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!
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