Week Nine

June 17, 2013
Book trailers have become very popular over the past few years and are often a signal of how committed the publisher is in marketing a title.  They can vary greatly in how they approach the subject, e.g. author interview, collage, or short films.  In addition, some enthusiastic fans make their own trailers.

I watched the trailer for Packing for Mars.  C+ or B-.  I still don't want to read the book but it did project accurately what I know about the book.

Week 9: Assignment 1
Read these two articles on book trailers and watch the embedded videos from the Chicago Tribune and the New York Times.  Go to You Tube and find some other book trailers and watch a few of the popular ones.

The articles were interesting and reinforced my thought that, for me, book trailers ("bailers" or whatever) don't really work.  They MAY capture the tone but I'm not even sure about that.  I want to see the physical book, hear a short summary, and get a few words of wisdom and intent from the author.  I do not think that a trailers as either "mini-movies" nor as "works of art" necessarily succeed for me.  The trailer for "Super Sad True Love Story" may have been clever but it did nothing to connect me to the book (other than highlight that the author was zany) and I know and love that book.  The trailer for Glass Castle DID highlight the material in a way that worked for me but simply went on for too long.  I also prefer NOT to see actors visualize the characters any more than necessary since that is my prerogative.

Week 9: Assignment 2
Post to your blog your opinion about book trailers – do they succeed in marketing the books they are trying to promote?  Are they useful for readers’ advisory?

 Personally:  I would use them with caution.   I think that they are trying to BE something when they are a means to an end:  the book.  I think that the ones that I've seen want to be little films and contain very little information about the book.  They focus almost exclusively on the tone.  Ironically:  I feel the opposite about trailers as I do about in person reader's advisory.  I want to know about the theme and style when talking with a human.  I want a plot summary when I'm watching a trailer.  I wonder why that is?  Perhaps because the human conversation can be more complex and bi-directional and a video is:  sit and watch this and I'll make it worth your time.  Unless, it clearly tells me to pick up or put down the book:  the book trailer has failed and I just haven't been hooked for a book by a trailer yet.

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Week 9 Assignment 3
Summarize your thoughts about this program in a blog post.  What have you learned that was helpful?  

Great training program and it took more work than I expected.  Grading the assignments seems to be a weakness in the program.  My biggest concern with this training was that we be able to build on what we started during the inbranch Readers' Services training and it feels like this was accomplished.  I also would have liked to have seen more bilaterial conversations and chatter via the blogs but, to be fair, that would take more time and I'm not sure that I could have given this more time.  All in all:  a very good effort.

Week Eight

Why do people read narrative nonfiction? Reasons are many and varied, not unlike reasons for reading fiction.  Both have various appeal characteristics and genres and can work well together in readers’ advisory.


Week 8: Assignment 1
Read the following two articles for an introduction to nonfiction readers’ advisory.

• Borderlands: Crossing between Nonfiction in Readers’ Advisory
  No rocket science here but the increased awareness to "think outside the fiction box" is welcome.
• Reading Nonfiction for Pleasure: What Motivates Readers?
  Both articles mentioned:  "An interest in a particular subject can trump the distinction between fiction and nonfiction." Frankly, the idea that "narrative" nonfiction has been isolated for readers services attention is a bit off putting to me.  Critical biographies, coffee table decorating books, cookbooks, etc. are all examples of nonfiction that is NOT narrative and with which customers may appreciate be connected. We should not isolate our genres so strongly.

Week 8: Assignment 2
View this E-Learning video produced by the Maryland State Library Resource Center.

Watched it.  Nice.  

Week 8: Assignment 3
Choose any four of the 16 nonfiction genres presented in the video. In what Dewey area(s) did you find narrative nonfiction in these genres? List each of the four genres and their Dewey areas on your blog. Choose one book from each of these four genres that you could recommend to someone who normally reads only fiction. List these titles and their authors.

Essays:  Matching call number is mostly 814s (literary essays) but essays can be found in multiple areas if they are thematic (nature, travel, cooking, etc.)  Any David Sedaris (Someday Me Talk Pretty.)

Adventure:Matching call numbers include:  796.522 (Survival, etc.); Biographies, 327 (Espionage).  Into Thin Air.

Biography:  Matching call number is "Biography."

• Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jennifer Lawson
  As funny as Sedaris at his peak but more authentic. Lawson has a great voice for describing herself from outside so that the loony behavior has a context for seeming rational. Funny essays for pick up and put down reading (such as at the beach.)
  
  Family, marriage, and taxidermy all come under attack and she has a true talent for narrating how insane ideas may actually seem like a good idea at the time.  The language and adult topics make it a better read for more mature readers but the youthful perspective means, not TOO mature.

Contemporary Social Issues:  Depends on the issues but 306s for sexuality, 324s for politics, 333 for environmental, etc.

•  Place for Us: Essay on the Broadway Musical.  Ok, this is probably more appropriate in the essay category but I didn't want to have two titles reviewed in the same classification so I'm calling it "social issues" because of it's focus on why gay men have such an apparent affinity for Broadway musicals.  D.A. Miller's voice is a bit more academic that a work profiling a popular culture medium should be but touches on valid points about repressed desires, drama, glamor, subtle tribal rituals, and other quiet attributes that have made the cliche about gay men and Broadway musicals valid.  Short and succinct, it is a must read for show queens.

Week 8: Assignment 4
Using appeal factors, write a 1-2 paragraph book talk for two of the four titles you would recommend, noting who you would recommend them to and why. Post these on your blog.

See two blurbs above.

Week Seven

 Week 7: Assignment 1Take a look at the “What to Read Next” flowchart from the Lawrence Public Library (also available in PDF format.)

Cool.  OK:  honesty check.  These flowcharts are conceptually cool but not so much in reality.  A lot of work to lead a potential reader to one book based on one book that he liked.

 Week 7: Assignment 2
Read any two of the following short articles. Post comments on your blog, and make comments on two colleagues’ blogs.

• The Next Big Thing YALSA; The Hub, Oct 2012
• Not Just for Teens [PDF] Library Journal, Jun 15, 2011

I could barely read through these articles without a touch of misplaced anger.  As a librarian, I read and love across genres and age levels.  But Young Adult literature is developmentally aimed at teens and most adults that I know would balk at suggestions that they routine read these titles.  Are there crossover readers?  Certainly and I'm occasionally one of them but these articles seem to celebrate the trend to a level that would suggest making them a mainstay of adult reading.  There is no way that this won't sound judgemental but Adults dumbing routinely down to teen fiction should be as alarming to a literary profession as teens routinely dumbing down to graphic novels.  There are places for all of these niches but adults reading too heavily in teen works are the equivalent of having a diet of only chocolate cake.  It is good periodically but is not good for sustenance at an extended clip.

Week 7: Assignment 3
Choose any two of the following blogs/websites. Follow them for a week. Post comments to your blog regarding who is writing it, who is the intended audience, is it successful, etc.

• Stacked
I can't say that I can distinguish an audience BEYOND teens unless the writing style that I'm admiring is different because it is also aimed at teen librarians. In tone, I like that they compare the works to other noted titles, don't mind making critical (aka: negative) remarks, and their voices are in the first person (which I wish that our blog would incorporate.)

• School Library Journal: Someday My Printz Will Come (Seasonal)
  This blog is VERY both seasonal and librarian focused.  I reviewed the older posts (since it is currently "dark") but the emphasis  at this time of the award season was WAY more on the process of finding/accessing titles than what they may have loved about an individual book.  This voice is way more casual than I like and the comments can be very glib and without much in depth analysis.  It is strongly librarian slanted with jargon and considerations that the average patron (Oops!  Sorry (not really): "customer.")) won't care about.  Good for librarians doing selection on extensive advisory.

 Week 7: Assignment 4Choose any two of the following teen imprints and spend some time on their websites. Blog about any trends you find in either current or forthcoming teen fiction.

• Teens at Random
 This doesn't feel like a recent trend but OMG can we NOT have any more dragons or supernatural for a while.  Seems like a good 75% is sci fi, fantasy,, whatever.  I guess Game of Thrones may be still making an impact.


• Tor Teen (Macmillan)
  Sorry:  looks like I forgot to mention "armageddon" as a theme.  Ugh!  Gotta talk to a sociologist and understand. 

Week Six

Week 6: Assignment 1
In Week 1: Assignment 4, you began following one of the genre links on the right. Write a blog post about your discoveries.

Well I'm still not hooked on any mysteries yet.  I've never been a big mystery reader (and most of the World seems to be) but to choose a story about, usually, murder just isn't my cup of tea even when it's served up by a pinafore wearing, white-haired Ms. Marple type with a lap cat.  I can't say that my mystery site (Stop Your Killing Me) either converted me nor impressed with with browsable discoveries. 

That being said:  it has several good lists including a comprehensive list of mystery characters (but how up to date?) that I might consult from time to time for missing series titles, etc.  The awards lists might be useful as well but I have NOT yet discovered much "new" content each week nor does it lead me to subgenres which I might enjoy despite the presence of a genre index that breaks it down a bit.  I THINK that I'd like something like "literary mysteries" but haven't seen a sign of them. 

Week 6: Assignment 2
Explore this Prezi link of Fiction Genres and Subgenres.

Explored.  Cool.

Week 6: Assignment 3
Pick 3 sub-genres that you are unfamiliar with.

• Find a fan website for each subgenre and summarize the current buzz among fans. Why are they excited about this subgenre? How did you find the website?
• Gay Science Fiction (Found via Google search):  They're excited about (Ugh!) fan fiction.
• Science Fiction Serial Killers (Found via Google search). Androids and aliens are big.
• Literary Historical Fiction (Found via Google search).  At first I was disappointed because "literary" and "classics" seem somewhat synonymous as catagories (which they are not in my head).  Ultimately: it did contain literary efforts both new and old so all was cool.  I can't say that I saw any specific trends except a lot of apparent diversity based on author's names.
• List three authors or titles that are associated with or typify each of these 3 subgenres. What are the hallmarks or appeal factors of each of the subgenres?
• Gay Science Fiction: Main characters with alternative gender orientations.  Biological traits other than those normally found in humans.
• Hero by Perry Moore
• Alpha by Ravon Silvius.  Heads up on this one!  Cover looks a bit racy but many reading in this category may like that. 
• Anne Rice:  Not truly scifi but an obvious choice if you need it on the shelf now.
• Science Fiction Serial Killers (Found via Google search). Androids and aliens are big.  Technologies which alter the rules of regular detective work.  Time travel, computers, or drugs which reinvent the rules.
  • The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes
  • Flashback by Dan Simmons
  • A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess
• Literary Historical Fiction (Found via Google search).  At first I was disappointed because "literary" and "classics" seem synonymous but it turns out that there is just (obviously) some overlap.
• Umberto Eco
• Phillipa Gregory (Warning:  may wander into romance at times).
• Atonement by Ian McEwan
• Mashups of subgenres, e.g. steampunk westerns, are becoming increasingly popular. Find two titles, not shown on the flowchart, which could cross over into another subgenre. Describe your rationale.
  
  Sorry but that's pretty much what I did above (those are some pretty freakin' esoteric subgenres!) and it would make my head explode if I had to come up with more.  I'm considering that question answered.

Week Five

Week 5: Assignment 1
What useful information have you learned from the resource that you have been monitoring since week one? Blog about it.

To be honest, I frequently check Early Word so I won't say that I've had any great revelations.  However I now have a potential stack of reading for my vacation and I picked up both "Shining Girls" and "Sense of an Ending" from reading it.  I tend to find something that sounds good on Early World and then I add it to my "To Read" shelf on Good Reads.  I wish that somehow Early Word, Good Reads and Polaris let us share better.  I also have to admit:  I don't love book trailers.  I think that they frequently create visuals for a book that do not reflect my mental imagery.


Week 5: Assignment 2
What’s popular in your branch? If it’s “popular” or “commercial” fiction then you want be sure to look at The New York Times Best Seller List or People Magazine. For forthcoming titles check the Publisher’s Weekly On Sale calendar. If literary fiction and narrative nonfiction is popular, you can monitor the Indie Next Best Seller List (formerly BookSense) and NPR. Do your customers want to read the book before the movie comes out? More than likely, you have a diverse mix of customers who have equally diverse reading preferences, but all of these resources are available via Early Word. Take a look at the site and click around; there are lots of links in both sidebars. Post to your blog: What resources are new discoveries for you? What do you think that you will continue to use?

Unfortunately, the preponderance of the requests that we get in Information Services are NOT the newest and hottest stuff but more frequently reflect older and half forgotten titles.  "It's an adult book and had a talking turtle and took place in a garden in England" is my favorite and we found it via NoveList.  I also really like to use the Polaris sort for "popularity".  Its so easy to find the newest or best with that sort (ie:  the most popular mysteries).  Most of the genre sites that we are reviewing for this training are new to me and the Indie Next Best Seller list is sort of interesting and seems a bit less commercially than NYT and others do.  Frankly:  I wish that our own catalog did as good of a job at connecting customers with street dates as these sites do.

Week 5: Assignment 3
Pick a title from the highly anticipated titles of 2013, found under the right hand “Coming Soon- Season Previews” sidebar on Early Word. Write a blog post using appeal factors or read-alikes to describe the title. Why is this title expected to be popular and to whom would it appeal?

Shining Girl has been described as "Silence of the Lambs" meets "The Time Traveler's Wife" and that is a good place to start with this fast paced, dark and violent novel.  The narrative is intentionally choppy and breaks across different time periods as the unfinished victim of a serial killer hunts her time traveling would be assassin.

Week Four

OK.  I've been a GoodReads user for a while so I don't expect much from this week's lesson.  I've got the account, logged books, have reviews, have shelves, made friends (colleagues and otherwise), etc.  I'll go off and plug some books to colleagues on Good Reads now ("Let's Pretend That This Never Happened" to Elizabeth Rafferty and Julie Saxenmeyer.)

Week Three

I've always thought that appeal elements are one of the most important aspects to good readers' advisory.  I tend to completely gloss over on most "plot summaries" since they really don't tell very much about a book.  Think about a plot review for a book like "Animal Farm" ("A bunch of farm animals take over a farm" makes it sounds like a kids book.) or "Lord of the Flies" (" A bunch of kids crash on a desserted island and have to learn how to fend for themselves" makes it sounds like an adventure story.)  My reading preferences are more about the style and intelligences of the writing more than the story.

This week on "Early Word":  learned about Kate DiCamillo's new book Flora and Ulysses.  Also Gabaldon who wrote the Outlander series doesn't do a good job promoting her own books.Seems sort of arrogant.

This week on "Stop You're Killing Me" website.  The layout of this site does nothing to draw me in.  Not good descriptions or cover art.  Tried brief to see if I could find QLGBT mysteries.  No can do.

Assignment One: 
I obviously like the article but thought that the emphasis on fear in the floating librarian model was overplayed.  The exercises in the articles were great but it was unclear if R.A. training participants were expected to do (and post) on this assignments as well.

Assignment Two:

The Nancy Pearl podcast was great but I'm not sure if it adhered to the 15 second rule all of the time.  But to be fair:  she was being prodded so expounding would be OK.  I've gotta say that her "aw shucks!" downhome tone of voice makes her very endearing.

Assignment Three:

• First Conversation:  Funny, reflective, and a bit of depth.  I'd recommend "Julie & Julia."
• Second Conversation: Not too angsty and with a good pace.  Duh:  Anne Rice (it they were a bit older that the classic Twilight fans. Or, come to think of it:  Snookie Stackhouse. Much less angsty.
• Third Conversation:  True and fast paced.  Off the top of my head:  Devil in the White City.