Be More Bookish - Week 1, Assignment 3

Today I read Cindy Orr's Golden Rules of Reader's Advisory, and while I found most of them to be really well-thought out and helpful, there was one "rule" that I had a problem with. Rule #7, which instructs that you should avoid talking about your own tastes when helping someone find a book that might appeal to them, is pretty contrary to my own experiences in reader's advisory. Personally, I've found that I do a much better job describing a book and why the reader might enjoy it if I myself feel passionately about it. Obviously I won't always be able to draw on personal experience when performing reader's advisory, but I think that adding my own experience with a book gives the interaction a little extra familiarity. I think that it shows the patrons that I love books too, and that I'm not just giving them a list of suggestions that they could have pulled off the computer but a personal recommendation about something that I obviously cared about. In my opinion, it brings a little more humanity to the conversation, and creates a more casual atmosphere that helps put the reader at ease. Not every patron is looking to have a conversation, of course, but that's more about reading the situation and being flexible than about following any rules, I think.

Be More Bookish - Week 1, Assignment 2

This was pretty straightforward. I got 2 and 3 wrong, but honestly I'm not sure that there is a correct way to indicate "literary" fiction. Wouldn't that roughly just mean good fiction? I don't have a good excuse for 2, that was just stupidity on my part. This definitely made me stop and think about how stereotyping some book covers are. The fact that "chick lit" is characterized by the color pink and flowers and butterflies is a little unsettling when you see it without a title or anything other than the artwork. All in all this was a really cool exercise and I wouldn't mind doing it with other people just for fun.

Be More Bookish - Week 1, Assignment 1

So I'll confess that this isn't my first time taking these two tests, but here are my results:

Adult Lit: 20/24, 83%

Children's Lit: 16/20, 80%

There were a few iconic covers that I knew without having read the books, but for the most part I was surprised that I'd read most of these.

Be More Bookish - Week 1, Assignment 4

So, for the fourth assignment of week one, I decided to start following EarlyWord for the Recommended Links - Books section and Heroes and Heartbreakers from Recommended Links - Genre. EarlyWord was a simple choice; I didn't want to use Goodreads since that's a site I already frequent. The Publisher-Librarian connection is an idea that appeals to me, since my educational background is partially in creative writing and publishing. Furthermore, the fact that Nora Rawlinson doesn't simply post about books but also helpful tools and tips for programming, collection management, and the everyday running of a public library made it kind of an obvious choice.

Heroes and Heartbreakers was also a choice that I made in an effort to break out of my comfort zone. I've honestly never paid much attention to the romance genre (outside of quietly laughing at the ridiculous titles and cover art), but I really wanted to make an effort to fill in the weak points in my RA knowledge base and I know that the romance collection is one of the heaviest hitters when it comes to circulation. I'm pretty excited about getting to challenge myself with this choice, since I'm not usually a reader who branches out all that often. And maybe I can finally learn what the deal is with time-travelling highlanders and abusive 18-century minor nobility.