Week 4 , Assignment 1

I've been a Goodreads user for a couple of years now, and I find the site's features and capabilities quite useful. It's so convenient to be able to access my reading lists online, and I enjoy seeing what my friends are reading. I've suggested Goodreads to several customers who are avid readers, and a few of them have given it a try.

The way Goodreads determines which books it recommends is a bit puzzling to me. As best I can figure, it seems to latch on to one or two appeal characteristics in one or two books and it makes recommendations based on those, rather than a using broader range of criteria and more titles. I do like Goodreads' newsletters and alerts that I get by email, coupled with other sites like EarlyWord and IndieBound.org.

Although I've suggested a few titles to other friends previously, I posted this comment on Janet S's Goodreads page today, based on her 5-star rating of Edward Rutherfurd's New York: The Novel:

Hi Janet! If you like literary fiction with a bit of history and culture, you might want to try Brooklyn by Colm Toibin. It's a story about a young woman who emigrates from Ireland to New York after World War II to find work; a coming-of-age story and immigrant story that's fairly quick-paced.

One last comment about Goodreads...I've found the Goodreads app (available for both Apple and Android devices) to be really straightforward, and often easier to use than the full website.

Week 3, Assignment 3

And now for the recommendations...

Conversation 1: Reader enjoyed Eat, Pray, Love
It sounds like this customer enjoys descriptive writing with a reflective tone, and based on the comment that s/he enjoys all the Oprah books, I would also deduce that s/he enjoys popular, literary fiction. Two books that this reader might enjoy include Grace (Eventually) by Anne Lamott--a well-written, autobiographical, and reflective title with themes of spirituality; or Traveling with Pomegranates by Sue Monk Kidd and Ann Kidd Taylor, which also falls into the reflective travel writing category.

Conversation 2: Reader seeking vampire books unlike Twilight
Twilight is one of those books that I guess I should read because I'm a librarian and it's popular, but it frankly it doesn't sound all that appealing to me. I digress. The reader commented that Twilight was too filled with teen angst and too slow, so it sounds like the reader would like a vampire story that is fast-paced, plot-driven, and action-packed. Since I'm not all that knowledgeable about vampire stories, I used NoveList to answer this question. I would suggest The Dead of Winter by Lee Collins, or the Sookie Stackhouse novels by Charlaine Harris.

Conversation 3: Reader enjoyed The River of Doubt
This reader seems to be looking for narrative nonfiction that is informative and fast-paced, and possibly historical in nature. My first recommendation would be another Candace Millard title, Destiny of the Republic, which is similarly engaging and well-written with a fairly quick pace. Another compelling and suspenseful historical title that may interest this reader is Erik Larson's The Devil in the White City, a true crime book about the 1893 Chicago World's Fair.

Week 3, Assignment 2

"Listen...to Nancy Pearl talking about books." Isn't this like Luke Skywalker listening to Yoda? The master, indeed.

Nancy Pearl is an exception to Neal Wyatt's rule about keeping book talks short and sweet. No 15-second book talks here! But it's so fun to listen to her talk about books--or read her writing about books; not only did I listen to the podcast, I also read the article she wrote on NPR. She really has a knack for talking about books in a way that makes the listener (or reader) want to go and grab the book. She seems to hit on appeal characteristics that are popular and delivers her book reviews with enthusiasm...all good things to remember for those of us who are still honing our skills as reader advisors.

Week 3, Assignment 1

I found Neal Wyatt's article entitled "The RA Conversation" helpful. I like how he described it as "a dialogue between two readers." As I talk with customers, I enjoy asking them about what they like to read, and I often find myself making notes or filing information away to share with other readers. As someone put it, we librarians cannot possibly read everything! Also, I will be the first to tell you that I am a slooooow reader...I like to savor the language (when applicable), think about how sentences are constructed, and reread turns of phrase that I find interesting. This is NOT a good way to get through books quickly (!!!), and while I'm trying to retrain myself, it's very challenging when books like Age of Miracles come along.

Since I don't read quickly, I do tend to read a lot of reviews to keep current, and if a customer requests an item about which I'm not very knowledgeable, I don't hesitate to use the PAC, Novelist, or Goodreads--or even Google--to search for something the customer might like. I thought the article's suggestion that a book talk be kept to 15 seconds or less was interesting, and I've been trying to do that over the past month+ since I read the article. (See also my next entry about the Nancy Pearl podcast.) I've found that kids really appreciate the short and sweet descriptions, but I've had several adults who then want to know more. No surprise, I guess adults have longer attention spans.

My final thought is back to the conversation--I think customers of all ages like it when someone asks them about their favorite books. It's a really effective conversation starter, whether you're a librarian helping customers or Jane or John Public hanging out at a cocktail party (or talking with kids while volunteering in your child's school library).