Booklist Spotlight on Romance

My most favorite issue of Booklist for the year is now available.

Okay, I know I just confused at least half of my readers because many of you know that I publicly proclaim Romance as my least favorite genre to read for my own enjoyment. That is still true, but it is also 100% why the Spotlight on Romance issue is my favorite. I can use it to catch up on everything I need to know for the last year in the genre.

By the way, you should do this too; make the spotlight issue for your least favorite genre your most favorite issue of Booklist each year. Trust me, it is awesome. You can become extremely knowledgeable about the best books, trends, and issues in the genre without much effort.  [Psst...It is also a good way to identify a book or two to try if you are still trying to follow this Call to Action from last month.]

But back to Romance.  Here are some of the best things you can find because of this issue and they are all accessible with a click [with my extra comments in [ ]:

• Top 10 Romance for 2016 [Only the best of my least favorite genre; someone else is telling me what I need to know about. I will put most of these on hold and then at least speed read them to get an overall snapshot of the genre at its current best. Should only take a few hours and I will be up to date.]
• Top 10 Romance Debuts 2016 [I double heart this list; the best new authors means I am staying ahead of the game.]
• John Charles' Core Collection: Romantic Suspense article. [Side note: he is one of the best romance reviewers and an all around awesome person. Romantic Suspense is still hot and it is read by men and women.]
• The Top Romance on Audio 2016 [Joyce did a great job gathering a wide range of romance titles here; there is truly something for everyone...even me!]
• And finally, at least one new post a day on The Booklist Reader the entire second half of this month. Just click on their tag- septemberromance- to pull them all up at anytime. 

And one final note, I know that I am paid to write reviews for Booklist, but I want to be clear, the reason I am willing to write for them at all is because I believe in the publication's mission. They are not trying to be the first place you go for reviews. Neither are they trying to review every book. Rather, they are trying to help you find the best books for your readers who come to the public library in America. The reviews are all written for the book's best reader. The lists and "Spotlights" are compiled to help you build stronger collections and help those genre readers. So yes, I am paid by Booklist, but I only work for them and promote them because I want to.

Now get out there and find some love-- in a book.

Genre Study Notes on Suspense and Romantic Suspense and Next Meeting on Psychological Suspense

This post begins with an announcement to ARRT members that the password protected notes for the April 2 meeting on Suspense and Romantic Suspense (which included an intense discussion on, James Patterson, or as I like to call him, the man that keeps us RA Librarians in business) are up and ready for download here.

You will be receiving your reminder email soon.

But I also wanted to plug the next meeting when we are tackling my all time favorite genre --psychological suspense-- in June.  Details on location and assignment here.

This is going to be a great meeting for a bunch of reasons.

First, I love the genre. Yes, I love it more than horror. I know, shocking. But those of you who know me, know I can be super enthusiastic about anything, but when I actually love something, I go to a whole new level.  You should come just to see that happen.

Two, psychological suspense is one of the fastest growing genres out there right now. I will discuss this tremendous and explosive growth with the group, but even with its popularity, psychological suspense is not recognized as its own “genre” all of the time and by all of the resources, which means that our meeting will be a great time for all of us to pool our knowledge to create our own genre resource.

Three, psychological suspense is the last of the genres we are tackling (before we move on to nonfiction and special formats and interests), and interestingly, while it shares much in common with the other crime genres, there is a lot that is different here too. We are going to work to place psychological suspense within the context of crime fiction AND all of popular fiction. I am thinking I might need to draw some venn diagrams for this meeting.  [Again, not to be missed, Becky drawing. Seriously, this is going to be one of the best meetings in terms of observing me at my most “Becky-ness.”]

And fourth, I have a super, extra special reason why this meeting will be worth your attendance.  Some of you know why, but I am not ready to announce it here yet.  That being said, you need time to read the assignments, so trust me, very soon you will have another reason why you will want to come to the Berwyn Library on June 4th to talk about psychological suspense.

Crime Fiction Genre Study Update: Meetings Past, Present and Future

Lots of updates today on the ARRT Crime Fiction Genre Study front.

As I said above, I’ve got news of meeting Past, Present, and Future.

Let’s start with Past-- We met on February 5th to tackle the final Thriller subgenres of Adventure, Crime/Caper, and Supernatural.  I have just uploaded the password protected notes. Members can access them here with the password. If you are an ARRT member you will also be receiving the notes without the encryption in an email.

If you want to become a member, it is only $10 and you get the password with access to ALL of the notes, not just the ones for meetings that happen while you are a member (that answers a question I recently received inquiring about this).  Click here to learn how to join ARRT.

Now on to Present-- Stacey reports that she has a great meeting planned for April 2nd on Suspense and Romantic Suspense.  Not only will she be leading a discussion on the authors and the genres, but she will also be drawing parallels and distinctions between these suspense genres and those we discussed in previous months-- mystery and thriller.  Click here for the assignment. Remember, you can follow along with your own group.  We don’t mind if you use our assignments as long as you give ARRT credit.

And finally, as promised, Future-- I just put the finishing touches on the June assignment when we will discuss my favorite of the crime genres-- Psychological Suspense. I can’t wait to get to talk about some of my all-time favorite stories.

Don’t forget, for more Crime Fiction fun, there is still time to sign up for Doing Time With Sisters in Crime program on Wednesday, March 25th.  Click here for all of the details. Everyone and anyone who can get themselves to the Deerfield Public Library on that day by 2pm is invited to hear three crime fiction authors talking about their craft.  The cost is $15.

Student Annotations: Adrenaline

Tonight the students read in the genres of Adventure, Suspense, Romantic Suspense, and Thriller.  Click on over to see what they thought about the books they chose.

Romantic Suspense

Yesterday, I asked you to help me pick a romance to read.  Thanks to those of you who have already left comments or emailed me your suggestions. There were some authors whom I had never read before.  Also, I tended to only read historical romance when I read straight romance, since I enjoy the historical aspect.  Ditto with paranormal romance.  I have read very little contemporary romance beyond Nora Roberts, so I might be going that route.  I will get back to everyone soon with my choice.

Another area of romance with which I am more familiar is Romantic Suspense.  Technically, Romantic Suspense has much more in common with traditional Suspense, Thrillers, and Adventure stories.  Here it is all about the action, pacing, and heroes saving the day.

In Romantic Suspense, the protagonist is always a strong female who is fighting a villain, finding love, getting in peril, extricating herself, and then reuniting with her love interest.

This is the basic plot of most Romantic Suspense novels; however as a recent essay I read in my favorite crime fiction resource, Criminal Element, notes in "You Can't Do That Here: Awkward Moments in Romantic Suspense:"

Ever notice how you can be reading a really good romantic suspense and then something just plain screwy happens?

Like…say, there’s one of those life or death moments. I’m not talking after the life or death moment has passed and the adrenaline rush is still going and people just have to have the glorious life reaffirming moment… (you know where I’m going with this, right?)

But right in the middle. Guns blazing, or people chasing them, or the bad guy is so very, very close…

And what do the hero and the heroine do? 

Nookie.

This is just the beginning of the essay, click here for the full text.  Also, scroll down to read the interesting discussion that has continued in the comments.

On a final note, I would be remiss if I did not mention that despite the random sex, Romantic Suspense also happens to have much more violence than regular suspense.  It is a great option for your readers who like harder edged suspense and some lovin'; which is quite a high number of people by the way (at least that is what 11 years behind the RA desk has shown me).

Student Annotations: Adrenaline

Tonight's class is on the Adrenaline genres, those in which the fast pace is the most defining element.  The students read and wrote about Adventure, Suspense, Romantic Suspense, and Thriller this week.  So surf on over to the class blog to see what's new.

Click here for past semester's posts on these genres too.

RA for All Roadshow: Crime Fiction

Today from 1-4, I will be presenting a training session on Crime Fiction. As part of my commitment to being "green," I do not provide paper handouts.  Therefore, this post will serve as the "handout" for today's presentation.  That means everyone gets full access to my resource list.  Please note: this is now the most up to date of my crime fiction lists.

Murder and Mayhem @ Your Library

Crime Fiction  Reader' Advisory

Becky's Favorite Crime Fiction Resources:

Books

• Caught Up in Crime: A Reader's Guide to the Criminous in Fiction by Gary Warren Niebur (LU, 2009)
• Read On...Crime Fiction by Barry Trott (LU, 2007)

Web

• Everything tagged "Crime Fiction" here on RA for All (includes original book reviews with readalike options)
• All Readers-- to check the levels of sex and violence
• The Berwyn Public Library's Suggested Reading Lists
• Booklists' May 2010 Crime Fiction Webinar
• Best Crime Novels of the 2000s
• Crime Time (Homepage and Database of British Magazine), including their Crime Scene series in partnership with the International Association of Crime Writers.
• Overbooked's Crime Fiction Section
• 10 Best Modern European Crime Writers
• The Rap Sheet: An Award winning blog that covers all things Crime Fiction from books to TV to movies, old and new.
• Criminal Element: A blog which has stories, reviews and crime info.  Updated daily.
• From 2009 this interesting round table discussion on the State of Crime Fiction from the Huffington Post
• Daily Beast articles by Sarah Weinman, crime fiction book expert
• The Outfit: A Collective of Chicago Crime Writers (blog)
• Nordic Bookblog: All things Nordic Noir in one place (also search RA for All for specific mentions of the very popular Nordic Noir trend)
• Spinetingler Magazine publishes fiction and nonfiction that could be called crime, msytery, thriller, suspense or horror.  They also have awards.  They especially focus on new talent.

Becky's Favorite Mystery Resources:

Books

• The Readers' Advisory Guide to Mystery, Second Edition by John Charles et al. (ALA Editions, 2011)
• Make Mine a Mystery II: A Reader’s Guide to Mystery and Detective Fiction by Gary Warren Niebuhr (LU, 2011)
• Murder in Retrospect: A Selectvie Guide to Historical Mystery Fiction by Michael Burgess and Jill H. Vassilakos (LU, 2005)

Web

• Everything tagged "Mystery" here on RA for All (includes original book reviews with readalike options)
• Stop You're Killing Me-- just go there; you'll be glad you did.
• DorothyL mailing list for writers and readers
• The Gumshoe Site 
• Historical Mysteries
• Mystery Net: An online resource for mystery lovers
• Mystery Reader: includes Suspense, Romantic Suspense, and Thrillers. Rated reviews
• Mystery Readers International
• And just for fun...Murder by Toaster a Fiction-L list of surprisingly lethal weapons

Suspense, Romantic Suspense, Thriller, Adventure, and Psychological Suspense Resources:

Books

• Blood, Bedlam, Bullets, and Badguys: A Reader’s Guide to Adventure/Suspense Fiction by Michael Gannon (LU, 2004)

Web

• Everything tagged Suspense, Romantic Suspense, Thriller, Adventure, or Psychological Suspense here on RA for All: click on each genre for a specific list (includes original book reviews with readalike options).
• Becky's Psychological Suspense Handout (pdf of a tri-fold brochure)
• International Thriller Writers-- covers suspense, adventure, mystery, and even some horror.
• Mystery Reader: includes Suspense, Romantic Suspense, and Thrillers. Rated reviews
• NPR's Top 100 Killer Thrillers
• 100 Greatest Adventure Stories of All Time from National Geographic

True Crime Resources:

Books

• The Readers’ Advisory Guide to Nonfiction by Neal Wyatt. (ALA Editions, 2007)
• The Real Story: A Guide to Nonfiction Reading Interests by Sarah Statz Cords (includes fiction read-a-likes.) (LU, 2006)

Web

• Overbooked’s True Crime Reading List
• Book Browse’s Recent True Crime List
• Popular True Crime Books via GoodReads
• 25 Best True Crime Books
• True Crime Book Reviews
• Top 50 true crime blogs
• Queen of True Crime, Ann Rule's homepage

Awards for Crime Fiction Books in All Genres Mentioned Above:

Award lists, both the winners and nominees, are a great way to identify popular and critically acclaimed novels and authors for your crime fiction fans. Many of these awards include a category for best debut.  This is an excellent resource for your readers who claim they have already read "everything."

• RUSA's Reading List-- highlights outstanding genre fiction that merit special attention by general adult readers and the librarians who work with them.
• Agatha Award–Malice Domestic Convention
• Macavity Awards–Mystery Readers International and given annually at Bouchercon
• Anthony Awards–awarded at Bouchercon by vote of members of convention
• Edgar Awards–Mystery Writers of America
• Shamus Awards–Private Eye Writers of America
• Daggers–awarded by Crime Writers Association of Britain
• Mary Higgins Clark Award-- for books most like Clark's
• International Thriller Writers Annual Awards
• Shirley Jackson Award-- "for outstanding achievement in the literature of psychological suspense, horror, and the dark fantastic."
• Black Quill Awards-- "honor those works of dark genre literature – horror, suspense, and thrillers"

Becky's 5 RA Resources You Cannot Live Without:

• Amazon: Plot summaries, possible read alikes, but most importantly, customer comments! 5 star and 1 star reviews are the most helpful.
• NoveList: EBSCO Database: subscription required, check your local library.
• Kent District Public Library’s What’s Next: Easy to retrieve and print lists of books in series order. Makes patrons happy. Brings them back!
• Gnooks: When you are desperate…distract them.
• RA for ALL: where you are right now

Student Annotations: More Landscape and Adrenaline

Last night in class we discussed the Adrenaline genres: adventure, suspense, romantic suspense, and thriller.  These are all defined mostly by their fast paced stories of heroes on a mission.  Of course that is the 5 second version and we had 3 hours of class.

The students read some great examples of these fast and fun books and posted their annotations about them on the class WordPress blog.  Click on through to see.

Due the the big blizzard last month, we were still playing catch up in class, so we gave them an extra week to post their Landscape annotations (fantasy, historical fiction, and western).  They are mixed in with the Adrenaline annotations.  Again, click here to access them.

I hope their work inspires some of you out there to try a new book.

Next week is midterms which means I will have at least a few new Reading Maps to add to the archive.  Click here to access the Reading Map archive.  There are some fabulous tools available there for you and your readers.

Student Annotations: Adrenaline

Rush on over to the class Word Press blog to read about the fast-paced Adventure, Thriller, Suspense and Romantic Suspense read by our students this week.

Student Annotations: Adrenaline Genres

Last night we talked about the fast-paced adrenaline genres of Adventure, Suspense, Romantic Suspense, and Thriller.

I love this class because the books are so similar on the surface, but when you really look at the specific nuances of how and why readers enjoy books in these genres, you understand how different they can all be.

It always provides an "ah ha" moment for the students and makes the rest of our journey through the genres much easier.

Here are the posts on what my students read for the week over on their Word Press blog.

Student Annotations: Adrenaline Genres

Joyce's GSLIS 763 students are busy reading fast paced novels. Click on over to their Word Press blog for annotations on thrillers, suspense, romantic suspense, and adventure novels.

Crime Fiction Resources

In preparation for my talk tomorrow on Crime Fiction at the North Suburban Library System, I compiled a list of my favorite Crime Resources. Click here to access the Word document.

My personal favorite is the last one on the list: Murder by Toaster: Mysteries With Surprisingly Lethal Weapons

Seriously though, my presentation is focused on how to help your patrons who enjoy all kinds of crime fiction. Those who join me tomorrow, will get the full scoop, but if you can't make it, try some of the resources above to help your patrons or to help yourself.

Student Annotations: Suspense

More vacation reading; this time it is suspense.

Here are three suspense:
In the Company of Liars by David Ellis
Honeymoon by James Patterson and Howard Roughan
And, Tell No One by Harlan Coben, which is a sure bet for anyone who enjoys a good suspense novel. In fact, Coben's stand-alone suspense novels are all excellent.

As a bonus, here is a sure bet romantic suspense title too:
Blue Smoke by Nora Roberts