveries are the amazing “Categories.”  Under “Consumer Media, Book Coverage,” I found links to all the magazines that regularly cover books, including People and Time.  (My guilty lunchtime reading is no longer justified, I guess.)  I also discovered the whole section of Trailers Based on Books, listed under “Movies and TV.”  I’d rather read a review, myself, but for the visually oriented, I suppose these are necessary; they strike me kind of like MTV did in the 1980s: just listen to the music/read the book, already!  I’ll definitely return to the Early Words site frequently even after this Bookish training ends.  It’s the best aggregator of book stuff I can imagine….

 

Assignment 3:

Eagerly awaited by fans of literary fiction, A Constellation of Vital Phenomena, the debut novel by Anthony Marra, is sure to be nominated for several literary prizes in 2013.  This intricately plotted novel takes place in just five days during the second Chechnyan war in 2004 and as the story repeatedly rolls back ten years to the first conflict, surprising relationships between a handful of civilians are revealed.  The writing style is richly detailed, dialogue-rich and stylistically complex, and while the tone is atmospheric and bleak, there is occasional humor that emerges from the pathos of this character-driven story.  Fans of Anil’s Ghost, The Tiger’s Wife, The Orphan Master’s Son, and Everything is Illuminated would be interested in this profound and lyrical war story of love and loss.

Week 4: Building Base Knowledge (GoodReads)

 

If  you liked the witty, intricately plotted, offbeat yet heartfelt Where’d You Go, Bernadette (and who wouldn’t?), take a gander at The Russian Debutante’s Handbook, the fast-paced yet sprawling 2002 debut novel by Gary Shteyngart.

This hilarious coming-of-age novel follows Vladimir Girshkin, the slacker son of ambitious Russian émigré professionals, who is wasting his elite education by clerking at the Emma Lazarus Immigrant Absorption Society by day and dallying with Challah, his zaftig dominatrix each night.  In picaresque fashion, through a series of chance encounters he relocates to a trendy Eastern European City (a thinly disguised Prague) and discovers that he’s become a mini-mobster and heavily indebted to the local kingpin, the Groundhog.

The desperately self-inventing characters and ridiculous situations are detailed in sparkling prose, and the whole is a sublime social satire of amoral twenty-first century decay.

(posted to Sharyn Y.'s GoodRead comments page [and "recommendation", by accident])

I’m so pleased that this week’s assignment brought me back to Goodreads and forced me to dig into it far more that I was able to back in November.

I am not, by nature, a “joiner,” but I’m pleased with GR for the myriad of options it offers for seeing and being seen by Friends.  I can spy on the bookshelves of those with similar tastes/sensibilities without having to bug them for recommendations.  I think, too, that I will finally move from logging my reads in little memo books that I’ve kept since 2000 and finally move to web-based GR; I like that I can create my own specific bookshelves with future recommendations to customers in mind—and that I don’t have to try to remember the content of what I read (getting more difficult every day); that will be linked from the website.  Hooray!!

“Listopia” blew my mind: testing “immigrant,” I found dozens of subcategorized lists—same with “Magical Fiction.”  What a great resource for providing readers’ services and creating displays in the branch! And many other features hold great personal appeal: links to author interviews, recent book lists of notable reads, and many more….

 

Week 3: The Readers' Services Conversation

Assignment 1:

Two key points I'll try to remember:

Best icebreaker--"Are you content to browse or would you like some suggestions?"

Key appeal factors to identify both as the customer is speaking and as I consider recommendations are tone, major appeal, and key feature.

 

Assignment 2:

Nancy is my guru (and we graduated from the same Annapolis College--no wonder our taste is sympatico!).  Now I have a few more titles to add to my vacation stack.  Nancy Pearl is The Master, even a little bit better than dear Ruth Brown....

 

Assignment 3:

 

Conversation 1:  Eat, Pray, Love

The reader enjoyed hearing a smart, funny contemporary woman with a complicated inner life reveal her reactions and eventual transformation as she tested herself on her a trip.  For her book group, I might recommend these three armchair travel books by bright, iconoclastic women who deliberately move outside their comfort zone and have written memoirs that celebrate their personal journey:

·         Wild by Cheryl Strayed

·         Tales of a Female Nomad by Rita Golden Gelman

·         Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes

 

Conversation 2: NOT Twilight

The reader wants a vampire story that is fast-paced and is not brooding or atmospheric with a drippy, drawn-out teenage love story.  Here are three suggestions of thrilling, gore-soaked vampire tales that feature graphic violence as humans battle fanged forces of evil:

·         13 Bullets by David Wellington (first of five-book “Vampire Tales” series)

·         Blood and Bullets by James R. Tuck (first of “Deacon Chalk, Occult Bounty Hunter novels” trilogy)

·         Witch Doctor by Brandon Seifert (first in upcoming graphic novel series)

 

Conversation 3: The River of Doubt

The reader was fascinated by a narrative history selection that was fast-paced with a touch of murder that allowed him to learn the hidden fascinating facts about a little-known historical event.  Here are some choices:

·         The Destiny of the Republic: a Tale of Medicine, Madness and the Murder of a President by Candice Millard (same author as The River of Doubt)

·         The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson

·         Sin in the Second City: Madams, Ministers, Playboys, and the Battle for America's Soul by Karen Abbott