Week 8, Assignment 4

Next, here are book talks for two of the titles I recommended in Assignment 3.

In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson
Readers who enjoy reading about World War II will not want to miss Erik Larson's bestselling title from 2011, In the Garden of Beasts. This very readable narrative nonfiction title traces Hitler's rise to power as seen through the eyes of the family of American ambassador William Dodd, who lived in Germany as Hitler rose to power. While the book describes events in Germany as Hitler gained power, it's also a biography of Dodd and the members of his family--in particular, his grown daughter Martha, who engages in several affairs while in Germany, including one with a high-ranking Gestapo officer.

This is a true story of the Nazi era replete with a suspenseful and compelling plot, a quick pace, and fully drawn characters. I suggest this title for readers who enjoy both nonfiction history and historical fiction works set in the World War II era because of the narrative and information about that era presented from a slightly different angle. I also recommend this book those who enjoy narrative nonfiction because it's an archetype of this genre.

The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks
Medical stories have the potential to get bogged down in gory and boring detail and to seem impersonal; however, that is not the case with Oliver Sacks' 1985 book, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat. In this book, neurologist Sacks recounts the intricacies of the cases of various patients with rare disorders in a way that is compassionate, reflective, and moving. The book is well-written, and while there is a good bit of medical jargon and the descriptions of neurological function are a bit science-heavy, the stories are so compelling that the book is worth the effort.

I recommend this title for fans of Lisa Genova's Still Alice and fans of Alice LaPlante's Turn of Mind, as well as those who enjoy science writing and short stories, since it's essentially a book of case studies presented as stand-alone short stories.

Week 8, Assignment 3

For this assignment, I've selected the following four nonfiction genres and their Dewey areas, along with a sample title from each that I could recommend to someone who normally reads only nonfiction.
1. History (900s) - In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson is a book I've recommended to numerous customers who like historical fiction, particularly stories set in the World War II era, as well as those who express an interest in nonfiction history books.
2. Sports (790s) - Summer of '49 by David Halberstam is a great baseball book about the long-running rivalry between the Yankees and the Red Sox.
3. Food (640s) - Blood, Bones, and Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton is essentially a memoir of food and of an unusual life, compellingly written.
4. Medical (610s) - The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks recounts case studies of patients with unusual neurological disorders from the perspective of a medical professional.

Week 8, Assignment 2

The SLRC video Readers' Advisory with Non-Fiction described sixteen different types of narrative nonfiction, and the primary feature that differentiates narrative nonfiction from fiction is that it's true. Story is the key element that differentiates narrative nonfiction from other nonfiction, although I've read some cookbooks that have a lot of narrative in them, which makes them fun to read, too!

Each reader is different, and so the list of appeal factors that distinguish one title from another is important to keep in mind when working with a customer. Narrative non-fiction isn't a catchall genre; a customer who likes to read about sports, with lots of stats and charts and photos, won't necessarily be interested in one of Mary Karr's memoirs. It's important to think about the appeal factors that make a book interesting to a customer.

Week 7, Assignment 4

Assignment: Choose any two of the following teen imprints and spend some time on their websites. Blog about any trends you find in either current or forthcoming teen fiction.

My first thought as I look at the pages of teen imprints like Harlequin Teen and Teens at Random is that I prefer to read blogs and sites that are not affiliated with a publisher, simply because they offer broader coverage and less biased (possibly? hopefully?) reviews. Some books are just meh, but the publisher isn't going to say that! Also, I think it's more helpful, as I think I've said elsewhere in this blog, to see the books that are getting a lot of buzz or attention from a range of reviewers. That being said, there are always books that inexplicably don't seem to be "on the radar" but truly deserve more attention than they receive.

As far as trends that I pick up as I look at these sites...dystopian, zombies, and other paranormal fiction is still popular, without a doubt, as are books with fairy tale elements. Honestly, I find it hard to judge trends by looking at publisher sites. While you can see what's being published, that's not always the same as what kids are actually reading or asking for in the branch. If I want to really look for trends, I would not start with publisher sites, I'd look at independent reviews and blogs and bestseller lists.

Week 7, Assignment 3

For this assignment I've been reading Stacked and Teenreads. (Teenreads has tested my patience. It is very sloooow to load. But I'm trying to look beyond that since they have good info.) I really like the content of both sites; prefer the layout (and loading time) of the Stacked site. 

Stacked is produced by Kimberly Fransisco and Kelly Jensen, both librarians. The focus of this blog is on the blog content; other features line the margins of the page in smaller type, which makes it easy to see where the most current information is: in the middle. To my eye, it's a pleasing and streamlined layout. I feel like this blog is directed toward book consumers as well as book professionals--librarians, booksellers, etc.. They seem to talk about library things pretty often. And I love the entry Kelly posted today about her system's summer reading club. I am now kicking myself for shipping all the middle school entry slips back to Youth Services without mining them for the titles that kids are reading. Brilliant! Also, she mentions teens reading Nicholas Sparks. Quite a few teen girls have asked me for Sparks' books since summer started, and now that she says it on her blog, it makes me think that we could do a display of adult books that appeal to teens. (Jodi Picoult would also be on that display.)

Now to the other site. Teenreads seems to be directed at teen readers or any readers who enjoy teen books. They have a corporate team that manages their affiliated sites but also have a number of book reviewers, and they elicit input from their readers. Also found it interesting that Teenreads is part of a network of sites produced by The Book Report Network...and that this network includes a site called 20SomethingReads...which reminds me of the "New Adult" label I read about in Assignment 1 this week. Teenreads has a search features that enable readers to search by title, author, or (especially) genre. The site is busy with scrolling banners that change out every few seconds (surely that's part of the reasons the pages load at glacial speed) and it's packed with articles and features, so it takes a minute or two to figure out what the highlights are. I don't find the layout all that user-friendly, but it may just be me.

I like that both sites are not only current with new releases, they also include older titles for consideration. I'm glad to know about both of these sites and I'm sure I'll continue to refer to them.

Week 8, Assignment 1

Both articles about readers advisory with nonfiction made some good points. I like the idea of creating mixed displays of fiction and nonfiction materials. This is some thing we've done at my branch, although having our fiction and nonfiction collections on separate floors makes this a little tricky. In particular, our mystery readers who "have read everything" would enjoy a true crime/ mystery display, and on occasion I have remembered to suggest titles by Ann Rule or Erik Larsen when in conversation with such a customer.

With regard to readers advisory, I have found that people who identify themselves as nonfiction readers are somewhat less likely to be willing to read fiction; they tend to prefer the facts to fictionalized accounts of historical events. For example, readers who are interested in nonfiction about World War II have been less likely to want to switch over to read historical fiction about that period; yet readers who enjoyed The Book Thief have been interested in reading more about what really happened and have been receptive to titles like In the Garden of Beasts. But there are always readers who cross quite happily between fiction and nonfiction because they enjoy a good story; I fall Into this category, while my husband is a "just the facts please" nonfiction reader. According to him, you can't improve on the truth. And truth can, at times, be stranger than fiction.

Week 7, Assignment 2

So, thus far I have read three of the five suggested articles for this assignment. In the interest of getting this project completed, I had to stop there (for now). The first article I read was this one from Publishers Weekly about the "New Adult" subgenre. I found myself both laughing and agreeing with one of the comments that follows the article--the writer described herself as a "cranky Gen-Xer" who had managed to become an adult without this subgenre, but who at the same time likes the label if it gets (or keeps) people reading (and yes, a latte while reading the next Hunger Games would be lovely...just make mine with coconut milk, please).

I think that "New Adult" is probably more of a marketing tool than a new section that needs to be added to our shelves, at least for now. A number of years back as part of my coursework when completing my Master's in teaching, I took a kid-lit class, and one of the key ideas from that class that has stuck with me is the notion that children need to see themselves in books. Well, I don't think it's just children...I think that all people like to see something of themselves in books. Not exclusively, mind you; most readers, at least some of the time, look for an escape or something that takes them away from reality...but it seems like the books that resonate most with us tend to be the ones that tell us something about life and how to live it.

Moving on to the other articles I read ("Who is Buying Teen Books?" from Christian Science Monitor and "The Next Big Thing" from YALSA), another thought that all of these articles brought to mind is that a good book is a good book is a good book. I don't hesitate to recommend The Book Thief or Code Name Verity to adult readers who say they enjoy historical fiction set during the World War II era, or The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian as a book club selection, because they are Just. Good. Books.

I posted comments on Cynthia W. and Eileen K.'s blogs.