Week 9 Assignment 3

Summarize your thoughts about this program in a blog post.  What have you learned that was helpful?

Having completed this training I do I feel more competent and knowledgeable!  How so?  I am certainly more familiar with reader’s advisory tools and my reference interview skills are sharper.  What else?  Appeal factor terms - always use them when providing readers advisory!  Apply them to the books I read & listen to in order to better be able to recommend them to others.  Goodreads.com - keep logging books on my goodreads.com account!  Add more book shelves when necessary for efficiency.  Work pockets of time into my schedule to read Earlyword’s newletter & other helpful sites.  Subgenres are evolving, expanding, and crossing over.  Having said that, use genre specific websites more frequently!  Lastly, offer customers nonfiction read alike book options for fiction and fiction read alike book options for nonfiction. 

Week 9 Assignment 2

Post to your blog your opinion about book trailers – do they succeed in marketing the books they are trying to promote?  Are they useful for readers’ advisory?


Interesting link that lists 'great' book trailers!


http://therumpus.net/2013/06/fantastic-book-trailers-and-the-reasons-theyre-so-good/


The purpose of a book trailer is to bring attention to a book and its author.  I've only used book trailers for readers advisory with young adult readers!  To be honest, until this assignment I'd never watch book trailers for any other genre than young adult books.  Why for YA readers' advisory?  Typically to see what direction the "next book in a series" will go or to introduce a reader to an author or series.  For better or for worse, I like the trailers that include some actual voice or video of the book's author.  Even if the author seems a little awkward or 'out there.'  I watched Crown Publishing Group's book trailer for the book Dead Wake - after reading the book.  I don't know if watching it prior to reading the book would have prompted me to do so sooner or not!  (Probably not.)  After watching & listening to book trailers for this assignment, I learned audio book trailers are helpful to me personally!  My enjoyment factor when listening to audio books depends heavily upon my opinion of the reader.  (I love reading but NOT listening to Patrick Taylor's Irish County Doctor series.  The reader is just tooooo ovvvvveerrr the top with the Irish brogue.)  Listening to book trailers helps me decide whether or not to bother checking out an audio book.  I recently listened to Great Kitchens of the Midwest's audio edition trailer and know I'd love listening to the story.  And I do; I'm on cd number 3!     

Week 9 Assignment 1

Read the two articles on book trailers and watch the embedded videos from the Chicago Tribune and the New York Times.  Go to You Tube and find some other book trailers and watch a few of the popular ones.

Week 8: Assignment 4

Using appeal factors, write a book talk for two of the four titles you would recommend, noting who you would recommend them to and why.


Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand (Memoir)  Appeal factors: memoir, inspirational, survival, moving, engaging
Unbroken is the incredible story of Louis Zamperini - a juvenile delinquent, Olympic athlete, WWII POW camp survivor, and lastly man who overcomes PTSD to live a life helping and loving others.  Laura Hillenbrand writes this engaging memoir of the personable, likable Louie Zamperini.  It chronicles, in detail, Louie's survival of unimaginable cruelty, starvation, and depravation during WWII.  This book appeals to anyone who enjoys history or a good story! 


Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania (940.4514L History)  Appeal factors:  historical, engaging, suspenseful, multiple perspectives, rich in detail
Eric Larson's Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania nonfiction book explains what happened and why the ship was torpedoed off the Irish coastline in May 1915.  Readers are provided multiple perspectives of key people and government official involved in the event.  The rich detail creates a suspenseful and riveting tale of the human experience and the significance of Lusitania's sinking.  This book will appeal not to just those interested in history, but anyone that appreciates a page-turner!  

Week 8: Assignment 3

Choose any four of the 16 nonfiction genres presented in the video. In what Dewey area(s) did you find narrative nonfiction in these genres? List each of the four genres and their Dewey areas on your blog. Choose one book from each of these four genres that you could recommend to someone who normally reads only fiction. List these titles and their authors.


1.  Memoirs - Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand (Memoirs)


2. Contemporary Social Issues - A Call to Action: Woman, Religion, Violence, and Power by Jimmy Carter (305.42C)


3.  Essays - Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit (305.42S)


4.  Food - Burnt Toast Makes You Sing Good by Kathleen Flynn (641.5977F)


5.  History - Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania (940.4514L)


6.  Science - The Astronaut Wives Club: A True Story by Lily Koppel (629.45K)

Week 8: Assignments 1 & 2

Read the two articles provided.
Watch the E-Learning video from the Maryland State Resource Library.

Week 7: Assignment 4

Blog trends in current or forthcoming teen fiction on listed websites.


Harlequin - Zombies and paranormal galore!


Harper Collins - Fairy tale stories retold! (i.e. Snow White and Cinderella)


Little, Brown Books - Post apocalyptic and dystopia!


Teens/Penguin Young Readers - Author Marie Lu's newest book in the Young Elites series will released on 10/13/2015.


I recently read a short YA article written by blogger Lisa Parkin.  In the article, Parkin noted four trends emerging in YA books in 2015:
1.  Crimes and Cons - characters on the wrong side of the law.
2.  Retellings - fairy tales and classic literary stories.
3.  Quirky & moving - i.e. Mosquitoland by David Arnold, The Trouble with Destiny by Lauren Morrill.)
4.  Dealing with Loss - next generation of 'sick lit' but with characters left behind & dealing with loss.