W9A3 - Conclusion

This training was very instructive. I particularly liked two elements of it: the resources we explored all along and the review of the appeal factors.

Publisher weekly and Early Word are my two favorites resources discovered during this training. I still receive their weekly emails about recent and upcoming publications. They summarize the bigger news in the industry in a single page, and it usually only takes few minutes to be informed about new books and trends. If something catches my attention, I can simply go on their website to learn more about it. But there are other resources as well. Those resources are the ones I don’t follow regularly, but I am now aware of their existence and I can refer to them when needed. I am thinking about The New York Best Seller List, NPR Book, Indie Next Best Seller List and the different websites specialized in particular genre (Mystery, Romance, Science-fiction, Fantasy and Urban). The first three are useful when customers ask about new and popular books they might be interested in. As for the resources about genres, they are helpful to offer customer information beyond the simple book cover. Finally, websites like Goodreads and Novelist are full of information valuable for reader advisory. I find the public comments to be great on Goodreads. They are an easy way to find what readers think of a specific title. Novelist is very good for the read-alike option. I particularly like the Novelist search engine based on the appeal factors.

Appeal factors is precisely the other main expertise I gained from this training. I have heard about the appeal factors before this training, but I cannot say I knew them well. It was very helpful to not only study them, but also to use them during the weekly exercises. Now I can spread my conversation with patrons with words like pacing, tone, setting and characterization. Appeal factors give me tools to describe books in ways patron can understand easily. In fact, my favorite approach to use them is called the doorway method by Nancy Pearl. There are four doorways: story, setting, character and language. They are the major appeal factors known by customers and the easier to use in order to describe a book. I also liked how Be More Bookish made us use them, in a brief and short paragraph. I already wrote book reviews before for school, but it was in an academic setting. At work, people want to have the big picture in less than two minutes. This training made us practice those real life situations.

Overall, Be More Bookish was an excellent training. Like any online classes or workshops, I think one or two in-person meetings would have been a good addition to the training. One meeting around the third week and one around the sixth week for example. I think those meeting would have encourage group discussions and comments. Nothing is better than meeting somebody in person to break the ice.

W9A1 & 2

Pamela Paul’s article was published in 2010. At the time, she wrote that book trailers are “fast becoming an essential component of online marketing”. Five years later, book trailers can be found on YouTube and on publishers’ websites, but they are hardly essential to anything, even to online marketing campaigns. She mentioned book trailers awards called Moby givens by the Melville House Publisher, but they do not even exist anymore. 2012 seems to be the last year they were awarded. Our present does not look the way she predicted it.

The Nina Metz’s article was published two later years, in 2012. I think that year was especially bad for the book trailers, because, contrary to Pamela Paul, she did not have anything good to write about them. They were “cheap, schlocky, boring, lackluster, unimaginative”. Even the name “book trailer” is not good not enough for her. I think things have changed a little bit since. First, the quality of book trailers is a little bit better nowadays. They are more professional and visually more attractive. However, I agreed with Metz that reading is an act of “imaginative personalization”. For example, I was very disappointed by the book trailer of Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell. Not only because the quality and originality was incredibly low, but also because the characters did not look the way I imagined them. Imagination is deeply personal, and reading activates the imagination in a subjective matter. Movie trailers give you a peak of what you will see on screen, but I rather have an idea about a book instead of a visual representation.

Personally, I think book trailers will become more and more present around us, but it will take some times. Time to achieve and develop the art of book trailers. A good book cover is not a simple representation of one character or the setting of a story. It’s something more subtle and more appealing (one can think of classics like Catch 22, Catching in the Rye, To Kill a Mockingbird, Fahrenheit 451, etc.). I think book trailers should follow the same path, and create a distinct aesthetic. Is book trailer useful for readers’ advisory? Yes and no. Yes, if they follow the wrong path and continue to represent the story like a movie adaptation will do. Instead a reading a summary of the book, we could watch the book trailer. No, if book trailers become an art on its own and not a simple representation of the story. In this case, book trailers are useless for reader’s advisory but they can be a good marketing tool. Good marketing is not always selling the product directly, but it sells a world and an idea surrounding the product.

W8A4

Awakenings by Oliver Sacks (616.832 S 1990)

In honor of Oliver Sacks who recently passed away, I wanted to talk about Awakenings. First published in 1973, it is a good example of popular science writing and narrative non-fiction. This books was not written for academics but for the general public. In this half memoir half psychiatric review, Sacks describes the return to life of decade long catatonic patients. A new drug takes them out of their stupor, but unfortunately it only will be for a short period of time. As they are slowing but inevitable coming back to an unresponsive state, patients and staff start to appreciate being alive in the present. By exploring the fringe of human sickness and mental capacities, Sacks also exposes the universal human needs for love, respect and curiosity.

The characters are touching and genuine. The writing is delightful and full of facts and details, in a perfect combination of data and human feelings. Readers who like both scientific knowledge that resides on empiric experiences and sensitivity from the human point of view would also like this book. No need to be a die-hard science lover, the desire to share the concerns and discovery of characters who are amazed by the world around them is enough. The story is so plausible and credible (not because it is a based on a true story, but because of the plot’s structure) that one could read this book like a novel, with its own set of characters and series of adventures.

The wet and the dry: a drinker’s journey by Lawrence Osborne (910.4 O)

This book is combination of a travel diary, essays and technical descriptions on the art of making different kind of alcohol. The premise is simple and radical at the same time. Osborne decided to travel in countries where alcohol is either shunned or simply illegal. Most of those countries are Muslim, where alcohol is banned according to the Islamic law. At first, Osborne only seems to travel to provoke his hosts. But very soon something else emerge from his trip. By comparing the permissive western civilization with the culture of prohibition found in many places, Osborne paints two worldviews with their benefits and their shortcomings. At the end, the book is not only about drink, but about mentality, cultures, politics and international relations.

This book is funny and instructive. Nobody will read this book to learn how to make alcohol, yet one can find a lot of information between the author’s jokes. The plot is thin, but like a trip, the destination is not always the goal. The story make us travel not only around the world, but back in times as well. The writing style reminds me of Paul Bowles or Ian McEwan: one or two main characters meet very interesting people, but those meeting are elusive, just for few pages. The comparison with those writers is not anodyne, this book read like a narrative fiction. Even more, when the main character is under the influence of alcohol, we are not sure if Osborne is talking about reality or a dream.

W8A3

1. Travel

                Dewey: 910 (between 910 and 919) Geography & travel

                Example: The wet and the dry: a drinker’s journey by Lawrence Osborne                                  (910.4 O)

2. Sport

                Dewey: 790 (between 790 and 799) Sports, games & entertainment

                Example: The boys in the boat: nine Americans and their epic quest for                                     gold at the 1936 Olympics by Daniel Brown (797.123 B)

3. Medical

                Dewey: 610 (Between 610 and 619) Medicine & Health

                Example: Awakenings by Oliver Sacks (616.832 S 1990)

4. Contemporary social issues

                Dewey: 300 (between 300 and 309) Social Sciences, sociology &                                                                                                anthropology

                              360 (between 360 and 369) Social problems & social services

                Example: Missoula: rape and the justice system in a college town by                                           Jon Krakauer (362.888K)

W8A2

This short video is a good summary of nonfiction genre. It includes the different types (biography, memoirs, history, contemporary social issues, politics, science, essays, sports, travel, food, crime, faith, overcoming adversity, adventure, disaster/survival, medical), the appeal factors (popularity, format, size of volume, type size, length, reading difficulty, plot/story line, characters, dialogue, writing style, time period, theme, pacing, setting. tone and genre), and some tips about the genre. Short and well-done.

W8A1

Both texts (Borderland: Crossing between Fiction and Nonfiction in Readers’ Advisory by Jennifer Brannen and Reading Nonfiction for pleasure: What Motivates Readers? by Catherine Sheldrick Ross) said the same thing in substance. While libraries physically and clearly separate fiction from non-fiction, readers do not always make that distinction, especially with narrative fiction with story and characters development. If a reader reads for “pleasure”, most of the time s/he will not care about the separation between fiction and narrative nonfiction. What really attract a reader is the appeal factors and interest, not books categorization. During a reader’s advisory interview, librarians should focus on those, the appeal factors, and suggest titles from both nonfiction and fiction genres. This way, readers can decide what they are in the mood to read, independently of the books classification. The idea beyond those two texts is the distinction between nonfiction and fiction is not the same as the distinction between pleasure reading and fact-finder reading. People read fiction and nonfiction for pleasure.

W7A4 - Publishers

I look at Penguin Teen and Teens@Random, two publishing houses I always like for their editorial policies and choices. Based on those publishing websites and my own experience, I see two major trends in the Y.A.

First it is the science-fiction trend, like the success of Hunger Games had demonstrated. Penguin has many series that can fit in the categories. It goes from Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead (the action takes place in a boarding school a la Harry Porter), to Matched by Ally Condie (a dystopia world) and Legend by Marie Lu (there is a new Republic western America is fighting for its survival against its neighbors). Not only series, but also books like Triple Moon by Melissa de la Cruz, in which two twins are witches, or The Rose Society by Marie Lu, that shows Adelina overwhelms by her own superpowers. As far as Random House goes, there are Silver Eve by Sandra Waugh, Dark Shimmer by Donna Jo Napoli and Rogue by Mark Frost. They all involved a teenager as the main character, and they all take place in a somehow different world than our regular earth.

The other major trend I see is books in the same vein of Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell. They are stories about teens looking for themselves, and who try to understand the world around them. They often touch subjects like love, self-confidence, responsibilities, friendship, etc. Everything a teenager faces before becoming an adult. Random just published Drowning is Inevitable by Shalanda Stanley. It is the story of a young girl who lost her mother and other horrible circumstances bring her and her friends on the road to New Orleans. Random also published Wonders of the Invisible World by Christopher Barzak about a 17 years old boy who starts to develop feelings for his old friend who just came back in the farming community. Penguin also has its lot of books from this second trend. The Boy Most likely To by Huntley Fitzpatrick. When they should not like each other, Tim and Alice fall in love. But we don’t always do what we are “suppose” to do. Juniors by Kaui Hart Hemmings is about a junior high school girl who keep moving around because her actress mother. But she is tired to always be the new girl. She finally finds a friendship and love, but her new friends are different and she has to decide how much she is willing to change in order to fit in their world.

The second trend is more classic, more traditional teen subjects. But today books have something than the old ones. They sound more authentic. I think, writers do not try anymore to preach to the teenagers, but just to connect with them. To me, the first trend is a direct descendant of the success of Harry Potter ten years ago. It opened the door to a new, and in a way less childish, Y.A. genre.

W7A3 – Teen Blogs

I choose Forever Young Adult and Teenreads because, contrary to the majority of the other blogs, they are not personal blogs written by teen authors, but blogs about teen books in general.

Forever Young Adult

Right away, I went to check out the Book Club section, and it was worth it. It is very well made. Easy formula: one book a month. This September selection is Belzhar by Meg Wolitzer. Precisely, the writer who wrote one of the two articles I just commented on. Then you just have to find the closest book club gathering from your home. They are in 43 states, and more than 11 others countries on 3 others continents. If there is nothing near you, they encourage you to create your own club and to invite your nearby friends. The section is just easy to use and explore. It inspires teen participation and based on the numbers of clubs, it is successful. Another big section of the blog is Book Reports. Book Report is an analysis of a book, from the characters to the setting and the writing style. Always written with a sense of humor, full of fun facts, those reports are written for teens but not necessary by teens.

There is a lot of others categories, which are mostly used to inform and share news about YA or teens. Those sections included Cheers! (Just another excuse for you to get your drink on), Home EC (Get crafty), Hotsy Totsy! (Breaking news and scandalous gossip), In the girls’ bathroom (Where shizz gets real), and so on. They have a funny LEXICON section to understand not only Y.A. books but the teens themselves. I was surprised to see a store section on the blog. Or maybe I am just naïve, after all they have to make their money somehow. Finally, Forever Young Adult is also present on a ton of other medium and apps (like Facebook, twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Goodreads, YouTube, etc.) The teens are everywhere on the web at the same time, I guess to attract them you also need to be everywhere.

The website is definitely written for Y.A. by Y.A. fans. However, those Y.A. fans are not that young anymore, and something it does feel like they are trying a little bit too hard to be young and hip.

Teenreads

Teenreads is a different blog, but as good as Forever Young Adult. One thing I noticed right away is the design of the blog, it looks more … mature. What I mean is there are less catchy pictures with young persons on them, the colors are also less flashy, there is more text and the design as a whole is just more neutral. Basically, Teenreads does not try to look cool and hip, they focus on information and easy use, and it works. One other sign of more neutral territory, Teenreads is only present of three other medium (Facebook, Twitter and YouTube) compared to dozen others with Forever Young Adult.

Instead of Book Reports, Teenreads has book reviews (again that sounds little bit less a high-school term than book report). Not all the book reviews are of the same quality, but most of them included discussions questions, reading guide and critical praise. Authors interviews, blogs and others news features complete the website. I particularly like the Ultimate Reading List section, which consisted of only one, like the name suggests, ultimate list of 20 or so pages with all the books a teen should read. Another neat section is called Coming Soon, where one can know and see the upcoming books for next month. Finally Teen Board is the great opportunity for teens on the website. Every year 30 teens become Teen Boards. They write book reviews and blog posts for the website. In a way, they are the life behind the website, and the connection between the owner/manager and the Y.A. community. Contrary to Forever Young Adult, I feel there is a good mix between teens and adult in the management of the website. In fact, because most of the posts are written by teens, it feels more authentic.

W7A2 - 2 articles

I choose the two most recent articles, one published in the New York Times and one in the Publisher Weekly.

A Not-so-Young Audience for Young Adult books by Meg Wolitzer starts with an observation. While teenagers are not interested by middle-aged problems and books, more and more adults read Young Adult literature. She refers to an article by critic Ruth Graham that states that young adult books are too simple for adults. They are written for teenagers, and adults should concentrate their little time on reading grown-up books. Wolitzer does not want to convict Graham, but she wants to explain why she disagreed with her. Firstly, Y.A. is so vast, it is almost impossible to dismiss, or to settle, the whole genre all together. What draw Wolitzer to Y.A. books, and even to a Y.A. book club for adults, is the quest for a particular feeling. Of course, nostalgia is part of it, but also the feeling of a respectful and authentic youth experience.

As a grown-up, she read Y.A. to reconnect to her teenager self, but always viewed from her present and mature self. Adults remind adults even when they read Y.A. It is not a quest for lost youth, but to be immersed in the good and not so good experiences of young characters. Just like any other books, the goal is to forget everything else in our life and to focus on one thing only: a fascinating story, Y.A. or not.

New Adult: Needless Marketing-Speak or Valued Subgenre? by Rachel Deahl has to do with a new genre publishers started to use: New Adult. Created in 2009 by the employees of St. Martin’s Press, New Adult is mostly a marketing tool. After the success of Y.A. books the last decade, publishers did not want to lose their young readers once they became adult. Young Adult is an intermediate category about adulthood. Nobody reinvented the wheel, those books about the beginning of adulthood always existed; they are just put into a new category for marketing purposes. The millions of teens who bought Hunger Games and Twilight and Harry Potter often discovered reading with those popular series. Editors want to keep offering books they will like, but as the readers grow up the books need to be a little bit more mature.

The only problem is while editors and publishers use this new category, it did not catch on with the retailers. Bookstores are reticent to use it, and are basically waiting to see if the category name will spread around. The tool can be useful among the industry people, but it does not yet mean anything for regular folks. More and more books are crossing the genres and the group ages, maybe New Adult is just the beginning of new hybrid genres.

What to Read Next

The flowchart is titled “What to Read Next” and it starts with one book: Hunger Games. The first suggestions are other very popular books similar to Hunger Games. Then it goes with books in the same vein, but newer instead of popular. Next, it presents survival and apocalypse books after an environmental disaster instead of total war. Then, more dystopia books with people fighting an authoritarian government, and more books with other forms of social control, or a touch of science-fiction. After, more books with a dose of paranormal, or fantasy. And finally there is some classics.

Starting with a one book (Hunger Games), the flowchart shows how many different books (more than 55 titles) one can suggest by staying with the same storyline (a dystopia plot) but changing a little bit the other factor appeals.

Mash-ups of subgenres

 

 

My first thought is about Edgar Allen Poe. Most Poe’s tales can be classified as Mystery because people are killed, or something disappears, etc, but there is definitely something else in his books. Something gore and strange. I will put Poe's works into Mystery- Horror psychological. There is no supernatural in Poe’s books, but there is dark side of human psyche and unexplainable phenomenon. Basically, humans are so complex and dangerous as if, Poe does not need aliens and paranormal stuff to make his stories full of horrors and bizarreness. But at the same time, detective Dupont is often looking for the clues criminals left behind, just like in a mystery.

 

My second idea is The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. This book is a science-fiction book. It happens in the future and the main characters travel around the galaxy in a story full of adventures and technology. But at the same time, the book is extremely funny and close to home. Not a lot of science-fiction can say the same. In a way, the book really talks about our society and our culture, from a philosophical point of view. This is why I would put this book between Science-Fiction and Realistic Fiction – literary. The latter genre usually aspires to be universal and to a greater truth, and I think this is what Douglas in trying to do through parody and humor.

Third Subgenre

Third Subgenre

Thriller – Medical

Like the Romance-Paranormal, thriller-medical is very popular among TV shows, Dr. House being a perfect example. Medical is a subgenre of thriller. And like any thriller, it usually incorporate fast-paced action, suspense, details-oriented and likeable characters. It can included dark and violent situations, sometimes extremely vivid and realist. The medical subgenre specificity is mostly the setting of the thriller. Also the languages can vary. Thrillers are often full of details, but with the medical subgenre language can be technic and specialist to the medical field. To my knowledge, medical thriller are also realistic, they are at least plausible.

Examples:

 

 

Coma by Robin Cook

Almost any books by Robin Cook could fit in this genre. In fact, coma is often considered to be the first one of the genre. When numerous patients inexplicitly go into comas after minor operations, third year medical student Susan Wheeler try to find an answer to those cases. It becomes clear that somebody is behind for those comas, but how and why a person would do that. Susan will find out.

 

The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton

Like Robin Cook, Michael Crichton is also a physician turned writer. Better known for Jurassic Park, Crichton wrote and created the television show ER as well. In this book. Crichton mixed medical thriller with science fiction when a satellite accidently falls back on earth and people around the crash site started to die from a mysterious sickness. The government was already warmed that the sterilization procedures was not adequate for space contamination, and now it’s almost too late.

 

Bloodstream by Tess Gerritsen

After the death of her husband, Dr. Claire Elliot moved with her son in a small town in Maine. Once winter settled in, the teenagers of the village started to act strangely, even violently. Upon investigating. Claire discovered this is not the first time that the village’s teenagers began to act on their violent impulsions, it happened exactly 50 years ago. Claire is convinced to find a biologic reason beyond it. Maybe the lake has something to do with it? Or maybe people are involved as well?

Second Subgenre

Second Subgenre

Romance – Paranormal

Of all Romance subgenres, paranormal looked the most odd and curious to me. But after I thought of it, I realized that some popular television series can fit right into this category. One can think of True Blood for example, in which vampire, human and sex are not only interwoven but they are the selling points. The factors appeals are very similar to romance in general; a passionate story line with an erotic and amorous language and tone. The setting and characters can be a little bit different for the paranormal subgenre, with an accent on supernatural beings and mysterious setting. Romance in general is not known for having unexpected and shocking plot, the reader usually knows where the story is going. The paranormal subgenre has the possibility to have a touch of surprising element within the story, it’s easier when supernatural element can appear at any moment during the book.

Examples:

 

 

  Siren’s Call by Jayne Castle

In a different world, the Island of Rainshadow is full of secrets and dangers. Rafe is hired to make the island safe again, before strange creatures started to lure human and kill them. To do so, he asked his old flame, a singer and a siren, to help him out. Working together can reactivate old feelings and desires, especially among dangers and mysteries.

 

Flight from death by Yasmine Galenorn

A blue dragon is exiled from her land and forced to work for a paranormal extermination and investigation agency. Not only she has to acclimate to human culture, but she has the hot for the owner. When a new patron call for help, many wishes and wants will be set free.

 

Bad Wolf by Jennifer Ashley

Broderick, a wolf shifter, has a busy schedule, and on top of that he is taking care of his three younger brothers. Meanwhile, he tries to impress a female human, Joanne. They cannot be more opposite. While Broderick is a fighter and like manual jobs, Joanne is shy and a computer programmer. Despite they differences, they are draw together and when Broderick is in trouble, Jeanne will use her skills to save him.

First Subgenre

First Subgenre

Adventures – High Seas

Adventures is already a subgenre of realistic fiction. High Seas is thus a sub-subgenre. The genre usually involves sailor’s life, naval rules and hierarchy, violence like wars between nations or piracy, treasures, adventures around the world, etc. The Prezi graph points out that the Napoleonic Wars are a popular setting for the High Seas genre, but it’s certainly not set in stone. The pacing could change significantly, just like the life at sea. It’s could be all quiet, which often give the author a chance to explain naval life and its specificities, or it could be a torrent of adventures one after an another. There is often one main character and around him/her a panoply of secondary characters, often presenting some sort of peculiarities. Language could also greatly vary. It can go from technical naval terms to vulgar sailor dialogue, and everything in between. Like the pace, the tone varies between exciting and detail-oriented. But most of the time there is a suspense because adventures can come and characters can do an about-face at any moment.

Example:

The Dark Frigate by Charles Boardman

A young orphan, Philip, left London in a hurry to escape death. He signs on with a boat leaving for the English Colony of Newfoundland. At sea, pirates seize the boat and force our hero to participate to their violent expeditions. Against his will, Philip is now a pirate and must deal with the consequences.

 

Typee: A Peep at Polynesian Life by Hermann Melville

Moby Dick would have been a good example, but Typee is less known. Also Typee include something else about the High-Seas Adventures genre: the crash of civilization. The nineteenth century was the age of the Pacific Ocean discovery and colonization. Melville went there as a young man and discovered the Polynesian simple and happy way of life. The cultural differences led to a series of reflection on good and evil, on nature and culture, on sexuality and frigidity. Typee explains very well this anthropological aspect of the genre.

 

The Caine Mutiny by Herman Wouk

Set during WWII, The Caine Mutiny describes the (not-violent) mutiny abroad a destroyer during a horrible storm. Still at sea, the martial-court that follow occupies most of the plot of the book. Instead of pirates and adventures, this book focuses on the ethical dilemma that occur when a group of people live and work inside a small nut of wood in the middle of the ocean. Basically, things are not always the same at sea than on land.

Fiction Genres Prezi Graph

The Fiction Genres and Subgenres Prezi graph is very useful. I like the description for each subgenre and the book covers used as example. However, I ended up printing the Prezi graph as a list because it was hard, and to be honest a little bit nauseous, to switch between genres. I feel Prezi is better for narrative presentation, when someone has a story to tell from point A to point Z. The zoom in and zoom out start to make you dizzy if you don’t go anywhere with it and just play around.

Science-Fiction appeal factors (W6A1)

The last 5 weeks, I read reviews and interviews about science-fiction books and authors. In many ways, science-fiction as a genre is so vast, I still feel like a novice. However, the genre is not as opaque as it used to be. I discovered that even if storyline and characters are often set in the future or in a different world, their psychology is deeply human. What I mean is the actions can take place 5000 year from now and the characters can be half-human, or not human at all, they still often show human quality; like putting their own children before society, not only survival but striving, looking for love and meaning, etc. In a way, we still have to understand them and their motives. More often than not, the characters are complex and the plots detailed. Also, the setting is very important, most of the times the world in which the plot take place does not exist here on earth, but it is coherent and possible in his own way. The same is true about the language, language can be very realist, although invented. Tone and pacing can vary greatly. If there is a lot of action, the pace usually gets faster, but it can also have a gentler pace. Also, the tone can change from dark to optimist. Learning is also important appeal factor for science-fiction genre. Not learning about our world, but about other worlds. Because science-fiction is rich of details, people are curious about different ways of living, politics and cultures.

Science-fiction is not going anywhere. To the contrary, it is more and more popular and everywhere, from TV to movies and books. If someone ask me to describe science-fiction in few words, I would say is the mix of human imagination and science.

W5A3 - Infinite Home by Kathleen Alcott

Infinite Home by Kathleen Alcott is the story of a building in Brooklyn. An aging and widowed landlady, Edith, is slowly losing contact with reality, her mind is simply giving up. The tenants, a bunch of beautiful losers are fighting their eviction against her money-oriented son. The characters might be socially, emotionally or intellectually maladjusted, but they are deeply human. After all, their quest for home contains most human needs; love, security, significance, friendship, etc. More than a meticulous plot, Infinite Home mostly reveals a set of touching and authentic characters. The tone is kind and calming, like a daily routine in an uncomplicated life. Alcott’s writing was described as dreamy, but so are her characters.

This book would attract readers who like personal and touching stories, in which characters and their relationship are at the center. The setting of the book remains me of Life a user’s manual by George Perec, in which Perec described the inhabitants of a Parisian building. But while Perec tries to add layers over layers of intertwined stories, Alcott stays simple and on the human experience level. With that in mind, Alcott’s book is closer to Among the ten thousand things by Julia Pierpont, a story about family bonds and its resilience in face of adversity. Or Up in the Old Hotel by Joseph Mitchell. Mitchell’s stories are nonfiction, but they portrayed delightfully the life of the has-beens, the cranks and the misfits of NYC.

EarlyWord

To begin with, I did not know anything about EarlyWord. Now, barely two weeks after I start using it, I can say it is certainly one of the most valuable resources I discover yet with this training, the other one being Publishers Weekly. First, I signed-up for the weekly newsletter. For the last two Friday, I received the EarlyWord newsletter and at a glance, I can learn about the main events and news from the publisher world. So far, my favorite section is “Ready for Next week” about the most expecting titles in all genres. The format is simple and effective. By clicking on the title, you are redirecting on the Edelweiss website, a cross-publisher catalog service, where you can find anything you need about the author, publisher and press releases. Also on “Ready for Next week”, you can read reviews from different websites and form a pretty good idea about the book.

As a librarian, I wanted to find out who created and keep the website alive. The source of the information is as important as the content, no!!! Well, I could not be more surprised. The founder and editor is Nora Rawlinson. Few clicks later, I realized she used to be the head of collection development here at BCPL from 1979 to 1988 under the directorship of Charles Robinson. She even published the well-known article “Give ‘Em What They Want” (click here to read the article) in reference to the new collection philosophy of those years. Incidentally, we are also using that same title for our new strategic plan X. After a stint as editor for the Library Journal and 12 years as head of Publishers Weekly (two very good sources of library information), she started her own website, EarlyWord.

On the website itself, there is many useful resources. For my previous post, I focused on science-fiction websites and found out that Locus was perhaps the best of them. Because EarlyWord does not limit itself to one genre and has so much resources, it is a very excellent one-stop shop for any questions about reader advisory. In fact the subtitle of the website is News for Collection Development and Readers Advisory Librarians. It included a ton of lists: list of awards, list of Best-Sellers, list of Book Coverage and media attention, list of Movies & TV based on Books, list of Publishers’ Catalogs, etc. I also like the left hand sidebar called Categories. Each article from the archives can be found by date, by also by categories or genres. This option just simplifies the search and make us discover new articles about new topic.

I will definitely keep reading the EarlyWord newsletters, because they are a good and short summarizes of the publishing world news. It is not a website to use on the spot with a customer, like Novelist or Book Seer are (if you like that you would also like this), but EarlyWord keep us inform and up-to-date with the actuality.

W5A1

Since Week 1, I have been following three science fiction web sites: SF Site, Locus Online and Tor - Affliction.

SF Site:

This site used to be a major reference for the science-fiction genre. Twice a month, news, interviews, reviews and fiction excerpts were posted on the website. Unfortunately, in December 2013, it stopped being updated regularly, due to the lack of funding and the decline of advertising revenue. Now, it remains on artificial life, the website is still up with its archive, but new links and news will seldom be posted. Nowadays, the main feature is precisely its archives: more than 100 interviews with science fiction writers, a list of authors with biography and bibliography, topics and awards lists and book reviews going back to 1999. For those reasons, SF Site is not the best site to access new trends and books in the science fiction world, but it is a good reference site to get familiarize with the big names and stars of science-fiction literature.

The main founder of the SF Site, John O’Neil, ended up starting a different webzine: Black Gate. In the same vein of SF Site, Black Gate focuses on fantasy literature instead of science fiction.

Tor – Affliction:

Contrary to SF Site, Tor is alive and well. Tor- Affliction basically consists of monthly releases by Suzanne Johnson. Every month, she posts lists of the newest publications in Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy, Genre-Benders, Science-Fiction and Fantasy genres. Little bit like our own BCPL Collection Blog but more specialized, we can learn the latest news in science-fiction in a single page, she even divided the list in 4 weeks so we know what to weekly expect. I really like this format. It’s fast and easy. One can find the book title, its author and a small summary; just enough to know about it, without being too much particular. She usually put the cover of the four most anticipated books, but I would like to see the other covers as well. Or maybe I am just used to the Collection Blog approach. Because Tor – Affliction focuses on the upcoming books, I feel it is more geared toward professional and diehard fans.

Tor also offers numerous other functions. One can learn about the latest book in a series (God knows science-fiction had countless series; one book is never enough to describe a new imaginary world). The forum section is very active. And the site is full of creative writing. There is a section of excerpts from published books, most of the time the first chapter is available to give us a taste of the book. There is also a fiction section where one can find original short stories, novellas and non-fiction texts. Tor is thus more than a book reviews website, it’s a hub where science fiction fans can exchange ideas, books, and texts.

Locus Online:

Locus Online is definitely the best of the three websites. It just has everything one can ask about science-fiction literature. In a way, it is a little bit like the SF Site and the Tor combine together. It includes news, upcoming releases, books, TVs and movies reviews, editorials and resources like bestsellers and awards lists or links toward more science-fiction websites. It even has an obituary section!!! Active since 1997, the website is a “semi-autonomous” version of the print magazine Locus, which has been around since 1968. They even award a 15 Locus awards every year. The website is easy to use and not too cramped (for some reasons, science-fiction website are often text heavy). Locus is good for upcoming books and for reference about science-fiction. There is so much information that it took me a while to be familiarize with the website and know how to move around. The website is helpful for the science-fiction novices, like myself, as well as experts in the field. 

To Danielle about Wild by Cheryl Strayed

I never read Wild by Cheryl Strayed, but I heard a lot about it. The story is one of self-discovery where the details are omnipresent. When the main character is walking by herself along the pacific coast, not a lot of exterior incitements happen, everything comes from memory or current feelings. Still, the outside world is often portrait as hostile and a place where one needs to survive until inner peace is found. Those characteristics remind me of books like Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer or The Alchemist by Pablo Coelho. The former is also a sort of a memoir in which the main character left the work rat race behind to be closer to nature and himself. The latter is the story of a shepherd’s quest to find a treasure he had dream about. Again, the physical journey reflect the inner journey. On a different level, Orange is the new black by Piper Kerman corresponds to the same appeal factors. It’s a memoir, and the main character tries to find herself within a lonely and something dangerous environment. Same journey, same character.

To Jane about 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff

I really enjoyed this book as well. I found it witty and clever. The storyline is almost missing, the New-Yorker Helene Hanff wants more book from the Londoner bookseller Frank Noel. But the characters are very charming and one can easier see the affection developing between those two. Being an epistolary book, the tone is familiar, or rather it became familiar along with their friendship. I would recommend you the Persian Letters by Montesquieu. A Persian living in 17^th century Paris is sending letters back home. Those missives are full of culture clash and make us rethink certain westerner habits. It’s a fresh look on ourselves. In the same vein of epistolary literature, The dangerous liaisons by de Laclos is also set in 17^th century France. It narrates the love triangle between members of the aristocracy. Contrary to 84, Charing Cross Road, both novels are fiction, but like 84, Charing Cross Road, they are funny, witty and characters based. 

Goodreads

I did open a Goodreads account few years ago, but I never did anything with it. I may have looked at it maybe twice in two years. So this time, I started by updating my information, added all my colleagues from Be More Bookish as friends (at least the one I could find), and rated books. I started with Letters from a Stoic by Seneca (I did not look for it, it was there in front of me on the screen), then it directed me toward more philosophy books, up to the Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig. After this title, the suggestions moved in the direction of classic titles, and once I liked Night by Elie Wiesel, it displayed Maus by Art Spiegelman and other graphic novels. Consequently, I created three bookshelves to contain the books I rated: philosophy, classics and graphic novels.

I explored Goodreads and its features for an hour or so. The Listopia option is fun and easy to use. There is a great variety of lists to look at. Some are straightforward genre lists (Best Young Adult Books), others are more silly or comic (What Book Would You Like To Live In? or The Most Begun “Read but Unfinished” Books Ever), while others are just peculiar (ooks I Think I Read But Have No Recollection Of or TV Readings). I think the Listopia can be a good tool for reader advisory with customers. Personally, I like more the interactive and community side of Goodreads. One can see what a friend had read, but also the reverse. If I discover a book, I can immediately see if a friend of mine had commented on it. Those functions invite conversations and exchanges.

I did have a hard time to judge a book with the stars system –what is the real difference between a three and a four star? I often like one aspect of a book and not so much a different side of it. I just always had difficulty to judge something as a whole. I can say what characteristic I like or dislike about something, but to assign a grade for the whole is a different story. As far as Goodreads recommendations go, the titles were … predictable. More philosophy books for my philosophy bookshelf, more graphic novels for my graphic novels bookshelf and more classics for my classic bookshelf. Maybe my selves were simply too clear-cut and limited. I did only rate two dozen books very similar to one another after all, but the suggestions look more like genre lists. Of course, I also know Goodreads uses algorithms, still I was surprised by the lack of originality and imagination of the recommendations. Though, I really like the “Readers Also Read” section, it reminds me of the “Customer Who Bought This Item Also Bough” by Amazon. I think those recommendations are more based on a personal taste (like the appeals factors) than on the books genre. It’s not because you like mystery that you want to read mystery all the time. It’s more about the characteristic appeals, like well-drawn characters, fast read, good setting for example.

Recommendation

Since I am going to the Books of the Beast in October, I decided to read The Fair Garden and The swarm of Beasts – The Library and the Young Adult by Margaret A. Edwards, a librarian at Pratt Library for more than 30 years. She basically created one of the first Young Adult Department in the country. Even if the book is a very bit old, it was first published in 1969, Edwards gives excellent tricks to approach young readers and how to make them comfortable in a library setting. It is a good book to learn all the soft skills related to reader advisory.

Readers' Services Conversation

W3A1

Straight off the bat, Wyatt talks about the roving model, where librarians approach and help customers where they are, usually in the stacks. If it sounds familiar it’s because it is also our BCPL model.

I like the idea that RA is just a conversation between two readers, even if one of them is working as a librarian. It is still a dialogue about book and a desire to share what one did like about it. Also, based on my experience, the 15 seconds rule to sell a book to a reader is true. Formerly I was trying to explain the nuances of the book, its merits and weaknesses. But I soon realized, people rapidly lost interest, they just want a short resume and know pretty fast if they want to give a book a chance or not.

For me, approaching the readers is the most delicate step of RA. Some customers do not want to be bother, some are too shy to ask for help, or too proud, etc. I always try to be tactful and make my presence visible. When someone ignores me on purpose, I know s/he does not want to be disturbed. Otherwise, as soon as I made eyes contact I offer my assistance and my help. Like Wyatt points out, once the reader is engaged listening is the key to offer good RA. I listen for the clues the reader says when s/he describes a book, and I integrated them to the appeal factors.

W3A2

Four novels (A Gay and Melancholy Sound by Merle Miller, Treasure Island!!! By Sara Levine, Lost by Michael Robotham and Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain) in a little bit more than 7 minutes, that is less than 2 minutes for each book. Nancy Pearl only gave a brief and vague idea of the plot, but focus her time on the setting, characters and theme of the books. By being vague about the plots, she teases us and we are intrigued to go read the book. Basically, she gave us just enough to know if we are interested or not by the book, without spoiling the plot for the future readers.

W3A3

Conversation 1

This customer seems to like popular books (what everyone is reading, Oprah books). Even if Eat, Pray, Love is a non-fiction, she still enjoys the inner world or struggles of the main character, so I think she would also like novel with the same stream of consciousness technic. Furthermore, she is looking for something entertaining, but with some thought about the life, love and death. The first book that came in my mind is Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer. The story of a young man who left everything in search of something authentic and genius. On the fiction side, I was thinking about Catching in the Rye by J.D. Salinger or Life of Pie by Yann Martel. Both books are full of insights about life and the responsibilities of the adult world, without falling into specialized vocabulary, like Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance does at times for example.

Conversation 2

Only two criteria: a vampire novel and not Twilight. An easy answer would be the Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice, the first volume is Interview with the Vampire and was made famous by the movie with Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise. It’s written well and the story does not fall into a kitsch love story. Of course, this is just one example, and a quick search will find hundreds of vampire novels. They are quite popular nowadays.

Conversation 3

Based on his comments, this customer likes true stories, adventures and presidential biographies. An easy suggestion would be the first book by Candice Millard, the author of the River of Doubt. Destiny of Republic is the story of James Garfield, the 20^th President of the United States. From a poor childhood in Ohio to the Oval Office, the book narrates the phenomenal rise of a born politician. In the same vein, I was also thinking of Devil in the White City by Erik Larson. A true story set during the Chicago World Fair of 1893. Larson links the story of Daniel Burnham, the famous architect of the Flatiron Building in NYC and the Grand Basin of the Chicago Fair, and Herman Mudgett, the first serial murderer of modern time. Or maybe Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt about the events leading to the murder of a young man by a famous socialite of Savannah. Or maybe Cold Blood by Truman Capote. The last three books are unbelievable true stories full of details and historical facts.

Appeal Factors

Three book reviews and three ways of working with the appeal factors: this is pretty straightforward, I will use a different method for each book review.

In the name of the Rose by Umberto Eco and the Continuum Method

The first method is the continuum in which each reader responds differently to each of the eight appeal factors (pacing, characterization, story line, language, setting, detail, tone and learning/experiencing). It goes from total indifference to great influence on the reading experience.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I like to learn when I read. And In the Name of the Rose is a perfect example of historical fiction that teaches you a lot of facts and details about the period and the setting, here 14^th century Northern Italy. In that regard, the learning/experiencing of this novel is very close to a non-fiction book. The details are omnipresent. Not only the medieval way of life and mentality, but also about the story. The storyline concerns a series of mysterious murders in a Benedictine monastery. As a detective thriller, In the Name of the Rose has a fast pace and is a page turner, despite the theological arguments and the erudite language of certain passages. The tone is rather naive and inquisitive because the narrator is a young novice monk, new to the area and the priesthood, as most readers themselves are. Most of the characters are ambiguous, and their motives are hidden from the readers. Until the end, when the masks and lies are unveiled by the main protagonist/detective to all, including the readers.

Under the Volcano by Malcolm Lowry and Saricks Method

The Saricks Method is based on genres and identifies four of them: Adrenaline (Thrillers, Adventures, Suspense, Romantic Suspense), Intellect (Science-Fiction, Literary Fiction, Mysteries, Psychological Suspense), Emotion (Romance, Horror, Gentle Reads, Chick Lit, Women’s Lives) and Landscape (Westerns, Fantasy, Historical).

Under the Volcano is a good example of a literacy fiction. Lowry is often describes as a writer’s writer. The book is even on the list of the best 100 novels English language of the 20^th century by the Modern Library. The story takes place in a single day, the Day of the Dead in a small Mexican town called Quauhnachuac. The main character is an alcoholic consul from the UK looking for his next drink. During that day, the reader learns about lost love and ambition, difficult relationships and hiding truths, boredom and violence, and more literary themes.

According to the Saricks Method, readers who like Under the Volcano will also like Science-Fiction, Mysteries and Psychological Suspense. All those genres focus on language and characters. So readers who value those two appeal factors will like Under the Volcano. Lowry uses beautiful and meaningful language, each of his words was cautiously decided and contains many level of meanings and significances. So far for the characters, their inner world is as rich as complex. At times it seems the characters discover their deep motivations and desires at the same time as the reader.

Maus by Art Spiegelman and the Doorway Method

Personally, I feel the doorway method is the easier way to work with appeal factors. Like Neal Wyatt wrote, most readers already use the four doorways (story, setting, character and language) to describe books and movies. However, Neal also wrote that the two most influential appeal factors on the readers are the pacing and the tone. So I will use them as well.

Maus was published by in Art Spiegelman between 1980 and 1991 in Raw, a small carton magazine. It is a true story about the author’s Jewish family during WWII. In a way, it is a historical fiction written as a graphic novel, one of the first graphic novels to reach the general public. As a holocaust fiction, it can be compared to Night by Elie Wiesel or If this is a man by Primo Levi. The setting is Europe, mainly Poland, under Nazi occupation and how the civil population, Jewish and not, tries to survive. The tone is dark as the subject, but still lighter than Wiesel or Levi by the utilization of drawings and the illustrations of daily situations. Also the characters are portrayed as animals rather than human. This allegory creates a aloofness between the reader and the story, which made the tone of the book almost comical. Thus, the Jewish people are represented as mice, the German people as cats, the French people as frogs, the Polish people as pigs, etc. As a graphic novel, the pace is determined by the reader. One can read the dialogue very fast without paying too much attention to the drawings, while the other can examines each square for each detail. Finally, the language is very much alive, being mostly dialogue, but visual as well.

Week 1 Assignment 5

Very astute answers.

My favorite one is The Catcher in the Rye, the book “does not really have a story.”

I have to say, the kids who wrote about The Great Gatsby and To kill a Mockingbird have quite a imagination. 

Week 1 Assignment 4

For the Recommended Links – Books, I choose Goodreads. I just happen to have opened a Goodreads account (I know, I know, I am a few years late) and I feel I should already be familiar with the website and what it has to offer.

I had a hard time choosing the Recommended Links – Genre. Only because I am not familiar with any of the four options (mystery, SF, Urban or Romance). I read a lot of non-fiction (history, memoirs and essays), and I even like my novels to be set in a real place and time. To me, reading is a way to understand reality, not to escape from it. This is why I finally settle on the opposite of reality, something I would never read on my own: Science-Fiction/Fantasy.

Week 1 Assignment 3

I feel Reader Advisory is like swimming, you can read about it as much as you want, you will never really know it till you do it. However, the twelve RA golden rules are a good framework to start.

The first three rules (read, write and prepare) are common sense. More you read, write and prepare, easier it will be. A broad knowledge about books and DVDs is a good start, but the art of RA is the way to apply this expertise in specific situations.

Rule 10 (keep current) and rule 12 (pass it on) also concern training. RA is a never ending skill, and one has to keep learning about new trends. And there is no better and easier way than exchanging with colleagues. We all have our specialties and tastes, why not sharing them. Like Lincoln would say, one can have all the answers some of the time, and some of the answers all the time, but one cannot have all the answers all the time. A whole team of librarians might, though.

Rule 5 and 6 (don’t pigeonhole the readers and the books) are the most important to me. Everybody is different, and will react differently to the same book. Books, like people, cannot be reduced to a single category. The best thing about books is to be surprised, to discover an excellent book when you only open it “to see”.

I put rule 4 (attitude) and rule 11 (enjoy yourself) together. I always try to the customer at ease, not to be too serious or to have definitive answers. I want to make the customer try new books and AV’s, not to impose them on her or him.

Finally, rules 7 (it’s not personal), 8 (no perfect answer), 9 (invite back the customer) show how RA is not a science. It’s not because I love a book than a specific customer will like it as well. It’s not about my taste, but the books themselves. The only way to find out if a customer likes something is to give it a try. If s/he likes it, good, if not, stop reading, bring it back to the library and try something else. 

Week 1 Assignment 1 &2

While I scored 70% in the adult section, I only found 50% of the titles in the children section. Children books are certainly my weakness. I blame it on my non-American childhood, but also on the fact that as a kid I was more interested by “grown up” books than children’s. It’s certainly something I can work on. Still, I am surprised to have beat the average (39%) for the children section.

For the second assignment, I only missed one out of twelve (the Hard SF). Obviously, I am good to judge a book by its cover. In a way, it’s supposed to be easy, publishers want the customer to be able to know immediately what kind of book they are buying. I don’t take too much credit on this one.