Week 2 Assignments, Part II

So many blogs, so little time! I enjoyed reading through annotations on many colleagues' bookish blogs over the past several weeks. (Yes, I am riding in the caboose on this Bookish project!!) I can't read 'em all, but I learn so much about books from the people I work with--and from our customers.
I popped over to Megan S's blog and read about two books she's enjoyed (Behind the Beautiful Forevers and Eleanor and Park) and recommended The God of Small Things and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian for her (but I bet she's already read 'em!).

Week 2 Assignments, Part I

Neal Wyatt's article on appeal factors was a great reminder of the characteristics that make a book desirable to readers.

With appeal factors on my mind, here are annotations of books I've read and enjoyed...one all-time favorite, and one new favorite.

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein is a captivating story about two young women, their unlikely friendship, and the war that tears them apart. Set during World War II in Britain and France, it is a well-written, engaging book with lots of twists and turns, and it will appeal to those who enjoy suspenseful historical fiction or spy stories. Character-driven and emotionally intense, the story is presented from two different viewpoints in a diary format. Code Name Verity features strong female characters, top-notch writing, and several surprises along the way. It is a book to read, and then read again.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a well-known American literary classic. This beautifully-written coming-of-age story touches issues of race, class, and the outsider and is set in the American south. Characters are well-drawn and the tone is reflective, making the reader think about the issues and circumstances of the characters in the story. Even though the narrator, Scout, is a young girl, readers of all ages can easily identify and sympathize with her as she examines and questions the world around her. The story features several different plot lines, but the themes of prejudice and tolerance are woven throughout the story.

For Week 1, I completed the children's book quiz with 19/20 (woohoo!) I probably didn't need to know about this site because I found lots of other quizzes with which I could completely lose track of time. I did pretty well with the adult covers quiz, too, with 10/12. The Golden Rules of Reader's Advisory echoed some things we recently discussed at our LATI sessions. The child's take on judging books by their covers was a fun premise but sort of underwhelming after reading about a dozen of them. For assignment 4, I've chosen to follow npr.org/books (I already read Early Word and Goodreads) and Stop You're Killing Me, which was recently mentioned at an LATI class. Keeping tabs on the NPR books page will be helpful because titles that are featured on NPR often turn into requests, so this will help me to keep up with what our customers are looking for. In addition, I selected Stop You're Killing Me because we have many mystery readers at the branch who report that they have "read everything." I hope that this blog will give me some new ideas for suggestions for these customers.