1-2. I read the articles on book trailers (bideos?) and watched a number of those referred to in the articles. The Chicago Tribune article was very negative on book trailers, to the point that I felt the writer lost her way in fairly reviewing them. Clearly a book trailer neither has the budget nor the clips available that a film does, and it is trying to make a video from a static subject, i.e. words on a page. The NYT reviewer of book trailers was more equitable, and acknowledged that her expectations for what a book trailer could accomplish were more measured. I believe a book trailer can be useful for readers' advisory, if they are seen in the right venue. Randomly encountering them on YouTube is not going to be good return on investment. The trailers need to be marketed to the right type of user based on their reading habits, tabulating their posts on Goodreads for example. Libraries and bookstores could use trailers as well to promote upcoming titles. The trailers can succeed in promoting and marketing the titles only when they are effectively produced and reach the right audience.
3. I believe Be More Bookish was a very useful endeavor. I had my doubts because I do not interact with the public on a daily basis, but I was pleasantly surprised about how much I learned over the nine weeks of assignments. It forced me to go outside of my reading comfort zones and to further examine areas of the collection that I rarely use or do not purchase materials for. I learned a lot about the various features of Goodreads, the many subgenres of mysteries, and the countless ways that narrative nonfiction can be used in a readers' advisory setting. I even learned that teen book marketing has almost entirely left the publishers' own websites and moved over to social media. All in all this was a really worthwhile program that I look forward to using in my day-to-day purchasing and librarianship.
Thursday, June 5, 2014
Week Eight - Assignments
1-2. I read the narrative nonfiction articles and listened to the SLRC podcast on doing readers' advisory with narrative nonfiction.
3. I chose four of the narrative nonfiction subjects listed: Science, Sports, Food, and Faith. I found Science narratives in the 500s and 600s; Sports in the 700s and Bios; Food in the 600s; and Faith in the 200s and Bios.
For Science, I would choose The Disappearing Spoon by Sam Kean;
For Sports, Throwback by Jason Kendall;
For Food, Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain; and
For Faith, When We Were on Fire, by Addie Zierman.
4. I decided to select Throwback by Jason Kendall to readers who enjoy mysteries that focus on a particular subject. What baseball fan hasn't wondered what really goes on behind the plate among the catcher, batter, and umpire? In Throwback, Jason Kendall, who spent more than a decade in the major leagues, discusses the signs he shared with hundreds of pitchers; the talks at the mound when things got serious; the trash talking between catcher and batter, and the relationship a catcher must maintain with the umpire who stands behind, making decisions on balls and strikes. Readers who watched baseball during the steroid era will recognize a number of the names that Kendall drops, though the easy, comfortable writing style without a lot of complicated jargon makes for a quick but informative read.
I also chose When We Were on Fire by Addie Zierman to recommend to readers who enjoy contemporary fiction that is very character-driven. This book also would appeal to older teens and younger adults who enjoy coming-of-age stories. The religious aspects of the book could appeal to someone who has had trials with coming to terms with their faith, though perhaps not for the very devout. A palpable sense of place in the Upper Midwest is also drawn, along with strong female friendships and two romances - one that turns sour and the other remains uplifting. This book has a strong potential audience among memoir readers as well.
3. I chose four of the narrative nonfiction subjects listed: Science, Sports, Food, and Faith. I found Science narratives in the 500s and 600s; Sports in the 700s and Bios; Food in the 600s; and Faith in the 200s and Bios.
For Science, I would choose The Disappearing Spoon by Sam Kean;
For Sports, Throwback by Jason Kendall;
For Food, Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain; and
For Faith, When We Were on Fire, by Addie Zierman.
4. I decided to select Throwback by Jason Kendall to readers who enjoy mysteries that focus on a particular subject. What baseball fan hasn't wondered what really goes on behind the plate among the catcher, batter, and umpire? In Throwback, Jason Kendall, who spent more than a decade in the major leagues, discusses the signs he shared with hundreds of pitchers; the talks at the mound when things got serious; the trash talking between catcher and batter, and the relationship a catcher must maintain with the umpire who stands behind, making decisions on balls and strikes. Readers who watched baseball during the steroid era will recognize a number of the names that Kendall drops, though the easy, comfortable writing style without a lot of complicated jargon makes for a quick but informative read.
I also chose When We Were on Fire by Addie Zierman to recommend to readers who enjoy contemporary fiction that is very character-driven. This book also would appeal to older teens and younger adults who enjoy coming-of-age stories. The religious aspects of the book could appeal to someone who has had trials with coming to terms with their faith, though perhaps not for the very devout. A palpable sense of place in the Upper Midwest is also drawn, along with strong female friendships and two romances - one that turns sour and the other remains uplifting. This book has a strong potential audience among memoir readers as well.
Wednesday, June 4, 2014
Week Seven - Assignments
1. The Lawrence KS teen dystopia flowchart is amazing. I hope our librarians have been using that for customers who are looking for something else to read after The Hunger Games and Divergent series.
2. As the Teen book selector and considerably involved in YALSA, I have read a number of the articles that show that adults are buying more teen books than teens are - and of course many of those adults are not simply buying them for the teens in their life but reading and enjoying the books themselves. I reread the Christian Science Monitor article "Who is Buying Teen Books?" and it seems that in the past two years since it was published the trend has only continued to grow. This is certainly the case with The Fault in Our Stars and other books that have been published under the Teen banner but are just as enjoyed by adults. The Publishers Weekly article on New Adult is another wrinkle in the question of who is buying the books and for whom, as New Adult bridges teen and adult. Not only do we in Collection Development struggle with which of the New Adult books belong in Teen and which in Adult (most fall in Adult), the buyers of these books are largely older teens and twentysomethings that want to see their lives in a mirror. So far New Adult has been focused mostly on romance, but urban fiction and realistic fiction titles have also been published.
3. I chose two of the blogs that are near and dear to me. Forever Young Adult definitely appeals to me as a forty-something who mostly reads Teen books. Their recent posts about their activity at BookExpo (which I also attended were amusing and occasionally I felt like I was looking at myself in a mirror. Many of the scenes were reminiscent of what I experienced at BookExpo, but quite a few others were new to me. It was nice to see a blogger's perspective of the show. I also looked at Someday My Printz Will Come, which is of note because I served on the 2012 Printz Committee. Therefore, I have participated on that blog in the years before and since (though I didn't type a word during my Printz year due to secrecy). That blog, along with Heavy Metal (Newbery) and Calling Caldecott are amazing in the intricate analysis of potential award-winning books. That said, I find it funny how far off the picks are from those of the committee's, particularly on the Someday blog. Nonetheless, I often see things in books that I would have never realized if it weren't for the highly skilled bloggers and commenters on Someday.
4. I selected HarperTeen and Little, Brown for my teen publishers. HarperTeen's site was interesting in that much of the current content has clearly moved to social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest. Titles that are being pushed on the site seem to be an afterthought. Little, Brown's site, on the other hand, looks vibrant and curated. It also looks like it has been updated consistently. That said, it is also clear that much of the most current content has moved over to social media. The continued interest in realistic fiction is the biggest trend that I see from both publishers, with some remaining focus on paranormal aspects of otherwise straightforward fiction and finishing up dystopian series.
2. As the Teen book selector and considerably involved in YALSA, I have read a number of the articles that show that adults are buying more teen books than teens are - and of course many of those adults are not simply buying them for the teens in their life but reading and enjoying the books themselves. I reread the Christian Science Monitor article "Who is Buying Teen Books?" and it seems that in the past two years since it was published the trend has only continued to grow. This is certainly the case with The Fault in Our Stars and other books that have been published under the Teen banner but are just as enjoyed by adults. The Publishers Weekly article on New Adult is another wrinkle in the question of who is buying the books and for whom, as New Adult bridges teen and adult. Not only do we in Collection Development struggle with which of the New Adult books belong in Teen and which in Adult (most fall in Adult), the buyers of these books are largely older teens and twentysomethings that want to see their lives in a mirror. So far New Adult has been focused mostly on romance, but urban fiction and realistic fiction titles have also been published.
3. I chose two of the blogs that are near and dear to me. Forever Young Adult definitely appeals to me as a forty-something who mostly reads Teen books. Their recent posts about their activity at BookExpo (which I also attended were amusing and occasionally I felt like I was looking at myself in a mirror. Many of the scenes were reminiscent of what I experienced at BookExpo, but quite a few others were new to me. It was nice to see a blogger's perspective of the show. I also looked at Someday My Printz Will Come, which is of note because I served on the 2012 Printz Committee. Therefore, I have participated on that blog in the years before and since (though I didn't type a word during my Printz year due to secrecy). That blog, along with Heavy Metal (Newbery) and Calling Caldecott are amazing in the intricate analysis of potential award-winning books. That said, I find it funny how far off the picks are from those of the committee's, particularly on the Someday blog. Nonetheless, I often see things in books that I would have never realized if it weren't for the highly skilled bloggers and commenters on Someday.
4. I selected HarperTeen and Little, Brown for my teen publishers. HarperTeen's site was interesting in that much of the current content has clearly moved to social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest. Titles that are being pushed on the site seem to be an afterthought. Little, Brown's site, on the other hand, looks vibrant and curated. It also looks like it has been updated consistently. That said, it is also clear that much of the most current content has moved over to social media. The continued interest in realistic fiction is the biggest trend that I see from both publishers, with some remaining focus on paranormal aspects of otherwise straightforward fiction and finishing up dystopian series.
Friday, May 23, 2014
Week Six - Assignments
1. I started following the mystery blog Stop You're Killing Me. It's a great resource for people who follow specific authors and are looking for his or her next book. The Awards section is very useful for the major and lesser-known prizes given to mysteries. The most interesting and helpful areas are the location and diversity indexes. I enjoy the setting of novels almost more than anything else, and characters and plots that take place in specific countries and areas may appeal to me despite a weak mystery or characters that aren't fully-fleshed out. I would probably be more forgiving with a mystery than a literary novel. Diversity is also a neat index as the many ways of solving a puzzle come through with sleuths representing various cultural traditions and backgrounds.
2. The genre Prezi was really interesting. Being in Collection Development but not as a fiction genre print selector, I was impressed by the many variations of the major and minor genres. As my focus for Be More Bookish has been on mysteries, I was particularly interested to check out the various subgenres of it.
3. I focused again on the Mystery subgenres for those that I am not that familiar with. I decided to choose Culinary Capers, Pet Investigators, and Police Procedurals.
a. For Culinary Capers, I looked into the Diane Mott Davidson catering works, the dessert mysteries by Joanne Fluke, and Christine Wenger's new series on Comfort Food mysteries. These are books that I could imagine enjoying an afternoon when I want some light reading. For readers who are foodies, like to cook, and pore over cookbooks, these may not be the best for those looking to lose weight!
b. Pet Investigators led me to Annie Knox's new Pet Boutique series, Rita Mae Brown's classic cat mysteries, and Laurien Berenson's Melanie Travis dog mysteries. I was also reminded of animal mysteries from my youth, such as the Bunnicula series. As much as I enjoy animals, I find many of these too far-fetched (pun intended) to want to spend too much reading time on. Readers of fantasy may also be interested in books featuring animals as crime solvers.
c. There are so many police procedurals so I thought the best thing to do was to simply look at Stop You're Killing Me as a jumping off point. Louise Penny is very popular among my friends and I wanted to learn more about her Inspector Gamache series, which has won countless awards. For a darker look at the police procedural, I investigated J.A. Jance's series. She is also worth looking into due to her claim that she and her then-husband were once the near-victims of an Arizona serial killer. Claims that have been thus far unsubstantiated by our own departmental investigations. Finally I wanted to look into a British procedural, as I often like television versions of British police shows. Years ago I had started reading a Deborah Crombie procedural featuring Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James, and wanted to follow-up on the adventures they have encountered in the series since. I would expect fans of darker material, including True Crime, to be fans of police procedurals.
d. Mashups have been riding waves of popularity. The Jane Austen and Bronte horror titles, such as Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, and Jane Slayre, are two of the most well-known mashups of recent years. These bridge the gap between realistic fiction and horror.
2. The genre Prezi was really interesting. Being in Collection Development but not as a fiction genre print selector, I was impressed by the many variations of the major and minor genres. As my focus for Be More Bookish has been on mysteries, I was particularly interested to check out the various subgenres of it.
3. I focused again on the Mystery subgenres for those that I am not that familiar with. I decided to choose Culinary Capers, Pet Investigators, and Police Procedurals.
a. For Culinary Capers, I looked into the Diane Mott Davidson catering works, the dessert mysteries by Joanne Fluke, and Christine Wenger's new series on Comfort Food mysteries. These are books that I could imagine enjoying an afternoon when I want some light reading. For readers who are foodies, like to cook, and pore over cookbooks, these may not be the best for those looking to lose weight!
b. Pet Investigators led me to Annie Knox's new Pet Boutique series, Rita Mae Brown's classic cat mysteries, and Laurien Berenson's Melanie Travis dog mysteries. I was also reminded of animal mysteries from my youth, such as the Bunnicula series. As much as I enjoy animals, I find many of these too far-fetched (pun intended) to want to spend too much reading time on. Readers of fantasy may also be interested in books featuring animals as crime solvers.
c. There are so many police procedurals so I thought the best thing to do was to simply look at Stop You're Killing Me as a jumping off point. Louise Penny is very popular among my friends and I wanted to learn more about her Inspector Gamache series, which has won countless awards. For a darker look at the police procedural, I investigated J.A. Jance's series. She is also worth looking into due to her claim that she and her then-husband were once the near-victims of an Arizona serial killer. Claims that have been thus far unsubstantiated by our own departmental investigations. Finally I wanted to look into a British procedural, as I often like television versions of British police shows. Years ago I had started reading a Deborah Crombie procedural featuring Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James, and wanted to follow-up on the adventures they have encountered in the series since. I would expect fans of darker material, including True Crime, to be fans of police procedurals.
d. Mashups have been riding waves of popularity. The Jane Austen and Bronte horror titles, such as Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, and Jane Slayre, are two of the most well-known mashups of recent years. These bridge the gap between realistic fiction and horror.
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
Week Five - Assignments
1. I have been following the Salon blog for a number of years. I like it because it covers books that, while having broad interest, are not always the most obvious. I enjoy reading nonfiction, especially unusual tales. One recent book review is Tony Dokoupil's The Last Pirate: A Father, His Son, and the Golden Age of Marijuana. This is the sort of fractured family tale that can appeal to a number of different readers - those who like memoirs in general, especially those of dysfunctional families; people who enjoy history, as this covers the Caribbean drug trade in the 1970s and 80s; and those who like adventure stories. Salon's essay-style book reviews, without an obvious word-count limit, also allows exploration into the books' assets and pitfalls.
2. Being in Collection Development, we use a lot of the sources listed. What is popular in our branch is what we monitor as having a lot of holds and/or a high percentage of items checked out. Earlyword.com is a site that we use all the time, particularly for the lists that appear on the sidebar. The Seasonal Previews lists are very useful to see what readers may be excited about investigating. Particularly valuable are sources that are perused by occasional readers. These highlight the biggest books and often detect sleepers. The Awards list is also useful when finding titles that may have been missed when they were initially published.
3. Amazon's Best Books of the Month - One of the titles is the No Place to Hide by Glenn Greenwald, the reporter who heard Edward Snowden's story, wrote and published it in The Guardian. This thought-provoking look at the limits of the NSA and Greenwald's searing indictment of the agency will be of great interest to everyone who believes individual privacy has been compromised. People who enjoy spy stories and contemporary issues will want to read this book. The news media has picked up on this book's release and interviews with Greenwald has added to the demand for this book. Geographically, the NSA's nearness to Baltimore County only further increases the likelihood that people in the area will have a personal interest in this title.
2. Being in Collection Development, we use a lot of the sources listed. What is popular in our branch is what we monitor as having a lot of holds and/or a high percentage of items checked out. Earlyword.com is a site that we use all the time, particularly for the lists that appear on the sidebar. The Seasonal Previews lists are very useful to see what readers may be excited about investigating. Particularly valuable are sources that are perused by occasional readers. These highlight the biggest books and often detect sleepers. The Awards list is also useful when finding titles that may have been missed when they were initially published.
3. Amazon's Best Books of the Month - One of the titles is the No Place to Hide by Glenn Greenwald, the reporter who heard Edward Snowden's story, wrote and published it in The Guardian. This thought-provoking look at the limits of the NSA and Greenwald's searing indictment of the agency will be of great interest to everyone who believes individual privacy has been compromised. People who enjoy spy stories and contemporary issues will want to read this book. The news media has picked up on this book's release and interviews with Greenwald has added to the demand for this book. Geographically, the NSA's nearness to Baltimore County only further increases the likelihood that people in the area will have a personal interest in this title.
Monday, April 28, 2014
Week Four - Assignments
I have been using Goodreads since 2008 and have over 200 books on my list. I know I have read a lot more but I have been careful not to mention books while I serve on an award committee. For example, I only included one book during 2011 when I served on the Printz Award committee, and I will be hesitant to include anything that remotely refers to the material I am currently reading for YALSA's Excellence in Nonfiction committee. While I realize that I can set my Goodreads to private for these purposes, I'd rather simply avoid any question of impropriety.
When I looked at Listopia, I was both encouraged and disappointed. The same titles crept up in many lists, and many of the "best" lists contained what I would consider "most popular" rather than best. But as Goodreads is an amalgam of all readers, I also found that aspect illuminating. The best lists that I encountered were the Brand New Lists, which were timely and specific.
I recommended A Feathered River Across the Sky by Joel Greenberg to Paula Gallagher, because I know that she enjoys reading natural history such as books by Bernd Heinrich. I also recommended Corey Whaley's new book Noggin to Maureen Roberts, as we have talked in our department about the book and she finds the cryogenic time-travel storyline fascinating.
Goodreads is a great place to keep track of what I have read and what my initial impressions about books were during and after. I will continue to use this tool, mostly as a way to manage my reading, but occasionally the various bells and whistles available as well.
When I looked at Listopia, I was both encouraged and disappointed. The same titles crept up in many lists, and many of the "best" lists contained what I would consider "most popular" rather than best. But as Goodreads is an amalgam of all readers, I also found that aspect illuminating. The best lists that I encountered were the Brand New Lists, which were timely and specific.
I recommended A Feathered River Across the Sky by Joel Greenberg to Paula Gallagher, because I know that she enjoys reading natural history such as books by Bernd Heinrich. I also recommended Corey Whaley's new book Noggin to Maureen Roberts, as we have talked in our department about the book and she finds the cryogenic time-travel storyline fascinating.
Goodreads is a great place to keep track of what I have read and what my initial impressions about books were during and after. I will continue to use this tool, mostly as a way to manage my reading, but occasionally the various bells and whistles available as well.
Friday, May 10, 2013
Week Three - assignments
Neal Wyatt's clear, informative Novelist article on the RA Conversation was enlightening. I especially found value in two things: how important it is to listen to the customer; and how little needs to be said. Listening to the customer also entails extracting as much as possible from a potentially taciturn reader. However, using the techniques she recommends can engender great relationships with readers, or even simply create one singular instance between librarian and customer.
Nancy Pearl is always enjoyable to hear due to her obvious love of books and the desire to match readers with books. What I like about her choices on this podcast is that they are not the most obvious selections. She is also not afraid to suggest genre selections as well as more literary titles. Her familiarity with each is important to note - you cannot fake your way through RA. She probably spends a bit more time speaking about books than many librarians in the trenches actually have, but cultivating relationships with readers is very important to keep them coming back.
Conversation 1 (Eat Pray Love) had me thinking a lot about travel memoirs, a favorite genre of mine. It helps that I'm the selector who buys them for the library system! The first book that came to my mind, due to her enjoyment of Elizabeth Gilbert's inner thoughts, is Tales of a Female Nomad, by Rita Golden Gelman. We featured this book in a Genre Boot Camp a few years ago, and I think it would be a great match for a person who enjoyed Eat Pray Love for the reasons stated in the conversation. I might also recommend Bill Bryson's works, especially In a Sunburned Country, which informs the reader not only of his Down Under experiences, but of Australia's history, geography, and people.
Conversation 2 (Something vampiry other than Twilight) made me instantly think of Annette Curtis Klause's classic teen vampire tale Blood and Chocolate. A very different take on the vampire genre than the Twilight series and the numerous variations/knockoffs that followed.
Conversation 3 (Something like The River of Doubt) prompted me to consider a number of presidential histories. The first that came to mind was Destiny of the Republic (by the same author, Candice Millard, as The River of Doubt), about the short, ill-fated presidency of James Garfield. Beyond that, I also thought of Edmund Morris' biography of Teddy Roosevelt, Theodore Rex, and also Nathaniel Philbrick's books
Nancy Pearl is always enjoyable to hear due to her obvious love of books and the desire to match readers with books. What I like about her choices on this podcast is that they are not the most obvious selections. She is also not afraid to suggest genre selections as well as more literary titles. Her familiarity with each is important to note - you cannot fake your way through RA. She probably spends a bit more time speaking about books than many librarians in the trenches actually have, but cultivating relationships with readers is very important to keep them coming back.
Conversation 1 (Eat Pray Love) had me thinking a lot about travel memoirs, a favorite genre of mine. It helps that I'm the selector who buys them for the library system! The first book that came to my mind, due to her enjoyment of Elizabeth Gilbert's inner thoughts, is Tales of a Female Nomad, by Rita Golden Gelman. We featured this book in a Genre Boot Camp a few years ago, and I think it would be a great match for a person who enjoyed Eat Pray Love for the reasons stated in the conversation. I might also recommend Bill Bryson's works, especially In a Sunburned Country, which informs the reader not only of his Down Under experiences, but of Australia's history, geography, and people.
Conversation 2 (Something vampiry other than Twilight) made me instantly think of Annette Curtis Klause's classic teen vampire tale Blood and Chocolate. A very different take on the vampire genre than the Twilight series and the numerous variations/knockoffs that followed.
Conversation 3 (Something like The River of Doubt) prompted me to consider a number of presidential histories. The first that came to mind was Destiny of the Republic (by the same author, Candice Millard, as The River of Doubt), about the short, ill-fated presidency of James Garfield. Beyond that, I also thought of Edmund Morris' biography of Teddy Roosevelt, Theodore Rex, and also Nathaniel Philbrick's books
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