Week 9: Assignment 3

It was useful to consider how nonfiction might be folded into an encounter that starts off about fiction advisory.

My continuing frustrations with advisory were not addressed, namely how to deal with the customer who has read everything, with the customer who is too impatient or rushed to be introduced to tools for finding books, and with the customer who knows so little about what he is looking for that it results in a stupidly broad list of suggestions, none of which are satisfactory for inexpressible reasons. When the process works, it is a beautiful thing, but some days are just frustrating.

Another big issue of mine is how much time to spend prepping for advisory queries that never come. I've gotten exactly two questions about westerns, for example, and they were both so general that they were easily answerable without deep knowledge of the genre. Urban fiction is popular at Towson, but I've never gotten a query about it much beyond where to find a particular author. Given those experiences, my inclination is to spend much more time with children's fiction than westerns and urban fiction combined.

This program also did some damage to my TBR pile.

Week 9: Assignments 1 and 2

My biggest question about book trailers is how people find them, i. e. what the marketing strategy is. If you already know about--and think to go to--the author or publisher's website or YouTube channel, fine. How do trailers find people who don't know about them or who don't follow the publishing industry? Your Facebook friend might Like a trailer, but that seems way too chancy. A library system posting trailers is preaching to the choir. What are the cost-benefit analyses? Whether a trailer consists of a few sentences from the blurb fading in over a generic landscape with generic music in the background or a teensy full-production movie, it seems like a solution looking for an audience. Movie tie-ins seem to be a better hook for customers than book trailers.

Useful for readers' advisory? For a visually-oriented customer, perhaps, but given that it takes to find and watch them, the moment may be lost.

Week 8: Assignment 4

The Cleveland kidnappings books should appeal to those who like to read thrillers and police procedurals as well as those who read the grimmer sort of crime novels. The real-life component ramps up the reader's involvement. Some of these books have been described as "compulsively readable," indicating a quick pace, and the observations of the captives of their captor give insight into his mind. The rescue of the women brings the same relief that a fictional happy ending does.

Working Stiff by Judy Melinek should appeal to those who read detail-rich, character-oriented fiction set in hospitals and morgues. The combination of grim reality and the author's sense of humor balance nicely, making a potentially gruesome subject less onerous and contradicting the gloss of television shows such as CSI.

Week 8: Assignment 3

Disaster/Survival
tornadoes 550s
The Mercy of the Sky by Holly Bailey


Crime (360s)
Cleveland kidnappings, e. g. Hope by Amanda Berry


Science (500s)
Wild Trees by Richard Preston


Medical (610s)
Working Stiff by Judy Melinek

Week 8: Assignment 2

I don't recall anything about mixing fiction and nonfiction in readers' advisory from library school. This was a good presentation that briskly laid out the merits of including nonfiction in advisory encounters.

Week 8: Assignment 1

The concept of narrative nonfiction is relatively new to me even though I've read nonfiction extensively for years; it's just been more along the lines of poetry, essays, and instructional books for cooking, exercise, and hobbies. Thank you, Genre Boot Camp, for a deeper look at nonfiction than I'd managed on my own.

Wek 7: Assignment 4

I saw a lot of fantasy at Little Brown (much of it shading into horror) and at Random House. Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction seem to be going strong. Harper showcased realistic settings. It was disappointing that Random House offers separate lists for girls and guys. Of course I can't put my hands on it now, but there was a recent article about how if you take gender (including obscuring any gendered cover material) out of the book talk kids will respond with equal enthusiasm.

Week 7: Assignment 3

I was impressed with the post on Shannon Hale's blog about the genre-neutral book talks and the reaction the revelation of the "gendered" sparked. I expect more buy-in to the "girl" vs "boy" books at a much younger age, but the narrow-mindedness of parents of older children was astonishing.

Yay for the posts about the development of Shadowhunt on Cassandra Clare's blog. Assuming you're already following her, they would seem to increase the anticipation for the next book. If you're not already following her, it seems like a waste of time and effort, rather like the book tour that forever takes away from writing the next book.

Week 7: Assignment 2

While I see the reasoning behind Young Adult/Teen as a category, I'm not going to spend a lot of thought on New Adult and whether it should further segment a library's collection. I can see the phenomenon of adults reading Teen fiction as either a passive backlash against heavy literary fiction and gritty Scandinavian police procedurals or the coming of age of a cohort that did not read much as children or as a simple relief from the pressures of work and other time spenders. I could even be that publishers have simply woken up to the discovery a previously untapped market. Perhaps Teen fiction is analogous to Chick Lit. It probably doesn't much matter. What does matter is knowing about these books and offering them to the appropriate customers, no matter what their age.

Week 7: Assignment 1

I'm not the only one who loves a good book flowchart. The comments on the Lawrence Public Library show I have lots of company.

Week 6: Assignment 3

High Seas Adventure

I looked at the Alan Lewrie Naval Adventures series by Dewey Lambdin, the Kydd series by Julian Stockwin, and the Mainwaring series by Victor Southern. As you'd expect from a subgenre of the Adventure category, these books seem fast-paced and packed with action. The high seas setting is important, as is the main character's personality.

Contemporary Western

Craig Johnson's Walt Longmire series, Tony Hillerman's Navajo Mystery series, and Margaret Coel's Wind River Mystery series are set in the present day, with Mystery elements. The western setting is important, as is character, and these particular series also feature American Indian elements. The tone seems to be gritty and realistic, even when there are overtones of the supernatural.

Culinary Caper

Just from the covers you can guess that these fall on the lighthearted end of the mystery spectrum. I looked at the Charlotte Denver series by Sherri Bryan, the Rose Strickland series by Terri Austin, and the Samantha Sweet series by Connie Shelton. From what I can tell, the food aspect is more of a hook or a plot point than anything essential to the story. The setting is of marginal importance, but the characters need to be quirky and the sense of humor is prominent.

Mashup: Steampunk Romance

The Iron Seas series by Meljean Brook combines elements of old-school romance and science fiction with adventure set against a background "history" that informs present-day action. The London Steampunk series by Bec McMaster and the Parasol Protectorate series by Gail Carrier combine urban fantasy with romance and some historical fiction elements. The developing romances play out in the science fiction and fantasy setting.

Week 6: Assignment 2

I do love a good book flowchart! I have a serious problem with Fantasy being shown as an offshoot of Science Fiction, however, as would any earnest fan of either genre.   The breakdown of Westerns and Horror I found organizationally helpful, but I question whether Culinary Capers and Pet Investigators shouldn't be subgenre of the Cozy Mystery.

Week 6: Assignment 1

Urban Reviews appealed to me because, when I first looked at it, I noticed several reviews that mentioned writing and editing qualities. I can guess why quality is not often addressed in reviews, but I regret the lack, especially with urban fiction, which is so often self-published or published by houses that seem to have minuscule editing budgets.

For personal reading, you might find and follow a reviewer whose taste aligns with your own; for advisory interactions, however, quality may or may not be a factor. Still, I prefer reviews that address writing and editing quality as well as provide a simple description of plot. Smart Bitches Trashy Books is my go-to for romance reviews because they give letter grades and do not hesitate to call out inconsistencies, historical inaccuracies, etc.