Week 16 Prompt The future of books

When I was a child, my mom took me to the local public library.  I remember reading a hundred books in the summer and another hundred books during the school year.  These books had to be mom approved, so they had to wholesome books, like Little House on the Prairie books.  I read all of those books and I also loved biography books about presidents.  The only fiction books I remember reading were C. S. Lewis books, the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.  I also read Mark Twain books.  Today, I read anything and everything.  I still love to read biographies, but I also read fiction books.  In my opinion books have gotten more interesting than they used to be, but my range for reading has increased also.  I like to know what someone was thinking and why they did they things that they did.  I also like comics because I need to laugh and get into the stories, like Luann.  I have learned a lot from other people's experiences and I have really learned a lot from this class.  Today, I also like to look at picture books and maps.  When I look at art or a photograph, I think about the story behind the painting or the photo and sometimes there is a story in the book.  I have pictures of guys from World War II and they are very friendly toward each other.  The guys were not looked at as gay because gay just meant happy back in those days.  I must say, now we are overwhelmed with media, books, things to read on the internet or watch on the computer we hardly have time to relax and smell the roses.  When I finished ninth grade my supervisor gave me a Rand McNally Road Atlas and I used to study those maps for hours.  I imaged traveling to all the states and visiting historic places and parks.  In my imagination I have been everywhere, but in reality I have been to 35 or the 50 states, plus Mexico and Haiti. There have been times when I feel like I have missed out because I was restricted in my reading as a child growing up in a very religious home, but I have tried to make up for lost time.  I still have a lot more books I want to read.

The future of books is a little scary, if you only like books that you can touch and feel.  There was a time that I was against eBooks and audio books, but now I get it.  One problem with physical books is that they can be damaged.  I had to buy a book from the library last week because it damaged in transit to the library.  When a person gets a books on their computer or e-reader they don't have worry about returning the book or the book becoming damaged.  I have also become overwhelmed with some many books that I don't have time to read or even places to put them.  When you have a book on the computer or e-reader you save a lot of space.  You also don't have to visit the library.  I see more and more people reading books and checking out books without going to the library.  In 20 years, I believe this will more popular than it is today.  Today's babies will be young adults in twenty years and they will use the latest technology and not  need to read books so much.  Reading for them will be more interactive because they will be into the latest gadgets. The older generation will be the ones at the library because they are still used to checking books out.  As far as the young people today, I don't see them reading much in 20 years.  I believe books will still be published in 20 years, but not as much as they are today.  I have noticed as far as textbooks for library science that we using less textbooks than I did in classes that I took in the past.  I believe this trend will continue.

 I am truly amazed how my views of reading, what to read and the future of reading has changed since I took this class.  I didn't read much before this class, but watched more TV.  I hope from this class I can show people how amazing it is to read a book and let the book go into your imagination.  This is so much better than waiting till the book comes out in a movie.  It is also better than watching mind numbing sitcoms or reality TV.  My goal in life right now is not just to get a great job, but also to convince people the importance of reading.  If a person has a hard time reading or poor eyesight they can listen to the book and this will be great also.        

Week 15 Prompt

When I think about the library that I will work at in the future, I think it will be in a city that is not too large, possible Fort Wayne.  There are many ways I can market the library's fiction collection.  I will go over three ways that I think will be very effective.

1.  Having a great looking display for your books is very important.  Making a first impression is great for the patrons to look at the books.  This has been very effective in many libraries.  It will be good if someone takes a picture of the display and posts it on Facebook.  This is will show those that are on Facebook that we have some awesome fiction books.  The books may be books that hasn't been read lately, but people will read.  The book display can be themed.  Mother's day is coming.  We can have fiction books about mothers and there are many fictional books on mothers.  The books can cover many genres, like mystery, romance and historical fiction.  There are many movies based on books, that will another great display.  Having a librarian blog about the books on display will be another way to get people interested in the books.  When you have people talk about the display people will read them.

2.  Having a program about a book the author wrote would be great.  The author could talk about the book and other books they wrote.  It would be great if there are local authors that could come to the library.  This will get people interested in their books and other books similar to theirs.  This would also be great for writers to ask them questions and the general public can understand what goes into writing a book.  There also be refreshments served.  If you can't get an author to talk about their books, the librarians can give a program where they talk about books.  They can also have booktalks on the libraries blog.  It would be great for people to see the videos the librarians made to get people interested in the books.  This could also be posted on Facebook and people will talk about the program or the books.

3.  Having the librarians make bookmarks and book annotations about the fictional books that they like will get the books noticed.  This can also be marketed on Facebook, the libraries website and on their blog.  This will take some doing on the librarians part, but it will be very effective because the library patron will see that the librarians took the time to explain the book.  Since the librarians have many various tastes they will cover lots of genres.  There should a bookmark and an annotation of each genre in the library.  This should be at the front desk or right when you walk in.  There should be a great reveal, with sign and posts on Facebook and the website.  The object is to get people to read or listen to the books, whatever it takes.  

These ideas have worked at many libraries.  The object is to get people interested in books because it opens up new worlds and new ideas that they never thought about before.  As librarians we help many people expand their knowledge and realize that there so much out there to discover and learn.  You can compare the library to the Discovery Channel because you are always learning something new everyday.

Reference:
Saricks, J. (2005) Promoting and marketing readers' advisory collections and services.  In Readers'               Advisory Service in the Public Library.  Chicago: ALA Pp. 136-160.

Week 14 Prompt

This is the scenario:  I am part of the collection management committee at my local library or a library I would like to work and I must decide whether or not to separate the GLBTQ fiction and African American fiction from the general collection to its own special place.  Some patrons have requested this, yet many staff are uncomfortable with the idea, saying it promotes segregation and disrupts serendipitous discovery at an author who might be different from the reader.

First thing I must consider where am I located.  If I considered being a librarian in San Francisco, I would separate the books because of the large GLBTQ population.  Oakland has separate section for African American books and GLBTQ  books in their collection development policy.  I would like to look at the needs of my local Allen County Public Library.  I do not believe the books should be separated at the main library, but the branches can decide for themselves.

Here are the three reasons for not separating the books.
1.  We must consider books that are under two different genres.  I just read Rainbow Boys and that book is GLBTQ and young adult.  We would not want to separate this book into a GLBTQ section because the young adult person would be comfortable searching i n the young adult section for this book.  The young adult has many interests besides their sexual orientation, so they need this book with the other young adult books.  Their are also books that are both African American and GLBTQ and where do you put those books.

2.  We must also consider the ease of finding the books.  When a person looks for a book and finds fiction and the authors last name, this helps them find the book.  If the patron needs to know if it is the African American section or the GLBTQ section, it makes it awkward an harder for the person to find the book.  We need to please the people that come to the library.  We can explain to the people that want the books separated that this is not a good policy.  The patron and pleasing them is very important in the library.

3.  We must also consider what is best for the library staff.  When a new person starts at the library, they need to get introduced to where the different books are so they can find them easily.  It will be much easier to find the fiction books, it they are just separated by author.  I have been helping out at a library that has the paperback books divided and I think it makes it harder to find the book.  The African American section is called urban and you can usually tell by the title.  Some books are harder to tell what category they belong to.  Let's make it easier on everyone and keep them together.

My belief is the main library shouldn't separate the African American and GLBTQ books, but if there is a special library for these books that is fine.  In Fort Wayne, we have a special library for GLBTQ books that has thousands of books.

Reference:
oaklandlibrary.org/system/files/collectiondevelopment.pdf

GLBTQ Young Adult Annotation

Author:  Alex Sanchez

Title: Rainbow Boys

Genre: Young adult, coming of age stories, GLBT fiction, realistic fiction

Publication Date: 2003

Number of pages: 233

Geographical Setting:  Washington D.C., Whitman High School

Time Period: Late 90's to early 2000's.

Series: Rainbow Trilogy, 1

Plot Summary:  This is the story of three high school seniors.  Nelson is out of the closet, while Jason and Kyle are coming out of the closet.  Jason is basketball star, with a girlfriend and an abusive father.  Kyle is secretly in love with him, but Jason falls for Kyle after awhile.  He is scared because he saw Nelson and Kyle being bullied.  He helps them in the end.  Jason is introduced coming to a Rainbow Youth meeting for young gay people.  He has the hardest time accepting himself.  It is interesting how their lives get interwoven together.

Subject headings: Coming out (sexual orientation), first loves, friendship, gay teenagers, high school seniors, high school students, high school, homosexuality, Interpersonal relations, new experiences, schools, self-acceptance in teenage boys, teenage boys, Triangles (Interpersonal relations).

Appeal:
Storyline:  Character driven, issue-orientated
Tone:  Angst-filled, funny
Writing style: Conversational, Dialogue-rich

Read a-likes by NoveList

Fiction works

The perks of being a Wallflower
by Stephan Chbosky

 Aristotle and Dante discover the secrets of the universe
by Benjamin Alife Saenz

Sloppy Firsts
by Megan McCafferty





Non- fiction books

Raising my rainbow: adventures in raising a fabulous, gender creative son
by Lori Duron

Please stop laughing at me: one woman's inspirational story
by Judee Blanco

Coming out: telling family and friends
by Jaime Seba

Week 13 Prompt

My belief is that adults should be able to read anything they want at the library and not be ashamed.  A lot of adults like cartoon books like Garfield and Scooby Doo, so I would think they would also like to check out other graphic novels that are like cartoons.  The graphic novels that were talked about in our reading is in the young adult section in a library close to me.  I have seen the Japanese manta books and they looked very interesting.  Adults shouldn't be afraid to browse in the young adult section, but if they are we can put the book on hold and they can pick it up at the hold area.

I am so glad for the new movies that also promote books geared to young adults.  I am sure young adults and adults alike, find these books interesting just like the movies.  I didn't get into the Twilight series, but I know a lot of people did.  Now divergent, like the hunger games can not be keep on the shelves, so I am glad for e-readers.  We need to get people reading, so I have no problem if adults want to read young adult books.  I also think we can learn about young adults when we read books like, Perks of being a Wallflower.  This book is more realistic than the twilight series books.  I also know adults who read the Harry Potter books as well as young people.  The movies often get people to read, which is great.

Just recently, I have noticed the urban fiction, by accident at the library.  I was looking for an Amish book for a friend and a Stephan King book for someone else.  I saw close to those books, the Bitch series talked about in our readings and the women looked liked prostitutes, so I could see why some people will not want these books in the library.  These books are like life in the inner city, so I can see how they will appeal to young people and adults.  In the nearby library these books are in their own section called "urban" or African American.  Some show like Wired on HBO popularized these books.  I hear about crime, gangs, drugs on the news all the time, so I don't care to read or see it, but I will not stop another person from reading what they want to.  These books are advertised as new books for the library at their website.

"Sales figures and the growth of the street publishing industry show that street lit is a publishing phenomenon, but little data exist on who reads street novels.  Anecdotal evidence suggest that many of street lit's readers are in similar demographics to the authors' young working class, African American, often female. Many articles have also been written on urban fiction's popularity with teenagers.  Without formal research, however, it is difficult to determine how broad the genre's appeal is.  Do readers in rural eras find street lit meaningful?  Older readers?  Latino readers?  Asian readers?  White readers?  Readers from the Suburbs?"  Megan offers some great suggestion.  "If your library is located outside a poor or working-class urban area, don't assume that street lit is not for your collection.  But a few titles, market them, and see what happens.  You may find interest you hadn't expected, or you may reach members of your community you didn't know were there." (Honig p. ix)

The point is to get people to read, whether they are adults or young adults.  Let them read young adult, street lit and graphic novels.  They can all learn something.

Reference:  Honig, Megan. (2011). Introduction. In Urban Grit:  A guide to street lit.  Santa Barbara:  Libraries Unlimited.
        

Young Adult Annotation

Author:  Stephen Chbosky

Title: The Perks of being a Wallflower

Genre:  Young adult (Grades 9-12); books to movies; coming-of-age stories; diary novels; realistic fiction

Publication Date: 1999

Number of Pages:  213

Geographical Setting:  Pennsylvania

Time Period:  1991-1992

Plot Summary:  Charlie is a freshman in high school, in Pennsylvania.  He writes letters to an unknown person with a lot of thought and feeling.  He tells the story of his freshman year of high school with his ups and downs.  He deals with divorce, suicide, death of an aunt and his anxieties.  He has two best friends who are seniors, Sam who he has a crush on and Patrick, who is gay.  He goes to their parties and someone calls him a wallflower because he like just there.  He falls in love with Samantha or Sam, but dates another girl.  Patrick is secretly dating the quarterback Brad, but the dad find out and ends the relationship.  Charlie helps his friend deal with the breakup.  Charlie learns a lot about life and growing up in his freshman year.

Subject headings:  Child sexual abuse victims, gay teenagers, high school students, letter writing, teenage boys and teenagers.

Appeal:  Pace - Fast; Storyline: Character-driven; Tone: Angst-filled, bittersweet, emotionally intense, funny.

Read a-likes by  Novelist

 Eleanor Park by Rainbow Powell
Set over one school year in 1986 about two-star-crossed misfits who fall in love.

Love, Stargirl
Stargirl was moping after being dumped by a boyfriend in Arizona, writes "the worlds longest letter" to Leo describing her life in Pennsylvania.

Please Ignore Vera Dietz
by A.S. King
Vera Dietz has a best friend whom she secretly loves, betrays her and then dies under mysterious circumstances.



Nonfiction

Logan Lerman:  The perks of being an actions star

Emma Watson:  from wizards to wall flowers
by Nadia Higgins

Outsider fiction
by Steven Offinuski

Prompt - Reader's Advisory Matrix

The Reader's Advisory Matrix for My
Son, beloved Stranger, By Carrol Grady

1.  Where is the book on the narrative Continum?  This book is highly narrative and reads like fiction.

2.  What is the subject of the book?  Carrol's son tells her that he is gay and her reaction is the subject of the book.

3.  What type of book is it?  It is memoir in story form.

4.  Articulate appeal
     What is the pacing of the book?  It is a fast paced book.
     Describe the characters of the book.  The names have been changed, but mother's name is Kate, and her husband is Michael.  Danny is their boy and Angela is Danny girlfriend and ex girlfriend.  Angela's parents are also in the book.
     How does the story feel?  The story feels like the mother is in anguish over her son being gay, but she gets through it and tries to comfort others.
    What is the intent of the author?  The author is trying to show other parents of gay children that it is okay for your child to be gay.
     What is the focus of the story?  The focus of the story was the mother's feeling about having a gay son, how she dealt with it and her story.
     Does the language matter?  The language does matter.
    Is the setting important and will described?  The setting is not really important.  You know it is snowing, they are missionaries, father, husband Michael is going to Argentina.  They live in the nation's capitol.
    Are there details and if so, of what?  There are details of their home, snow and their son coming home.
    Are there sufficient charts and other graphic materials?  There are no charts and other graphic materials.
    Does the book stress moments of learning, understanding, or experience?  The book stresses the mother's learning experiences about her son coming out to her and her experience.  It took her a while to deal with it.  She meet with another parents of a gay daughter who went through similar experiences.

Why would a reader enjoy this book?  1.  Personal experience 2.  Tone  3.  Fast paced.

Prompt response eBooks and audiobooks

   When I thought about eBooks and audiobooks, I thought about what I like in a book and I checked out the selection at the Allen County Public Library.  I don't have any experience looking at eBooks, but I have read that they are getting more popular.  I really like to hold a book in my hand unless it is a really big book like Gone With the Wind.  When you check out an eBook or an audiobook, you don't have to go to the library which makes it very convenient.  I think if the reader can change the font it will help those who have a hard time seeing smaller print.  The large print books can be very bulky, so this is a great alternative.  By changing the spacing and the color of the text, it may also help the reader.  I have listened to books on tapes and really enjoyed them.  The narrator helps.  I have a audiobook by Steve Martin, Rosie O'Donnell and Michael J. Fox.  I would highly recommend Lucky Man by Michael J. Fox.
     Let's get back to what you can get at the Allen County Public Library.  This is my local library and I am sure your local library also many eBooks and audiobooks for the patrons to check out.  One thing that is unique to the Allen County Public Library is the fact that they have the one the largest collection of genealogy materials in the country.  They want to make it available to all so they joined archive.org with 149 other libraries in the United States and Canada to create an 80,000 lendable eBook library.  "Digital lending also offers wider access to one-of-a-kind or rare books on specific topics such as family histories- popular with genealogists.  This pooled collection will enable libraries like the Boston Public Library and the Allen County Public Library in Indiana to share their materials with genealogists around the country and the world." (Doctorow)  This is great for the library and those who need to do research who don't live in Allen County, Indiana.
     At the Allen County Public Library, we have a place to download eBooks and audiobooks called overdrive.  The number one downloaded eBook is Divergent.  It is probably because of the movie just released.  Other popular eBooks are The Book Thief, Gone Girl, Sycamore row, Allegient, Takedown Twenty and Insurgent.  Allegient and Insurgent come after Divergent and they are in the Veronica Roth's Series.  You can also download music on your mp3 and movies on your smart phone.  I read in the paper one time that more and more people borrow books this way, in fact it is up.  I great thing is that they never have to set their feet in the library.  This is great for people on the go or those who have a hard making it to the library because of work and family conflicts.  The Allen County Public Library has over 20,000 Fictional eBooks.  They have 6,813 nonfiction eBooks, 4,189 fictional audiobooks and 1,284 nonfictional audiobooks.  These are all on acpl.lib.overdrive.com/.  I am glad to see that they have Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin.  I have been meaning to read that book and others in the series.  I looked at a sample of the book and it is very readable.  One thing I don't like about eBooks and audiobooks is that they can't be renewed and I renew books all the time.  I don't have one of those devices for viewing the eBooks either except for the computer.  I get tired of looking at the computer screen for my studies now, so I am not sure if eBooks are for me right now, but is is a possibility in the future.

References:
     acpl.lib.overdrive.com/  

     Doctorow, Cory (Feb 23, 2011)  Archive.org and 150 libraries create 80,000 lendable ebook library, retrieved from:

http://boingboing.net/2011/02/23/archiveorg-and-150-l.html 

Classical Historical Fiction

Author:  Margaret Mitchell

Title:  Gone With the Wind

Genre:  Classical Historical Fiction

Publication Date:  1936

Number of Pages: 1037

Geographical Setting:  Atlanta and Tara Georgia, United States

Time Period:  Before, During and after the Civil War, 1861-1864

Plot Summary:  Scarlett O'Hara grew up in Georgia on a plantation called Tara.  She was crazy over a man by the name of Ashley Wilkes.  She tried to get him to marry her with a lovely green dress at a barbecue, but it didn't happen.  She was also noticed by a man named Rhett Butler, who was very handsome.  He made the story more interesting.  Ashley married a lady by the name of Melanie, while Scarlett married Melanie's brother Charles.  Charles and Ashley both went to the war, but Charles died before the war started.  Melanie and Scarlett became like sisters and she always wanted to know about Ashley.  After Charles died, she went to live with Charles mother in Atlanta, Georgia and Melanie came along.  They helped the soldiers who came to the hospital from the war.  Scarlett made a lovely nurse.  She loved Atlanta, but missed home.  Rhett Butler helped her back to her home in Tara when the troops where getting close to Atlanta.  She took Prissy, her negro maid, her child, Melanie and her child.  She helped Melanie delivery her baby before she left.  When she went back to Tara, she found all the other plantations burned except for hers.  She also found that her mother, Ellen died a couple of days ago.  Her dad Gerald was very upset.  He never got over her death.  She had to take care of Melanie and her two sisters.  Melanie was sick from the pregnancy and the sisters from Typhoid fever.  When the war was over Ashley came back and worked on the farm.  Scarlett also had to work in the fields because the negro slaves ran away.  They had house slaves and they didn't do field work.  Scarlett also managed the fiances and had to pay the taxes.  She was charged another 300 dollars for taxes, which she didn't have.  Ashley told her about Rhett Butler, who was in Atlanta and had lots of money.  She didn't have a nice dress, so she took the curtain down and made a dress.  She went back to Atlanta and found Rhett was in jail.  She tried to get him to marry her, but he wouldn't do it.  When she left the jail, she got a ride with a Mr. Hamilton who had a store.  She married him, so could get the money for the taxes.  Rhett Butler did help her buy some sawmills because Frank Hamilton, her husband wanted sawmills to make money.  Scarlett ended up running the sawmills even though the women in town spoke about it.  Frank and Ashley joined the Klan and one night they were shot at and Frank died, but Ashley was only wounded.  Scarlett had feeling for Ashley even though he married another woman, but Rhett loved her.  Scarlett married Rhett after her second husband died.  A lot of people didn't like Mr. Butler because of the way he got his money and he had Yankee friends.  Rhett told Scarlett she would have a good time with her and she did.  She loved him because of his money, but was also falling in love with him.  Scarlett didn't tell Rhett that she loved him until the end when Melanie died and she found out that Ashley didn't love her and never will.  Her left her and she went back to her home in Tara.

Subject Headings:  Rhett Butler, Civil War, Husband and wife, Married people, Scarlett O'Hara, Plantations, Reconstruction (United States history), Survival, Triangles (Interpersonal relations, War and Women.

Appeal:  Story-line: Character-driven;
Tone:  Dramatic;
Writing Style:  Engaging.

Fiction Read a-likes by Novelist:

 An interesting novel on the Civil War.
      




                       
 An interesting novel about Rhett Butler.

An interesting novel about women's relationships.




Non-fiction Read a-likes

The Civil War: a concise history (Feb 2011)
By Louis P. Moser
A year by year chronicle of the Civil War, highlighting major political, social, and military events, and looking at the causes and consequences of the conflict.

Civil Wars: women and the crises of Southern nationalism
(Jan 1989) by George C. Rable

The Civil War: an illustrated history
by Geoffrey C. Ward (Sept 1990)
Portrays the lives of politicians, soldiers and slaves during the Civil War.

Baker, Booktalks for midterm

Here is the videos of three books that I liked.  I read the books for the class because I haven't read a lot of fiction before.  I wrote a few things down about the books.  I wrote the most about the Ghost and the Dead Man's Library.  I was interested in this book because I am trying to be a librarian.  I hope I captured the essence of all the books without giving too much away.




I wrote down a few things about the books, but did not have a script.  The links for the booktalks are down below.


New Earth
The Ghost and the Dead Man's Library
Map of Bones      

100%

Prompt Response Week 7 What is the truth?

This week we are looking at fake memoirs.  There are many in wikipedia, but the one that really got me was James Frey's book.  It was called "A million Little Pieces", but according to the Smoking Gun it should have been called "A Million Little Lies."   While I read this six page article, I thought how can he print a book that mostly make up and call it non-fiction. The article shows from documents, like the police report that he didn't stay in jail and others like he told in the book.  He sensationalized his story so more people will buy the book and read his story.  When I read that he was running over a police officer and they were beating him up, I was appalled.  This part was made up and I was relieved.  I think it is one think to make yourself look bad, but to make the police look bad.  It is uncalled for.  I am glad he came clean about there being lies in the book, but this was after he made his millions.
  Oprah had this book in her book club, which really helped the sale of this book.  I really believe if Oprah knew that she was endorsing a fiction book as a non-fiction book she would have chose another book.  Oprah helped authors, that were unknown, like Frey become known and well read.  During her book club from 1996 to 2002 she endorsed 48 books and people still are reading the books today because they were in her book club.  I would not choose a book because Oprah or the President choose a book.  It would have to be something I am interested in.  I am glad her book club got people reading though.
  When I think about truth and sometimes it is stranger than fiction, it means that people can believe what they want to believe.  I really don't believe people should call memoirs real when they are not.  Some people don't believe the Bible because it reads like a work of fiction.  Most reality shows are not really reality, but scripted.  So, I ask, What is the truth?  Is Oprah always telling the truth.  Can we believe everything we see on TV?   Let's read more fiction and non-fiction and when you chose a book to read think about the characters and how it would make you feel.      

Sources:

Butler, R., Cowan, B., & Nilsson, S. (2005). From Obscurity to Bestseller:  Examining the Impact of Oprah's Book Club Selections.  Publishing research Quarterly, 20(4), 23-34. Retrieved from Academic search Premier database.  

Fake Memoirs: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fake_memoirs 

Smoking Gun. (2006). A Million Little Lies:  Exposing James Frey's fiction addiction.
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/celebrity/million-little-lies  

Annotation Science Fiction

Author:  Ben Bova

Title:  New Earth

Genre:  Science Fiction

Publication Date:  2013

Number of Pages:  384

Geographical Setting:  Beijing, Mars, Moon, U.S. New Earth

Time Period:  Sometime in the future

Series:  Grand tour of the Solar System, 20.

Plot Summary:  A group of 12 scientists left their loved ones on earth to travel to a earth like planet, Sirius C.  They were placed in cryonic suspension because the trip takes 80 earth years.  They aged 12 years when they got to Sirius C and woke up from their sleep.  They went exploring and found there were humans on this planet just like them.  They even spoke English.  Their technology was much advanced compared to that from earth.  Jordan Kell, the leader, fell in love with one of the aliens.  His brother, Brandon took over because the others didn't trust Jordan because they thought he was sleeping with the enemy.  The rest of the scientists had lots of questions and most were fearful.  Their questions are answered in the book.  It is great read.

Subject headings:  Aliens, life on other planets, space colonies, space exploration, and space flight. 

Appeal:

Storyline:  Action-packed, plot-driven.

Pace:  Fast-paced.

Tone:  Dramatic, Suspenseful.

Fiction Read-a-likes by Novelist

   A group of explorers escape a nightmarish planet and enters a new universe, where they have a secret that can change everything.

 The moon and Mars are settled 150 years from now, but there is new light on the moon.

Red Mars by Kim Stanley




Mars entices people from earth, so 100 scientists leave earth to colonize Mars and this is their story.

Non-fiction read-a-likes by Novelist

The making of Middle-Earth: a new look inside the world of J.R.R. Tolkien
by Christopher A. Snyder.  This book looks at source material for Middle-Earth, which is another Science Fiction work.

The life and death of planet Earth:  how the new science of astrobiology charts the ultimate fate of our world, by Peter Douglas Ward.  This book talks about the ending of the earth, which is what New Earth talked about.

The skull in the rock:  how a scientist, a boy, and Google Earth opened a new window on human origins, by Marc Aronson.  This book talks about evolution, which is also talked about in New Earth as the scientists explore the New Earth.

Prompt Response Booktalk

Book:  Carrie and me:  another daughter love story by Carol Burnett, published 2013.

  This is a griping story about Carol Burnett and her daughter Carrie.  Carrie grew up with her TV mom, Carol Burnett, a funny lady which everyone loved.   Carrie got addicted to drugs and this book helps us understand what she went through.  She went to rehab and got better.  She was working on a movie script, in Colorado, which is at the end of the book.  She writes back and forth to her mom, which makes a great memoir.  If you love Carol Burnett, you will love this book.  It has lots of pictures with her and her daughter Carrie.  You learn a lot about there relationship.  Once you pick up the book you will be drawn to the real characters in the book.  This is a book I loved and I think you will love it too.

  I believe that in order to make a good booktalk, you need to talk about books you have read and loved reading.  If you talk about a book you haven't read, it is harder to present the book.  If you talk about a book that you didn't like you wouldn't be as enthusiastic about it.  When you present a book that you have read and loved, hopefully you will get other people to read and love it too.

 

Gentle read Annotation

Author:  Alice Kimberly

Title:  The Ghost and the Dead Man's Library

Genre:  Gentle reads

Publication Date:  2006

Number of pages:  258

Geographical Setting:  New York City and Quindicott, Rhode Island

Time Period:  October 18-22, 1946, and today.

Series:  Haunted bookshop mysteries, 3

Plot Summary:  The prologue tells you about the man Jack, who this lady hired to investigate the whereabouts of man that she did an investment deal with.  This was back in 1946.  The story takes you to today where Jack is a ghost and he communicates to this lady, Penelope, who owns a bookstore.  He helps her solve a murder that is believed to be an accident and the victims name is Peter Chesley.  She goes to his house with her Aunt Sadie and they come back later and find him dead.  He leaves her a 13 volume set of books by Edgar Allan Poe and they are highly sought after.  Jack helps her solve a code related to the books.

Subject headings:  Bookstores, Codes (Communication), Haunted places, murder and Women booksellers.

Appeal:  Leisurely paced, Story lines about relations between women and others and the characters are comfortable companions.

Look-a-likes by NoveList

Hiss and Hers by M.C. Beaton

The burglar on the prowl by Lawrence Block

The Cat who went bananas by Lilian Jackson Braun

Prompt response book reviews

When I read book reviews, I look at length and substance.  The review from the blog and Amazon were quite short and didn't have much substance to it.  These didn't follow the guidelines Erin talked about in her presentation.  She talked about quotes from the book and a summary of the book.  These two just gave their opinion which I thought was very good.  It made me want to buy the books, but for myself and not for the library.  For a librarian the book reviews need to have substance and meaning.  The review for the eBook and the romantic suspense were much more thought out.

The reviews from Angela's Ashes I thought were very good, but were quite lengthy.  I would have a hard time making it through reviews that were all this length.  My favorite one was from the BookReview because it was straight forward and funny.  Malcolm Jones calls Angela's Ashes , " A splendid memoir of a ghastly Irish childhood."  It was very humorous when he talked about going to the doctor and he knew he would be getting better because the doctor farted.  After reading this review, I wanted to get this book to put in the collections.  I didn't feel the same way about the other reviews.  When I read a review I want something to stand out that will make people want to read the book.  I appreciate that this man had a hard life, but the tidbit about the doctor farting will intrigue people.

As far as some books getting reviewed more that others, I think it is fair because some books are more popular than others.  Every book should have a review because for every book there is a person to read that book.  Vampires and Zombie books are more popular now because of the TV shows and the movies. Having a lot of reviews for a book will affect the libraries collections because the library will choose the popular books and the ones with great reviews, but the ones with poor reviews may get left out.  The book review sources that don't print negative reviews don't help the library as much as they think they do because you don't know if someone hates the book.  I would like to know if someone loves and hates the book.  When they saw only the good reviews, it means that they are biased and that is not a good thing.

Before this class, I just looked at Amazon and what people thought about the book I was thinking about buying.  I would not buy a book if it had too many negative reviews.  I also like to read the reviews that in in the paper.  The New York Times has great book reviews.  I have just started to look at Goodreads.  The local library has some great reviews and it also takes you to Goodreads.    

"Kirkus-Style" Review

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, a story of children
From the "Chronicles of Narnia"  volume 1, by C.S. Lewis

This book and the following books in the series takes you on an imaginary journey.  Four children go exploring in an old English mansion and enter a wardrobe which brings them to the land of Narnia.  This land has talking animals and a white witch that terrifies all the animals in Narnia.  The lion needs the children to help save the kingdom against the wicked witch.  The white witch enslaves Edmund, the eldest boy.  The rest of the children save him and the kingdom from the witch.  The children are also made kings and queens.

I was told this book is for children, but adults may enjoy reading it too.  I read it long before it was made into a movie.  It seemed like a great plot for a movie.  It is full of adventure and fast paced.  This book is full of allegories, like when good prevails over evil.  It is also great for children to use their imagination.  The children come back in the following books in the series and have more adventures.    

Adventure Annotation

Author:  James Rollins

Title:  Map of Bones

Genre:  Adventure

Publication Date:  2005

Number of pages:  434

Geographical Settings:  Egypt, France, Germany, Italy and the United States.

Time Period:  Present day and most happened in four days.

Series:  Sigma Force Novel 2

Plot Summary:  The book starts with a prologue  which explains about how the bones of the Magi got to Cologne, Germany.  The Sigma Force is also introduces.  They came to a midnight mass in Monk clothes, in Cologne Germany and killed everyone except one boy.  An American Grayson Pierce leads an effort to find these men with the bones.  He has a love interest, Rachel Verona, a lieutenant.  There are three others in this group, Rachel's Uncle Vigot, a Vatican official, Monk and Kat.  They start at the church in Germany, here the Sigma Force finds them and they nearly get killed.  It is here that they find that the bones are made from gold and this is what killed the people.  They also go to Rome and the Peter's tomb where they find a map.  The map leads them to Alexandria, Egypt and then to France.  The Sigma Force follows them and catches most of them in Egypt, except two.  They all meet back in France, but a few of the Sigma Force people get killed in the water close to Egypt.  The leader of the Sigma Force gets killed in France.  At the end the evil people, the Sigma Force gets stopped and killed.  The hero Grayson get the lady Rachel too.



Appeal:  Pace:  fast-paced

              Story-line:  Plot - driven

              Tone:  Suspenseful

              Writing style:  Compelling.



Read - alikes from Novelist

 

The Emperor's Tomb by Steve Barry





The Chase by Clive Cussler

The Alexander Cipher by Will Adams

Secret Shopper at Tecumseh Library

  I decided to go to the Tecumseh Library, which is a branch of the Allen County Public Library,  because it wasn't the library I usually go to and no one will know me.  When I went to the library, I asked the lady at the front desk for a good book to read.  I told her I was interested in fiction.  She showed me to the new books and let me browse.  I saw she had some books by Anne Rice and I wondered if they had any books that her son wrote.  She sent me over to the mystery section and told me to look for myself.  I didn't find what I was looking for, but I browsed the books and found a couple of interesting books; a book from the Supernatural series, and The Reader.  I have the movie The Reader, but haven't watched it yet.  I also asked her to look for a James Rollins book because I am reading one of his books now.  She told me there was two books by this author and where to look.  I looked there and found none.  I also had her look up Perks of a Wallflower and they didn't have it.  I was very disappointed with my experience at this library.  I am glad I live closer to a better library, the Shawnee branch of the Allen County Public Library.  I know a couple of people that work, so I couldn't go there.  My experience has been a positive one at other libraries.    

Prompt response Week 3

1.  I am looking for a book by Laurell K. Hamilton.  I just read the third book in the Anita Blake series and I can't figure out which one comes next.
 I went to NoveList from the Allen County Public Library and put in Laurell K. Hamilton, author in the search bar.  It lists the books in the Anita Blake series.  I then looked at Vampire Hunter and found the first book in the series called guilty pleasures, vol. 1 and went to the fourth book in the series and that is called
Vampire hunter:  laughing corpse, book 2; necromancer.  There are eight books in this series and one is a prequel.  The prequel is called Vampire hunter: The first death.

2.  What have I read recently?  Well, I just finished this great book by Barbara Kingsolver, Prodigal Summer.  I really like the way it was written, you know, the way she used language.  I wouldn't mind something a big faster paced though.
I first put in Barbara Kingslover for the author and found Prodigal Summer.  It said the writing style is descriptive, lush and lyrical.  The tone of the book is romantic and thought-provoking.  I looked under the Title Read-alikes and the author Read-alikes, but I didn't find anything faster paced.  I searched more by checking tone moving and writing style richly detailed.  I found books by Sara Given was at the top of the list.  It said to start with Water for elephants, which is a book that is romantic and engaging.  I wasn't sure if this book was fast-paced enough, so put in fast-paced in the search engine.  I then narrowed in down to fiction, books since 1981 and the writing style: descriptive, lush and lyrical.  I came up with two books: Yellow emperor's and the miniaturist.

3.  I like reading books set in different countries.  I just read one set in China, could you help me find one  in Japan?  No, not modern historical I like it when the author describes it so much it feel like I was there!
I put Japan in the search engine and came up with 1,939 books, so I limited it to historical fiction and came up with 99 books.  I would have to ask what else the person would like in a book.  I also limited the search to a strong sense of place and came up with six books, which are:  The teahouse fire; Blossoms and shadows; The gods of heavenly punishment; Child of vengeance; Office of innocence and Rising sun, falling shadow.

4.  I read this great mystery by Elizabeth George called Well-Schooled in Murder and I loved it.  Then my dentist said that if I like mysteries I would probably like John Sundford, but was he creepy I couldn't finish it! Do you have any suggestions?
I searched the author Elizabeth George and no results were found.  I put in Well-Schooled in Murder and found it  I see that Well-Schooled in Murder is in a series, so I would suggest other Thomas Lynley mysteries.  The next book in the series is For the sake of Elena.  The top three Read-alikes are: Still Life by Louise Penny; The men with a load of mischief by Martha Grimes and Whose body? by Dorothy Sayers.

5.  My husband has really gotten into zombies lately.  He's already read The Walking Dead and World War Z, is there anything else you can recommend?
I put in Walking Dead in for the title and it came up with many books.  I must ask, which book your husband read in the series?  because he may want to read other books in the series.  There are 19 volumes in The Walking Dead series.  I also put in the title: World War Z and looked at the Read-alikes.  The top three Read-alikes are:  Oryx and Drake by Margaret Atwood; The gone-away World by Nick Harkaway and Robopocalypse  by Daniel Wilson.  He will like any of these books.

I find books to read by searching Amazon for similar books that I bought before.  I also look at the library and browse the shelves.  In the past I have looked at the local bookstores, but haven't done that lately because I haven't had the time.  I now will use Novelist which is at the local library site.  

Genres and Annotation of Huckleberry Finn

                                                         The five genres I choose to read are historical fiction, science fiction, gentle read, young adult and adventure.  The adventure book will be Map or Bones by James Rollins.

Annotation of the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

by Mark Twain originally published in 1885

and has been republished many times since.

  Synopsis:  This is a classic novel about a 14 year old boy named Huckleberry Finn, who escaped from his drunken abusive father and Jim, who is a slave and Huckleberry Finn helps him run away.  They go on a rafting trip down the Mississippi after Huckleberry Finn fakes his own death.  His adventures also include his friend Tom Sawyer.  The adventures are spellbinding and makes you wonder what is going to happen next. He was told he would risk eternal damnation by stealing a slave, but Huck was willing to risk hell to save Jim. This experience also transforms Huckleberry Finn.

The rule of three:

adventure

historical

fast paced.

Characteristics: 

Pacing:  The story is mostly fast paced, but slow at times

Style- Language:  It is written in the first person of a 14 year old.  The language is of an uneducated boy.  He often uses the word nigger which was common is those days.

Frame and setting:  The story is set in Missouri, in the 1830's.  He goes up and down the Mississippi river.

Tone and Mood:  It is written in a carefree and happy mood.  There was humor even in the dark times.

Read-a-likes:

The Great Gatsy

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

The Secret Garden.

These were recommended by Amazon.

Thomas Baker's new blog

Thomas Baker has started a new blog for reader's advisory.  Look for new posts about what books he plans to read and his annotations for the books.  He is looking forward to reading some new fiction this semester and he is looking forward to sharing information about the books.