Mystery Trends and Titles from LJ and a General Comment On These Genre Spotlight Features

I have been in meetings most of the last two days. They have all been good and productive library meetings, but they have not allowed me to finish the in-progress blog posts I have been working on.

But, Library Journal has saved me today with their annual Genre Spotlight on Mystery. This article takes a look at the year that was, assesses trends, and then talks about what is coming up.  I really love these genre spotlights because they are a mix of essay and annotated reading list. You get the key titles, the new titles, and a lot of really helpful RA advice.  You can use what is in this article to help a patron right now.

So, excuse my passing of tieback today, but this is an article worth your time.

You can also click here to pull up the other genre spotlight articles.  I particularly rely on these to help me with the genres for which I am least familiar. Not only do they give me a list of titles to suggest to patrons, but the description portions of the spotlight articles give me the vocabulary, focus, and confidence to actually work with a fan of the genre.

Try it out for yourself. Click here and pick your least favorite genre, find a patron who likes that genre, and start talking books.