Thursday, June 20, 2013

Week 9: Summary & Wrap Up

Assignment #1:

I watched the Packing for Mars: Space Hygiene book trailer and read the Super Sad Book Trailers article in the Chicago Tribune and the Author Takes a Turn article in the New York Times.

Assignment #2:

I do not find book trailers to be useful or effective in marketing books.  Whenever I hear the words 'book trailer,' I think of those awful commercials James Patterson puts out.  I agree with the Chicago Tribune article, that most are poorly done with little to no budget.  Peoples' imaginations are personal and one of the main things they enjoy about reading is that they can interpret a book however they want.  I think this is why we often hear people say "the book was so much better than the movie" or "I cannot see so and so playing this character in the movie" whenever a famous novel is adapted into a movie.

I can honestly say that I would not think to use books trailers as a readers' services tool.  I think many people who love to read enjoy using their imagination and getting lost in a story.  An effective book trailer would most likely have to use some details from the story, which would take away from the world building in a book. 


Assignment #3:

I found the Be More Bookish  training to be helpful and engaging.  I believe there is a lot of useful information in this training, the hard part is keeping on top of all of these resources and knowing when to use each.  I hope that I continue to remember to use Goodreads and some of the other resources covered in this training and do not forget about them or let them fall by the wayside when I get busy.  The training did a great job of covering a variety of readers' services tools, while incorporating them into hands on assignments.  I did not have any experience creating and maintaining a blog, minus grad school which was only seen by classmates, so I really enjoyed this aspect of the training.

I think Be More Bookish would be extremely helpful to new librarians and should be included as part of the Librarian's Training Checklist.  It might be hard to incorporate because you need multiple participants to make it effective, but if there was a way to offer it once a year or so, new librarians could participate in it together and gain valuable knowledge. 

I would recommend decreasing the workload a bit, or increasing the amount of time given for each assignment to make it less daunting.  Because April through June is such a busy time of the year (SRC, school visits, Schedule 3W, VoIP, etc...) I would also recommend offering it at a different time of the year.  

All in all, I thought it was a great training and involved a lot of hard work from the Readers' Services Committee!  I hope that BCPL can find a way to incorporate the Be More Bookish moving forward and take advantage to all of the hard work it took to create such a useful readers' services training.

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Week 8: Nonfiction

Assignment #1 & #2:

Read:
  • Borderlands: Crossing between Fiction and Nonfiction in Readers' Advisory by Jennifer Brannen
  • Reading Nonfiction for Pleasure: What Motivates Readers? by Catherine Sheldrick Ross
Watched Podcast:
  • Readers' Advisory with Nonfiction produced by the Maryland State Library Resource Center

Assignment #3:

Sports
  • 796's
  • Friday Night Lights by H.G. Bissinger - 796.332 B
Crime
  • 363's & 364's
  • Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets by David Simon - 363.259 S
History
  • 900's
  • In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin by Erik Larson - 943.086 L
Food
  • 910's
  • No Reservations: Around the World on an Empty Stomach by Anthony Bourdain - 910.4 B

Assignment #4:

Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets tells follows David Simon as he spends a year camped out with the Baltimore City Police Department.  This darkly humorous and violent piece of journalism is a psychological suspense and would be good for fans of Jeff Lindsay's Dexter series or Thomas Harris' Hannibal series.  Homicide, combined with Simon's other popular novel, The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood, combined to form the basis of his hit HBO television series, The Wire, so fans of the show would also enjoy.

Friday Night Lights by H.G. Bissinger chronicles the inspirational story surrounding a high school football team in Odessa, Texas, located in the center of America's football bloodlines, where football is more important than life.  Fans of sports fiction books such as John Grisham's Calico Joe and Bernard Malamud's The Natural, or nonfiction titles such as Nick Hornby's Fever Pitch, will appreciate this impassioned novel.  There has been both a movie and television series, both titled Friday Night Lights, based on the journalism from H.G. Bissinger.

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Week 7: Not Just For Teens

Assignment #1:

I found the chart from Lawrence Public Library to me useful and interesting.  I am a fan of the Hunger Games and teen dystopias, so this gave me some new titles to try out, such as Legend by Marie Lu.

Assignment #2:

YA Comes of Age - Publisher's Weekly (Oct, 2011)

I really liked the point in this article about how moving teen books away from the children's area helped increase the popularity of this genre.  It was also funny to hear that librarians aren't the only ones tired of paranormal titles, but editors are as well.  The article was spot on about the growing subgenre of Dystopia, as it continues to be extremely popular a year and a half after this article was published.

The Next Big Thing - YALSA; The Hub (Oct, 2012)

The stat which stated that 55% of teen books being purchased by customers 18 years and older (78% purchasing for their own reading) was definitely surprising.  While it is easy to see that teen books are becoming increasingly more popular among adults, I was a little surprised that the number was as high as it is. 

I commented on Julie Brophy’s blog:

I would not be in favor of a marketing push for a "New Adult" genre. It seems like a lot of teen books have increased in violence and romance anyways, so the delineation between Adult Fiction and Teen Fiction works fine. Introducing a new term would just make things more confusing for customers. I was happy when BCPL changed from Young Adult to Teen, so New Adult it not something I would be a fan of.

I definitely agree that pop culture and bestselling adult authors writing teen novels have played large roles in the increased popularity of the teen genre. I have seen an increase in the amount of adults asking for pop culture titles such as Twilight & Hunger Games, and teen titles by James Patterson, John Grisham and Kathy Reichs over the last year or two.


I also commented on Cayce Hoffman's blog:

I couldn't agree more, the term "New Adult" seems like a silly marketing ploy, similar to "Young Adult" which we recently just changed to teen because it is more relatable. I think the increase in popularity has more to do with pop culture and adult writers choosing to target the teen genre, then successfully marketing it to "New Adults."

Assignment #3:

Stacked

This website consists primarily of teen book reviews written by librarians.  It contains guest author appearances, video clips, and a helpful read-a-like tool called "You also might like." This is a useful website to refer to when looking for popular teen titles or discovering similar reads.

John Green Books

Teen author John Green's website is essentially a YouTube conglomeration of video blogs of him and his brother Hank from their YouTube Channel, Vlogbrothers.  The videos seem comical and touch base on topics such as Intellectual Freedom, animals, and life experiences.  John Green's YouTube channel is extremely popular and he is also active on Twitter and provides book reviews for the New York Times Book Review and Booklist.

Assignment #4:

Harper Teen & Teens/Penguin Young Readers

Many of the trends with popular titles and upcoming releases in the teen genre revolve around the subgenres of paranormal and dystopia, many of which seem to be written in series.  After exploring the Harper Teen website, just about every title listed in the "Top Books" and Bestseller's pages was either paranormal, dystopia or part of a series.  The same trends were true of the Teens/Penguin Young Readers website, as many of the titles listed in the "New Releases" section fell under one of those three categories.  Another trend that is becoming more popular would be that adult fiction writers are branching off and writing in the teen genre because of its popularity.

Friday, May 31, 2013

Week 6: Building Base Knowledge (Genres)

Assignment #1:

I have not found the SF Site to be particulary helpful to me.  I think it is a great tool to recommend to avid SF readers, but for someone like me who just dabbles in the genre from time to time, it does not have quite as much appeal.  A few useful tidbits:
  • Search feature if you are looking for a review on a particular title
  • The site reviews SF movies as well as books
  • New Arrivals section for those looking for the latest titles in the genre
  • Podcasts reviews if you want something a little more interactive
Assignment #2:

I am still learning to get used to Prezi and find it to be frustrating at times.  While I can see the positives it brings versus PowerPoint, I still prefer the simplicity and ability to print that PowerPoint brings.  We are actually thinking about using Prezi for our Leadership Development Program presentation, so it was helpful to explore it again.

Assignment #3:

Fan Websites:

1.) Cozy Mysteries (http://www.cozy-mystery.com/)
  • Fan Buzz: It is clear that the bloggers on this website are passionate about their cozy mysteries.  It appears to be popular among women who are looking for a fun and engaging mystery.  I found the website using a Google search.
  • Three Authors: Leslie Meier, Joanne Fluke, Laura Childs
  • Appeal Factors: Fun, engaging, light-hearted, gentle, upbeat, leisurely paced
2.)  Paranormal Romances (http://paranormalromancefanforlife.blogspot.com/)

  • Fan Buzz: Contains a list of current reviews and a guest author appearance by A.D. Starling with background information and a summar of her latest novel,  King's Crusade.
  • Three Authors: J.R. Ward, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Karen Marie Moning
  • Appeal Factors: Fantasy, sensual, Fast-paced, amusing, steamy
3.)  Steampunk (http://www.steampunk.com/fiction/)
  • Fan Buzz: For fans of this genre, there is a Steampunk Book of the Day category and an archives listed by month which contain reviews of titles.  There is also a useful search feature if you know the title you are looking for and an events page which gives updates on author signings and conventions.
  • Three Authors: Scott Westerfield, Stephen Hunt, Charles Babbage
  • Appeal Factors: Action-packed, world building, fast-paced, compelling

Genre Mashup:

1.)  Steampunk + Paranormal

Boneshaker by Cherie Priest has all of the appeal factors of a traditional steampunk title, but combines it with zombies.

2.)  Paranormal + Historical Fiction

 Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith retells parts of Abraham Lincoln's life and combines it with the paranormal element of vampires.

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Week 5: Building Base Knowledge (Part II)

Assignment #1

Goodreads:
I have been checking my Goodreads account on a more regular basis and have been attempting to add titles I have read and sort them into bookshelves.  Additionally, I have been adding co-workers and other friends in an attempt to follow what others are reading.  Additionally, I have noticed that as I add more titles, the recommendations provided by Goodreads have been more accurate and on par with titles I would like to read.  Creating bookshelves has helped as well, as it will make recommendations based on the specific shelf if I want to read in a particular genre.

SF Site:
I have failed miserably in keeping up with checking this website each day.  I have not read enough titles in the Science Fiction to truly appreciate this website, but I added the website to the favorites bar on my work computer as a reminder to check it more frequently (something I should have done back in week one).  I will definitely say that the SF Site is a readers' services tool that I will recommend to customers who read in this genre and are looking for help finding a new title. 

Assignment #2

I have not had much experience working with EarlyWord since doing so in LATI a few years back, but have enjoyed going through and exploring the website as a refresher.  It is wonderful having a reader's services tool that encompasses all of the popular reading lists that many of our customers enjoying using, all in one place.  As we discontinue the practice of printing Hot Titles list, EarlyWord is another resource, in addition to the BCPL webpage, that we can recommend to customers who are searching for popular titles.  Additionally, I subscribed to the newsletter so that I will receive email reminders in case I forget to check the website as frequently as I should.  

I think the Movie & TV Tie-in lists will be a great resource for both recommending upcoming materials that will be popular to customers and also for merchandising and creating displays.  These books can often be hard to find and/or think of when you are creating a Movie & TV Tie-in display, so these lists will be very useful resource to consult.  In addition, I know that I will continue to use EarlyWord to easily locate Best Sellers and Award Winners lists, as well as the categories lists on the left hand side when answering specific genre related readers' services questions. 

Assignment #3

I chose Let's Explore Diabetes With Owls by David Sedaris, which I found in the Atlantic - Books to Look Forward to in 2013, which was released on April 23, 2013.  This humorous, travel writing title is written in essay format and follows David Sedaris' usual engaging, conversational and witty writting style.  David Sedaris is a popular comedic writer who appeals to readers who enjoy reading humorous stories that are witty and off the wall.

I would recommend this title to those who enjoyed other works by David Sedaris, as well as Dave Barry's Only Travel Guide You'll Ever Know by Dave Barry as it too is humorous and witty, and written in essay format.  Another option would be Sh*t My Dad Says by Justin Halpern because it is funny and uses a conversational and unconventional writing style that helps add to the humor.

Friday, May 17, 2013

Week 4: Building Base Knowledge (Goodreads)

Goodreads Book Recommendation

I posted the following book recommendation on Richard Segwald's Goodreads page since he liked Hunger Games:

"I see you read the Hunger Games and liked it. If you are interested in a similar teen dystopian, I would give Divergent by Veronica Roth a chance. It is action-packed and effectively builds the bleak & futuristic world of Chicago. Like Hunnger Games it is a first person female narrative which is is currently being made into a movie. It will also be a trilogy with Insurgent being book two and Allegiant, book three, set to come out in late October."

About Goodreads

One of the components I have really enjoyed about  the Be More Bookish training is that it reminds us of all the wonderful RA tools we have available to us.  Goodreads is an excellent tool in which I hate to say, I completely under use at times.  This training has forced me to rediscover my Goodreads account and bring it to the forefront of my mind when performing readers' services. 

I feel that building a successful Goodreads account is a bit overwhelming in the sense that I need to find time to sit down and add/remember all of the titles I have read, sort them into book shelves so they are organized, and then rate them.  It definitely seems that it becomes a more useful tool, especially the Recommendations function, as you build your book shelves and rate titles, because it has more information about your preferences.  I do not have many shelves yet, but as I build my reading lists, I will be able to sort them and get recommendations based on the kind of book I feel like reading.  The Listopia function is a useful tool for customers as they can search lists of books in any number of ways, ranging from Best books of the 20th Century, to genre specific lists or ones created by Goodreads friends. 

Monday, May 13, 2013

Week 3: The Readers' Services Conversation

Conversation #1 - Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

What I heard:
· Descriptive
· Female character
· Setting: different countries
· Reflective: memoir
· Funny/light
·  Oprah books
I would recommend, Wild by Cheryl Strayed because it is a descriptive, memoir writing about a female character who is struggling emotionally but uses travel to help cope.

Conversation #2 - Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer

What I head:
· Vampires
· Adult
· Fast-paced
I would recommend, Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice because it is a fast-paced series about vampires.  If the person was looking for a adult romance series (without the angst), I would recommend the Anita Blake Vampire Hunter series by Laurell Hamilton.  The first book in the series, Guilty Pleasures, is fast-paced and urban fantasy fiction.  

Conversation #3 - The River of Doubt by Candice Millard

What I heard:
· Nonfiction
· Travel
· Historical
· Fast-paced
· Suspenseful
I would recommend an Erik Larson book such as The Devil in the White City because it is a historical, true crime that is suspenseful and adventurous.