Week 3 Conversation 3 DONE

Based on your interest in the historical, fast paced, suspensful and compelling book River of Doubt, I would recommend the following title for you that has similar characteristics: Manhunt, the Twelve Day Hunt for Lincoln's Killer by James Swanson.   You will find this book is also fast paced and will dwell into the people who tried to  find Booth.

Week 3 Conversation 2 DONE

I would suggest the series Women of the Other World.   It is more gritty, suspenseful book than Twilight.  If you like werewolves and a contemporary setting (video games is the source of destroying the paranormal) you may enjoy this book.  It lacks the light romance of Twilight.  The protagonist is a female werewolf who takes on the challenge of capturing the person responsible for killing her paranormal friends.

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Week 3 Conversation I DONE

I get the sense that what you enjoyed about Eat, Pray, Love was the description of the various countries and also that Gilbert  spoke of her personal thoughts on her journey.   It also sounds like you enjoyed the humor that Gilbert injected into her book.   Based on your comments, I would suggest that you try Tales of a Female Nomad: Living at Large in the Word by Rita Gelman.   You will find in this book a 40ish year old woman who decides to shed her belongings and discover the world.  She explores people and places far and wide from Mexico to the Galapagos to Africa.  She talks about discovering ones dreams and the joy in ones life.   I think this book will provide the descriptions and character of other countries that you enjoyed in Eat, Pray, Love and the inner voice of the author, light but meaningful.   Please come back and let me know if you enjoyed the book.  I would love to recommend others as well.

Week 3 Assignment 2  DONE

Interview on NPR with Nancy Pearl giving a book talk on three books.

These are some of Nancy's favorite books so she describes them with such enthusiasm that you can't wait to read them!   Nancy emphasizes how much she loves well styled writing the books she noted, especially in Billy Lynn's Long Half-Time Walk. 

Lost: A Novel  by Michael Robotham

This has an appealing but flawed hero, who is solving a crime in the past (her preferred type of mystery).  The writing is nice with a complex plot.

Billy Lynn's Long Half-Time Walk by Benjamin Fountain\

In her description she referred to the following appeal factors:  irony, sorrow and anger.   Cognitive dissonance is the theme in this story that unfolds in one day. 

Treasure Island  by Sara Levine

She loved this book!  This was outrageous and delightful.  The appealing factor for Nancy was the complexity of the characters.  She was drawn into the story and into the characters such that she wanted to be able to provide her own advice to the characters. 

Week 3 Assignment 1 DONE

OK, I am rewriting this.  I already did this but I can't seem to find it in my posts. 

Neal Wyatt has very nicely presented everything one needs to know about how to provide excellent Readers Advisory.  Just a thought, maybe BCPL could use his article and suggestions for exercises for another RA training sometime in the future.

I especially enjoyed his idea of applying the following to a group of genres: Adrenaline, Intellect, Emotion, and Landscape.  I think we already do this, but putting words to it makes it more sensible. Wyatt also nicely reminds us that RA is a matter of engaging in a conversation with the customer, we must put aside our fears and feelings of being tested.  I have printed his article to give to my part-time librarians and also to use for training purposes. 

It may be a good idea that the librarian's checklist include Wyatt's article as mandatory reading, including doing the exercises.     

Week 2 Assignment 3  Done

First recommendation:

I posted the following recommendation on someone's blog and now I can't remember who is was.  I did it last week.

I suggested Philippa Gregory to someone who read Persuasion by Jane Austen but I did not jot down their name and I can't find who it is.  I used the following appeal factors:  historical, character driven and English history.


Second recommendation:

I posted the following on Elizabeth Stack's blog.

Based on your interest in reading The Jefferson Key by Steve Berry, a fast paced, historical suspense, I would suggest that you try reading Charles Brokaw's novels.  Charles Brokaw's books include conspiracy theories that involve solving an historical secret.

Week 2 Assignment 2 Done

Week 2 Assignment 2

Crown
by Nancy Bilyeau

This is a historical fiction, set in Henry VIII time. There is a strong female character, a novitiate, who has the job of finding the golden crown in order to save her father. It includes suspense and a surprise ending.
This is not what I usually read, but I must say that the book on CD was very well done, so if you want to listen to this I would recommend the CD.

Snapper
by Brian Kimberling

This is a first person narrative.  You may enjoy this witty story about a 30 something man who takes a job as an ornithologist even though he does not have much experience in the field.   His explorations in this new field of work are enhanced by his pursuit of a woman.  This is lighhearted and humorous.