Be More Bookish - Week 9, Assignment 3

All in all, Be More Bookish has been a positive experience. Some assignments have been more valuable than others, but of course every training can't address every person's needs perfectly every time. The work we did with appeal factors and reader's advisory was awesome and super helpful, but once we started to get into the teen websites and book trailers I felt like I wasn't learning much that I could actually use when helping patrons. There are a few subjects that it might be helpful to add for the future also, like books that are only released digitally and the small press/self-publishing boom of the last few years. Also, the fact that the blog itself wasn't accessible outside of the library made it extremely difficult to stay on top of the assignments, especially when I was out of the country for two weeks.

That being said, I really appreciate that a resource like this exists. I enjoyed the collaborative nature of the blogging, and I really enjoyed the exchange of information that took place within the branch between all of the staff members working on this. I feel confident saying that I'm much more prepared than I was when we started this, and that I feel more like a part of a community. As the Bard wrote, when he completed his basic librarian training: "We few, we happy few, we band of brothers (and sisters); for he (or she) to-day that sheds his (or her) blood with me shall be my brother (or sister.)"

Be More Bookish - Week 9, Assignment 1 & 2

I think the most telling thing about this assignment is that I had never heard the phrase "book trailer" until I started Be More Bookish. It's an interesting idea, and I appreciated what this article had to say about trying to reach more readers in an increasingly digital age, but I also appreciated how candid the Tribune article was in discussing the failings of the book trailers that have been made thus far. There were several that I watched that worked. The autobiographical ones in which the author has something worth saying about the part of their life that they've written about works well because it's extra information and it gives a humanizing element to an otherwise contained body of work. Most books, in other words, exist in a vacuum, but some benefit tremendously from a personal touch from the author. The example given in the Times article of Thomas Pynchon's book trailer for Inherent Vice is another good example; it's a stripped-down reading by Pynchon of the opening of the book while choppy footage of California beach life flash in the background, and then he sardonically suggests that the reader buy the book themselves if they want to know the rest. It ends with Pynchon bemoaning the exorbitant cost of the book. This book trailer is engaging, charming, and funny, and it works well even if it does go one for a bit too long. I wanted to buy a copy of that book when it was over. Finally, there's the delightfully over the top As Dead As It Gets book trailer starring actress Bella Thorne as a highly marketable goth-but-not-too-goth girl wandering through a graveyard, huskily posing shallow, cynical, and rhetorical questions to the audience. Finally, it ends with her trying to touch a boy and getting blown away in a puff of smoke.

This works because it's completely true to the spirit of the book. It's exactly the sort of thing that will engage the target audience and make them want to read the book. It goes back to what the Times article was saying about finding a way to engage more readers through technology, and I think that's what this last trailer does perfectly. Still, while I enjoyed a few of these trailers, the majority were pretty painful. I don't know that book trailers will ever be popular, but I think investing some more time and effort into producing a quality product could at least produce something that doesn't detract from the book.

Be More Bookish - Week 8, Assignment 4

Joy Harjo is an endlessly talented poet, and her prose reflects that. Crazy Brave is more than just an account of Harjo's life, it's a reflection of the depressingly still-present struggles faced by native people in the 1960s and on through to today. Harjo is brutally honest in her descriptions of the adversity and challenges that she faced in her life. The way she describes the abusive home life that she and her mother struggled through echoes a line from one of her poems: "You hold these scenes in front of me/And I was born with eyes that can never close." Her bravery and unwillingness to so much as blink while inviting the reader to confront her step-father with her gives power to one of the strongest narrative voices in writing today. Harjo's prose echoes with native storytelling tradition, as the places she describes manage to be simultaneously real and ethereal, plain and yet magical. Ultimately, Crazy Brave is a story about family and tradition, even if the family isn't the one you're born into, and even if the traditions are the ones that you make.



Chris Gethard is a comedian who proudly describes himself as a loser, claiming that the term "nerd" has been co-opted by the mainstream, and that losers are nerds who don't get to choose to be nerds. With a few minor birth defects, at least one chemical imbalance, and this anti-cool-kid zealotry, Gethard asserts that there was never any other job that he wanted to have. Well, except for professional wrestler, but he addresses that pretty early on in the book. A Bad Idea I'm About to Do doesn't offer any excuses or apologies for the ridiculous moments in the author's life that it catalogs, but it does invite the reader to celebrate everything that makes them losers and to find a way to own it. For example, if major networks aren't interested in casting you in their shows, start your own show on public access television in Manhattan and turn it into a cult hit. "Keep shouting until they're listening," as the theme song of said public access show screams over a house band comprised of four New York City punk legends and one kid they picked from the audience.

Chris Gethard doesn't apologize, but he does track an arc in his life from days of fearless manic depression that made him the life of the party to his realization that he couldn't continue to live that way and still be okay. As a comedian his strong suit has always been storytelling, and that shines through beautifully in every single one of the essays in this book. Gethard's self-deprecating sense of humor treats everyone as a whole person and demonizes no one, whether he's writing about an ex-girlfriend who he pushed away with his crippling depression and anxiety or a roommate who made his life a living hell for a year out of jealousy. Everyone is obviously a real, flawed person from the author's life, and he manages to celebrate those flaws in a way that makes the reader appreciate their own. But maybe that shouldn't be so surprising, because Chris Gethard is all about people proudly flaunting what makes them (according to the opening monologue of his show when it was picked up by a network earlier this year) "goons, goofs, freakazoids, oddballs, the sexually confused, dingbats, dinguses, the socially awkward, people with mild depression, dorks, asthmatics, underdogs, dweebs, people with severe depression, and Jabronies."

Be More Bookish - Week 8, Assignment 3

Memoirs can be found scattered throughout our collection based on the subject matter, but the majority are in our Biography section, which is where we keep poet, musician, and author Joy Harjo's Crazy Brave.

Collections of essays like New Jersey-born comedian Chris Gethard's A Bad Idea I'm About to Do live in the 814s, but essay collections just like this one can be found all over the 800s depending on their country of origin.  

Crime doesn't have its own classification in the Dewey decimal system, but it does fall under social sciences in the 300s. Most crime books, including true crime, would be in the 364s along with other criminology books, but The Setup: A True Story of Dirty Cops, Soccer Moms, and Reality TV by Pete Crooks actually goes in 363, presumably because it focuses on more than one social issue.

Faith is probably the second largest classification on this list after memoirs because the 200s are all religion, so searching for faith narrative nonfiction would definitely require some more information to recommend a good title. For example, Sister Freaks: Stories of Women Who Gave Up Everything for God goes under 270 because it deals with a variety of women's stories, varied in geographic locations and narrative.

Be More Bookish - Week 8, Assignment 1 & 2

I personally had never really read nonfiction outside of textbooks before I started working at the library. I'd sort of always figured that it would be boring and dry and not at all the kind of thing I was into. I've been playing catch up ever since. While fiction will always be my first love, I find myself drawn to nonfiction for completely different reasons, many of which were touched on in these two articles. Personally, my favorite type of narrative nonfiction is the memoir. I enjoy reading about a person's life from their reflective perspective, and I'm a sucker for self-deprecation.

In terms of these assignments, they struck me as a little dry. They made good points, but it was sort of like slogging through a nonfiction book that doesn't match your interests. Still, I appreciated the information, especially the advice on crossing over between fiction and nonfiction during reader's advisory. The video functions a lot like the Prezi map did for breaking down different subgenres for nonfiction, which is definitely an invaluable tool. There are even more type of nonfiction out there and as any librarian knows it can be a struggle keeping them all straight.

Be More Bookish - Week 7, Assignment 4

I decided to check out Teens@Random and Little, Brown Books for Teens specifically so that I could compare and contrast my idea of a great publishing company's teen website and a poor one. The Random House site feels like a PBS Kids games page from 2003, which is the last thing I want to see if I'm a teenager looking for a book. It seems patronizing and looks juvenile, and while it functions perfectly fine I can't help but believe that if I were a teen using it I would feel entirely pandered to. Aesthetic is important for these kind of websites, doubly so when you're trying to engage teens and young readers. I also found many broken links on Teens@Random. When I tried to open Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials featured page it simply directed me to the Random House home page. A few other featured sites I tried, including The Maze Runner series and the Fallen novels directed me to a page saying that the page had moved. It redirected me to a new homepage, but not to anything containing actual information about these series. Many, many problems.

Little, Brown Books, on the other hand, is killin' it. The website is simple, attractive, and strikes a great balance between teen and adult aesthetics. It does, however, lose out in terms of interface. When you go under the "Books" section for Random House, it immediately takes you to their new releases, with options to browse the rest of their bibliography be genre. Little, Brown Books has their titles sorted alphabetically with no option to browse by any other criteria, a feature which is effectively made superfluous by a search bar function. The content for Random House is also superior, they have a "Fun" page on their site which includes interviews with authors, video links, quizzes and polls, and a message board community. By contrast, L.B.B. has a simple but functional "Videos" page and a Tumblr-based community called NOVL. In terms of content, Random House definitely wins, but it's hard for me to get past just how ugly it is. For that reason alone, I'd rather look at Little, Brown Books all day.

Be More Bookish - Week 7, Assignment 3

I followed STACKED, a really interesting blog run by two librarians and an editor, and Squeetus, the personal website of author Shannon Hale of Ever After High and Austenland fame. STACKED is awesome, first of all, and one of my new favorite blogs to frequent. Not only is the writing clever, but the book reviews are very concise and informative. They also do themed series, like About The Girls, where they opened a dialogue about sexism within the YA industry. In the series they don't review books but they do discuss them within the context of the larger theme. Some other sections of their website include author interviews and a Readers Advisory Week where other librarians and bloggers wrote posts offering their own advice about RA. Really cool resource, needless to say I'm into it.

Squeetus has some similar themes, because it is the personal blog of author Shannon Hale and she writes a lot about how media is marketed for girls and what it's like being an author (and a woman) of books aimed at both genders but only getting recognized for writing books for girls.

But she also blogs about what its like being a mother, offers advice to schools and libraries about what makes a great author visit from the author's perspective, and provides updates and sneak peeks of her upcoming work to her fans. Also, and this is my favorite part, she has a SUPER comprehensive section of her website devote to offering advice to aspiring writers on topics beyond how to write compelling character or how to create a good story. She talks about how to get noticed and find a good agent, and has an article called "What I Wish I'd Known," which is just a list of things she wishes someone had told her when she was starting out. Honestly, I think this was my favorite assignment. These two websites are great and are immediately going in my bookmarks.