Be More Bookish - Week 5, Assignment 1 & 2

When I first started following Early Word back in week 1, I was really excited by the publisher-librarian connection. I touched on it briefly in one of my first entries, but as someone with aspirations of publishing this kind of interconnectivity is my favorite. Basically, Early Word is the best and I've caught myself losing track of time while browsing on more than one (or ten) occasion(s). In addition to the publisher-librarian aspect, I've found it a really invaluable tool for what to look out for in terms of upcoming high-request material. I also can't stress enough how nice it is to frequent a blog that doesn't just give reviews of books but also talks about other forms of media, such as movie adaptations or television appearances by authors. For example, yesterday I got pretty psyched when I saw the write up about Alison Bechdel's appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers, which included a performance by the cast of the upcoming Broadway adaptation of her graphic novel Fun Home. It's that kind of broadening focus that I'm looking forward to seeing in library models (not just ours, but all over the world) as we continue adapting and moving forward.

There seems to be a pretty good mix of what is popular at our branch. There are always people coming in and requesting new material, but for the most part it's for the four or five most popular new titles according to the New York Times or other well-known sources. A lot of that is informed by upcoming theatrical releases. I just helped a patron trying to find Steve Jobs' biography by Walter Isaacson a few minutes ago; she wanted to read it before the movie came out. There's also a high demand for interesting nonfiction, suggesting that our patrons like to challenge themselves. One of our highest circulating displays is a rotation of new nonfiction books selected by staff, and we try to keep it stocked with diverse topics. If they don't have something specific in mind, many of our patrons make a beeline right to the Staff Recommendations display. Oftentimes they're willing to check a book out based on who recommended it.

Be More Bookish - Week 4, Assignment 1

I've been using Goodreads more or less actively for about five years, so I'm extremely familiar with all of its features and uses. I utilize it pretty regularly to give suggestions or summaries of books for patrons, and to keep an eye on what my friends and colleagues are reading. A lot of the time I find the peer reviews to be both more helpful and more balanced than a critical review from a blog or publication. This was the first time I've ever given a recommendation for a book through the website, however, and I have to say that I'm a fan of the feature. Honestly I think the only reason I've never used it before is because all of my Goodreads friends always have so many books that they're currently reading. For this assignment I gave two of my coworkers recommendations for a couple of my favorite books. I know that one of them is really into DIY and the punk scene, so I recommended The Taqwacores by Michael Muhammad Knight for her. I also know that she isn't a huge fan of fiction that involves a lot of internal monologue and character development, but The Taqwacores is written with very plain language and even though it's told from the first-person perspective, the main character's arc is very contained and accessible. My other coworker recommendation was for Transmetropolitan, a graphic novel by Warren Ellis. I saw on Goodreads that my coworker has enjoyed graphic novels like Watchmen in the past, and based on conversations that I've had with him at work I know he's also interested in politics and journalism, both of which are huge focuses for the series. He also has a few science fiction titles with high ratings on his list, and Transmetropolitan has some of the most groundbreaking transhumanist and dystopian-future sci-fi elements I've ever read.

Be More Bookish - Week 3, Assignment 3

Conversation 1: So I already used this book for one of my Week 2 annotations, but I think How to Grow Up by Michelle Tea would be a really good match for this reader. It's a memoir about a woman with a strong narrative voice who is unafraid to bare her soul to the reader, even if what they see isn't polished or pretty. It's a recent release but isn't what I would call mainstream, and I think that might make it accessible to the reader but also challenge them out of their comfort zone slightly. Michelle Tea talks about her life with a very self-deprecating sense of humor, and with its candid discussions of sexuality, drug abuse, and learning the importance of self-love this book would certainly provide plenty of topics for discussion in a book club.


Conversation 2: I would recommend Sunshine by Robin McKinley for this reader for a few different reasons. At a very cursory glance, Sunshine could be seen as sort of a proto-Twilight and is, in my opinion, probably one of the biggest inspirations for Stephanie Meyer's series. However, the main difference between the two is that Sunshine explores the idea of vampires as true monsters, and balances the supernatural elements out with pieces of main character Rae Seddon's regular life as a baker, recovering juvenile delinquent, and girlfriend to a strictly non-vampire biker-turned-chef. The books biggest strengths lie in the patchwork family unit that McKinley has crafted for her protagonist and the very real passion for baking that allows her to give such rich description about monotonous, everyday activities. These bits of humanity and comfort lend real power to the sympathy the reader feels for Rae as she struggles against the darkness that she wandered into by accident. I think this book could show the reader that just because a book focuses on a female character and her involvement with vampires, it doesn't mean that it has to turn out like Twilight.


Conversation 3: The President and the Assassin by Scott Miller sounds like it would be right up this reader's alley. It matches all of the elements that they described enjoying about The River of Doubt, with the added benefit of a dual perspective narrative following both President William McKinley and Leon Czolgosz, the anarchist who ultimately killed him, through the years leading up to the assassination. The author, Scott Miller, deftly weaves the two tales together so that the broad focus at the beginning of the book gradually narrows until the reader is looking through a pinhole at the moment when McKinley died. This book incorporates all of the things the reader said they enjoyed about The River of Doubt while also giving a new twist on a more nuanced subject.

Be More Bookish - Week 2, Assignment 2

Nevada is the first novel by author Imogen Binnie. The story takes a languid, thoughtful pace that reflects the more or less aimless journey that transgender main character Maria Griffiths sets out on. Binnie writes in a very stream-of-consciousness style, reflecting the scattered mental processes and almost crippling self-awareness displayed by her characters. Though arguably very little of note happens in the story, Binnie's characters are intricate enough to stand on their own, and her unflinching honesty as an author makes the reader want to wince in sympathy. Her true strength as a writer, however, is doubtlessly her ability to describe settings and incorporate them into the story. Whether it's the self-aggrandizing pretension of New York City or the almost surreal piece of decaying Americana that is Star City, Nevada, the reader will always get an almost visceral sense of where the characters are.

The Sculptor is the latest graphic novel by industry-name Scott McCloud, who also wrote the highly influential Understanding Comics, Reinventing Comics, and Making Comics. McCloud's art has changed slightly for this book, becoming more realistic in some places and more cartoonish in others, but generally speaking the same under-detailed simplicity of his character designs remains. The Sculptor finds artist David Smith with only 200 days to live and the ability to create great sculptures with his bare hands, and as far as stories with time limits go this one keeps a good pace throughout, only getting bogged down once or twice near the middle. The two main characters learn and grow from one another, as David helps love interest Meg handle her depression and Meg shows David that he does have something to live for. The Sculptor makes a powerful transition in tone as David's time starts to run out, tracking an arc from whimsical love story to desperate final hour that keeps the reader wanting to frantically turn pages until the very end.

How to Grow Up is the latest memoir written by San Fransisco-based author Michelle Tea about her life coming from a poor working-class family in Massachusetts, living as a destitute writer in San Fransisco, and eventually finding success and stability. Tea writes with a very honest voice, making the reader feel completely welcome in the chambers of her memory. She covers a wide variety of topics, transitioning smoothly chapter by chapter from love to substance abuse to the guilt of spending money after being poor her entire life. Even while jumping around different time periods in her life, Tea manages to craft a cohesive narrative that shows the reader just how drastically life can change when a person decides that they deserve to be happy and starts taking care of themselves. Richly written with strong imagery, Michelle Tea is definitely a writer's writer who can vividly transplant the reader and truly imparts her passion for the craft. 

Be More Bookish - Week 2, Assignment 1

I was speaking to Stephen, a coworker at Catonsville, about this reading assignment and I remarked that, to me, the sections detailing the elements of appeal seemed to be maybe possibly just a little bit over-complicating a largely intuitive process. He told me that he'd been thinking about it in terms of music composition, which is to say in terms of all of the different elements coming together to make a cohesive whole. I really appreciated this perspective, as it helped me think about this reading in a different context. There have been artists that I have loved but that have one or two songs that I absolutely can't stand. In the same way, not every book written in the historical fiction genre is going to appeal equally to every person who loves historical fiction. It's important to understand the different elements of appeal, because not every book in the same vein is going to focus on the same things. Not every author has the same strengths, or displays them equally in every single book that he or she writes.

This new perspective made it a lot easier for me to appreciate and absorb the different types of reader's advisory described by the next part of the article. Over all, I would have to say that the first type is the method with which I've had the most success. In my experience, readers are much more interested in talking about their tastes than answering specific questions, and I've found that more often than not listening to someone describe what they enjoy and why allows me to come up with at least a few suggestions. For example, parents will often approach the desk and ask for suggestions for their kids, saying things like "oh, he's really into books with dragons" or "last year she was really into fairies but now I think we've outgrown them." What the second statement tells me is that the girl has an interest in fantasy settings, but that fairies have either started to bore her or she's outgrown them. In that scenario, I would probably recommend something that has an older target audience but still incorporates, if not fairies, something that has a similar feel and flavor. Perhaps some of Edward Eager or E. Nesbit's books, though they might be a little too old and outdated at this point, and definitely Cornelia Funke's Inkheart Trilogy. The doorway method also appeals to me as it doesn't rely solely on our very limiting and sometimes inaccurate genre classifications. All in all, this article proved to be a lot more fruitful than I thought it was at first glance. I'm excited to try out some of these new techniques!

Be More Bookish - Week 1, Assignment 5

I don't want to say that ALL of these books would be improved if they were written like this kid thought, but it's more than one in my opinion. Either way, I want to read all of them.

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.