Week 9: Book Trailers and Wrap Up!

Assignment 1 & 2

Truthfully, I have never watched a book trailer before this training.  I know that they are out there, but I have not felt the need to seek them out or use them in a personal or professional way as a means to decide what to read or recommend.

For me, the book trailers that feature the author providing insight into their work and the inspiration behind their story are the most interesting.  Of course, it helps if the author is comfortable, engaging and has a heartfelt message that is enlightening to the story.  I thought Jeanette Walls was successful in this in her trailer for The Glass Castle and Half Broken Horses.  I felt Mary Karr was less successful in the book trailer for Lit, which she admits was "humiliating".    I think book trailers should be short, anything longer than 60 seconds is too long, create a buzz for the title and include a dose of humor.

I would say that book trailers have potential merit as a tool for piquing interest in books for children, appealing especially to those who are visual learners.  I don't foresee book trailers playing a significant role in reader's advisory for customers in the library.  They seem to be something that one stumbles upon.

Assignment 3

Overall I enjoyed this training very much and felt that it was worthwhile and beneficial in improving my readers advisory skills and I am now more educated in all of the different genres and sub-genres. As a new librarian, with limited experience in readers advisory, I am now familiar and comfortable with appeal factors and how to use them to help customers find something that they will enjoy. Following Early Word is helping me to keep up-to-date on new and interesting reads and upcoming trends.

I did find it challenging to keep up with the weekly assignments though.  I fell behind partly due to vacation time, and trying to balance other work responsibilities, but I also underestimated the amount of time that each assignment would take to complete.  I thought an hour a week would be sufficient, but it was not. Some weeks required 2 or more hours a week to complete and that didn't allow for additional time to read and comment on other participants blog posts.  Maybe spreading it out more would help, or maybe it was just me!

I would like to see this training be somehow a little more interactive.  The comment feature seemed to be underutilized, and I am completely guilty of not contributing! As others have commented, the content of the training should be updated so that it is current.

Thank you Patrick Fromm for a great job touching base each week and to all of the bloggers, I enjoyed reading the posts.  Happy reading everyone!

Week 8: Nonfiction

Four nonfiction genres/Dewey areas/recommendations:

1. Travel:  Dewey area 917-Geography & Travel.  "Wild" by Cheryl Strayed
2. Sports:  Dewey area 797-Sports, Games & Entertainment.  "The Boys In the Boat" by Daniel James Brown
3. Adventure: Dewey area 974-History of North America  "The Perfect Storm" by Sebastian Junger
4. Food: Dewey area 641-Home & Family Management.  "Heat" by Bill Buford

"The boys in the boat: nine Americans and their epic quest for gold at the 1936 Olympics" 
by Daniel James Brown
The Boys in the Boat is the inspiring story of how a group of working-class young men from the University of Washington rowing team beat the odds and won gold at the 1936 Olympic Games in Nazi Germany.  This fast-paced story will appeal to sports fans as well as to readers who enjoy a character-driven and richly detailed story of determination and hope set during the Great Depression.
This bestseller was the inspiration for the upcoming PBS documentary titled, "The Boys of '36" set to air on August 2nd.


"Heat: An Amateur's Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscany" by Bill Buford

The seed of this story began to germinate when American author and journalist Bill Buford wrote a profile for The New Yorker magazine about celebrity chef  Mario Batali,  Buford's desire to shake things up in his life and his curiosity about what it takes to work in a professional kitchen lead him to somehow convince Mario Batali to let him work/volunteer in the kitchen of his 3 star restaurant, "Babbo" in NYC.  And the adventure begins there.

All of the antics and drama that occur in a professional kitchen are on full display, but the story goes much deeper to include the larger-than-life Batali's backstory and life experiences as well as Buford's sojourn in Italy discovering the roots of Italian cuisine.  This book is part biography, part memoir and part food journal.  This witty, richly detailed book will appeal to readers that enjoy food writing, memoirs and biographies and life stories.

Week 7: Not Just for Teens part 2

Assignment # 3:

Teenreads:  This website is part of the Book Report Network family.  It is written in part by 50 teens who are selected for the site's "Teen Board" to write reviews, create blog posts, and provide feedback on this website aimed at teen readers.

The site covers a lot of ground and information is fairly easy to find with lots of quick links such as "Cool and New", "New Paperbacks", "The Ultimate Reading List" and "Books on Screen" .  Even though the site is geared toward teen readers, all readers with an interest in finding an appealing YA book or keeping up to date on the latest teen reader trends will find something interesting on the Teenreads website.

Week 7: Not Just for Teens

Assignment #1:  Anything that assists customers with book selection always draws attention and interest, and this flowchart is a great example of just that!  I like that it includes the book cover images, it makes it much more visually appealing to customers. 

Assignment #2:  I read the NYT and the CSMonitor articles.  I don't think the information included in these outdated articles, primarily that YA Fiction is popular with a large population of adult readers, is news to any of us, and that the literary and commercial success of the big three series books, "Harry Potter", "Twilight" and "Hunger Games" influenced this trend.

I wholly and strongly disagree with the opinion of the critic Ruth Graham, whose article was cited in the NYT piece, with the subheading: "Read whatever you want. But you should feel embarrassed when what you're reading was written for children".   My immediate reaction to this statement was, "How dare you! What gives you the right to judge what other people find enjoyable?" Individuals choose books for a variety of reasons and a variety of appeal factors and its not for anyone else to cast opinion on whether a particular selection is "appropriate" for the reader.  I don't read a lot of YA titles, but when I do, I'm drawn to pick up that book for all of the same reasons I pick up any book: curiosity about all of the buzz surrounding the book, good writing, strong character and plot development and a compelling storyline.  A good book is a good book, it shouldn't matter what category or genre it falls into.

Week 6: Building Base Knowledge (Genres)

Assignment 1: I chose the Mystery site "Stop You're Killing Me" to follow.  The site is simply laid out and provides quick links to indexes of location, job, historical, diversity and genres.   There are quick links to NEW releases in hardback, paperback, audio and large print.  I like that you can quickly search for an author or character using the alphabet as well.  The read alikes information is sparse.  I knew of the "Agatha", "Dagger" and "Edgar" mystery awards but I now know that there are so many more awards lists honoring various sub-genres.

Assignment 2:  Wow, this is impressive!  This is a lot of information packed into a real cool flowchart! I wish that it was available to print out.

Assignment 3:   Three sub-genres that I am unfamiliar with are:

Cyberpunk Science Fiction.    Cyberpunk is been described as "all about dystopian, networked, future earth type societies with a focus on information technologies: networks, computers, being able to plug oneself directly into virtual environments by whatever means."  Cyberpunk novels will appeal to fans of the 'Tron' movies as well as the 'Matrix' series of movies.  Authors who write in this subgenre are William Gibson, Neal Stephenson and Bruce Sterling.

Hip Hop Urban Fiction:   I was not aware that this was a specific sub-genre of Urban fiction. Described as stories where the characters are driven by the desire to succeed in the music industry as a performer, producer or by playing the video vixen.  Titles include the Ritz Harper chronicles series "Is the Bitch Dead or What?" by Wendy Williams, "Love, Fame and Betrayal" by Stephanie Newell and Platinum by Aliya King.

High Seas Adventure: The Prezi chart describes this sub-genre as "nautical adventures usually set during the Napoleonic wars. Readers experience the rich detail of a sailor's life."  A popular author squarely in this sub-genre is Patrick O'Brien who wrote the 'Aubrey-Maturin' series which includes Master and Commander as well as C.S, Forester, author of the 12-book Horatio Hornblower series, depicting a Royal Naval officer during the Napoleonic wars.   Another title would be Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh.  

Week 5: Building Base Knowledge (Part II)

Assignment #1 & 2: I chose to follow Early Word and I am finding it to be very useful!   I especially enjoy receiving the weekly newsletter in my email. I can quickly scan the featured articles and choose what to look at in more detail as well as stay up to date on what's new and interesting.  Just this week, I learned of chef Eric Ripert's recently released memoir, "32 Yolks" and quickly placed a hold!

I have really enjoyed checking out all of the links on EarlyWord, it is an astonishing amount of information, sometimes it feels a little busy with all of the embedded advertisements but I'm finding my way around.  I especially like the features on New and upcoming film and TV adaptations as well as the NEW movie releases feature, as DVD's are very popular at Woodlawn.

Assignment 3: I selected Amazon’s June Spotlight pick of the month, “Before the Fall” by award-winning screenwriter and author Noah Hawley.  I think that this book will generate interest due to the fan base that Hawley has attracted through the hit FX series “Fargo” as well as the overwhelming positive reviews and attention that the book has received from nearly every popular book review source.  This novel tells the story of the influential passengers on board a private plane that crashes after take off from Martha's Vineyard en route to NYC.  There are two survivors.  The background stories and connections of the passengers revealed by the zealous media coverage of the incident lead to the compelling question "What caused the crash?" This leads to an intensifying and suspenseful plot to find the answer.

Week 4: Building Base Knowledge

I joined Goodreads in February of this year, but then just let it sit idle.  This training has reintroduced me to Goodreads and challenged me to make it a part of my life with books!  I now have the app on my phone, and just this past weekend I was out of town with friends and when the conversation came around to talking about what we were reading and book recommendations, I was able to just add titles to my “Want to read” bookshelf from my phone during the conversation. Love this feature, and so easy!

For this assignment I added and rated a few past reads to my account, not in any particular order, and then started to add bookshelves.  I like the fact that you can select any category for your bookshelves and do not have to choose from a pre-selected list.   As I was looking around in other friends accounts, I noticed that one of my colleagues created the bookshelf categories of “read in childhood”, “read in high school”, “read in college” etc., I thought that was a cool and interesting way to categorize titles.

For my friend Beth, who is currently reading and enjoying “The Cartel”, I am going to go out on a limb and recommend the nonfiction book “American Pain: how a young felon and his ring of doctors unleashed America's deadliest drug epidemic” by John Temple.  This is a compelling story that chronicles the rise and fall of a Florida pill mill and how it helped tip the nation into its current opioid crisis, the deadliest drug epidemic in American history.

For my friend Kelsey, I see from her bookshelves that she enjoys reading memoirs and nonfiction.  Since she enjoyed the book “The Impossible Rescue”, I am recommending, “The finest hours: the true story of the U.S. Coast Guard’s most daring sea rescue” by Mike Tougias and Casey Sherman. It is the story of a dramatic and heroic sea rescue by the U.S. Coast Guard of the crew of two oil tankers ripped in half by a violent nor’easter off the coast of Cape Cod in the winter of 1952.  

Week 3: The Readers' Services Conversation

Customer #1

Customer: I’m looking for a good story, you know, something that draws me in. But I don’t know where to start looking.

Librarian: What was the last book you read? Could you share something you liked about it?

Customer: The last book I read was Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. Everyone is reading it so I had to pick it up. It was lovely. She is such an interesting woman and so brave. I enjoyed the descriptions of the countries she went to and what she did while she was there, of course, but I think what I liked most was how she shared her inner thoughts — so reflective but funny too. I thought it might be just light fluff or all me, me, me, me, but it was so much more than that. I read all the Oprah books and just love them. Anyway I wanted to ask you for a few suggestions for my book group. It’s my turn to pick the title.

What stands out to me in the customer’s responses are the phrases ...“She is such an interesting woman and so brave” and “what I liked most was how she shared her inner thoughts”.  Based on these comments and the fact that she is looking for a book club title, I would recommend “Wild” by Cheryl Strayed, another book adapted to the big screen.  Like “Eat, Pray, Love” it is an inspiring and descriptive memoir of a brave and independent woman seeking clarity and direction after a difficult period in her personal life. Her quest leads her to the decision to hike the entire length of the Pacific Crest trail, solo. It is written in an engaging and reflective style that will draw you into her journey.   

Customer #2

Customer: Can you recommend any vampire books that are nothing like the Twilight series?

Librarian: Let me see how I can help you. What don’t you like about Twilight?

Customer: Everything, but especially that teen love story – way too much angst! And way too slow.  Have you read any good vampire stories lately?

This is a great example of a circumstance when a customer is asking for a recommendation in a genre that you may completely unfamiliar with.  I have not read the Twilight series, although I have seen a couple of the films in the series.  In this situation, I would tell the customer that I don’t personally know of any vampire books to recommend of off the top my head, but that there is a great tool that we can use to generate some recommended titles.  Together with the customer, I would demonstrate how to utilize the Novelist Plus database through our website, the subject search features of our catalog and maybe Goodreads if they show interest.  I would plug in “Adult” fiction books with a subject of vampires, that are fast-paced and engaging.  I would sort based on popularity as a start.  

Scrolling through the generated list I would ask the customer if they have read any of the popular Sookie Stackhouse series books by Charlaine Harris.  Other possibilities are Anne Rice’s series, “The Vampire Chronicles” and the “All Souls Trilogy” by Deborah Harkness.  Customers are usually thrilled to find out how to use search features that they can then take advantage of from home or on their smartphone.   

Customer #3

Librarian:  Hi, are you looking for anything in particular?

Customer: I just read this great book The River of Doubt.  It was about Teddy Roosevelt and this ill fated expedition to chart an uncharted river in the Amazon.  They lost almost all their provisions, the president was injured, and it turns out one of their crew was a murderer since there was a murder.  And the most amazing thing was that it true.  It was fascinating and really fast paced.  Do you have anything to recommend that is like that?

I also really enjoyed “The River of Doubt”.  I would suggest “The Perfect Storm” by Sebastian Junger, another fast-paced adventure story that tells the dramatic account of a commercial fishing vessel that gets caught in the “Storm of the Century” off of the coast of Nova Scotia.  Other non-fiction books that may interest the reader due to thier richly detailed and compelling tales are “Into Thin Air” by Jon Krakauer and “Unbroken” by Laura Hillenbrand.  

If the customer was open to a fast-paced, character driven book of fiction that takes place in the Amazon, I would suggest “State of Wonder” by Ann Patchett for it’s sense of place and adventure.  

Week 2: Appeal Factors

I have a lot of catching up to do!

This assignment was a real struggle for me.  I found the article to be very informative, and I learned a lot.  However, I feel this assignment would be better suited for later in the training, especially for those of us who are just learning about how to describe books using appeal factors.  With that said, this is my best shot...

I love to cook, driven by my love of enjoying good food! It is pure bliss to me to browse the pages of a cookbook.  The good ones take you on a journey and aim to educate and inspire the reader, without being complicated.  Lucie L. Snodgrass does just that in the book "Dishing Up Maryland: 150 recipes from the Alleghenies to the Chesapeake Bay".

Snodgrass celebrates the diversity of Maryland food with 150 recipes organized by season, each chapter contains not only delicious recipes featuring local ingredients, but include stories, told in rich detail, of local farmers, waterman, chefs and restaurants throughout the state. The book includes the expected crab and rockfish recipes, but Snodgrass wants the reader to know that there is much more to Maryland cuisine than seafood-such as bison, cheeses, grapes, figs, vinegars and wines, to name a few. And she wants you to get out and explore and taste all that Maryland has to offer! Full of beautiful photos and a helpful list of resources, Dishing Up Maryland will surely inspire you to search out and support local farmers and waterman, cook seasonally and to prepare delicious, fresh food!

I'm sure everyone has seen the cover of the BC Reads Young Adult novel "All American Boys", co-authored by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely.  The story revolves around Rashad and Quinn, two typical 16-year old high school students, one black and one white, whose lives are forever changed in the moment when Rashad becomes an innocent victim of police brutality and Quinn witnesses the brutal beating, which comes at the hands of a cop who happens to be the brother of his best friend as well as a close family friend. 

This character-driven, fast paced story unfolds in a time span of one week.  Alternating chapters present the unique perspectives of each boy, told in a compelling and authentic first-person narrative, which highlights the struggles and emotions of each teen as they try to understand what happened and why.  Which leads them to question who they are, what they believer in and what they are willing to stand up for.  This story will stay with you long after the last page.  

Week 1: What You Already Know

Assignment 1:
Well this looked like fun initially, but I got a little tripped up and as the timer counted down to zero I was left with 13/20 for the Children's titles and 16/24 for the Adult titles.  I was a little disappointed!
For the children's titles, apparently I don't know how to spell "Corduroy", so I missed that one, even though I knew what it was! And the graphic for "Chicka, Chicka, Boom, Boom", geez, not much to work with there!
Basically, what it boiled down to was I missed the titles that I haven't read, or I recognized the cover art, but just couldn't come up with the title in my head. 


Assignment 2:
I fared better on this, I got 10/12, so I guess the cover illustrators are successful  at what they do.  I missed the "Techo thriller" cover and the "Urban fantasy" cover. 


Assignment 3:
I've seen this list of Golden Rules of RA before, but it was worthwhile to read it again.  Especially Rule #2 - keep a reading log.  I have been meaning to do this for a while now, so this is a good time to begin this practice.


Assignment 4:
I am already familiar with Goodreads and NPR, so after looking at the others, I am choosing "Early Word" to follow.  The layout and design of the site immediately appealed to me.  Lots of great content to explore and quick links to useful resources. 
I really went back and forth in deciding which genre to follow.  I wanted to follow the Urban Reviews since I don't normally read in that genre and it is very popular here at Woodlawn, but the site hasn't been updated since January and it looked a little limited in content.  Street fiction readers here seem to know what titles they want or they are happy to browse the collection.  So I ultimately chose, "Stop You're killing me".  I don't read a lot of mysteries, with the exception of Louise Penny, so I'm looking forward to getting into this site.   And again, it seems well organized and easy to navigate with tons of useful content. 


Assignment 5:
The child's comment that the cover art on "Jane Eyre" suggested that the book was about "a girl that goes mining, mining for gold" just cracked me up!  All in all, I think the comments seemed pretty spot on!

Setting Up Blog

Well that wasn't too hard! Ready to get bookish...!