Week 9, assignment 3

Overall I found this training to be beneficial, it's just unfortunate that it came at a time when the branch was very busy and understaffed. I would have liked to be able to spend more time on it. Even with the extension, I had to do much of it from home. I did learn about a lot of useful tools however, and I plan to revisit many of these sites as time allows. I'd especially like to keep up on some of the book and genre links, and to spend some time looking at the additional resources listed in week nine.

I certainly appreciate the amount of time and effort the Readers Services Committee put into creating the Be More Bookish project, and I think you all did a wonderful job!

Week 9, assignments 1 and 2

I read the articles and watched the video. Book trailers can be very entertaining, but I don't see much use for them when conducting reader's services on the public floor. There isn't usually enough time to show a customer a book trailer when you're making recommendations. I think they are useful, however, for familiarizing yourself with materials and being able to make better recommendations when working with customers.

If this trailer doesn't make you want to read the book, I don't know what will:

Week 8, assignment 4

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot

Henrietta Lacks was a Turner Station resident who died of cervical cancer 60 years ago. Doctors at Johns Hopkins successfully cultured her cells, and over the years they have been used to help create the polio vaccine and to lead advances in cloning, gene mapping, and other scientific stuff. This compelling story at the intersection of race, gender, and medical ethics takes the reader from 1950s Baltimore to the present day. It's a fascinating read for anyone interested in medical history, science, or local history.


The Sex Lives of Cannibals, by J. Maarten Troost

When he was 26 years old, J. Maarten Troost and his girlfriend picked up and moved to the remote South Pacific island of Tarawa . Expecting a lavish lifestyle in a tropical paradise, he was faced with the cold reality of life without modern creature comforts. This book is a really fast read. It's funny, contains adventure, and even some historical information about the island's role in WWII. I would highly recommend this hilarious travelogue for escapist reading, or as a reality check for anyone who's ever fantasized about moving to the tropics.

Week 8, assignments 1-3

I read the two articles and watched the E-Learning video produced by the State Library Resource Center. The four genres I chose are:

Travel Narratives

Most of these are located with the travel books, ranging from 910-919. A good one to recommend is The Sex Lives of Cannibals by J. Maarten Troost (919.595T).

True Crime

Most are in the 364s. Ann Rule is tremendously popular, so I'll use Fatal Friends, Deadly Neighbors and Other True Cases (364.1523R) as an example.

Medical

Located in the beginning of the 600s, depending on the specific topic. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot (616.027S) is a great book to recommend.

Essays

Humorous essays are my fave, and most are located in the 814s and 818s. Like other David Sedaris titles, Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls (814S) is a book I can't recommend enough. The audio versions, read by Sedaris, are even better.

Week 7, assignment 4

Harper Teen is a busy page but contains a lot of useful info. It lists forthcoming books, top books, top authors, as well as news regarding upcoming movies or TV shows based on books.

Teens at Random contains many links to new releases, author profiles, newsletters, book samples and more.

It's clear that both of these sites are aimed at a younger audience. There's a lot going on both pages - lots of links, graphics, ticker feeds, and games. From both of these sites it would appear that fantasy, and in particular urban fantasy, continues to be a growing trend in teen lit.

Week 7, assignment 3

I love John Green's blog. He is hilarious! He's got lots of adult and teen followers ("nerdfighters"), and that helps contribute to the crossover appeal of his books. He knows how to use social media and maintains a popular online presence. He's got lots of experience video blogging, and his Youtube videos are fantastic. I'd highly recommend this blog to anyone.

Stacked is written by librarians, and consists of reviews and author interviews. This site is great for librarians, teachers, adults, and teens. It's focused on readers of teen fiction and adults who might enjoy teen fiction. The reviews are very comprehensive and useful, but don't quite deliver the "mayhem" the blog's banner promises.

Week 7, assignments 1 and 2

I looked at the Prezi created by the Lawrence Public Library on what to read after The Hunger Games. It was very clever and informative. I also read two of the articles: The Next Big Thing: Adults Reading Teen Literature and YA Comes of Age. The articles were very interesting. I have found myself more and more frequently giving teen books to adult readers. Many James Patterson fans reserve and read his YA material without ever even realizing they're reading YA. Fans of the Twilight series and The Hunger Games trilogy certainly don't mind that they're catalogued YA. John Green is a huge hit with adult readers; I've given An Abundance of Katherines and The Fault in Our Stars to many adults. I've been giving teen books to adults long before The Hunger Games came along: I've been recommending Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy to adults for years now.

Week 6, Assignments 2 and 3

I looked at the Prezi on genres and subgenres and chose to evaluate three that I haven't read extensively in: Military Romance, Christian Urban Fiction, and Cyberpunk.

Military Romance

Turns out there are a lot of sites devoted to Military Romance. I chose to focus on one called "For the Love of Military Romance". Some authors featured are Cat Johnson, Heather Long, and Sharon Hamilton. The appeal factors of this genre include military action along with the romance plot line. The story usually occurs in the modern era, with a fast paced plot that includes a main romance story line and often includes an engaging military sub plot.

Christian Urban Fiction

I googled Christian Urban Fiction to find other sites devoted to the genre, in addition to the resource I have been following since week 1. There are many to choose from, and I looked at one on the Black Expressions Book Club page. Most of the sites, like this one, are trying to sell you the books, but they are good sources to see what's up and coming in the genre. Some Christian Urban Fiction authors are Vanessa Davis Griggs, Reshonda Tate Billingsley, and Kendra Norman-Bellamy. They usually involve modern story lines and characters whose religion helps them through tough issues.

Cyberpunk

Bestsciencefictionbooks.com lists "The Best 25 Cyberpunk Books". The top three are Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson, Neuromancer by William Gibson, and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick. This site is nice because it suggests similar titles to everything on the list. Key characteristics of the genre are plotlines featuring humans interacting with computers and technology, and dark or pessimistic visions of the future.

Mash-ups

Books often cross the line between subgenres. I'll use examples of two titles I recently read. A Reliable Wife, by Robert Goolrick, could fall under Historical Fiction, Romance, Suspense, or even a little bit in Mystery. The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton could also fall under Historical Fiction, Romance, Suspense or Mystery.

Week 6, Assignment 1

I have been following the site Street Fiction since week 1. I've read about Urban Nonfiction, Christian Urban Fiction, and good Urban Fiction for Teens. This has been a great resource for upcoming titles as well as lists of authors that write under each subgenre.

Week 5, Assignment 3

From Flavorpill's 30 Most Anticipated Books of 2013, I expect David Sedaris' Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls to be hugely popular. Actually, it's already out, so is this cheating? David Sedaris is hilarious. I give him to any customer who wants something light and humorous to read. I recommend him to readers who like humorous essays or works by Augusten Burroughs, Sarah Vowell, or Michael Ian Black. He's laugh out loud funny, and I give the talking book version to anyone going on a road trip. There's nothing funnier than David Sedaris reading his own work.

Week 5, Assignment 2

Our customers tend to like popular, commercial fiction. Romance and Urban fiction are popular genres with our customers. The Books and Movies link on Early Word will be particularly useful. Our customers love to read the book when the movie is in the theaters. I didn't know they were making The Fault in Our Stars into a movie! That's exciting news; I loved that book!

Week 5, Assignment 1

I have been following NPR - Books since week 1. I've read about a lot of interesting forthcoming books such as Patrick Smith's Cockpit Confidential and Lionel Shriver's Big Brother. I've also listened to some author interviews, including Carol Shaben on her book Into the Abyss. I have all of these titles placed on reserve!

Week 4, Assignment 1

I joined Goodreads back in 2010, but I haven't used it regularly. I prefer LibraryThing, mostly because I'm more interested in keeping track of my reading for my own reference, and less interested in the social networking aspect. It's difficult to customize the privacy settings in Goodreads. Also, the recommendations from LibraryThing tend to be more useful to me than those from Goodreads.

Anyway, I'm back on Goodreads for the purposes of this project. I've added some titles and friended some colleagues. I've got a couple of bookshelves going and I recommended Dave Barry's Insane City to Erika Cooper. If I figure out how to customize the privacy settings the way I'd like, I might stick with it. Otherwise I'll probably go back to using LibraryThing, which can easily be made private with just one click!

Week 3, Assignments 1-3

I read the Neal Wyatt article and listened to the Nancy Pearl podcast. Here are my responses to the three conversations:

Conversation 1

 I would recommend Tales of a Female Nomad: Living at Large in the World by Rita Goldman Gelman. It's a travel narrative from a female perspective. There are vivid descriptions of the many exotic and unique places the author visits as she gains personal insight on a journey of self-discovery. It offers a lot for a book group to discuss.

Conversation 2

I'll go old school with this one and recommend Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire series. They are considered the classics of vampire lit, and they are darker and more erotic in tone than the Twilight series. They are engaging, hypnotic and suspenseful.

Conversation 3

I would recommend Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition by Caroline Alexander. It's the riveting true story of Ernest Shackleton's 1914 attempt to cross Antarctica.  Shackleton and his crew struggled to survive for 20 long months after their ship was stranded in ice. This gripping historic tale is an epic survival story you won't be able to put down.

Week 2, Assignment 3

Based on her postings, I recommended The Other Boleyn Girl and Red Tails in Love to Stephanie Seipp.

Week 2, Assignments 1 and 2

I read the article on appeal factors and decided to post an old favorite and a recent book I enjoyed:

Wonder Boys, by Michael Chabon

Wackiness abounds in this story of an aging college professor who is struggling to finish his second novel, and must contend with complications including a drug-addled editor, a pregnant mistress, and a dead dog. Michael Chabon's humorous, fast-paced novel features sharp, witty dialogue. It's contemporary literature that is enjoyable and not at all dense.

Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem

In contemporary Brooklyn, Lionel Essrog must unravel a tangled web of mystery, intrigue, and organized crime to solve the murder of his boss, a small-time mobster. Unlike your typical sleuth, Lionel suffers from Tourrette's and is prone to unusual outbursts. This humorous novel features unusual use of language and a clever plot.

Week 1, Assignment 5

Okay, so this was totally adorable. And I have to say,  if Fifty Shades of Grey really was about a zebra that wears pants it would be a much better book.

Week 1, Assignment 4

From Recommended Links- Books I have chosen to follow NPR - Books because there is currently a David Sedaris interview featured and it's great!

From Recommend Links - Genre I have chosen to follow Street Fiction because this is a very popular genre with our customers and I don't read a whole lot of it. One of the things I like about this site is that it includes Urban Nonfiction and Urban Fiction for Teens, both of which would be really useful.

Week 1, Assignment 3

A good article on The Golden Rules of Readers' Advisory Service. They are all excellent points!

Week 1, Assignment 2

This quiz was a lot of fun, too. I did pretty well, except for the science fiction. "Hard Science Fiction"? I never would've gotten that.

Week 1, Assignment 1

The quizzes were fun! They were a real test of my memory. I got 19 out of 24 on the adult book cover quiz, but I think I would have done better if I'd had more time. I spent forever trying to remember the name of the Dan Brown book!

The children's book covers were more difficult, and I only got 14 out of 20. I was thrown off by the fact that some of them were close-ups of minor details of the covers. I know Goodnight Moon, for instance, but didn't recognize the detail. I did get Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, though, and that was a really zoomed in. All in all, a very fun assignment!