WK4: Goodreads!

Week 4: Assignment 1 Explore Goodreads (especially features like Listopia and Explore) and write/share your impressions/discoveries/revelations on your blog. If you have not already, please join Goodreads and add and rate at least 15 titles. Look at what Goodreads recommends for you – why do you think those titles were chosen? Complete the following Goodreads features and functions:

• Create shelves for the books you rated.
• Make friends with colleagues.
• Recommend a title to a colleague based on a title or titles that they have enjoyed using the comments field on Goodreads. Be sure to include appeal characteristics in your recommendation and note why it is similiar to the title or titles they enjoyed.
• Include this recommendation on your blog and write/share your impressions, discoveries, or revelations from exploring Goodreads.

I have used Goodreads for a while now.
Mainly I use it as a way to keep track of the books I have read and want to read...because I love to make lists, but I am also really good at losing them!!!

I love listopia.  I use for finding books I want to read on particular topics; I use it when someone comes in to ask if I can recommend an inspirational NF book and for all around RA.

As far as what Goodreads recommends for me...not really spot on for my tastes.  I might like one or 2 suggestions out of about 15.  But maybe that means I need to fine tune my ratings a bit more.  I have a couple users that I follow that I find are more productive in that area.

I will admit, I don't really use Goodreads to review the books I have finished, though I do rely on others users reviews to really decide if I will give a new book a try... Looks like we are in a one sided relationship here...maybe I should start giving back...

Recommendations for Sharon:

She read: Hunger Games. 

Recommendations:  These def have that alternate universe theme and appeal to both YA & Adult readers. 

• Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card 
• The Divergent Series by Veronica Roth - YA dystopian world with life changing decision to be made and dealing with preconceived societal roles. Just like hunger games there are physical & psychological hurdles to overcome.
• The Giver Series by Lois Lowry - YA alternate universe/dystopia where children are face with moral and life changing decision and challenging authority.

She read Jurassic Park.Recommendations: Again with the alternate universe theme and aspects of sci-fi...

• Blade Runner (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?) by Philip K Dick  
• The Land that Time Forgot by Edgar Rice Burroughs - Set in a mysterious tropical jungle with dinosaurs (of course) with animal human relationships.
• Life of Pi  by Yann Martel - because of the adventure tale and cannibal island!
• DNA & Genetic Engineering by Robert Snedden - to coincide with the scientific aspects
• Brave New World by Aldous Huxley - also has to do with genetic science except in humans.

Most of these suggestions have a film version that I would def recommend checking out too!

WK3: The Readers’ Services Conversation

Week 3: Assignment 1 Review NoveList article “The RA Conversation” by Neal Wyatt. 
Week 3: Assignment 2 Listen to this podcast of Nancy Pearl talking about books. Note how long her individual book talks are, how she describes the book, and how much plot is discussed.
Week 3: Assignment 3 Review these patron descriptions of “what they are looking for” and post an entry on your blog on what you heard or deduced, and what title you would recommend. (Note: There isn’t one “right” answer to what title you would recommend to these customers, just be able to support your recommendation.)
Conversation 1 | Conversation 2 | Conversation 3

Convo1:  What I heard from her conversation is that she like to have other people pick her books: anything that is popular and that other people are reading and all of the Oprah books.

So what would I immediately think of...

• Gone Girl and the new 'gone girl' of this summer...The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes.
• As far as similar recommendations for Eat Pray, Love
• All Over the Map by Laura Fraser, is one that comes to mind.

Convo2:  Looking for the theme of vampires or paranormal but looking for something more adult, realistic with better writing possibly??

I would suggest the following:

• the original Bram Stoker’s Dracula - the classic where it all started (sort of)
• the motion picture “Dracula’ with Gary Oldman - not to be missed (I love tying in all types of media!)
• The Fall trilogy by Guillermo del Toro - (a more adult audience and relational themes as well as the classic apocalyptic theme)
• Sookie Stackhouse/True Blood series (If you are familiar with this series you know it includes many paranormal characters, not just vampires intertwined in steamy, exciting and diverse relationships).
• Discovery of witches by Deborah Harkness
• Encyclopedia of Vampire Mythology - in depth academic nonfiction study of the history, myth, culture surrounding vampires.

Convo 3:  So he's looking for something with adventure that is fast paced and based on true events.

The first thing that comes to mind is:

• Lost City of Z by David Grann.
• Into Africa: the epic adventures of Stanley & Livingstone by Martin C. Dugard
•  Mornings on Horseback: by David G. McCullough

WK2: Recommendations

I am recommending a few books to Anne Abaeo Baker @ gardenerlibrarian.blogspot.com

She wrote about these two books:

Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron, by Daniel Clowes

Under the Banner of Heaven, by Jon Krakaeur

I'm gonna focus on her second selection, where she described main appeal factors for "... anyone who enjoys learning about history or other cultures and religions, and anyone who is intrigued by faith-based murders. Definitely fulfills the 'learning/educational' appeal factor."

I would recommend a new one out concerning the Westboro Baptist Church entitled Banished: Surviving My Years in the Westboro Baptist Church http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15791137-banished

Another classic one focusing more on history/religion/myth of another culture is the Popol Vuh, the Sacred Book of the Quiché Maya http://www.goodreads.com/search?utf8=✓&query=Popol+Vuh%2C

We can also go as far as books on Rasputin and Charlie Manson.  I like this one by Brian Moynahan.

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/179705.Rasputin

And of course Helter Skelter: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/105992.Helter_Skelter

WK2 Appeal Factors

Week 2: Assignment 1
Read the NoveList article on Appeal Factors by Neal Wyatt.
Week 2: Assignment 2 Using mainly appeal factors rather than plot summary, write annotations on your blog for two books which you’ve read and enjoyed.
 Week 2: Assignment 3Visit a colleague’s blog (see the Blogroll panel to the right) and suggest two titles which they might enjoy based on their postings. You may find these two titles via NoveList etc. but do not spend longer on these than you would with a customer.

My Picks:

TITLE: NO ONE BELONGS HERE MORE THAN YOU

AUTHOR: JULY, MIRANDA

DATE: 2007

Pacing: quick, winding, naively poetic

Characterization: genuine, realistic, intimate, queer, caring, strong-willed, dysfunctional

Storyline: Collection of short stories that center around anything from odd relationships with      neighbors, contemplating self, stalking and all the peculiar instances that can make up our lives.

Language: 1st & 3^st person

Setting: Nevada

Detail: pretty light

Tone: light, offbeat humor, lonely, empathetic, annoyance, clever girl, wonder-filled

Learning/Experiencing: relationships, disaffection, realization of short comings and self absorbed.

FYI: Author Website: http://mirandajuly.com/ (Yes, check it out, I know you'll feel better about yourself if you do.)Also she seems to create a website for some books as well. Umm interactive, fun times.  Here's the site for the book I'm gonna talk about now: http://noonebelongsheremorethanyou.com/
First off: Why i was interested in this book: It's a collection of short stories...I'm one of those fans of short stories.If you aren't familiar with Miranda July's writing or films, she's def on the quirky side, like the far side.She's simultaneously cute, hilarious and scary and brutally truthful.  When I think about July, I think about myself and a really good Saturday: happy, relaxed sporadically productive and inside my own little world, that I may or may not crawl out of.

TITLE: WINTER BONE

AUTHOR: WOODRELL, DANIEL

DATE: 2006

Pacing: quick, gritty and to the point

Characterization: realistic, determined, fearless, caring, strong-willed, dysfunctional

Storyline: Young girl must struggle through hardship (neglect, abuse, poverty) to find her father and save her family.

Language: prose-y, intense, 3^st person

Setting: Ozark back-county, Missouri, well described, familiar, current, exact

Detail: lots of imagry, landscape

Tone: dark, depressing, suspense, Midwestern plight.

Learning/Experiencing: Ozarks, rural living, Midwestern drug culture, family relationships

TITLE: THE REENACTMENTS

AUTHOR: FLYNN, NICK

DATE: 2013

• Pacing:
"chapters" if you wanna call them by that name were never more that a page or two, most were mere reflections, thoughts or musings.
• Character: realistic, emotional, reflective, pondering, philosophical, open, yet may not be completely honest (but then, that usually makes things more exciting)
• Storyline: cinematic, The experience of watching and being a part of the creation of a movie of a book about the author.
• Language: intense, 1^st person
• Setting: well described, familiar, current, exact
• Detail: kinda sporadic, as the author has written a couple of books and numerous poems on this topic
• Tone: inspirational, humorous, child-like, realistic, memoir/journal feel.
  Learning/Experiencing: movie-making, homelessness, personal struggle, loss, death, addiction, mental illness, recovery, Boston