Library Reads: September 2017

This is your monthly Library Reads announcement.

I usually just cut and paste the same intro each month, but for the next few months I am amending it with this long introduction. I want to address the fact that Library Reads has been called out for their lists being too "white." While this is a fair criticism, blaming Library Reads is not fair because Library Reads and their Steering Committee are only the ones running the website, coordinating the eArc process, and counting the votes, the voters who pick the books are ALL OF YOU!!!! [Seriously, Steering Committee members votes do not come into play. I looked into it.]

So that means all of you-- all of us-- are falling down on the job of nominating more diverse titles-- both in terms of the ethnicity and race of the author and the genres represented. So I think the problem requires action in a two pronged strategy.

First, we need more of you to participate, especially those of you who read more diversely and widely. Basically Library Reads needs new blood. Library reads is SUPER EASY to participate in, yet despite that, as I travel the country meeting all of you, many of you do not participate and surprisingly, a lot of you don't even now how to begin. So, we are going to fix that. Here's the recording of a LibraryReads webinar on how to participate.

But one fallacy about Library Reads is that you have to write a full annotation in order for your vote to be counted. That is not true. You just need to read [or honestly skim] the eARC and then rate the book and submit your vote to Library Reads. But the webinar will explain it all.

I know many of you have not gotten involved because you thought that it was too difficult. I am here to tell you it is not. So let's get some new people submitting votes. It only takes a few new people to make a big difference. I am calling on you, my readers [and there are close to a thousand of you a day] to step up and make your voices heard.

[On a side note, while Library Reads will not release how many votes it takes for a book to make the list, a publishing rep [not a big 5] told me confidentially that she has gone back and crunched the numbers that she has seen for her titles and she estimates that about 40-45 votes gets you on the list. But to be number one, she has no idea because one of her books hasn't ever been number one.]

Second, stop voting for the obvious books. I know you like the big name authors. We all do, but seriously people, voting for big name, huge bestselling authors over and over again is helping no one. Looking at the list below for August 2017, WHY is Louise Penny taking a spot from a less well known author. Look don't get me wrong. I LOVE Louise Penny [proof here]. For goodness sake, if you go on NoveList and see the author appeal statement for her-- I WROTE THAT. So I am not dissing her. I adore her novels. But seriously is there a library worker in America who hasn't hear of Louise Penny AND who doesn't have this author on automatic hold already? NO!

We are Library Reads. We need to do better. Library Reads needs to be more proactive in helping library workers identify the great books we wouldn't know about without this resource. Don't squander the opportunity to read a great under the radar title- early and for free- and to then pass it on to others. Read Louise Penny early for yourself, but spend your time voting for the titles that will not find an audience without your expert help.

If we keep voting for the mainstream titles, the publishers will keep spending money signing similar authors, but if we use our power to vote for more diverse and less mainstream works that we know our patrons would love, titles that no one would know about without us raising our voice to be heard, we can make great change. We can force the publishers to sign more diverse authors and we can get some great reads into more library collections, and we can have a backlist archive of great titles for all readers.

I am not going to tell you what to vote for though. I want you-- all of you-- to decide for yourselves. Me telling you would be as bad as the publishers forcing titles on us [which they already do]. The more voices we can gather who each independently choose the books that they are passionate about, the better the list will be. It will be more diverse by default when more of us use this two pronged approach that I have outlined today.

Remember, Library Reads is not a nebulous group of librarians lording over us-- it is you, me, your co-workers. It is up to us to do the right thing here because goodness knows, the publishers aren't going to do it unless we force them to.

Let's work together to make Library Reads more diverse and reflective of the full range of great books that are coming down the pike, then when we go to use these lists as a backlist tool we have an ever better resource at our fingertips.

[Now back to your regular Library Reads message.]

Library Reads day means 3 things here on RA for All.

1. I post the list and tag it “Library Reads” so that you can easily pull up every single list with one click.
2. I can remind you that even though the newest list is always fun to see, it is the older lists where you can find AWESOME, sure bet suggestions for patrons that will be on your shelf to actually hand to them right now. The best thing about Library Reads is the compound interest it is earning. We now have hundreds and hundreds of titles worth suggesting right at our fingertips.
3. You have no excuse not to hand sell any Library Reads titles because there is a book talk right there in the list in the form of the annotation one of your colleagues wrote for you. All you have to say to your patron is, “such and such library worker in blank state thought this was a great read,” and then you read what he or she said.

So get out there and suggest a good read to someone today. I don’t care what list or resource you use to find the suggestion, just start suggesting books. 

September 2017 LibraryReads

Little Fires Everywhere

by Celeste Ng

Published:9/12/2017 by Penguin Press
ISBN: 9780735224292

“Little Fires Everywhere delves into family relationships and what parenthood, either biological or by adoption, means. We follow the members of two families living in the idyllic, perfectly-planned suburb of Shaker Heights, Ohio: Mia and Pearl, a mother and daughter living a less traditional lifestyle, moving from town to town every few months, and the Richardsons, the perfect nuclear family in the perfect suburb…until Izzy Richardson burns her family home down. Ng’s superpower is her ability to pull you into her books from the very first sentence!”

Emma DeLooze-Klein, Kirkwood Public Library, Kirkwood, MO

Sourdough: A Novel

by Robin Sloan

Published: 9/5/2017 by MCD
ISBN: 9780374203108

“Lois works at a company trying to perfect a robot arm, and while she has been eating the ‘Slurry,’ or nutrient paste, that many use for nourishment, she discovers a nearby take-out restaurant that offers a ‘double spicy’ along with the most delicious sourdough bread she has ever tasted. The brothers who own this restaurant also briefly enchant her, and before they leave San Francisco they share with her the starter for the bread, which changes her life forever. This delightful tale of food, robotics and microorganisms is filled with charm, magical realism, and science.”

Michael Colford, Boston Public Library, Boston, MA 

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Dear Fahrenheit 451:
Love and Heartbreak in the Stacks

by Annie Spence

Published: 9/26/2017 by Flatiron Books
ISBN: 9781250106490

“If you could tell a book how you really feel…this is what the author has done with her collection of love letters to books. Readers (and librarians especially) will appreciate the sly stabs or ‘roasting’ that the author makes to point out fine and not-so-fine moments of key books that she is contemplating removing from her shelf. She weaves in stories from her life inside a library (which is fodder for chuckles in itself). Perfect for fans of Jenny Lawson.”

Andrienne Cruz, Azusa City Library, Azusa, CA 

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Jane, Unlimited

by Kristin Cashore

Published: 9/19/2017 by Kathy Dawson Books
ISBN: 9780803741492

“A chance encounter with former tutor Kiran Thrash enables Jane, an umbrella-crafter and college dropout, to fulfill a promise to her beloved late Aunt Magnolia—to accept an invitation to visit the mysterious Thrash family home, Tu Reviens. During her visit, Jane reaches a seemingly insignificant moment in time where one action will branch her off into different futures. Each choice results in a different path for Jane that takes her far beyond her previously ordinary life. An ambitious, complex offering with diverse characters from the author of the Graceling series.”

Pearl Derlaga, York County Library System, Yorktown, VA 

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Love and Other Consolation Prizes: A Novel

by Jamie Ford

Published: 9/12/2017 by Ballantine Books
ISBN: 9780804176750

“Ford excels at historical fiction, especially set in the Pacific Northwest. In this tale, the reader follows the life of Ernest Young, experiencing the early 1900s in Seattle. He is raffled off in the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exhibition. The story then follows adult Ernest as the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair opens. Rich with historical detail and touching on a time period not widely known (the wilds of Seattle’s early days), this moving story comes together and draws the reader in.”

Alissa Williams, Morton Public Library, Morton, IL

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The Child Finder: A Novel

by Rene Denfeld

Published: 9/5/2017 by Harper
ISBN: 9780062659057

“Who better to find a missing child than one who escaped abduction? Denfeld offers a nuanced treatment of a difficult subject. The narrative switches between the voice of the missing child and the Child Finder, Naomi, as she searches. While Naomi’s abduction gave her a unique ability to find missing children, it left her with issues. As she searches for the missing child we see her move toward resolution. Additionally, the glimpse into the mind of the missing child, which shows us the child’s view of the situation and the steps she takes to survive, is fascinating.”

Joan Hipp, Florham Park Public Library, Florham Park , NJ 

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The Salt Line

by Holly Goddard Jones

Published: 9/5/2017 by G.P. Putnam’s Sons
ISBN: 9780735214316

“This dystopian novel describes a future in which a tick infestation has driven humanity to barricade itself in a series of safe zones. A thrilling plot involves a group of wealthy individuals on an extreme adventure trip that doesn’t go as planned. Through chapters written from their viewpoints, the reader comes to sympathize with and understand the motivations of the people involved. While telling a story involving hostage taking, drug smuggling and the search for a solution to the bug problem, the novel raises the question of what we are willing to sacrifice for safety.”

Michelle Geyer, Durham County Public Library, Durham, NC 

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Hanna Who Fell From the Sky: A Novel

by Christopher Meades

Published: 9/26/2017 by Park Row Books
ISBN: 9780778328735

“Hanna is a young woman, like any other in the world today, except for one unique thing: she is part of a polygamist community and has just been told, at eighteen, she has to marry a man who is her father’s age and has four other wives. Hanna must make the confusing and heartbreaking decision about where her future path lies. Should she stay at home and be obedient to the only family she has ever known, or will she choose her own love and life? A gripping story that would make a great book club selection!”

Kelly Baroletti, Wantagh Public Library, Wantagh, NY

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Caroline: Little House, Revisited

by Sarah Miller

Published: 9/19/2017 by William Morrow
ISBN: 9780062685346

“This novel retells the story of Little House on the Prairiefrom the point of view of Laura Ingalls’ mother, Caroline. In 1870, Caroline, Charles, and their two young girls leave their home and extended family to travel more than 600 miles in a covered wagon. This is a fresh, deeper look at a much-loved story. Five-year-old Mary is lively and eager to please, and charming three-year-old Laura will still delight Little House fans. The relationship and personalities of Caroline and her husband Charles are more complex and fully realized, making for a wonderful reading experience.”

Brenda O’Brien, Woodridge Public Library, Woodridge, IL

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George and Lizzie: A Novel

by Nancy Pearl

Published: 9/5/2017 by Touchstone
ISBN: 9781501162893

“The daughter of two renowned narcissistic psychologists, Lizzie’s problem has always been overthinking everything. George, raised in a very adoring family, comes into Lizzie’s life with one goal – to love her completely and forever. Can she relinquish the past to move toward the happiness that could be hers in the future? Relationships, good and bad, past and present, all come together to make a truly wonderful tale of the reality of the struggles of everyday life. Very well-written.” 

Debbie Wittkop, Southwest Public Libraries, Columbus, OH

How to Stay in Top Genre Shape with NoveList, Booklist, and Me!

Click here for details and to RSVP

As I teased in this post last week, I have signed on to host a series of Booklist Live Events in the coming year.

The first one is August 22nd.

Below you can find all of the details and the link to RSVP. Please note, if you cannot join us, the program is being recorded and will be available for archived viewing.

But first, a quick note of all the stuff I couldn’t fit in the short description: this will not be your typical genre study discussion. That may be obvious to my readers since I am leading this and I never do anything “typical”-- my goal is to push you and challenge you to think "outside the shelf”-- always. Yes, we are going to talk nuts and bolts with people who have been part of genre studies for years, but I am not letting those of you who can’t easily get together with others off. Nope. No excuses. You have to stay in genre shape no matter who you are and where you live. And for every genre, not just the ones you think people in your area like.

I will have tangible advice about how to have fun studying genre alone, how to rope in your coworkers or even your patrons, and most importantly, we will discuss the importance of finding a way to collaborate and get together with other library workers whether it is in person or virtual.

If you are in a library, anywhere and you work with adult leisure readers this program is for you.

Remember, I have spent the last two years traveling the country and meeting with library workers from big cities to very small towns. I understand what you need and how you work because you have told me and shown me yourselves.

I promise this will be 90 minutes of your time well spent.

How to Stay in Top Genre Shape

Nothing is scarier than being asked to help someone find books in a genre that you don’t enjoy yourself. You want to help that romance reader find the perfect book, for example, but you don’t know where to begin because—eek!—you don’t read romance. Will you be exposed as a fraud? How can you possibly help this reader? Well, you can. You can help any reader at any time as long as you know the right resources to consult, and you make a commitment to staying in genre shape. You can do that by forming a genre study group. Join Booklist RA specialist Becky Spratford as she leads a panel of experts who will walk you through the process of crafting a genre study model that will ensure success for you, your staff, and, most importantly, your readers. 

Meet our panel:

Becky Spratford  is a Readers Advisory Specialist who trains library workers all over the world on how to match books with readers through the local public library. She is under contract with Booklist and NoveList to provide content and reviews to help in this mission. She also runs her own popular training site—RA for All (raforall.blogspot.com). Becky was recently named an Illinois Library Luminary for her contribution to the profession. 

Marlise Schiltz is the Reader Services Librarian at St. Charles (IL) Public Library, where she leads an active Reader Services team. Marlise also organizes all-staff genre studies at SCPL and co-leads the RAILS West Suburban Genre Study.

Karen Toonen, Adult Services Librarian at Naperville (IL) Public Library, became the official notetaker of the ARRT Genre Studies in 2013, documenting the Graphic Novel, Crime, and Speculative Fiction discussions. Karen also organized ARRT’s Genre Book Camp, an all-day training session covering multiple genres presented in 2013.

This Booklist Live Event is sponsored by Novelist 

Event will be held at Harold Washington Library, 400 S. State Street Chicago, IL

RSVP at  http://bit.ly/GenreStudy

Book Display Ideas and Tips For Making Your Displays Work Harder For You and Your Patrons

One of the best things you can do to promote your collection to every patron is to put things on display. As Joyce Saricks has said many times before-- People gravitate to a smaller universe of books.

The huge mass of stacks is overwhelming for the casual browser. People want to be able to come into the library and see some good reads pop out at them. Displays, if done well and changed often can serve this purpose.

But many library workers think displays have to be elaborate and complicated. This is not the case at all. Displays can be any size. It is just important that you make the topic of the display interesting and include a wide range of diverse titles-- both in terms of “own voices” and a range of genres.

I have many links here on the blog using my displays and/or merchandising tags, including more theory behind the importance of displays.  But you can also find fantastic ideas by using the #bookdisplays hashtag on Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook, or Instagram.

Use the work of others as your inspiration. Don’t reinvent the wheel.

If you subscribe to NoveList, they also have many display ideas in their vast array of booklists. Specially in their LibraryAware product you can use their premed templates to not only find display ideas but also make a sign to go with it.

Once you have made an in house display, find a way to get it online too. Of course you can take a quick pic and post it to all of your library’s social media accounts with the hashtag #bookdisplay so that you can help others get new ideas. But you can also turn a fun display into an emailed booklist or a pre-program book talk. You can also make displays on your library’s Goodreads shelf. Once the work of putting the display up is done, spreading it out over multiple places and platforms is easy.

The point is make the time spent on putting together a display work double [triple, or even quadruple] duty. The display itself is NOT and end point. It is a starting point. This change in thinking about displays is a huge difference from how libraries have functioned for decades.

The display is where you begin to introduce materials to patrons. It is not the moment you stop working. Use the topic, the list of books, pictures of the display itself, etc... to spread the word about the great items you have for people to consume in their free time. The display is the staring line; the finish line is happy return customers and patron engagement. The increased circulation statistics and book discovery that happens as a result of displays is only one of the positive outcomes of what our main goal should be-- Patron Engagement.

Once you get used to using a display’s content other places beyond the shelf, the more interest you will get in your displays. More interest means the displays get emptied. Which means more displays. But the fun your staff will have seeing the displays strike a chord with users will also lead toward more people wanting to help make more displays. More people helping with displays means less work for you [yes] but it also means more varied voices providing content which can only improve your displays. And, that all leads toward better....you’ve got it now...Patron Engagement.

Sounds great, right? And it all starts with you. Put up a few new displays based off of the ideas of others. Give them credit on the sign in small print. Post them to social media [again give credit with a tag]. Then you are off and running to higher circulation, but also more engaged patrons and staff.

Happy 10th Blogaversary to Me and Good Timing on a Big Honor

So ten years ago yesterday I took a plunge and started a blog-- this blog. Here is the first post:

While this blog has evolved and matured in ten years, its core mission has stayed the same. I am here to showcase what RA is, why it is important, and how we can all do better. I am not the only one doing this work and many days I am not even the most interesting, but I am steady-- and loud.  Apparently that equals longevity. 

I am proud to still be doing this important and rewarding work over a decade later. I know I am making a difference because I can see it in how much better all of you are doing at helping leisure  reading patrons. That is by biggest reward.

But one of the nice side effects of helping so many people, is that I am starting to be recognized by others for the work I do, like late last week when the Illinois Library Association announced my being named as the latest Illinois Library Luminary.

Here is the link and below is the text from the ILA site:

This honor roll for Illinois libraries serves the dual purpose of recognizing outstanding voices in the library community, while creating a legacy through the ILA Endowment to continue their important work. 

Becky Siegel Spratford 

What began as a test—working in a Chicago law firm library just to make sure she didn’t want to be a lawyer—quickly became a calling, and today, Becky Siegel Spratford’s name is synonymous with Readers’ Advisory. Spratford co-created the Readers’ Advisory department at the Berwyn Public Library and worked there from 2000 to 2015. For eight of those years, she also taught the Readers’ Advisory course to hundreds of students at Dominican University in River Forest. She now brings training directly to libraries, influencing thousands of library workers through programs and her critically-acclaimed blog, RA for All. The author of the The Readers’ Advisory Guide to Horror, she also writes for EBSCO's NoveList database, Booklist, and Library Journal. She is a member of the Illinois Adult Reading Roundtable (ARRT) Steering Committee and the Illinois Library Association (ILA), serving on the 2014 ILA Annual Conference Committee. Spratford was president of the La Grange Public Library Board of Trustees from 2008 to 2011 and was recently elected to her fifth term. She holds a BA in American Studies from Amherst College and an MLIS from Dominican University. 

Inducted Thursday, 15 June 2017.

I normally don’t brag about myself. Self promote, absolutely yes. Brag, no. My mission is to help as many people as possible because I want every library patron, in every town, everywhere to get the same level of excellent service, but I have found it interesting that after ten years of working very hard here on the blog, I am starting to make enough of an impact that people are recognizing me for it. I am sharing it here to inspire all of you to keep doing the work you are doing. 

We all make a difference. Every single one of us. It just takes compound interest-- many of us doing work over many years, building off of each other-- for the wider world to notice. As I said above, I have been loudly proclaiming the great work we all do for the last ten years and people are finally paying attention.

On a personal note, the Luminary recognition was especially rewarding because the three women who nominated me, and who worked so hard to get the finical support needed to get me this honor, are the three women I went to back in 2015 when I was contemplating leaving my regular library gig and doing RA for All full time. Jeannie Dilger, Karen Kleckner Keefe, and Rebecca Vnuk are the ones I look to when I need advice. They are amazing librarians who I turned to when my future was at stake, they were the ones I approached to see if they thought I could make a go of this, and they were the ones I talked through my plans, hopes, dreams and fears. To have them go out and actively campaign to give me this honor means just as much to me as the honor itself. They are my colleagues, my confidants, and my friends, and I am so lucky to have them in my life.

Ten years later the hard work is paying off for me, yes, but my work isn’t done. I care more about it paying off for all of you. I will continue to fight for the work all of us do with adult leisure readers. I will continue to share posts and create training programs that inspire and challenge you all to keep up the good work. I promise to be here for as long as I can, or at least as long as you keep wanting to read what I have to say.

Thank you for joining me on this journey, whether you have been here from day 1or just heard about RA for All yesterday. 

Brand New Indie Publisher Magazine Headed By Rebecca Vnuk and Featuring Horror Reviews By Me!

Let’s start with the announcement and then get into how it will effect me and all of you!

From Patomi Media Group:

In a literary world dominated by the Big Five publishers, IndiePicks Magazine launches this fall as a review source that focuses solely on the talent and works of indie imprints, small/medium press, and non-traditionally published authors. The magazine will highlight books, non-major studio film and music—all reviewed by librarians, for librarians. Rebecca Vnuk, formerly of Booklist and a respected readers' advisory librarian herself, will take the helm as Editor in Chief. She can be reached at rebecca.vnuk@patomimediagroup.com. The first issue of IndiePicks is slated to publish in November 2017 and will be aimed at both library selection staff and at general readers. Please check out their Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/indiepicksmag/), and sign up at the website for notification of the official launch!  http://indiepicksmag.com/

This magazine is going to be a game changer for libraries in many ways and not just because I will be writing for it.

One of the biggest problems libraries are facing right now in terms of collection development is the fact that the Big Five dominate the publishing market and therefore the review space.

As we all know [but surprisingly most authors do not know], most libraries require that a book have at least 1 review from an “official” source in order for it to be added to their library’s collection. People like me and Robin Bradford [among others] argue publicly that it is time for this rule to change if want our collections to truly reflect the best of what is being published today- especially in terms of diverse titles and genre representation. This rule is why I try to mention as many small press horror books as I can in my columns and on the horror blog so that you can at least have some kind of argument for adding them to your collections. It has helped some of you add independent horror, but for others, you still need that official review.

My travels throughout the country have shown me that for many libraries, this rule is not going to budge any time soon. Most public libraries are small, single branch operations where they can barely keep up with the Big Five books let alone have time to seek out reviews of independent books on their own, no matter how good these titles may be.

But, a library collection focused magazine which will hand deliver these independent titles to you just like our other trusted review spruces do for the larger publishers, this, just about any library worker, anywhere in America can easily add to their repertoire.

It is the same format we are used to but with content we cannot get anywhere else. And, Rebecca has already assembled a superstar team of reviewers with a demonstrated commitment to promoting independent publishing including me, Robin Bradford and Kaite Stover among others. There are experts already lined up to help you help readers.

Recently I had a series of vague Tweets about my plan to take over the book world. That plan had involved getting all of the writers associations from the different genres united to promote their small press authors to libraries directly because I was so done with the major publishers ignoring genre titles and their readers. But then Rebecca told me about this new venture, and I put those plans on hold, instead directing my writers association contacts directly to Indie Picks. This magazine will do so much more to reach every library than I could have done alone. My plan was a start, Indie Picks could be the solution.

I cannot wait to see how Indie Picks makes our library collections better by allowing us to add titles that are more representative of what our patrons actually want to read regardless of who published the title. I am also excited for the implications this magazine will have as a RA tool- a topic I will explore in detail after we have a few issues under our belts.

So go to http://indiepicksmag.com/ right now and sign up for notification about the first issue. This is going to become one of your favorite RA and Collection Development Tools. And I can say that with confidence because I trust Rebecca AND I will make sure of it in the content I provide.

ARRT Speculative Fiction Genre Study Today Featuring My Notes on Video Games and a HUGE Announcement

That headline probably threw a few of you for a loop. Video Games?!?!

Well today is the latest installment of the ARRT Speculative Fiction Genre Study and we are tackling Movies, TV, and Video games-- or in library lingo Whole Collection RA for speculative fiction. Yes we are talking about the non-book science fiction, fantasy, and horror items that we check out in large numbers at our libraries but for which many of us book centric RA people don't know how to suggest or guide patrons.

[Oh and for that huge announcement in the headline, you have to wait until the end of the post]

Here is today's assignment.

Movies, TV, and Video GamesAugust 3, 2017, 2-4 PM
Glenview Public Library
Check out the featured resources: Black Girl Nerds, IGN, NerdMuch? 

Watch at least one of each genre (preferably something new to you). If you watch a TV show, try at least a couple of episodes. 

SF ·         The Arrival (2016)·         Ex Machina (2015)·         Blade Runner (1982)·         Battlestar Galactica (TV 2004-2009)·         Any Star Trek (movie or TV)·         Black Mirror (TV 2001-; skip first episode “The National Anthem”)·         Alien (1979) 

Fantasy·         Any Star Wars (movies or animated, just don’t start with Episode I for heaven’s sake)·         The Lord of the Rings trilogy (any film)·         Any Harry Potter film·         Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)·         Spirited Away (2001) 

Horror·         Get Out (2017)·         The Cabin in the Woods (2012)·         Rosemary’s Baby (1968)·         Night of the Living Dead (1968)·         Penny Dreadful (TV 2014-2016)

So I am in charge of talking about video games today. Now let me be clear, I know more about video games than the average public librarian, but I am not even close to an expert. That is a huge point I want to make in this post however. When you lead a genre study you DO NOT need to be an expert on the topic.

Let me say that again slightly differently...even someone who knows nothing about a topic can still lead a genre study on that topic. Why? Because of a little thing we call resources. We are all library workers. We all know how to do research. We don’t know the answer to every question, but we do know how to find the answer. This is not are information to anyone reading this, yet for some reason you all think that when it comes to leisure reading we have to intimately know a genre and like it in order to teach it. WRONG, WRONG, WRONG.

In fact in a genre study, everyone is learning together and sometimes the experience is enhanced if the leader is not a fan of the topic because they are more open to the information they gather as leader.

Either way, fan or not, every genre study leader needs to do research on the topic in order to “teach” it.

To that end, learning about the current state of the gaming industry is key.  As you saw above, our group was asked to review 3 resources: Black Girl Nerds, IGN, NerdMuch?. All three have gaming reviews, industry info, and breaking news.  We will be looking at those together and talking about trends, but quick spoiler, speculative fiction frames for video games are [and have always been] dominating the market.

Let’s start with those of us who grew up in the 80s playing all sorts of space related arcade games. The first game I ever owned for our first home computer [an Apple IIC] was a haunted house story based game featuring werewolves, vampires, and other supernatural creatures. I can’t remember the game’s name, but I clearly remember playing it and loving it.

Flash forward a few years to see games like The Legend of Zelda emerge as all time favorites and you can see that video games with well developed world building and speculative elements have always been popular.

This is because the storytelling in video games is a huge element and appeal for those who play them. Speculative fiction novels and video games are more intricately linked than many library workers realize, and I mean beyond having patrons who both read books and play games.

Look at these extensive crowdsourced lists via Wikipedia for proof:

• List of novels based on video games
• Video Games Based on Books

Not only have many authors started as video game writers [one popular example is Naomi Novik] but also, many established speculative fiction print worlds have been bought by video game developers to use as the base for the intricate worlds in their games- some obviously [ex: tie-in games for Walking Dead, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings] and some subtly. It is a well know secret that without speculative fiction authors creating the worlds, characters, and storylines behind today’s elaborate video games they would not be as popular as they are.

I am going to say it at least a dozen times in this post, but every format we are discussing today is about world building and storytelling at its core. Most people who enjoy speculative fiction like everything speculative. It’s what the average American would call “nerd” culture. Think about it. Whovians love Doctor Who in all media. Ditto Star Wars, Zombie, Vampire, etc... fans. We know this   fact yet we often overlook it when helping readers. We get too stuck in the format rut and we are afraid of jumping into a world we are less comfortable with.

I also want to mane a side note about RPGs before we go too much further. Role Playing Games are also making a huge mainstream comeback. I’m not just talking about Dungeons and Dragons either. In April, when I was the first ever Librarian Special Guest at StokerCon, I also met the first ever Gaming Special Guest, Bill Bridges. Not only is he a great guy, but we were also able to have a long talk about the video gaming industry. His website has a lot of useful information. He has been involved with video games and RPGs for many years.  I will be sharing some of that insight with the group today, but for everyone, here is a Huffington Post article about his Live RPG event at StokerCon and a quote from the article:

“A particularly unique event was a game of Werewolf, hosted by White Wolf creator and writer Bill Bridges. The game participants were none other than George R.R. Martin, fellow White Wolf creator and author Chuck Wendig, Maria Alexander, who would go on to garner her second Bram Stoker Award for YA Novel, Stephen Graham Jones, a nominee for the werewolf themed Mongrels, and New York Times Best Selling author Nancy Holden. It was truly a dream lineup for any RPG fan as well as a fascinating exercise in group storytelling. Danielle DeLisle joined the game for the second half and helped the group capture the diamonds as well as werewolf bragging, er… howling rights.”

As that quote implies, and as I said above, games and books are not that dissimilar. Storytelling is at the core of both; it is just the method of how the story is delivered that varies.

Look, I could spend a few more hundred words listing the most popular speculative framed video games right now, but that is not going to help you. The resources mentioned above will handle that. Talking to your patrons who like video games will also help you. What I want to focus on here is the fact that simply understanding that both video games and books share a strong storytelling core and remembering to ask your hard core speculative fiction readers what video games, tv shows, and movies they also like, will help you to further to giving them the best experience possible. Simply remember to check the resources a few times a year and include questions about these non-book formats in your RA conversations and you are doing great.

You may not ever be comfortable suggesting a video game to a patron, but by asking them if they like video games and if yes, which ones [and why!] will go a long way toward earning your patrons’ trust and teaching you how to make cross format appeal connections. This will lead to better RA conversations, and then ultimately, a better library experience for tall of your patrons.

That is the discussion we will be having in Glenview today. We are not going to become movie, tv, and gaming experts, but we will become better at whole collection RA and at helping our patrons, and that is our goal with every Genre Study meeting. We will gather the notes and share them with everyone after the fact, here.

Now on to the big announcement.

As I mentioned yesterday, Rebecca Vnuk is leaving Booklist [today is her last day]. Rebecca did much more than just edit for Booklist, she also led their library outreach. Publisher, Bill Ott has hired me to fill some of the non-editing holes left by Rebecca's departure on a consultant basis [for now]. I will not become exclusive to Booklist but I will be taking a more official role in their library outreach in the coming months.

We are in the process of developing some brand new programming options, but for now, I will be taking over some of the already contracted Booklist and NoveList live events. The first of which fits in perfectly with this post because it is on GENRE STUDIES. Truth be told, I was going to be a part of this panel no matter what, I just went from participant to organizer.

The exact details will be coming next week, but for now save the date for a NoveList and Booklist sponsored, free, live event on August 22, 2017 from 2-3:30pm [central time]. You can attend in person at Chicago Public Library Harold Washington Center or join us virtually [live or archived].  Link here on the blog soon.

I have a panel of genre study experts lined up and I will be presenting and moderating. I have also convinced Booklist to make some changes to their website which will benefit everyone and I will be highlighting much of the new NoveList genre content, some of which is available for free whether you are a database subscriber or not. I will be unveiling all of it at the program. Please stay tuned and hold the date.

Tomorrow, I will go into more detail about Rebecca Vnuk’s new job which is a publishing venture for libraries that I am involved with and super excited about.

I warned you all I had a lot to report when I got back from vacation.....

What I'm Reading: Booklist Horror Spotlight Issue [also sf and fsy]

Today the Annual Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror issue of Booklist went live.  I have 3 reviews and a feature article in this issue.  In the below post I will reprint my reviews as I normally do, including the upcoming Joe Hill [which is amazing]. But please go to this post on the horror blog for links to the Top 10 Horror of the past year [I reviewed 8 of the 10 titles that made the cut] and more.

This issue also marks the last time Rebecca Vnuk will be editing my reviews for Booklist. Friday she moves on to a brand new venture (which I will also be writing for). Look for an official press release and comments about that here on the blog Friday. Trust me it's going to be awesome and useful.

But don't worry, I will still be writing as many reviews as I can for Booklist and I will even be taking on more duties to help fill some of the void left by Rebecca. But you have to wait until tomorrow to start reading those details.

Today I have three reviews.

 Strange Weather: Four Short Novels.

Hill, Joe (author). Oct. 2017. 448p. Morrow, hardcover, $27.99 (9780062663115). First published August, 2017 (Booklist).

STAR REVIEW

Hill is back with a collection of four short novels that each showcase his knack at mining our modern lives for fear. As Hill notes in the collection’s “Afterword,” tales of horror and fantasy thrive at a shorter length, and after completing this volume, readers will be vigorously nodding their heads in agreement. Together, all present a foreboding and unsettlingly view of our world, one you cannot help but continue to ponder [for better or worse] after your eyes leave the page, and contain complex and complicated casts of diverse characters who we still connect with even though none are of typical “good guy/girl” stock. In “Snapshot,” a grown man looks back on a summer gone by when he found a Polaroid which steals rather than preserves memories, while in “Loaded,” Hill writes his impassioned, heartbreaking, and compulsively readable response to the Sandy Hook tragedy. “Aloft” is a sinister fairy tale about a macabre world hiding on top of a cloud, and in the final short novel, “Rain,” set right now, the apocalypse comes through showers of shiny, crystal nails that pelt the Earth. All but one of these stories has a speculative frame, but all are terrifying and compelling filled with intense anxiety throughout, but it is that one story, set entirely in the real world, which is the most menacing of the bunch. After two 700+ page novels in a row, fans new and old will be thrilled to take in Hill’s malevolent mind through these masterfully crafted single sitting reads reminiscent of the very best of the short works by giants of the form like King, Gaiman, and Mieville. Hill is not only maturing as a writer of relevantly chilling tales, but he is also emerging as a distinct voice for our complicated times.

Further Appeal: These novellas will appeal to fans new and old. Not only are novellas very popular right now, these four are among the best I have read in a while, by any author.

These are character centered tales that still move briskly.  And, throughout the 4 novellas, there is a very diverse casts of characters. Hill writes stories about our modern day lives and fluidly includes all types of people along the way.

Finally, your enjoyment of these stories will be further enhanced by reading the afterword where Hill describes, how, why, and when each novella was written, including comments about how recent events in the real world changed some of the stories.

Three Words That Describe This Book: great characters, foreboding, compelling

Readalikes: I listed King, Gaiman, and Mieville in the review but I also made this note while reading:

"there is even a touch of Murakami here. It’s in the characterizations that are spot on in a magical realism setting."

I would also send Hill fans directly to anything by Stephen Graham Jones. Specifically Mongrels or his new novella Mapping the Interior.

The New Annotated Frankenstein.

Shelley, Mary (author) and Klinger, Leslie S. (editor).
Aug. 2017. 432p. illus. Norton/Liveright, hardcover, $35(9780871409492). 
First published August, 2017 (Booklist).

STAR REVIEW

Klinger, the editor of the critically acclaimed new annotated editions of Sherlock Holmes, Dracula and H.P. Lovecraft, among others, is back with a gorgeous, compelling, and simply fascinating volume just in time for the 200th anniversary its source material’s publication. Klinger does not presume to add to the comprehensive body of scholarship on Shelley’s novel, rather Klinger wants to illuminate the original text itself and showcase how complex and engaging it was, and still is. Of the many revelations in this work one of the most surprising is how deep the autobiographical aspects of of this “monster” novel run. Klinger provides a detailed comparison of the 1818 and 1831 texts, something that has never been done before with both versions in a single annotated volume. The result is that we see a surprising shift in Shelley’s tone and her judgment of the characters in the ensuing years, a shift that can be traced to her life experiences over that time. As in his previous annotated editions, Klinger has included numerous high quality images sprinkled throughout the book, which add to our appreciation of this seminal text. Klinger also includes six appendices and an afterword [by Professor Anne K. Mellor] which singularly address for example, larger themes of the novel and its place in popular culture. The resulting volume is one for which public libraries will find a huge audience from amateur scholars to students to genre fans. Klinger has not only given us a useful reference work, he has also reminded us all just how fun Frankenstein still is to just read. 

Further Appeal: I couldn't fit this info into the review so pay attention. 2018 is the 200th Anniversary [as I did say above] but there is a lot planned to celebrate it. The official Frankenstein Bicentennial Project is being spearheaded by Arizona State University. Click here to see what's planned and to find ways to get your library involved.

You can also read more about Klinger and his work in my feature article about him also in this issue entitled, "Leslie S. Klinger and the Fine Art of Annotation."

Three Words That Describe This Book: authoritative, compelling, new insight on old works

Readalikes: Readers might be drawn to other works by Klinger and/or other works about or featuring Frankenstein after reading this, including the Dean Koontz series.

And Norton has a great "Annotated" series of titles on many popular books. Click here for the full list. Readers may find they enjoy the annotated experience after reading this book and will be seeking out more options.

The Dark Net.

Percy, Benjamin (author).
Aug. 2017. 272p. HMH, hardcover, $26(9780544750333). 
First published August, 2017 (Booklist).

While the current increase in world-wide computer hacking sounds scary, in this fast-paced demonic cyber-thriller, Percy has an even more sinister take on the deepest parts of our digital lives, supposing that much of who we are as living, breathing humans is actually being infiltrated by every device we touch. The anxiety and fear are set up from the opening pages as we are quickly introduced to our ragtag group of misfit heroes: Hannah, a 12 yo blind girl getting a brand new technology that will allow her to see, Lela, her technophobic, reporter Aunt, Mike, not your average homeless shelter manager, and Cheston, a computer hacker with a nefarious  employer. All separately notice weird and sinister happenings, but once they discover that it all leads back to the foundation of the Internet and that this foundation is laid upon the backs of a powerful evil force, a group of ancient demons who have been interfering in mankind for millennia, this story swiftly shifts from a straight up cyber-thriller to an all-out horror novel. Dark Net can get gruesome and the body count is high, but Percy keeps it suspenseful and compelling from the first page. The authentic Portland, OR setting with a pivotal scene in Powell's Bookstore is also a draw here. Although you may be tempted to hand this to your fans of more traditional cyber-thrillers like those by Gibson, it will actually be most enjoyed by readers of Jonathan Maberry’s Joe Ledger series or The Cell by Stephen King. Think twice before accessing this on an e-reader, unless you think can handle the extra layer of sheer terror, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Further Appeal: I think the key takeaway here is for all of you to note the horror angle that is underplayed in most plot summaries for this novel. If you go in expecting a traditional cyber thriller you will be disappointed. This is a story for horror fans who also like supernatural and cyber terror mixed together.

Also, although one of the main characters is a teen, this book is very gruesome and may not appeal to all teens.

Three Words That Describe This Book: ancient evil, cyber terror, fast paced

Readalikes: Besides the two in the review above, I would also suggest Creepers by David Morrell and Amazonia by James Rollins.

Book Pop! courtesy of Quirk Books

RA for All is back to live posts. Thanks for hanging with me while I was gone. Please note, it will take a few days for me to get back into the regular swing of things but today I have some interactive news for everyone courtesy of Quirk Books-- Book Pop!

Click here to access the content

You can click here to see the full schedule. It is a fun, interactive Comic Con like experience from your computer. And it is free. I would highly recommend checking in at least a few times between now and August 11th [if not everyday]. This is a fun and free way to get up to speed in the place where RA Service and pop culture collide.

That is one of the biggest areas where library staff feel like they are lagging behind. It is hard to stay up to date on all of the popular media, but our line of work now requires that we know how to make these whole collection connections for people. Patrons want books and movies and comics and tv shows and video games that all share a similar appeal. They are beginning to care less and less about format and more about content.

While this evolution in how patrons consume their leisure items from the library is exciting to me from a theoretical perspective, it is also scary as heck from a practical one. You see, it is awesome that people are beginning to understand that when they like a movie, for example, there are more than just similar movies that they will also like; there is a while world of story telling in a variety of forms that they will also enjoy. However, how can we help them if we barely have a handle on all the genres of books.

This double edged sword is something I will try to help you with in the future, but for the next 2 weeks, Quirk Books will help us all fill in some of the gaps.

I’ll be back tomorrow with a post about the Booklist SF/FSY/Horror spotlight issue in which I have a lot of content. It goes live today though, if you are interested.

And Thursday also brings the next meeting of the ARRT Speculative Fiction Genre Study [which fits in nicely with the Book Pop events as it is about Movies, TV and Video Games].

Finally I also have some big announcements about up coming events and new duties for me. I am not sure on the timing for all of those but it is soon. So, stay tuned because I am back.

But first, back to unpacking and laundry as I have only been home for 14 hours.