Conversation 1:

Librarian: Hi, is there anything I can suggest?

Customer: I’m looking for a good story, you know, something that draws me in. But I don’t know where to start looking.

Librarian: What was the last book you read? Could you share something you liked about it?

Customer: The last book I read was Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. Everyone is reading it so I had to pick it up. It was lovely. She is such an interesting woman and so brave. I enjoyed the descriptions of the countries she went to and what she did while she was there, of course, but I think what I liked most was how she shared her inner thoughts — so reflective but funny too. I thought it might be just light fluff or all me, me, me, me, but it was so much more than that. I read all the Oprah books and just love them. Anyway I wanted to ask you for a few suggestions for my book group. It’s my turn to pick the title.

It seems that this customer picked up on the appeal factors of characterization/voice of the author, the exotic settings, and the humor. In this case, I would recommend she try a Bill Bryson book. I find his travel books to be humorous with his inner thoughts and observations. For an exotic setting, In a Sunburned Country fits the bill, since it is all about Australia and his adventures there, including venturing into bush country. A Walk in the Woods, which is a domestic setting, is still exotic in the sense that he is exploring the Appalachian Trail. I really enjoyed his detailed descriptions, as well as the funny scenes (such as when he and his friend realized they overpacked for their hike...)
Another pair of authors I enjoy, if the customer really likes humor, is the mother-daughter pair of Lisa Scottoline and Francesca Serritella. They write humorous, personal essays individually, yet publish them together in books. Their insights, thoughts, and interactions are entertaining, as well as the stories about their family, especially the late Mother Mary. While the locations are not exotic (primarily located in Pennsylvania and NYC), the energy and warmth of their relationship is clearly exhibited in their essays.

Conversation 2:

Customer: Can you recommend any vampire books that are nothing like the Twilight series?

Librarian: Let me see how I can help you. What don’t you like about Twilight?

Customer: Everything, but especially that teen love story – way too much angst! And way too slow.  Have you read any good vampire stories lately? 

If you're looking for a different kind of vampire story, I would highly recommend Justin Cronin's Passage trilogy (of which two are available), The Passage  and The Twelve. [The third one is FINALLY coming out this May!!] The vampires that inhabit Cronin's post-apocalyptic world are not the typical elegant, sexy vampires, but rather, scary creatures with amazing abilities. The books are epic in scope and detail. And unlike the Twilight books, The Passage trilogy is more like a suspense-filled horror novel rather than a teenaged angst-ridden love story about glittery vampires. The pace is quick, with detailed characterizations and settings of the U.S. filled with more vampires than people.

Other vampire books I can recommend include The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova, which is also another epic historical fiction novel, rich with detail and that takes the reader around the world, and Salem's Lot, which is an old Stephen King novel, written when he was still "just" a horror writer. Salem's Lot is definitely creepy and fast-paced; I still remember a creepy scene with Danny Glick and a window.

Librarian:  Hi, are you looking for anything in particular? 

Customer: I just read this great book The River of Doubt.  It was about Teddy Roosevelt and this ill fated expedition to chart an uncharted river in the Amazon.  They lost almost all their provisions, the president was injured, and it turns out one of their crew was a murderer since there was a murder.  And the most amazing thing was that it true.  It was fascinating and really fast paced.  Do you have anything to recommend that is like that?

For true and compelling stories, I would recommend a Lauren Hillenbrand book, like Seabiscuit or Unbroken. I enjoyed both books and thought that the narrative flowed smoothly without being weighed down too much by laborious details. There's definitely tension...whether in reference to horse racing or World War II/POW.
Although I didn't read this particular book, I've heard good things about Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air. A narrative non-fiction tale, it tells the story of a tragedy in 1996 to a Mt. Everest climbing party, which Mr. Krakauer was a member. The topic is compelling, and from the summary and reviews of the book, there is much drama to be found. I've read another book by Mr. Krakauer, that while an interesting read on a compelling topic, would not fit this customer's desire for a fast-paced non-fiction book.

Week 2: Appeal Factors

Are you looking for an engrossing read with quick pacing, lots of action, and best of all, unexpected plot twists? Well, look no further! Best-selling author Harlan Coben has written an action-packed suspense novel full of surprising developments, a strong female lead character, and an ending you won't expect.

This novel would appeal to a reader who enjoys a quick story with action and adventure and a whodunit nature. Saricks would put this book in the "adrenaline" group, and Nancy Pearl would characterize this novel as one that lets the reader in through the Story doorway. In terms of characterization, as mentioned, the main protagonist is a female pilot who had been in the military and seen active combat; hence, she takes decisive actions and is not a helpless damsel in distress. This fact might appeal to readers who are tired of the usual suspense-novel characters of the strong male lead with his female (sometimes romantic) sidekick and are looking for a suspense novel that is a little bit different.

Do you like mysteries? How about comedy? If you want a mix of both, Spencer Quinn's To Fetch a Thief will fit the bill. Told from the point of view of Private Investigator Bernie Little's canine partner Chet (Chet the Jet), this novel has an unusual mystery at its core (disappearance of a circus elephant); yet it has the expected murders and bad guys, along with plot twists and action/adventure. However, being narrated from Chet's point of view makes this novel unique and fun, especially as the reader really only knows slightly more than Chet does (and there's alot of dog-related distractions for Chet to contend with, like dropped food bits and intriguing smells to investigate).
Another appeal factor is related to the setting. It takes place in the desert US southwest, and this location is important to the story as well as to character motivations.

On a much more serious note, Matthew Desmond's Evicted is a non-fiction book that explains the details related to the housing crisis in a typical, mid-sized city. He used Milwaukee for this book, but as he explains, these stories could happen in any similar city, including Baltimore. While the pacing is slow, due to the amount of details conveyed, there are intricate characterizations of the people who are profiled in this book. Desmond profiles both tenants and landlords, giving the reader a view of the housing dilemma from both sides of the coin. The tenants range from families, single mothers, and individual adults, black and white alike, all with their own deep-rooted problems, that lead to the unending cycle of deep poverty, eviction, homelessness (or near homelessness), and the arduous task of finding yet another sub-standard dwelling that they can afford for a short while. The rich details Desmond infuses in this book conveys the dark drudgery, frustration, and exhaustion the housing crisis inflicts on everyone involved, tenants and landlords alike.

Week 1

As I expected, I did much better on the adult book covers than the children's book covers. I recognized about half of the kids' books, but I recognized all but 2 of the adult books. I am an avid reader, but stick mostly to adult titles. I throw in the occasional YA/teen and juvenile fiction, but until I started working at the library, I never really looked or read picture books. Slowly, I'm reading more of them and getting familiar with authors.

For the "blank" book covers, they were fairly good, in the sense that the genre type was easy to guess. I didn't have any trouble picking what genre the blank book cover belonged to.

I found the Golden Rules to be helpful. I think one of the hardest things will be to keep up with EVERYTHING that is published. No matter how many book reviews I read, publications I peruse, etc, there are always new authors and titles that surprise me. This abundance is complicated with self-published books. The advice to "read read read" is more an ideal that doesn't always materialize. I can't speak for others, but life is busy enough that finding enough time to read what I want, in addition to stuff that I *should* read is tough. With limited time, the "write write write" aspect is difficult as well, but I find using an online site (Booklikes, Goodreads, etc) is really great for keeping track of what I have read, what I plan to read, and how much I liked the books. Even if I don't have time to write a full review, just giving a star rating serves as a great reminder.

I am going to follow Street Fiction in the Urban genre. I don't read urban fiction, but it is certainly popular, so I think getting familiar with those novels would be a great help with readers' advisories. As for the other source (Recommended Links-Books) it is a toss up between NPR and Early Word. I am drawn to NPR since I listen to it while commuting and often hear parts of author interviews and discussions about their newest books, so following the site would round out that experience. However, Early Word looks to be a great resource as well. I'll probably look at both and decide soon which one I like better.

Lastly, the "Just for Fun" assignment was fun to read. I had a few chuckles about what the author's daughter thought those classic novels were about. It really does just go to show you that you can't judge a book by its cover!!