Crash Course in Gentle Reads Recording Access and Appeal of the Genre

Earlier this month I posted about the joint NoveList and LibraryReads Crash Course in Gentle Reads.  

Here is the link to that post and more info about what you should expect from the webinar.

And here is the free video access.

I would also note, one of the best things this webinar does is to help you, the library worker, better understand what readers who are asking for "Gentle Reads" may actually be looking for. This is a genre that isn't really a genre. It is more of a category. But, it is also a category who lines are defined by the perceptions of the reader in front of you and what they consider "gentle." It morphs and changes with each person.

Here is an example of that morphing. I often mention A Man Called Ove as a "gentle read" option; however once in a while I get push back on saying that this book, framed by a man who is about to commit suicide [but learns that he doesn't want to], cannot be considered gentle because of that troubling frame. Well, as you will learn in this webinar, this novel is part of a subset of the genre which are gentle but have a contemporary edge.

To that end, I also want to direct you to this link from Goodreads. It is the list of the most popular books tagged "Gentle Reads" by readers. Using this link every once in a while gives you a sense of what people think of as "gentle" because it is a user generated list. 

Watch the video and rethink how you suggest gentle reads, but also, how you work with readers looking for the types of appeal factors they mention. It truly is a more complex, rich, and interesting genre than many of you may think. 

And don't underestimate gentle reads for yourself. One of my favorite reads all of last year is solidly in the gentle reads camp-- The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune. And I love Horror, so again, don't underestimate the genre.