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.

Week 5: Assignment 3

I chose Library of Souls by Ransom Riggs. It is described as action-packed, and the description promises a desperate journey and a need for heroism. As the third in a series, it should have a readership base awaiting it, and the peculiar cover with its winged boy is attention grabbing. It should appeal to readers of fantasy that shades into horror.

Week 5: Assignment 2

I love that Early Word is one-stop shopping for movie and TV tie-ins, awards, reviews and interviews, best-of lists, etc. without the randomness and repetition of Goodreads. It is well indexed and easy to navigate.

Some of the links are more fruitful than others: Program Ideas was a bust, but Book Groups had some good stuff for those customers who come in when it is their turn to choose for their groups.

Week 5: Assignment 1

The breadth of my conception of urban fiction expanded after reading Urban Reviews for a while. What I’d picked up before in my efforts to “read around the library” didn’t hit even half of the story types covered in Urban Reviews. Still, I have only very rarely fielded advisory questions about urban fiction, almost as few as about westerns, although they are very popular at TO. I would certainly recommend customers check out Urban Reviews as well as Goodreads even though most readers I’ve dealt with come in with titles already in mind.

Week 3: Assignment 3

The first customer might enjoy Claiming Ground, another book about a woman's journey of self discovery, or the movie Babette's Feast.

The second customer might enjoy the vampires in the Sookie Steakhouse or Mercy Thompson books, but it sounds like the All Souls trilogy would move too slowly for her tastes.

The third customer might enjoy Through the Brazilian Wilderness, Roosevelt's own description of the same trip, or books about Ernest Shakelton's expedition.

Week 3: Assignment 2

Nancy Pearl is the Queen of Readers Advisory! She can talk in paragraphs about books! She talks more about what the books feel like than what happens in them, what the characters are like and how they fit into the environment of the book. I really admire her fluency in discussing books.

Week 3: Assignment 1

It was easy enough to identify what each reader in Exercise 1 wanted from his or her next book. Harder was coming up with suitable specific suggestions. The advice to read widely is solid. The Ice Station customer would probably go for any number of techno thrillers; the Eat Pray Love customer might enjoy other journeys of self discovery, especially those with a touch of humor; and the Born in Fire customer might want to complete the Born In trilogy as well as exploring other books with well defined characters.

Exercise 2 makes me think I perhaps strip a bit much from my descriptions of books in order not to go too long. I should summarize better. Exercise 3 shows a more specific way of approaching customers than "Are you finding what you need?" Exercises 4 and 5 sound like good ways to practice.