Week 5: Building Base Knowledge (Part II)

What useful information have you learned from the resource that you have been monitoring  since week one?  Blog about it.


During week one, I decided to monitor Goodreads as a resource. But since I was already familiar with Goodreads, I decided that I was technically cheating and began to monitor Early Word. I was somewhat intimidated by the layout of the website at first. It felt like there were so many components that I needed to explore in a limited amount of time. I eventually reminded myself that this was a learning experience, so I should definitely take my time when exploring what the site had to offer. Right from the start, I appreciated the many reader's advisory list that the website offered. I also thoroughly enjoyed how the titles were categorized by released date. This extremely helpful when customers request suggestions for new releases.


More than likely, you have a diverse mix of customers who have equally diverse reading preferences, but all of these resources are available via Early Word.  Take a look at the site and click around; there are lots of links in both sidebars.  Post to your blog: What resources are new discoveries for you?  What do you think that you will continue to use?

At Rosedale, thanks to Storyville we have a large circulation of kid titles. One of the things that I found most helpful about Early Word is it's archive for children and young adult titles. Parents are often overwhelmed by the number of titles and topics made available to their children, so the enlist our help to help them narrow their search. I will definitely put Early Word in my bag of resources to use when attempting to locate new/popular titles for our youth and adult readers a like.  

Pick a title from Amazon’s Best of the Month, found under the right-hand “Coming Soon” sidebar on Early Word.  Write a blog post using appeal factors or read alikes to describe the title.  Why is this title expected to be popular and to whom would it appeal?


SPOILER FREE REVIEW!: In If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo, readers are introduced to Amanda Hardy, a high school student starting her senior year at a new school. Readers follow Amanda as she attempts the all too familiar act of trying to fit in with her peers, all while concealing a personal secret. Along the way, she unexpectedly falls for golden boy, Grant and struggles to let him into her world. Feeling alone and afraid that her secret will push Grant away, Amanda struggles to come to terms with her new life. Russo's novel has begun to fill a major void in the world of young adult fiction. Readers both young and old will be able to relate to the universal story of feeling different, while wanting to fit in.

Week 4: Building Base Knowledge (Goodreads)

Link to Goodreads account: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/47024578-varshea-smith

I am fairly new to the world of Goodreads. According to their record, I have been a member since September of last year. I must say that the ability to maintain an ongoing book list was intriguing to me at first, but over time my "to-read" shelf began to rival my "read" shelf. I'm friends with several of my coworkers on the site and I often log on just to see what books they're currently reading. On several occasions, my coworkers have written a review that ignited my interest in a book and/or author. Hence why my "to-read" list is growing by the minute.

I've been a member of the Goodreads community for several months now, but I have never taken the time to explore its many features. I stumbled upon "Listopia" a few months when I was looking to expand my knowledge of literary works written by African American women. The lists offered by the site were very helpful and led me to several new favorite authors. The title recommendations offered through the site are also very helpful. I'm pretty peculiar about what books I read. So when I find a book that I enjoyed, I look forward to finding to exploring other read-alikes.

Until this assignment, I have only rated a few books. Usually titles that I strongly connected with or strongly disliked. I had never taken the time to offer a review or recommendation, because who cares what I think...right? Well, it turns out, as a librarian people do actually care about what you think. They want to know what you loved about that author you read as well as the things that you might not have enjoyed. After exploring the recent reads of my colleagues, I decided to offer a couple of recommendations.  

Recommendations:

#1- I noticed that one of my colleagues recently read Between the World & Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates and based on their rating, they appeared to enjoy it (also one of my recent favorites!). Since they enjoyed Coates' novel, I decided to recommend Buck by M.K. Asante.

"Hey Kelsey! 
Per Be More Bookish instructions, I wanted to offer a book recommendation based on your enjoyment of this title. This first title that came to mind was Buck by M.K. Asante. A modern day coming of age story, Buck chronicles Asante's memories of growing up as a teenager in Philadelphia. Asante, who is both a writer and a rapper uses hip-hop metaphors to express his struggles with the disintegration of his family and the decay of his neighborhood. Offering an intimate look into his daily struggles and triumphs, Asante's story is sure to inspire readers!"

#2- I noticed that another one of my colleagues enjoyed reading I am Malala by Malala Yousafzai & Christina Lamb. Based on this I decided to recommend A long way gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah.

"Hey Kayla!
Per Be More Bookish instructions, I wanted to offer a potential book recommendation based on your rating for this novel. Since you enjoyed I am Malala, you might enjoy A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah. In this captivating memoir, Beah chronicles his time as a child soldier during the civil war in Sierra Leone. As a soldier, Beah was exposed to a great deal of violence and ultimately developed a substance addiction. A Long Way Gone is the remarkable tale of Beah's struggle for freedom and overall journey towards redemption. Readers will be both heartbroken and inspired by Beah's story."

Week 3: The Readers' Services Conversation

Scenario 1:

Librarian: Hi, is there anything I can suggest?

Customer: I’m looking for a good story, you know, something that draws me in. But I don’t know where to start looking.

Librarian: What was the last book you read? Could you share something you liked about it?

Customer: The last book I read was Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. Everyone is reading it so I had to pick it up. It was lovely. She is such an interesting woman and so brave. I enjoyed the descriptions of the countries she went to and what she did while she was there, of course, but I think what I liked most was how she shared her inner thoughts — so reflective but funny too. I thought it might be just light fluff or all me, me, me, me, but it was so much more than that. I read all the Oprah books and just love them. Anyway I wanted to ask you for a few suggestions for my book group. It’s my turn to pick the title.

It sounds like this customer thoroughly enjoyed the personal reflections of Eat, Pray, Love. He/she connected with the character and were truly inspired by her experiences. For this customer, I would recommend another memoir such as My Life in France by Julia Child and Alex Prud'Homme. This book chronicles the years that Ms. Child lived in France with her husband. It is during this time that Ms. Child discovers her passion for cooking and her love for life. I believe the customer will appreciate the personal touches included in the book, like photographs taken by Child's husband himself along with additional candid family snapshots. Similar to Ms. Gilbert, Ms. Child gives readers a glimpse into her inner reflections that is both moving and entertaining.

Other reflective pieces that the customer may appreciate:

• The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin
• Julie and Julia by Julie Powell

Scenario 2:

Customer: Can you recommend any vampire books that are nothing like the Twilight series?

Librarian: Let me see how I can help you. What don’t you like about Twilight?

Customer: Everything, but especially that teen love story – way too much angst! And way too slow. Have you read any good vampire stories lately? 

It appears to me that the customer is in search of book involving vampires minus the staged love story and excessive teenage angst. I would probably introduce this customer to the Anita Blake series by Laurell K. Hamilton. Anita is a supernatural consultant for the police department, who is a vampire hunter. This series offers action packed crime-fighting scenes, while also exploring the personal and romantic experiences of the main character. The Anita Blake series has plenty of vampires without the slow burn of a teenage love story. 


Scenario 3:

Librarian:  Hi, are you looking for anything in particular?

Customer: I just read this great book The River of Doubt.  It was about Teddy Roosevelt and this ill fated expedition to chart an uncharted river in the Amazon.  They lost almost all their provisions, the president was injured, and it turns out one of their crew was a murderer since there was a murder.  And the most amazing thing was that it true.  It was fascinating and really fast paced.  Do you have anything to recommend that is like that?

This particular customer seemed to enjoy the fast pace and historical nature of the book. He/she enjoyed the well-described historical landscapes and loved that the story was actually based on factual evidence. For this reason, I would recommend other non-fiction titles that featured historical expeditions/events. Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson offers a enthralling historical narrative about the sinking of the Lusitania during World War I. Larson explores this piece of history in a way that is both thrilling and emotionally powerful. Similar to The River of Doubt, Dead Wake gives readers an intimate look into the nation's history.