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.

Week 2 Assigment 1 DONE

Week 2 Assignment 1  DONE

Appeal Factors by Neal Wyatt:

Having had the opportunity to attend other genre trainings, most of the information he provided was already familiar to me.  However, I have printed his article so that I can refer to it in the future.  The information is nicely  presented.

He presented a new twist on viewing appeal factors: Adrenaline, Intellect, Emotion, and Landscape.  


Wyatt has some very useful exercises and articles to read.   BCPL could use his ideas and exercises to create a short course in Readers Advisory.  He already has it very nicely presented.  Just a thought. :)

Week 1  Assignment 5.  done
It always amazes how much some of these covers change over time.  For a few of these books, this child was not totally on the mark describing what the book is about.  Even though it was not a literal description of the book, her ideas lending some truth to some of the themes of the books.
It is all in the eye of the beholder.

Week 1    Assignment 4  Done

I have chosen to follow the Daily Beast and Mystery Readers International.

In researching the Salon and Daily Beast it was interesting reading some commentaries on both.  Unfortunately budget cuts have made these sites compromise their investigative reporting.  Salon is catering more to what the masses want, so I went with the Daily Beast.  I was already familiar with the other choices.