Week 3 Assignment 3

Conversation 1:


From reading the conversation, it seems to me the customer enjoys a nonfiction book written from a strong woman's viewpoint. She likes books where people are in-touch with their most inner self or "finding themselves". With this information, I would recommend the book Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed because the author lost her way when her mother died and she decided she would hike thousands of miles through various trails and deserts on her own to find herself and live her life without her mother. This book was also a part of Oprah's 2.0 Book Club which the customer also enjoyed.




Conversation 2:


I gather the customer wants a book that involves vampires without the extended dialogue and sappy teen love story. I would start with a classic in this case with Dracula by Bram Stoker since it is the father of all vampire books by introducing the world to Count Dracula and his attempt to move from Transylvania to England to find new blood. (Pun intended) I would also recommend Interview with a Vampire by Anne Rice...wait, maybe ANY vampire book by Anne Rice since that was her go-to storyline for several years. In regards to Interview with a Vampire, there is a love story involved, but I have heard it isn't anywhere near as sappy as Twilight. 




Conversation 3:


I gather this customer is looking for a fast-paced nonfiction book with a touch of murder and mystery. I would recommend a book I remember being very popular several years ago entitled The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America by Eric Lawson. While I have never read it, I have been told it is narrative nonfiction book that has several twists and turns surrounding a serial killer who used the World's Fair to lure victims to their untimely death.

Week 3 Assignment 2

Listening to Nancy Pearl describe books is like listening to an infomercial (in a good way!). She is concise, uses trigger words to immediately grab your attention if those are the type of books you are interested in, and she is energetic about the books she is recommending. Details about the plot as a whole is minimal which was a shocker for me because I always assumed reader's advisory focused on the actual storyline and not appeal factors. Her book talks are approximately one minute in length which to me is incredible. I am still trying to MEMORIZE the appeal factors so I can give better book talks to not only customers but friends and family.

Week 3 Assignment 1

At Essex, we do not get too many reader's advisory questions, but when we do, I jump at the opportunity. I never thought about appeals when it came to book recommendations so it was interesting to use these factors when assisting customers. I enjoy and have used the option of offering customer audio books for a break in "reading" a book. Most times, people are not interested; however, every now and again, I get a bite and they come back wanting more. The best feeling is having a customer come back to you and let you know how they feel about something I suggested to them. Be it positive or negative, I love hearing feedback and it helps me grow as a librarian. Now if I could just get customers to give me more than "I just want a good book. Don't you know any?"

Week 2 Assignment 2

Hope: A Memoir of Survival in Cleveland by Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus, Mary Jordan, and Kevin Sullivan





Written from the prospective of two of the three young women held captive in Cleveland, readers grasps a first-hand account of the horrors these women had to endure while being held captive by Ariel Castro for ten years. Majority of the story takes place in the backdrop of the house where the girls are held, but reporters Mary Jordan and Kevin Sullivan provide the reader with information the girls are not privy to until after their escape. Written similar to diary entries, information about child rape and physical, mental, and emotional abuse is raw, and in-your-face honest. While I enjoyed the book overall, I must admit there where times when I had to walk away because the information told we heart-wrenching and hard to digest. The language is that of the young teenagers they were when first kidnapped, and  found myself having to go back to my teenage mind frame. The tone is mostly dark and grim, with a comforting ending. We hear the stories on huge news, but it was interesting to have first-person information on the angst these young women dealt with for more than ten years.









Finding Jake by Bryan Reardon


As parents we want to think that we know what our children will or will not do, but this novel begs to acknowledge if we know our children as well as we think we do. The story jumps from past to present to give us the background of Jake, a high school student who is accused of the unthinkable, and his family. The book is told through his father, Simon Connolly, and his trials and tribulations of being a stay-at-home Dad while raising Jake and his younger sister Laney. The author did an excellent job of letting the reader know when the scene was jumping from one time frame to the next, and the characters were flushed out well. There were twists and turns throughout the novel to keep your head spinning and on an adrenaline rush until the very last page.




Every Fifteen Minutes by Lisa Scottoline


How do you win a game that you do not know that you are playing? Dr. Eric Parrish is a character anyone can love. He is the Chief of a Psychiatric Unit that is number two in the country, dealing with a fresh divorce from his wife, and trying to be the best dad he can be to his seven year old daughter. His world is turned upside down when he meets Max, a seventeen year old with self-diagnosed OCD who is head-over-heels in love with a girl. The problem? The girl turns up murdered and all fingers point to Max, but he is nowhere to be found. This fast-paced novel with relatable characters keep you guessing. The novel's tone varies from end-of-your-seat suspense, to mild light-heartedness, to extremely dark. Just enough detail is provided to paint a vivid picture of the life of Dr. Parrish, but there is enough missing information to keep you guessing.

Week 2 Assignment 1

In my past life, before I became a Librarian, I will admit that I stuck to specific books...typically Urban Fiction, African-American authors, and almost anything by James Patterson. My taste was very narrow and limited. No matter how many other books people recommended to me, I would normally turn up my nose if it didn't fall into one of those categories.


Then, it happened...I became bored with my limited selection of reading and decided it was time to grow up. That and the job of librarian kind of pushes you to become more open-minded. So I decided to take recommendations that people were giving me and read them. I was surprised to find how many I actually enjoyed but I could never put my finger on what I liked about those books outside of my comfort zone.


After reading "Appeal Factor", I can now put my likes and dislikes into actual categories! Yes, so totally sounding like an infomercial. I love books that are fast-paced (James Patterson...WINNER!), with interesting, likable characters (Wait, I DISLIKED everyone in Girl on a Train, but loved the book...Hmmm), and just enough detail to give me a feel of the scenery, but not so much that it is over-bearing. (::Coughing:: TWILIGHT...nice story, too much detail)


When it comes to tone, it depends on my at the given moment. If I am in the mood for something funny, my love for Mr. Patterson ain't gonna cut it. No matter how much I LOVE his books. Between this article and what I learned in LATI, I have found myself better able to assist customers during reader's advisor questions. Shoot, I'm helping myself!