Training Wrap Up

     I really enjoyed this training program. First of all, being an extremely introverted person, I liked the set up and process of everything and the ability to work on this, for the most part, alone. Which allowed me to absorb all of this information and process it the way that I need to. Not to say that I didn't interact with anyone throughout the entire program because I frequently had conversations with co-workers and people outside of work on several of the topics.
   
      Second, I learned a lot. I discovered why Goodreads is so amazing, the different types of sub-genres, how people feel about young adult novels (and adults reading them), and how to do RA for nonfiction, etc. Goodreads is a great resource for finding what to read next and its also a great way to connect with other book lovers. Also, I knew that there were sub-genre's, of course, but I had no idea that there were so many different types! The young adult/ new adult subject has been a topic of discussion between my sister and I for a long time, so I thought it was interesting to read more about it and even to discuss it with others.

      Lastly, all of the new resources and ideas for RA are really helpful and I am glad that I got to learn about them this way. I think that they are important for librarians and for others who are extensive readers. So, not only are these sites extremely helpful in RA and personally, but I can also pass them on to others to use. I'm still not a huge fan of book trailers, but they could be a helpful tool in RA.

Week 9: Book Trailers

I find book trailers to be very strange and I'm not exactly sure why. They don't really pull me in to wanting to read something and I have never picked up a book because of a  book trailer. I think this has a lot to do with the fact that they are terrible, which Nina Metz points out. She also brings up that they shouldn't be terrible, especially because the internet is an important resource for readers and that's where they would find them.

I think book trailers were meant to be a great and valuable resource for readers and I think that they still could be. It's possible that some people love book trailers and that's how they find all of the books on their TBR list, but I also think that the book trailer industry is failing miserably in attracting more people to books, in this way. I like the idea of the author presenting the book and why they wrote it, but I think that if it's not done in a exciting, story-telling way, that it may bore and lose the interest of the audience. I also like the idea of a book trailer like a movie preview, but again this could be tacky and terrible and might lose the interests of people, if not done right.

Book trailers could be useful in readers advisory. Like in an educational setting, someone might need to see the movie version of Romeo and Juliet, but some one else is just fine with reading it- I think book trailers could work in a similar way. Some people can just read the little blurb on the back of the book and decide that its the book that they want, but others might want a visual representation or deeper explanation (without all of the important details given away) of a book before they decide.

Week 8: Non-Fiction

Narrative nonfiction (literary nonfiction/ creative nonfiction) is all about telling a good story, that comes from real life. The details and the settings are not created, they are, at least, based on something real and true. People may not always know what they are looking for and in the end they might enjoy reading a nonfiction. Just like the fiction genre, with it's many sub-genre's, nonfiction too has it's many sub-categories and many of them are parallel. For example, mysteries and true crime.

I would recommend the following to someone who usually doesn't read non-fiction titles:

1. Sports 790's - Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer (796.522 Rec/ Outdoor Sports) I would have put this title in adventure or travel, but activities such as hiking or backpacking, may fit into this tiny category in sports.
2. Medical 610's - The Coming Plague by Laurie Garrett (614.4)
3. History 900's - Hiroshima by John Hersey (940.54)
4. Crime  360's - In Cold Blood by Truman Capote (364.152)

Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer

"With enough determination, any bloody idiot can get up this hill. The trick is getting back down alive"(Rob Hall, Krakauer's guide). And that is something the entire crew and everyone else, on Mount Everest, would experience on what was considered the deadliest day and year (until 2014, and then 2015) on the tallest mountain in the world. Into Thin Air will bring into view the decision that brought Jon Kraukauer, the author, to climb to the tallest peak in the world and the devastating storm that will challenge everyone to get down the mountain before it's too late.

For other true stories by Krakauer, check out Into the Wild and Under the Banner of Heaven. Also, check out Anatoli Boukreev's account as a guide from another team during the disaster in The Climb: Tragic Ambitions on Everest and the film adaptation of various view points, Everest.

Hiroshima by John Hersey

The atomic bomb that was dropped, in 1945, on the city of Hiroshima, Japan, killed and injured thousands of people. Hiroshima by John Hersey, is a story of six people who survived the bombing. Starting with their normal day, then to experiencing the bomb, and to how they were affected and their reactions to the bomb, the very real characters in this story paint a picture of how the atomic bomb changed their lives forever. Hersey's publication started an uproar and realization of the impact that the atomic bomb made and could make in the future. Many questioned the decision to drop the bomb and the long lasting affects of nuclear radiation caused by such weapons, after reading this book.

Week 7: Not Just for Teens

• The "What to Read Next" flowchart is a really cool way to find out what to read if you loved the Hunger Games trilogy. I like that it starts out with the very obvious options like, The Maze Runner and Divergent, but then it delves into themes of environmental disaster, authoritarian government types, and "social control." This would really be great for someone who loves the dystopian society types, but wants to read more or something different within the same group.

• The first article I decided to read, was about the "new" term "new adult." The article explains why the term was created and what it means for readers. The new adult sub-genre was created for those who were transitioning out of YA books, but were still looking for the same kind of relate-able story-line. I think it's really interesting because YA books have gotten so many readers of all ages and publishers want to hold on to those readers, hopefully with the help of the "new adult" genre.
• The second article I chose was a "Not-So-Young Audience for Young Adult Books", which discusses the fact that there is a large number of adults that read and are interested in YA books.  The author of the article, Meg Wolitzer, discusses, that some people believe that an adult reading YA books is something to be "embarrassed" about. Wolitzer goes on to discuss her book group, which focuses on YA and children's fiction and she states, "My group definitely takes pleasure in the shared experience of reading Y.A. titles, but for me, the books and conversation also serve as a continuation of my education." I think that Wolizter makes an excellent point: it doesn't matter what you're reading, reading is good for you and you should read what you want.

• The two blogs/websites I decided to follow for a week are: John Green's Tumblr and Stacked

• Teens at Random : featured James Dashner, in the authors section, on the front page and a couple of his books, in the "fun" section. They are promoting him and his new book series, as well as, some of his older, but popular series. Dashner is popular for his dystopian themed books for young adults. This site is also promoting Brandon Sanderson who is a popular YA (and Adult) novelist for his fantasy/ science fiction.
• Penguin Teen : has a "What's Trending" section. Currently, it is showcasing The 5th Wave series by Rick Yancey. This series is extremely popular, and trending, at the moment because of the release of the movie and it being part of the popular genre of apocalyptic sci-fi.

Week 6: Building Base Knowledge (Genres)

• I have been checking out Street Fiction as my genre resource for the past couple of weeks. The set up for the website is bright and eye catching. And the front page contains "Latest Books," which is great for keeping up with the newest and most popular of Urban Fiction. They also have a tab where people can submit their writings, news, and others things. Which I also think is a great resource to know about.

• I'm unfamiliar with quite a few sub-genre's, but the three I chose to look into are:

1. Pet Investigator Mystery: Some well known authors in this group include: Rita Mae Brown, Carole Nelson Douglas, and Spencer Quinn. I think people are drawn to this type of book because of appeal factors like: characterization, story-line (theme of animal side-kicks), and the tone. I think people are drawn to characterization and story-line because they like the personalities given to the animal side-kicks. I also think that the tone is attractive because I would think that they have a lighter tone then other mystery types.
2.  Psychological Horror: This sub-genre includes authors/ books, such as, Dennis Lehane- Shutter Island, Ki Longfellow-Houdini Heart, and Mark Z. Danielewski-House of Leaves. People who enjoy books in this group may like them for the pacing, characterization, detail, and tone. I would think that books in this group would have a fast pace and a characterization that would be very human. I think the intense detail of the human mind and a darker, heavier tone may also be things that draw people in.
3. Beach Reads (Realistic Fiction): Emily Giffin, Rainbow Rowell, and Maria Semple are just a couple of authors that are known for their beach reads. Beach Reads draw people in with their pacing, characterization, tone, and setting. Since these books are meant to be "light" reads, I imagine the tone and quick pacing would be an attraction. I think that the "realistic" human characters and settings would also be of interest to people.

• Though we try to fit books into specific genre's and sub-genre's, they can always cross into and be considered part of a different genre or sub-genre. Here are a couple of books that I think cross into a couple of different sub-genre's:

1. World War Z by Max Brooks: I think this book could cross into several different types of sub- genre's like: apocalyptic horror, monster horror, and post-apocalyptic sci-fi. This story occurs in the post-apocalyptic period, but the main character is gathering stories from the zombie "apocalypse."
2. Shade's Children by Garth Nix: This book crosses into sub-genre's like: Dystopian sci-fi and Monster Horror. It shows earth sometime in the future, where creatures from another dimension have taken over. These creatures take humans and turn them into "servant" type creatures.

Week 5: Building Base Knowledge Pt.II

NPR books is a great resource! Aesthetically, I find that it is easy to look at and it is very simple to navigate. One of the first things you see is "NPR's Book Concierge: Our Guide to 2015's Great Reads." I really like this feature because it gives you a list of great books and a little blurb about why it's a great read.

What's popular in my branch? Well, Sollers is a very non-traditional type of library. Most customers come in for the computers or activities or DVD's. But, those who do come in for books mostly take a look through our Urban Fiction section. Earlyword isn't a new resource to me, but I am still trying to get used to looking at it as much as possible. A lot of the other resources are relatively new to me.

I would like to keep up with Earlyword and NPR as much as possible, I really like both of them because they tend to you give you a little bit of everything.

The title that I picked from Amazon's Best of the Month was: Zero K by Don DeLillo.
Enter the world of this fast paced and funny, science fiction novel that explores the ideas and emotions of death and what it means to live. Jeff, the narrator, takes the side of experiencing and enjoying life as we know it, even if death is coming. His father, however, is interested in postponing the death of his young wife as long as possible through cryogenics.

- I think this book would appeal to a lot of different people. The science fiction aspect doesn't stray too far from "normal," and I think people who don't typically read sci-fi would be interested. I also think it would appeal to people that like a humorous or witty type of tone in the books they read.

Week 4: Building Base Knowledge

Why was I not a part of goodreads already? Great question, right? As a librarian, a lover of books, and an avid reader, I should have joined goodreads forever ago! I'm not going to lie, I sat there for a good hour just rating books and adding them to my "Want to Read." Looking at the recommendations, I don't think I would read most of them. I know they were recommended based on the genre's I liked and what I added, but it seemed liked they were a little far off from what I actually liked about the books that I read. But, who knows maybe I'll just have to give them a try.

Recommending a book to people who have already read so many, is really difficult. I guess that is something I would have to handle when doing Readers Advisory. Some people have read all of the books in a genre or sub-genre that they like, but they still want more, and so you have to work to find something that they haven't read yet. Here are my recommendations for a couple of colleagues that have already read so many books.

Book recommendation 1-"I wanted to recommend "The Graveyard Book" by Neil Gaiman. I see that you've tried to read it already, but it is really amazing in its entirety. Based on your interest in "horror" and mysteries, I think this would be great. Though the pacing can become slow at points and there is a sort of repetition, I think that the story-line and characterization is definitely worth it. The mystery of the orphaned infant who was raised in a graveyard by ghosts and other interesting creatures, really draws you in. And though you may get to a slow and uninteresting part, it picks up again and you won't want to put it down."

Book recommendation 2-"I saw that you have read quite a lot of Stephen King and I think you would really enjoy [book:The Mist|813214] by him as well.  The story moves quickly through an "invasion" of sorts and how the characters deal with the horror of their situation. The details of the story will quickly draw you in."

Week 3: The Readers' Services Conversation

Readers advisory is one of my favorite things to do. Even when I'm at a bookstore, I often find myself talking to others browsing the shelves. I like to talk to people about what they are reading, especially if I'm not sure what I want to read next. You may get a great book recommendation! At my branch, RA conversations don't happen that often (it's more likely between the staff than patrons), but it is super exciting when it does! I do think that its an important way to establish a relationship with people in the community and it's really great when you ask them to come back so that they can tell you what they thought. I do agree with Wyatt-that readers are often reluctant in asking for assistance when looking for something to read. So, going to them and making ourselves available on the floor is a great way to start an RA conversation. I also liked Wyatt's' steps to recommendation: When someone talks about a book, they will already present why they liked that book-which the appeal factors. And from that you can think of books that may have the same type of appeal factors.

In this podcast with Nancy Pearl, she discusses books that are her favorite summer reads. She spends about a minute or two on each book, but her descriptions of each of the books makes you want to read them. She talks about the plot for each book, but that is not what draws you in. The plot descriptions are simply for listeners to know what the books are about. When talking about Treasure Island!!!  by Sara Levine, she makes a point of how she was drawn into the books and how she loves the main character. She also states that she loves the high-quality of writing and later she says that she loves this in other books as well.

1- For the first conversation, I found that customer enjoyed things like the tone, detail, and settings when describing the last book that they read, Eat, Pray, Love. They liked the "reflective but funny" tone, such details as the description of the countries the author visited, and the settings that the author had discussed. I think that that the customer would enjoy Committed by Elizabeth Gilbert, the same author. Thought the reader may not get much variety in settings, they will get a similar tone and details, especially since it is a continuation of Eat, Pray, Love.

2- This customer wants a vampire book, obviously. It seems that they want something fast paced with very particular details, such as no teen romance. I would suggest I am Legend by Richard Matheson. Though I'm not sure about the pacing of the book, there isn't any vampire romance or teen angst. I've heard that many people like this book, especially over the movie.

3- For this customer, I found that they enjoyed many different aspects of the book they last read. The customer discussed several different details in the book, they mentioned the setting, they said they liked the fast pace, and they also discussed that they liked that it was a true story (learning/experiencing). Based on this conversation I would suggest The Lost City of Z by David Grann. This book seems fast paced, shares the same setting, and is a true story-I think it would be a great recommendation.

Week 2: Appeal Factors

How do you choose your next book to read? How do you help someone else choose their next book? You use appeal factors, which encompass several different components of a book to draw people in and also keeps them coming back for more. Appeal factors, as discussed by Neal Wyatt, include- Pacing, Characterization, Story Line, Language, Setting, Detail, Tone, and Learning/Experiencing-and he suggests that discovering what you want to read next will revolve around these factors. I often pick a book based on suggestions from someone or because I have heard at some point that it is a "must read." But, the appeal factors lead me to deciding if I'm actually going to read it or not. Here are some books I enjoyed that I describe using appeal factors:

1-In the early 19th century, a young woman struggles with the ideals of the society she lives in while simultaneously falling in love. Elizabeth Bennet is a strong-minded woman who knows what she wants for herself, in a time period where women are often told what they want. Fitzwilliam Darcy is a prideful man, who believes the rules of society should be followed... until he meets Elizabeth.  Discover the epitome of timeless romance in Jane Austen's classic novel, Pride and Prejudice.

2-Do you like Dinosaurs? What would it be like if they still roamed the earth today? Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton is an action packed science fiction novel that shows exactly what could happen if dinosaurs were still roaming the earth. Follow the characters through the park as they experience the wonder and terror of seeing real, living dinosaurs.

3-Desperate Passage by Ethan Rarick is a story about a group of people in the mid-1800's that left everything behind to begin again in the western frontier. This telling of the Donner Party's story leads with a sense of adventure into a tragic, yet hopeful journey over the vast expanse of a widely unknown territory.

Week 1: What You Already Know

1- Sporcle quizzes are so fun... and addictive. Can you guess a book by its cover? I didn't do too bad. General book covers, 19/24. Kids book covers, 19/20.

2- Trying to guess a books sub-genre is actually quite difficult. Even though I got most of them, some weren't so obvious to me. Just another thing to brush up on!

3- Readers advisory rules - I really liked this little article. I do think that reading is one of the easiest and best ways to prepare for advisory and its fun! Rule #6, "Do not pigeonhole books," definitely something that many people deal with, not just people in the readers advisory role. I hear all of the time that people get so tired of a genre type because it becomes predictable - maybe you just haven't looked deep enough. Rule #7-it is so easy to just suggest something that you are reading or your favorite book. It can also be inappropriate for that moment.

4- I chose the following resources to keep up with on a frequent basis:

"Books" -  http://www.npr.org/books/
NPR is a great resource for almost anything, and that's why I chose it as my "Book" resource. I haven't used the NPR site much, but I do know that it is a vast resource for many topics and I thought it would be a fun and interesting thing to visit/read on a daily basis.

"Genre" - http://streetfiction.org/
My choice for "Genre" was Urban Fiction. I chose this genre and this particular site because at the library that I work at it tends to be the most popular. I have never read an Urban Fiction novel nor have I looked into the news or upcoming information for this genre. I think going to this resource on a daily basis will help me with my readers advisory and knowledge, so that I can better serve the interests of this community as well as many others.

5- In this article, a kid judges a book by its cover and it's magical. She has a great imagination. I really liked that when she got to The Catcher in the Rye, which had a blank red cover, she simply couldn't do anything with it. The cover of a book is important in deciphering what its about.