Assignment 1: Jay McInerny is really attractive...in a James T. Kirk kind of way.
Assignment 2: I'm not sure that book trailers make much of a difference in book sales or in readers' advisory. Like the article says, a lot of them are really bad. I watched one for Beautiful Creatures that was so awful I can't believe anyone read the book because of it. Instead I think they read the book in spite of it.
That said, I have watched some pretty awesome book trailers for teen books. And they definitely made me want to read the book. Or watch the movie. Which may take a little longer, but based on the Hunger Games effect, is only a matter of time.
Assignment 3: The Wrap-up
Be More Bookish was the most useful training that I've done in awhile. Yes, I'm at an advantage working at Pikesville where I use these skills everyday. But I definitely learned about some resources that I might not otherwise have discovered...Stacked in particular. I'll continue to check my links everyday to keep on top of our insatiable readers. Bravo for a training well done!
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
Week 8
Assignment 1 & 2: check and check
Assignment 3 & 4: I'm combining these two because they seem to work together.
In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larsen falls under the History subgenre of narrative non-fiction. Call number 943.086 L. I've had a lot of success recommending this to customers that read Holocaust fiction.
All Over the Map by Laura Fraser is a travel memoir found at 910.4 F.
Fraser is a travel writer who has traveled all over the world. Recovering from divorce, she starts a fling with a Parisian professor. When that romance goes south, Fraser does what she always does--hops on a plane. When a trip to the South Pacific goes very badly, she becomes afraid to travel. Does she overcome her fear or does she find a new career path? This book is for readers who like a sense of place, who aren't afraid of a little romance, and like armchair travel. I would give it to readers of Adriana Trigiani, Lisa See, or any fiction where place is a character.
Blood, Bones and Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton is narrative non-fiction about food found at 641.5092 H.
Her: A Memoir by Christa Parravani is a memoir found in Biographies: Bio Parravani
What is it like to be an identical twin? What is it like when your twin dies? When Christa Parravani's twin sister dies tragically of an overdose, she experiences a profound sense of loss--not only of her sister, but also of herself. She starts down the same road as her sister Cara, destructive behavior and drugs, divorce and self-abuse. This is a story of twinship and of redemption, tragedy and pulling yourself out of despair. I would give this to readers of edgy, realistic fiction: Chuck Palahniuk, Ellen Hopkins, or Jodi Picoult.
Assignment 3 & 4: I'm combining these two because they seem to work together.
In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larsen falls under the History subgenre of narrative non-fiction. Call number 943.086 L. I've had a lot of success recommending this to customers that read Holocaust fiction.
All Over the Map by Laura Fraser is a travel memoir found at 910.4 F.
Fraser is a travel writer who has traveled all over the world. Recovering from divorce, she starts a fling with a Parisian professor. When that romance goes south, Fraser does what she always does--hops on a plane. When a trip to the South Pacific goes very badly, she becomes afraid to travel. Does she overcome her fear or does she find a new career path? This book is for readers who like a sense of place, who aren't afraid of a little romance, and like armchair travel. I would give it to readers of Adriana Trigiani, Lisa See, or any fiction where place is a character.
Blood, Bones and Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton is narrative non-fiction about food found at 641.5092 H.
Her: A Memoir by Christa Parravani is a memoir found in Biographies: Bio Parravani
What is it like to be an identical twin? What is it like when your twin dies? When Christa Parravani's twin sister dies tragically of an overdose, she experiences a profound sense of loss--not only of her sister, but also of herself. She starts down the same road as her sister Cara, destructive behavior and drugs, divorce and self-abuse. This is a story of twinship and of redemption, tragedy and pulling yourself out of despair. I would give this to readers of edgy, realistic fiction: Chuck Palahniuk, Ellen Hopkins, or Jodi Picoult.
Monday, July 1, 2013
Week 7
Assignment 1: Loved this!
Assignment 2: The Next Big Thing--I agree with the author that adults reading YA isn't really a shock to adults who read YA (ahem). Teen books are fun, emotional, fast-paced and entertaining. And more and more adults are figuring that out.
As for "New Adult", I can hear teen readers' collective eye-rolling now. Teen readers have been crossing over into adult for a long time without incident. I just think that changing some books to "New Adult" will lose the older adults who may be interested in reading a book, but may be turned off by the label.
I made comments on Jarrett F.'s and Melissa G.'s blogs.
Assignment 3: I've been viewing Stacked. Thanks for alerting me to this great source of info geared towards librarians! This past week there was a post about ARCs and the info is pretty interesting. And there are charts!
I've also been looking at John Green's Tumblr and vlog, but John's on paternity leave, so not much going on there. What I did see was super funny. This is geared toward older teens and John Green fans.
Assignment 4: Little, Brown's teen site is nice to look at, but today they seem to be featuring James Patterson's teen books. Huh. I watched some pretty intense trailers, though. If they were movies, I'd totally see them. The quality of book trailers has really improved!
Penguin Young Readers/ Teen site also has some pretty good trailers. The news feed announced that Fox is picking up the pilot for Delirium which I thought wasn't happening. I'm pretty excited if that's true. I'm a sucker for those books.
Assignment 2: The Next Big Thing--I agree with the author that adults reading YA isn't really a shock to adults who read YA (ahem). Teen books are fun, emotional, fast-paced and entertaining. And more and more adults are figuring that out.
As for "New Adult", I can hear teen readers' collective eye-rolling now. Teen readers have been crossing over into adult for a long time without incident. I just think that changing some books to "New Adult" will lose the older adults who may be interested in reading a book, but may be turned off by the label.
I made comments on Jarrett F.'s and Melissa G.'s blogs.
Assignment 3: I've been viewing Stacked. Thanks for alerting me to this great source of info geared towards librarians! This past week there was a post about ARCs and the info is pretty interesting. And there are charts!
I've also been looking at John Green's Tumblr and vlog, but John's on paternity leave, so not much going on there. What I did see was super funny. This is geared toward older teens and John Green fans.
Assignment 4: Little, Brown's teen site is nice to look at, but today they seem to be featuring James Patterson's teen books. Huh. I watched some pretty intense trailers, though. If they were movies, I'd totally see them. The quality of book trailers has really improved!
Penguin Young Readers/ Teen site also has some pretty good trailers. The news feed announced that Fox is picking up the pilot for Delirium which I thought wasn't happening. I'm pretty excited if that's true. I'm a sucker for those books.
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Week 6
Assignment 1: I've been keeping my eye on RT Book Review. I never realized how much it covers in addition to the "typical" romance novel. This morning I read two reviews of new novels--gasp!--written by men. RT Book Review covers all books that have love or romance as a theme, not necessarily the bodice rippers that we're used to. Even sci fi!
Assignment 2: This Prezi is massive!
Assignment 3: This was incredibly difficult. Who knew that fan websites would be so difficult to find. But with my good friend Google I located:
#1 Paranormal Romance-- The buzz on this site is paranormal romance on audio. She seems to review a lot of it. Three authors in this genre include Gena Showalter, Victoria Davies, and Kresley Cole, but there are tons more. The appeal factors are fast-paced, action-packed romance with vampires or some other paranormal element.
#2 Military Romance-- I had no idea that this was a thing. This blog is written by several authors in this genre and the buzz is that one of them has a story in the newest Jill Shavis headlined anthology. Authors in this genre include Heather Long, Melissa Schroeder, and Bethanne Strasser. This genre featured books with strong female characters (you have to be strong to keep the family together without your husband around), military wives, and heroic men/women in the military mixed in with the romance. Drama with a capital D.
#3 Post-Apocalyptic Sci Fi-- The buzz on this blog is about the author's local Apocalyptic Book Club trip to Apocalyptic Brewing in Oregon. But he talks about books, too! Timothy Long, J G Ballard and Michael Moorcock are authors in this genre. Books in this genre have some sort of catastrophe, killing most of the population, forcing the rest of the population into survival mode. And sometimes there are zombies.
Mash-ups: What could be more of a mash-up than The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes?! Suspense! Serial killers! Time Travel! Historical fiction! A little bit of horror, a little bit of mystery. And it's supposed to be the big summer read.
And as a more accessible or easier mash-up to give to customers, Lauren Willig writes historical fiction that's got quite a bit of romance, but also gives a good suspence/mystery story.
Assignment 2: This Prezi is massive!
Assignment 3: This was incredibly difficult. Who knew that fan websites would be so difficult to find. But with my good friend Google I located:
#1 Paranormal Romance-- The buzz on this site is paranormal romance on audio. She seems to review a lot of it. Three authors in this genre include Gena Showalter, Victoria Davies, and Kresley Cole, but there are tons more. The appeal factors are fast-paced, action-packed romance with vampires or some other paranormal element.
#2 Military Romance-- I had no idea that this was a thing. This blog is written by several authors in this genre and the buzz is that one of them has a story in the newest Jill Shavis headlined anthology. Authors in this genre include Heather Long, Melissa Schroeder, and Bethanne Strasser. This genre featured books with strong female characters (you have to be strong to keep the family together without your husband around), military wives, and heroic men/women in the military mixed in with the romance. Drama with a capital D.
#3 Post-Apocalyptic Sci Fi-- The buzz on this blog is about the author's local Apocalyptic Book Club trip to Apocalyptic Brewing in Oregon. But he talks about books, too! Timothy Long, J G Ballard and Michael Moorcock are authors in this genre. Books in this genre have some sort of catastrophe, killing most of the population, forcing the rest of the population into survival mode. And sometimes there are zombies.
Mash-ups: What could be more of a mash-up than The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes?! Suspense! Serial killers! Time Travel! Historical fiction! A little bit of horror, a little bit of mystery. And it's supposed to be the big summer read.
And as a more accessible or easier mash-up to give to customers, Lauren Willig writes historical fiction that's got quite a bit of romance, but also gives a good suspence/mystery story.
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
Week 5
Assignment 1: I have been following NPR Books and RT Book Reviews. I've enjoyed reading NPR Books as much as I enjoy listening to their book segments--no big surprise there. RT Book Reviews has so much info available, not just about romance, but also about any popular titles considered "women's fiction" including young adult. Who knew?!
Assignment 2: I already read earlyword everyday before this assignment, so I'll continue that. I was pretty familiar with this site. Sometimes I will discover something that I *MUST READ NOW* from the Galley Chats or the ads from publishers, though.
Assignment 3: I took a peek at the Huffington Post's round-up of the top pick of 2013. The first cover image that pops up is for Z by Therese Fowler. A fictionalized account of Zelda Fitzgerald's life with her famous husband Scott, Fowler pulls you into the world of flappers and speakeasys, money and excess that was 1920s New York and Paris. Z is a touching account of a imperfect marriage. I would (and have) recommended it to customers that liked The Aviator's Wife by Melanie Benjamin. Benjamin tells the fictional tale of Anne Morrow and Charles Lindbergh from Anne's point of view.
Assignment 2: I already read earlyword everyday before this assignment, so I'll continue that. I was pretty familiar with this site. Sometimes I will discover something that I *MUST READ NOW* from the Galley Chats or the ads from publishers, though.
Assignment 3: I took a peek at the Huffington Post's round-up of the top pick of 2013. The first cover image that pops up is for Z by Therese Fowler. A fictionalized account of Zelda Fitzgerald's life with her famous husband Scott, Fowler pulls you into the world of flappers and speakeasys, money and excess that was 1920s New York and Paris. Z is a touching account of a imperfect marriage. I would (and have) recommended it to customers that liked The Aviator's Wife by Melanie Benjamin. Benjamin tells the fictional tale of Anne Morrow and Charles Lindbergh from Anne's point of view.
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Week 4- Goodreads
I've been using Goodreads for a few years. I'm a little obsessed with it, in fact. I've organized my entire reading life on Goodreads--bookshelves, tbr piles, recommendations. It's come in quite handy with customers on the information desk, too.
I recommended Her: A Memoir by Christa Parravani to Melissa G. based on her review of With or Without You by Domenica Ruta. Both of these books are brutally honest and beautifully written.
I recommended Her: A Memoir by Christa Parravani to Melissa G. based on her review of With or Without You by Domenica Ruta. Both of these books are brutally honest and beautifully written.
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Week 3
Customer #1: I would recommend Tales of Female Nomad by Rita Golden Gelman for it's travel memoir nature and introspective tone. I would also recommend Wild by Cheryl Strayed. Strayed experienced similar losses as Gilbert and this travel memoir has a similar tone.
Customer #2: This reader could go either way...it depends whether she was annoyed by the teen-ness of the love story or love stories in general. If more grown-up love stories don't bother the reader and humor isn't an issue, I would recommend the Sookie Stackhouse books by Charlaine Harris. If she would rather have a more serious vampire story, I would probably recommend the more classic Interview with the Vampire series by Anne Rice or The Passage by Justin Cronin
Customer #3: As a read-alike for River of Doubt I would recommend Destiny of the Republic, also by Candace Millard, for it's fast pace and writing style. I would also recommend Erik Larson's books for their entertaining, but factual nature.
Customer #2: This reader could go either way...it depends whether she was annoyed by the teen-ness of the love story or love stories in general. If more grown-up love stories don't bother the reader and humor isn't an issue, I would recommend the Sookie Stackhouse books by Charlaine Harris. If she would rather have a more serious vampire story, I would probably recommend the more classic Interview with the Vampire series by Anne Rice or The Passage by Justin Cronin
Customer #3: As a read-alike for River of Doubt I would recommend Destiny of the Republic, also by Candace Millard, for it's fast pace and writing style. I would also recommend Erik Larson's books for their entertaining, but factual nature.
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