Non-fiction Annotation

 

Author: Emily Morrow

Title: Really Very Crunchy: A Beginner's Guide to Removing Toxins from Your Life without Adding Them to Your Personality

Genre: Non-fiction

Publication Date: March 12, 2024

Number of Pages: 240

Geographical Setting: Unspecified

Time Period: Current day

Series: N/A

Plot Summary: "Crunchy is a spectrum" says Emily Morrow, star of the viral social media accounts Really Very Crunchy, in which Morrow parodies the "crunchy" lifestyle of natural remedies, toxin and chemical free households, and barefoot living. While you can never quite tell how much of Emily's videos are real and how much are exaggerated, in this book, the author gets much more personal about her crunchiness, and gives readers advice they can use to live a more natural lifestyle using humor, kindness, and never judgement. Morrow really wants readers to know that even small steps can make a big difference, and no matter where readers land on the crunchy spectrum, they will walk away with new ways to up their holistic lifestyle game. 

Appeal:

Characterization: Emily becomes a character in her book, sharing her experiences in how she grew in her crunchy journey. Hearing these more personal stories help develop Emily as a real person beyond the humor that readers know from her social media parodies. Also a character in her book is her husband Jason, who ends each chapter with a bit of final advice for the potential skeptics out there (he is often portrayed as the “voice of reason” in Emily’s parodies).

·     Learning/Experiencing: Readers are picking up this book to learn, be it to learn more about Emily herself, or to learn more about the crunchy lifestyle. Even if someone is far along in their crunchy journey, they will learn something new in this book.

·       Tone: This book’s tone is light, humorous, and free of judgement. These elements make the book an easy, entertaining read.

 3 terms that best describe this book: funny, down-to-earth, practical

 3 relevant fiction works:

 Confessions of a Domestic Failure: A Humorous Book About a not so Perfect Mom by Bunmi Laditan: This book is about a mom trying to better herself as a parent with the help of influencer moms via a motherhood boot camp.

People Like Her by Ellery Lloyd: Like Emily Morrow’s social media fame, this book is about a mom who is a successful influencer who gives honest advice to her large account of followers.

Little Helper, Big Imagination by Emily Morrow, Sarah Garland, and Richard Cowdrey: This upcoming fictional picture book that is also by Emily Morrow is also about transforming your life, but this book focuses on the child’s perspective of transforming everyday tasks into something magical.

3 relevant non-fiction works:

 Momma Cusses by Gwenna Laithland: This book is also written by a popular social media star, although it discusses more about parenting than Really Very Crunchy does.

 Until the Streetlights Come On: How a Return to Play Brightens Our Present and Prepares Kids for an Uncertain Future by Ginny Yurich: Ginny Yurich is the founder of the 1000 Hours Outside movement and is mentioned a couple of times in Really Very Crunchy. Like Morrow, Ginny Yurich believes using the natural world to benefit your life.

Low Tox Life: A handbook for a healthy you and happy planet by Alexx Stuart: This book is similar in giving advice on living a life with less toxins, but seems to be more of a beginner’s guide where Morrow’s does assume that readers have at least started their crunchy journey.

Week 12 Prompt

Author: Jennette McCurdy

Title: I'm Glad My Mom Died

Publication Date:August 9, 2022

Number of Pages: 320

Geographic Setting: California

Time Period: Late 1990s to Present

Subject Headings: Television actors and actresses--United States--Biography, Child Actors--Biography, Singers--United States--Biography, Mothers and Daughters--United States--Biography, Mothers--Death, Eating Disorders, Addicts, Biographies

Type: Memoir

Series Notes: N/A

Book Summary: A memoir by former Nickelodeon star Jennette McCurdy, this is an honest, heartbreaking, and yet sometimes almost funny account of Jennette's experience living with an abusive, narcissistic mother who took advantage of her fame up until her death, after which McCurdy spiraled into addiction, eating disorders and toxic relationships. This book is for anyone who enjoys reading about resiliency and people overcoming shame and trauma to reclaim their lives. Readers do not need to be familiar with McCurdy's work to root for her. 

1-3 Annotation: Jennette McCurdy's mother always wanted to be famous. When she couldn't achieve her dreams, she turned to her daughter to make her a star instead, and Jennette, wanting to do anything to make her mother happy, went along with her mom's plans. When fame finally comes, her mother is thrilled; meanwhile, Jennette spirals into anxiety, shame and eating disorders. When her mother dies of cancer, things get even worse, and Jennette begins to struggle with addiction and toxic relationships. It is only after quitting acting and finding therapy that Jennette is able to heal and discover who she really is without her mother. 

Similar Works: Mommie Dearest by Christina Crawford, The Woman in Me by Britney Spears, Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

Historical Fiction Annotation

Author: Kristin Hannah

Title: The Women

Genre: Historical fiction

Publication Date: February 6, 2024

Number of Pages: 480 pages

Geographical Setting: Vietnam and California mostly, with some other locations sprinkled in

Time Period: 1965-1982

Series: N/A

Plot Summary: Newly graduated nurse Frankie McGrath comes from a long line of war heroes. When her brother Finley follows in her family's footsteps and goes to fight in Vietnam, Frankie decides to join him as a nurse in the Army Nurse Corps. When Frankie arrives, she is overwhelmed with the chaos and violence of the war. She witnesses terrible tragedies, but over time, she becomes a confident nurse and builds deep relationships with some of her fellow nurses and doctors. When Frankie arrives home from her service, she realizes that her battles are just beginning--America is divided over the war, it seems like nobody wants to talk about the horrors Frankie witnessed while in Vietnam, and Frankie struggles to cope. The world has changed, but so has she, and how can Frankie return back to a normal life where everyone seems to want to forget Vietnam except her?

Appeal:
1. Frame/Setting: This book includes a lot of worldbuilding and descriptive language, from the mountains and jungles of Vietnam, how the army base camp looked, even how Frankie's hometown looked. By describing the setting in such detail, readers feel the story come to life and makes it feel believable and accurate. 
2.Storyline: The storyline of this story follows Frankie throughout her time in Vietnam and once she returns. Because this female perspective is one that we have not seen a lot of, this storyline sheds light on a new topic and gives readers a new level of understanding. 
3.Characterization: Frankie is a complicated character. She has a lot of struggles and grows and changes so much from the beginning of the book to the end. While she makes some questionable decisions, readers cannot help but feel for her. It's her flaws that make her feel real. 

3 terms that best describe this book: emotional, character-driven, thought-provoking

3 relevant fiction works:

The 14^th of September by Rita Dragonette: Like The Women, this book is set during the Vietnam war from a young woman in the Army's point of view,  along with both books having the themes of the legacies of military families and dealing with anti-war sentiments.

Flying Angels by Danielle Steel: While The Women takes place during the Vietnam war, this book similarly follows a young nurse's decision to follow her brother to war during World War II. 

A Quiet Cadence by Mark Treanor: Although from the point of view of a male Vietnam combat veteran instead of a woman, both books have the theme of trying to return to normal after returning from war while dealing with PTSD and other long-term affects. 

3 relevant non-fiction works:

The League of Wives by Heath Hardage Lee: This book tells the true story of the women who fought to bring home their POW/MIA husbands home from Vietnam. This idea plays a role in The Women, when Frankie joins a similar organization as a way to feel a sense of purpose and belonging after getting home from the war. 

A Piece of my Heart: The Stories of 26 American Women who Served in the Vietnam War by Keith Walker: A decade after the Vietnam war, writer and filmmaker Keith Walker met a woman who had served in Vietnam. She and 25 other women share their stories with him of the time they spent serving and their difficulties upon their return home. 

Buddy's War: A World War II Medic's Journey and the Power of Family by Barry A Lehman: In this book, the author traces his family's history and his father's role as a medic in World War II, a topic that is not spoken about in his family. This book also features key historical moments in the war and the stories of other men and women who served. 

Week 11 Prompt Response

 I feel like this week's prompt response was made for me! I listen to audiobooks almost exclusively due to my busy schedule of work, school, and having young children.  I have listened to memoirs read by their own authors, books narrated by a full cast, books with fully voiced narration, partially voiced narration and I even listened to a tween graphic novel earlier this year that was not only narrated by a full cast but also included music and sound affects to help try to make up for the illustrations that drive the majority of the story in graphic novels. 

Cahill and Moore (2017) state of audiobooks, "A good narrator ensures congruence of voice with the traits of the characters and manipulates the voice to bring a text to life" (p. 27). I have absolutely had this experience. For example, when I listened to Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley, it included a lot of the Anishinaabe native language that sounded so much more beautiful being read by a native speaker than what I could have come up with in my head. In fact, if I'm being honest, I may have skipped those sections of the physical book if I were reading it since I wouldn't have understood it. But hearing it spoken added an extra layer to the story. Narrators do really make the book come alive to me, in fact, I've had two instances of having listened to an audiobook before it was turned into a movie or TV show, and while watching them, I thought, "But that's not their voice!" while listening to the character speak because I was so attached to the narrator. 

Conversely, I have had to shut off audiobooks a couple of minutes in if I can't stand the narrator's voice. One additional thought on audiobooks is that I can see the argument that the feature on Libby that allows books to be sped up could definitely affect the tone and pacing of the book, but if that's how a reader enjoys the book, I don't think there's anything wrong with that, because everyone's own personal reading speed is different as well and we aren't going to line up exactly with what speed the author may have intended. 

As for ebooks, Dunneback and Trott (2011) note that ebook's ability to change the screen layout has an impact for readers. They state that "pacing is affected by how much text is visible on the screen. As the layout of the pages change, this can also affect the tone of the story....if the visual cues are not there, will the reader tire of the story more quickly?" (Dunneback and Trott, 2011 p. 328) Honestly, I think the accessibility benefits of being able to change font and line spacing far outweighs this. If I had a vision problem, would I rather read a book with large font where the pacing and tone was a little off, or not be able to read the book at all because I struggled seeing the words? I'd take the former. 

Discussing these mediums this week has given me a lot to think about. It's funny, because even though I listen to so many audiobooks, I don't often think to recommend books as audiobooks to my patrons. A lot of times, I present it as the second choice, for example, "Oh, the print version is checked out, are you interested in the audio?" Now I'm thinking I should start by asking if they are interested in print books, ebooks, or audiobooks, before I start readers' advisory transactions. 

References:

Cahill, M., & Moore, J. (2017). A sound history. Children & Libraries: The Journal of the Association for Library Service to Children, 15(1), 22–29. 

Dunneback, K., & Trott, B. (2011). E-books and readers' advisory. Reference & User Services Quarterly, 50(4), 325-329. 

Book Club Experience

 In this week's reading, Bies (2019) states of book clubs, "The experience of coming to a discussion as a participant is quite different from coming to facilitate...there is a different level of enjoyment, relaxation, and socialization in attending simply to listen and share" (Bies, 2019, p. 22). This is definitely how I felt observing the book club for this assignment. It was such a nice way to spend an afternoon and I learned a lot about what makes a book club successful. 

The book club I attended is the monthly book club program ran at the library where I work. It is led by one of the library assistants in the reference and information department, Amy. There were four attendees, the leader, and myself in attendance. The leader said that usually there are a few more people than that, but the day the book club took place was really windy and cold so that probably kept a few people home. All of the attendees were women and I would estimate that they were all at 55 and older. There were no snacks or drinks provided, and the program took place in the youth program room, which is not its typical location but it had to be moved there due to a tax program that was taking place in the book club’s usual location.

I did not have time to read the book chosen, but it was Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez, a work of fiction that is based on a true court case. After hearing the discussion of this book, I am hoping to read it in the future because it sounded really good.  It was interesting to see how the discussion of this book unfolded. Hoffert (2019) states, “Most librarians involved in book clubs insist that the leader should be a facilitator, focusing less on participating themselves than providing background on the book and author, keeping the conversation on track, and formulating questions in advance” (Hoffert, 2019 p. 31). This is exactly the role that the leader of this book club took on.

Amy started with a statement, saying something about how this book is set in the 1970s, which was surprising to her because she can’t believe that the events of the book could have happened so recently. From here, the conversation just exploded, with all the women agreeing and talking about what was going on in their lives when the court case was going on and how it impacts them reading about it now compared to when it was actually happening. After this, it was about 15 minutes before Amy even turned to her question sheet.

The discussion questions were only used when the conversation lulled. She probably only used three or four of the questions on the sheet total, which I really appreciated because it didn’t feel like there was pressure to rush through the discussion in order to get through all the questions. Sometimes, a question would arise from the leader that was not even on the sheet but just based on where the discussion led. Often, the participants would throw in their own questions for the group, which was really great to see.

I was really impressed to see the balance throughout the group. Everyone seemed to contribute to the conversation and nobody seemed to be hogging the attention. They were also respectful when a differing of opinion occurred. There is one portion of the book that discussed a character having an abortion. It was evident that one of the book club members did not care for this section and started to talk about how the character’s actions in the book are related to the regret she felt for making that decision. One of the other group members politely said that they disagreed and justified their own thoughts about the abortion in a respectful way. It was also great to see that the book club leader did not input her opinion one way or the other on that topic and allowed space for both opinions.

Amy stated that the group reads about 2/3 fiction and 1/3 non-fiction. She will sometimes pick a book based on the theme of the month; for example, this book club took place in February, which was Black History month, so she chose a book by a black author. However, she doesn’t disclose this connection to the club members; it’s just a way for her to narrow down the choices. She also tends to choose books that are plot heavy, because these make for the best discussion, and she avoids thrillers and suspense because those don’t generate a lot of discussion. At the end of this session, a lot of the members had suggestions for future reads. She said that she always has suggestion cards out, but there isn’t usually a lot of feedback on selections, so she’s excited to add in some recommendations from the club members.

I could not believe how fast the hour flew by. I saw how a good book club should run through the success of this one, and I feel that this book club is successful due to both the leadership of the facilitator as well as the participation of the group. Through this experience, I am excited to get more involved with book clubs in the future. I think I would first like to join as a participant to get more experience, and then maybe someday I can consider a job where I can lead a club of my own.

 References:

Bies, A. (2019). Making a book discussing your own. ILA Reporter, 38(5), 22-23. 

Hoffert, B. (2019). The book club experience. Library Journal, 144(3), 30-33. 

30–33.

 

               

 

 

 

Special Topics Paper Summary: Celebrity Book Clubs

 For my special topics paper, I chose to explore the impact of various celebrity book clubs and how we can use these clubs for readers advisory. While I have read several book club selections, mostly by discovering them by their seals on the covers, I had no idea what the impact these book clubs have had. 

The first book club I explored was the original celebrity book club, Oprah's. Through my research, I found out that when a book was chosen for Oprah's Book Club, it was estimated that it would sell 500,000 additional copies. Even books that were not new releases would return to the bestseller lists if they were included in her club (Sheehan, 2021). Reese Witherspoon's book club also has had huge impacts, with her picks accounting for two percent of all fiction sales since 2017 (Nichols, 2019) and the additional benefits of her picks being made into movies or shows through her production company. Even smaller book clubs have benefits, such as Jimmy Fallon's first book club selection selling three times more than the week before it was chosen (Grunenwald, 2019). 

I also came up with several ideas for how to use these book club selections in readers' advisory, such as lists on my library's catalog, book and movie displays from book club selections, book bundles that incorporate different celebrity lists together, and even a lecture/book club program using these celebrity selections. Because these book clubs are really trusted by readers as quality selections, I think any of these programs would be popular with the patrons at my library. 

References:

Grunenwald, J. (2022, December 20). Celebrity Book Clubs are all the rage. Perspectives on Reading. https://perspectivesonreading.com/celebrity-book-clubs-are-all-the-rage/

Nichols, M. (2019, August 16). How the new celebrity book clubs are boosting literary sales. Variety. https://variety.com/2019/biz/news/reese-witherspoon-celebrity-book-clubs-little-fires-everywhere-1203279897/ 

Sheehan, D. (2021, September 17). On its 25th anniversary, here’s a look at Oprah’s Book club-by the numbers. Literary Hub. https://lithub.com/on-its-25th-anniversary-heres-a-look-at-oprahs-book-club-by-the-numbers/