Assignment 2:
I really like book trailers. I think they're a cool way to market books and grab readers' attention. I don't think they replace any other marketing tool for connecting readers to books, and I don't think publishers think they will either. They're an additional method, and, obviously, they work better for some books than others. I'm not sure how helpful they could be for in-person readers' advisory, but I think they are a great tool to use for marketing books to our customers online. They could be a great addition to feature on our website, Between the Covers, and our social media presence. The point is to get readers' attention. Why not?
Assignment 3: Wrap-up
This was a really interesting training. I like that it encompassed so many things, and the interactive aspect was fun. I found a lot of new resources and learned more about many that I already used. My only complaints are that I would have liked to see more focus on the genres. They should have at least been a week each because they are popular and well-used by our customers. I also felt that assignment in particular was not very helpful in learning how to connect customers with books, perhaps because it was trying to take on too many things in a single week. Overall, I really enjoyed Bookish. Thanks for all of your hard work preparing it for us!
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Week 8
Assignment 1:
"Readers' advisory (RA) is always about the reader rather than the librarian."
I think that this is piece is the thing that gets lost most often in RA discussions among librarians. We want people to like what we want them to like rather than what they actually like.
Assignment 3:
Food
641
My Berlin Kitchen: A Love Story, with Recipes by Luisa Weiss
Crime
364
The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher: A Shocking Murder and the Undoing of a Great Victorian Detective by Kate Summerscale
Essays
814, 818
Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling
Overcoming Adversity (AKA Addiction & Affliction memoirs)
Biography, 300s, 600s
Until I Say Good-bye: My Year of Living with Joy by Susan Spencer-Wendel
Assignment 4:
The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher: A Shocking Murder and the Undoing of a Great Victorian Detective by Kate Summerscale
In 1860, three-year-old Saville Kent was found dead in privy. The horrific crime made newspaper headlines across the country, and noted detective Inspector Jonathan Whicher was put on the case, which would eventually end his career. This book serves as both a true crime story and a history of the development of the modern detective novel. Because the story is structured like a mystery novel, this is a great choice for mystery and true crime readers alike.
Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling
Mindy Kaling muses on the mysteries of live great and small. Well, mostly just the small ones. The book's humorous tone makes it feel like she's just talking to a friend (especially if you listen to the audiobook version). The brief essays take on friendship, dating, career, family, sleepaway camp, writing, and dieting. Kaling is relatable and charming in her first book, which is a perfect crossover for chick lit readers or fans of her Fox sitcom The Mindy Project.
"Readers' advisory (RA) is always about the reader rather than the librarian."
I think that this is piece is the thing that gets lost most often in RA discussions among librarians. We want people to like what we want them to like rather than what they actually like.
Assignment 3:
Food
641
My Berlin Kitchen: A Love Story, with Recipes by Luisa Weiss
Crime
364
The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher: A Shocking Murder and the Undoing of a Great Victorian Detective by Kate Summerscale
Essays
814, 818
Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling
Overcoming Adversity (AKA Addiction & Affliction memoirs)
Biography, 300s, 600s
Until I Say Good-bye: My Year of Living with Joy by Susan Spencer-Wendel
Assignment 4:
The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher: A Shocking Murder and the Undoing of a Great Victorian Detective by Kate Summerscale
In 1860, three-year-old Saville Kent was found dead in privy. The horrific crime made newspaper headlines across the country, and noted detective Inspector Jonathan Whicher was put on the case, which would eventually end his career. This book serves as both a true crime story and a history of the development of the modern detective novel. Because the story is structured like a mystery novel, this is a great choice for mystery and true crime readers alike.
Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling
Mindy Kaling muses on the mysteries of live great and small. Well, mostly just the small ones. The book's humorous tone makes it feel like she's just talking to a friend (especially if you listen to the audiobook version). The brief essays take on friendship, dating, career, family, sleepaway camp, writing, and dieting. Kaling is relatable and charming in her first book, which is a perfect crossover for chick lit readers or fans of her Fox sitcom The Mindy Project.
Week 7
Assignment 1:
The flow chart is interesting. I like that it gives you a lot of different options based on what appealed to you about The Hunger Games. I'm really over dystopian lit, and I wish that the library world would spend more time talking about all of the other great teen fiction out there that adult readers are also reading.
Assignment 2:
New Adult: Needless Marketing-Speak Or Valued Subgenre?
Do I think customers will come in and ask for our New Adult section? Probably not. It's a marketing term, as the article says. The content has always been there, even when it was less popular. It's just a new name for contemporary romance (as was chick lit), but these titles are bestsellers (often self-published without all of the backing of a major publishing house) for a reason. People want to read them. I think it's very important that staff know what they are and that we have them. Librarians get too caught up on naming things and hating whatever's new sometimes. We need to remember that our entire service model is "give them what they want," not "give them what we like."
The Next Big Thing: Adults Reading Teen Literature
This isn't a new big thing at all. I think adults have long read teen literature and vice versa. The truth is that people read what they want to read. The age designations matter far more to publisher marketing teams and librarians than they do to our customers.
To me, the bottom line is that librarians are obsessed with teen fiction these days. Look at this training--all the genres combined got one week and teen fiction also got its own week. Given our circulation statistics and publishers' sales, that's a huge imbalance. It is, however, reflective of the library world right now. There is some great teen fiction out there. It is also very popular with adult readers too. No question. I just think it's important not to let our own personal reading preferences take the place of our customers' preferences in our discussions.
I commented on Sandy and Olivia's blogs.
Assignment 3:
Stacked
This one is written by librarians and seems largely focused toward a librarian audience, although it could also interest others. It has reviews and discussions of YA publishing and trends. It's really helpful. I read a great post about July debuts.
Forever Young Adult
This is really interesting blog that reminds me a little bit of Heroes & Heartbreakers. It's not specifically YA books, but it also has lots of pop culture info about tv shows and such. It's definitely more of a blog for adults interested in teen lit as the name implies. Very interesting. (There's a Gilmore Girls rewatching post! <3) I like the pop culture information in addition to books. I think it's especially helpful because sometimes I feel like librarians get stuck in the book world and miss so much of the general pop culture knowledge that plays into knowing the collection and popular titles for customers.
Assignment 4:
Harper Teen
This page is heavy on the dystopian fiction. Probably because they're gearing up for the third Veronica Roth to be published. I found a link to Epic Reads there, which was really interesting. It has a lot of great content including adult books for teens. There's a lot more interactive content, and it's a really dynamic site.
Little, Brown
I really liked the Little Brown Teen site. There are a lot of posts with graphics, tweets, and video content. I think it's a lot more interesting visually than the Harper site. I also like all of the author interviews and behind the scenes content. The books on the page are much more varied.
The flow chart is interesting. I like that it gives you a lot of different options based on what appealed to you about The Hunger Games. I'm really over dystopian lit, and I wish that the library world would spend more time talking about all of the other great teen fiction out there that adult readers are also reading.
Assignment 2:
New Adult: Needless Marketing-Speak Or Valued Subgenre?
Do I think customers will come in and ask for our New Adult section? Probably not. It's a marketing term, as the article says. The content has always been there, even when it was less popular. It's just a new name for contemporary romance (as was chick lit), but these titles are bestsellers (often self-published without all of the backing of a major publishing house) for a reason. People want to read them. I think it's very important that staff know what they are and that we have them. Librarians get too caught up on naming things and hating whatever's new sometimes. We need to remember that our entire service model is "give them what they want," not "give them what we like."
The Next Big Thing: Adults Reading Teen Literature
This isn't a new big thing at all. I think adults have long read teen literature and vice versa. The truth is that people read what they want to read. The age designations matter far more to publisher marketing teams and librarians than they do to our customers.
To me, the bottom line is that librarians are obsessed with teen fiction these days. Look at this training--all the genres combined got one week and teen fiction also got its own week. Given our circulation statistics and publishers' sales, that's a huge imbalance. It is, however, reflective of the library world right now. There is some great teen fiction out there. It is also very popular with adult readers too. No question. I just think it's important not to let our own personal reading preferences take the place of our customers' preferences in our discussions.
I commented on Sandy and Olivia's blogs.
Assignment 3:
Stacked
This one is written by librarians and seems largely focused toward a librarian audience, although it could also interest others. It has reviews and discussions of YA publishing and trends. It's really helpful. I read a great post about July debuts.
Forever Young Adult
This is really interesting blog that reminds me a little bit of Heroes & Heartbreakers. It's not specifically YA books, but it also has lots of pop culture info about tv shows and such. It's definitely more of a blog for adults interested in teen lit as the name implies. Very interesting. (There's a Gilmore Girls rewatching post! <3) I like the pop culture information in addition to books. I think it's especially helpful because sometimes I feel like librarians get stuck in the book world and miss so much of the general pop culture knowledge that plays into knowing the collection and popular titles for customers.
Assignment 4:
Harper Teen
This page is heavy on the dystopian fiction. Probably because they're gearing up for the third Veronica Roth to be published. I found a link to Epic Reads there, which was really interesting. It has a lot of great content including adult books for teens. There's a lot more interactive content, and it's a really dynamic site.
Little, Brown
I really liked the Little Brown Teen site. There are a lot of posts with graphics, tweets, and video content. I think it's a lot more interesting visually than the Harper site. I also like all of the author interviews and behind the scenes content. The books on the page are much more varied.
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Week 6
Assignment 1:
I kind of did this in the last post. I've been looking at Fiction Affliction regularly. It's a weekly listing of new releases, but what is really great is that it has a lot of subcategories of SFF titles, all of which are annotated so I get some idea of what they are about or why people would want them. There are so many sub-genres within the broad category of SFF, so this is especially helpful.
Assignment 2:
The chart is really interesting. I would have liked to have seen the connections between genres fleshed out a little bit more--maybe showing how they connect and readers who like one might like the other rather than keeping them as separate pods.
Assignment 3:
Goodreads is making it so much easier to learn about a genre and what fans are excited to read. I think that's the community-based nature of it.
Cozy Mysteries
http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/GenreCats/Cozy_Traditional.html
Cozy mysteries are most often written in series that follow the adventures of amateur detectives. They contain no sex, violence, or gore. Also, they all seem to have cutesy and/or craft-based titles. Popular authors include: Agatha Christie (Miss Marple, Hercule Poirot), Nancy Atherton (Aunt Dimity), and Donald Bain (Murder, She Wrote). New titles include: Cross-Stitch Before Dying by Amanda Lee, Gone with the Woof by Laurien Berenson, and Words with Fiends by Ali Brandon (Cat + bookshop!).
Zombie (horror) fiction
Zombies are hot! Wait...that sounds icky. Zombie fiction is making a come-back. With the popularity of The Walking Dead, Warm Bodies, and World War Z, there is plenty of demand for all things zombies right now. Popular authors include Max Brooks, Robert Kirkman, and Justin Cronin. While I was searching, I found http://www.sfsignal.com/, which is a fanzine with lots of book reviews. They are interested in all things zombie, including a new BBC show I'd never heard of called In the Flesh. Their reviewer really loved Peter Stenson's Fiend (July 2013), and now I really want to try it!
Steampunk
I've only dabbled a very little bit into Steampunk, so I thought I'd learn more about it. Steampunk is usually set in the Victorian era but includes a focus on machines/technology. There are also often paranormal elements. Popular authors include Gail Carriger (Parasol Protectorate series), William Gibson and Bruce Sterling (The Difference Engine), and K. W. Jeter (Morlock Night). This site had some helpful background information: http://www.steampunk.com/fiction/. I also found this Time article on steampunk in popular culture interesting. Popular new titles include to be Bronze Gods by A. A. Aguirre and The Executioner's Heart by George Mann.
Mash-ups:
It's a very weird mix, but Amish Horror Fiction is here! Leanna Ellis's Plain Fear series does what I would have thought impossible. Amish + Vampires. Forgiven, the third book in the series, will be published in August.
Post-Apocalyptic + New Adult + Motorcycle Club. Yes. With the popularity of Sons of Anarchy, a new subgenre of Romance about motorcycle clubs seems to be developing. What could be better than pairing it with not 1, but 2 other wildly popular subgenres. I give you Stephanie Tyler's new series beginning with Defiance.
I kind of did this in the last post. I've been looking at Fiction Affliction regularly. It's a weekly listing of new releases, but what is really great is that it has a lot of subcategories of SFF titles, all of which are annotated so I get some idea of what they are about or why people would want them. There are so many sub-genres within the broad category of SFF, so this is especially helpful.
Assignment 2:
The chart is really interesting. I would have liked to have seen the connections between genres fleshed out a little bit more--maybe showing how they connect and readers who like one might like the other rather than keeping them as separate pods.
Assignment 3:
Goodreads is making it so much easier to learn about a genre and what fans are excited to read. I think that's the community-based nature of it.
Cozy Mysteries
http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/GenreCats/Cozy_Traditional.html
Cozy mysteries are most often written in series that follow the adventures of amateur detectives. They contain no sex, violence, or gore. Also, they all seem to have cutesy and/or craft-based titles. Popular authors include: Agatha Christie (Miss Marple, Hercule Poirot), Nancy Atherton (Aunt Dimity), and Donald Bain (Murder, She Wrote). New titles include: Cross-Stitch Before Dying by Amanda Lee, Gone with the Woof by Laurien Berenson, and Words with Fiends by Ali Brandon (Cat + bookshop!).
Zombie (horror) fiction
Zombies are hot! Wait...that sounds icky. Zombie fiction is making a come-back. With the popularity of The Walking Dead, Warm Bodies, and World War Z, there is plenty of demand for all things zombies right now. Popular authors include Max Brooks, Robert Kirkman, and Justin Cronin. While I was searching, I found http://www.sfsignal.com/, which is a fanzine with lots of book reviews. They are interested in all things zombie, including a new BBC show I'd never heard of called In the Flesh. Their reviewer really loved Peter Stenson's Fiend (July 2013), and now I really want to try it!
Steampunk
I've only dabbled a very little bit into Steampunk, so I thought I'd learn more about it. Steampunk is usually set in the Victorian era but includes a focus on machines/technology. There are also often paranormal elements. Popular authors include Gail Carriger (Parasol Protectorate series), William Gibson and Bruce Sterling (The Difference Engine), and K. W. Jeter (Morlock Night). This site had some helpful background information: http://www.steampunk.com/fiction/. I also found this Time article on steampunk in popular culture interesting. Popular new titles include to be Bronze Gods by A. A. Aguirre and The Executioner's Heart by George Mann.
Mash-ups:
It's a very weird mix, but Amish Horror Fiction is here! Leanna Ellis's Plain Fear series does what I would have thought impossible. Amish + Vampires. Forgiven, the third book in the series, will be published in August.
Post-Apocalyptic + New Adult + Motorcycle Club. Yes. With the popularity of Sons of Anarchy, a new subgenre of Romance about motorcycle clubs seems to be developing. What could be better than pairing it with not 1, but 2 other wildly popular subgenres. I give you Stephanie Tyler's new series beginning with Defiance.
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Week 5
Assignment 1:
Fiction Affliction is fantastic! It's a week-by-week listing of releases in those genres. As interim SFF selector (Welcome back, Jackie!), it was incredibly helpful in buying May titles. There are short annotations for each title, so I have an idea what they each are about without being overwhelming. It's on Tor's site, but it includes multiple publishers.
The Daily Beast is interesting to read, but it's not as directly applicable to my job. It's got a lot of great stories that relate to books but provide more insight. Stories like the one fact-checking Dan Brown's Inferno are interesting. I like it as a reader, but I find it less useful as a librarian.
Assignment 2:
For my job, I need to look at most of these sources. I use Early Word every day, but I took a little time to explore anyway. I'm glad I did. I found a link to a breakdown of publisher imprints. This is a small thing, but it's frustrating to try to look them up when I can't remember. There they are with links to catalogs on Edelweiss. Voila! The list of publishers' library marketing reps is also really handy. I'll keep that in mind too.
Assignment 3:
The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes
This title is on one of the Huffington Post Best of 2013 list, and I just read it. The publisher bills it as a combination of The Time Traveler's Wife and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, but I don't think those are very good comparisons. The book follows a time-traveling serial killer who is on a collision course with the one victim who survived his attack. It's a fast-paced thriller filled with grisly murders. There just happens to be time travel. Definitely not for the faint of heart. Readers who like Chelsea Cain's Gretchen Lowell series or The Silence of the Lambs will want to check out this genre-bender.
Fiction Affliction is fantastic! It's a week-by-week listing of releases in those genres. As interim SFF selector (Welcome back, Jackie!), it was incredibly helpful in buying May titles. There are short annotations for each title, so I have an idea what they each are about without being overwhelming. It's on Tor's site, but it includes multiple publishers.
The Daily Beast is interesting to read, but it's not as directly applicable to my job. It's got a lot of great stories that relate to books but provide more insight. Stories like the one fact-checking Dan Brown's Inferno are interesting. I like it as a reader, but I find it less useful as a librarian.
Assignment 2:
For my job, I need to look at most of these sources. I use Early Word every day, but I took a little time to explore anyway. I'm glad I did. I found a link to a breakdown of publisher imprints. This is a small thing, but it's frustrating to try to look them up when I can't remember. There they are with links to catalogs on Edelweiss. Voila! The list of publishers' library marketing reps is also really handy. I'll keep that in mind too.
Assignment 3:
The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes
This title is on one of the Huffington Post Best of 2013 list, and I just read it. The publisher bills it as a combination of The Time Traveler's Wife and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, but I don't think those are very good comparisons. The book follows a time-traveling serial killer who is on a collision course with the one victim who survived his attack. It's a fast-paced thriller filled with grisly murders. There just happens to be time travel. Definitely not for the faint of heart. Readers who like Chelsea Cain's Gretchen Lowell series or The Silence of the Lambs will want to check out this genre-bender.
Week 4: Goodreads
I'm a regular Goodreads user. I love keeping lists of books I have read or want to read. It's so helpful because I read a lot and apparently have the memory of a gnat! The more I'm exploring it, the more I realize that I should be using shelves to sort things more as I read. That's such a great tool to be able to sort all of these books later. I will definitely experiment more with that. I really like the lists and being able to see so many people's opinions on books. We've been talking Goodreads a lot around here, and I usually find much more useful recommendations on here than I do using Novelist. Maybe that's because so much of it is user-driven rather than using subject headings?
I recommended Devil in the White City to Doug. Here's what I said: "Based on your review, I'd also recommend Devil in the White City. It's another great historical nonfiction book that weaves together multiple stories to give you a broader view of the time period while telling the story. It has lots of different story elements to keep readers engaged."
I recommended Devil in the White City to Doug. Here's what I said: "Based on your review, I'd also recommend Devil in the White City. It's another great historical nonfiction book that weaves together multiple stories to give you a broader view of the time period while telling the story. It has lots of different story elements to keep readers engaged."
Friday, May 10, 2013
Week 3
Conversation 1
Based on her interest in travel/description of place, the first thing that came to my mind was Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes. I also think that Wild by Cheryl Strayed would be a good match for her because of the self-discovery and travel aspects. It has the bonus of also being an Oprah book, which would probably interest this reader.
Conversation 2
J. R. Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood might be a possibility (depending on how much sex/violence the customer is ok with). These guys are kick-ass vampire warriors. There may be some occasional angst, but they definitely do not sparkle. The series started as paranormal romance, but it's much more an urban fantasy series now. This reader might also want to go back to the classics like Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire, Stephen King's Salem's Lot, or the obvious choice Stoker's Dracula!
Conversation 3
For this reader, I would recommend either Destiny of the Republic, which is also by Candice Millard, or The Hour of Peril by Daniel Stashower. Both are fast-paced and engaging and bring the reader a little-known story from history.
Based on her interest in travel/description of place, the first thing that came to my mind was Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes. I also think that Wild by Cheryl Strayed would be a good match for her because of the self-discovery and travel aspects. It has the bonus of also being an Oprah book, which would probably interest this reader.
Conversation 2
J. R. Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood might be a possibility (depending on how much sex/violence the customer is ok with). These guys are kick-ass vampire warriors. There may be some occasional angst, but they definitely do not sparkle. The series started as paranormal romance, but it's much more an urban fantasy series now. This reader might also want to go back to the classics like Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire, Stephen King's Salem's Lot, or the obvious choice Stoker's Dracula!
Conversation 3
For this reader, I would recommend either Destiny of the Republic, which is also by Candice Millard, or The Hour of Peril by Daniel Stashower. Both are fast-paced and engaging and bring the reader a little-known story from history.
Friday, May 3, 2013
Week 2: Appeal Factors
Lauren Willig’s new stand-alone novel The Ashford Affair is a departure from her well-known Pink Carnation series. The story, which the Library Journal says combines an “Out of Africa sensibility with a Downton Abbey cast,” takes readers from the English countryside before World War I to 1920s Kenya and 1990s New York City. The Ashford Affair is a character-driven, multi-layered love story that will enchant fans of Kate Morton.
I made suggestions on Sandy L. and Jo B.'s annotations.
Friday, April 26, 2013
Week One
I guessed 20/24 correctly on the adult quiz and 14/20 on the children's. Not too shabby.
I'm choosing The Daily Beast for this assignment because I like that it includes plenty of related but not exactly bookish news. I'm also going to follow Fiction Affliction. I love the weekly breakdown of new SF releases and that it includes related subgenres (SF, Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Romance, and Genre-benders). It isn't my strongest area, so having it all compiled each month is fantastic! Plus, Ron recommends it too, so I know it's good.
I'm choosing The Daily Beast for this assignment because I like that it includes plenty of related but not exactly bookish news. I'm also going to follow Fiction Affliction. I love the weekly breakdown of new SF releases and that it includes related subgenres (SF, Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Romance, and Genre-benders). It isn't my strongest area, so having it all compiled each month is fantastic! Plus, Ron recommends it too, so I know it's good.
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