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.