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/ 

Science Fiction Annotation

 

Author: Megan Angelo          

Title: Followers

Genre: Science Fiction

Publication Date: November 10, 2020

Number of Pages: 416 pages

Geographical Setting: Constellation, California and New York, New York

Time Period: 2015 and 2051

Series: N/A

Plot Summary: In 2015, aspiring writer Orla rents out a room in her apartment in New York to Floss, a wannabe celebrity. Together, they come up with a plan that will get them both famous, even if their methods are a little questionable. Their plans work and fame comes, until a publicity stunt gone wrong has deadly consequences. Meanwhile, in 2051, Marlow lives in a locked down city called Constellation, where the government has chosen people to be influencers and have their entire lives filmed and their storylines be at the mercy of “the network”. Smartphones are a thing of the past thanks to a data breach called “The Spill” and instead, Americans have devices implanted in their wrists that track them, direct their thoughts and show influencers such as Marlow the comments on her feed. When Marlow’s latest storyline causes her to learn her entire family history is a lie, she runs away from Constellation and sets out to find out the truth.

Subject Headings: Fame fiction, conspiracy fiction, women fiction, social media fiction, friendship fiction, future.

Appeal:

1. Tone: the casual nature in which the dystopian future is described, for example, mentioning the implanted devices without comment on their ethicality, takes readers out of their comfort zone and forces them to imagine a future world the way that the book describes.

2. Pacing: the back and forth between 2015 and the future causes the book to be fast-paced; it keeps readers going to try and reach the point where the two time periods meet up and questions are answered about the connection between the characters in the present day and future.  

3. Frame/setting: The futuristic setting of Constellation transports readers to another world. Although the future is very different and dystopian, it is not so different from our current world that it confuses readers or feels far-fetched.

3 terms that best describe this book: dystopian, cautionary, thought-provoking

3 Relevant Fiction Works and their Authors

·         Touch by Courtney Maum- Although set in present day instead of the future, both books are written about the downsides of social media, technology and being a celebrity.

·         The Circle by Dave Eggers- Both books discuss the dangers of social media in a not too far away future where the internet is run by the government.

·         The Farm by Joanne Ramos- Like Followers, this book features a closed off living community where its residents are monitored; however, instead of for fame like in Followers, the women live here in exchange for giving birth to a child for someone else.

3 Relevant Non-Fiction Works and Authors:

·         Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now by Jaron Lanier- This book advocates for deleting social media accounts, which is something some readers of Followers may want to do after reading it.

·         Killing the Legends: The Lethal Danger of Celebrity by Bill O’Reilly- This book follows the lives of three famous celebrities and shows the negative results of their fame, a theme that is also throughout Followers.

·         Counting the Cost by Jill Duggar- Like Marlow in Followers, Jill grew up being filmed on the show 19 Kids and Counting. The book follows her journey as she grows, starts seeing red flags, and eventually breaks away from her family’s ultra-strict religious lifestyle.

Week 7 Prompt Response

     As a reader, particularly an avid reader of memoirs, I try to take memoirs with a grain of salt.  In my opinion, even ones that have not been subjected to controversy are not going to be 100% factual because it's just one person's perception of the experience. It reminds me of the old saying, "There's 3 sides to every story: yours, mine and the truth." I actually stumbled upon A Million Little Pieces in my teenage years. It was after it had already been published, and could have even been after the controversy but I didn't know about it at the time. I read and enjoyed the book, and found out about the scandal years later. Did it make me suddenly hate the book that I had enjoyed? Not really. The quote from the New Yorker article sums it up pretty well,  “A Million Little Pieces tries to capture the experience of recovering from addiction. Readers don’t care whether these things literally happened to James Frey, because they didn’t buy the book to find out about James Frey. They bought it to learn about addiction and recovery. James Frey’s job as a writer is only to convey that experience" (Menand, 2018).  

    The ethics of publishing something as a work of non-fiction even though it is not all true is definitely questionable. In an ideal world, it would be nice if the authors put a disclaimer at the beginning of the book stating something about how some events or people may have been exaggerated for the sake of the story. But this could definitely affect the book's success if people know it's not 100% a true story. Is it better for a book to sell less but it's the author's own story? Or is it better to be successful only to be hit with controversy later? I guess that's a choice an author has to make for themselves. Ultimately, I think the readers themselves have to decide how much of a stake they want to place in the book's authenticity and how much they want it to affect them when there are controversies. 

References:

Menand, L. (2020, December 7). Literary hoaxes and the ethics of authorship. New Yorker. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/12/10/literary-hoaxes-and-the-ethics-of-authorship

Romance Annotation

 

Author: Emily Henry

Title: Happy Place

Genre: Romance

Publication Date: April 25, 2023

Number of Pages:400 pages

Geographical Setting: Knott’s Harbor, Maine 

Time Period: Present Day

Series: N/A

Plot Summary: Harriet is looking forward to her and her college friends’ annual trip to Maine, where they spend the week exploring the shops, relaxing on the beach, and hanging out at her friend Sabrina’s family's summer home. There is just one problem—Harriet has a secret; her and her fiancé Wyn broke up six months ago, and since he was an integral part of her friend group as well, she hasn’t had the heart to tell anyone. She plans to use the trip to break the news, but then Wyn ends up showing up on the trip and throws everything off track. When some important news about the future of their annual trip is revealed, Wyn and Harriet decide that it’s for the best to wait to tell their friends the truth about their relationship. They will spend the week pretending they are still together, which seems easy enough since they are both still drawn to each other, even amidst their heartbreak. Will they be able to pull off their secret and enjoy one last week together in their happy place?

Subject Headings: My library has this book's subject headings as Man-woman relationships-fiction and Vacations-Maine-fiction.

Appeal:

1. Pacing: Although this book takes place over the course of a week, the book is very fast paced. There is a lot of dialogue in this book that helps it move quickly along. The witty banter also keeps the reader going in the book to hear what they have to say next.

2. Tone: This book does a good job of capturing Harriet’s emotions through its tone. The relationships in this book are depicted authentically and allows readers to become invested in the characters.

3. Storyline: The storyline of this book is interesting. The mix of the present situation in the book intermixed with flashbacks to the history of Harriet’s relationship and where things went wrong helps readers stay engaged and rooting for them. I also appreciated all of the friendship and family dynamics that were included in the storyline to help build on Harriet’s character and show why things are happening the way they are.

3 terms that best describe this book: Fun, light, witty

3 Relevant Fiction Works and their Authors

“It happened one summer” by Tessa Bailey

    Both of these works are romances that take place during a trip to a small beachfront town. Both books also reveal information about the characters’ pasts and include the main female character going through a transformation into their true selves.

 "The Boardwalk bookshop" by Susan Mallery

    Like “Happy Place” this book takes place on the beach of a small town and it also includes a group of close women friends who have become like family who navigate their relationships as friends as well as their romantic relationships. 

  “Emergency contact” by Lauren Layne

    While this book takes place during the Christmas season instead of summer, it also features a second chance at romance storyline and a career driven female character.

3 Relevant Non-Fiction Works and Authors:

  "Frommer’s Maine Coast Complete Guide" by Kevin Brian

    This book would pair well with this book for any readers wanting to hear more about the Maine setting.

"How to Be a Best Friend Forever: Making and Keeping Lifetime Relationships" by John Townsend.

     The friendships between the three female characters in this book are a big part of the story. But the friends are also navigating changes in their friendship as their lives change and they grow older. This book could be interesting to those who were interested in helping their own friendships through similar situations.

"Pottery for Beginners: Projects for Beautiful Ceramic Bowls, Mugs, Vases and More" by Kara Leigh Ford

    The main character of this book finds an interest in pottery. This book would be a good starting point for anyone else who is interested in trying out this hobby.

 

Week 6 Prompt

As we have seen at our library, there has been a huge demand for "spicy" romance books that have grown popular via Tiktok. This has been great for drawing new readers into the genre. However, I am interested in getting those readers to branch out and explore other areas of our romance collection outside of those viral authors.

 As a fun way to get our readers interacting with the other romance books in our collection, I would like to include bookmarks in our romance books that will have a rating system that asks our readers to rate the spiciness of the book. We could include a little chili pepper emoji, ranking from 1 to 5 peppers, and after the reader has finished the book, they could mark the chili pepper based on where they thought it fell. As more readers read the book, new readers picking up the book could look at the past pepper ratings and decide if they wanted to read the book or not. This rating system could help those looking for spice to find it, and those wanting romance without the spice to choose elsewhere. This is also a more discreet way for readers to find their comfortable spice level, since it is anonymous and they could explore the books themselves looking for a rating without having to ask a librarian. 

Since our library catalog also has list features, I would also like to make a list of movie pairings that readers of these popular Tiktok romance books would enjoy. For example, if you liked Colleen Hoover, you may like this list of movies or TV shows. We could even integrate this into a display with book and movie bundles.