On July 28th I wrote here about how public library traffic picks up during an economic downturn. Well, a few days ago The Chicago Tribune posted this article entitled, "New Fans Check out Libraries," which gives some hard facts about the increase in public library usage here in Chicagoland.
A point to note that differ from my last post on this subject is the argument that the public library is not only a free source of entertainment but a close one, meaning less gas (if any) is used. This point is further underscored at my local library where we received many requests for more bicycle racks this summer.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Olympic Books
Sad the Olympics end tomorrow? Love the competition and the heartwarming back stories of the athletes? Click over here to a compilation of booklists about sports. This should keep you going for a few more weeks.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
NPR: Three Books
National Public Radio has been running a series on All Things Considered this summer called "Three Books," where they have invited writers to suggest three "great reads on a single theme." Here is the link to all of the lists.
What I love about these lists is the range of books offered. It is just like I tell my students, when suggesting books to someone, give them three choices. You may be working with a single theme here, but that theme could be explored in literary fiction, mystery, thriller, romance, etc... You won't really know what your reader is in the mood for until you offer him or her a variety of choices.
These lists are a perfect example of what RAs should be doing for their readers; we offer three titles and give the patron 3-5 sentences on each, more if they seem interested. Whether it is done casually at the desk or in written annotation form, these lists are an example of readers' advisory done right.
Check out these lists and for that matter, the entire NPR books site which compiles all of their book coverage in one place. Or, try to make a few "Three Books" lists of your own.
What I love about these lists is the range of books offered. It is just like I tell my students, when suggesting books to someone, give them three choices. You may be working with a single theme here, but that theme could be explored in literary fiction, mystery, thriller, romance, etc... You won't really know what your reader is in the mood for until you offer him or her a variety of choices.
These lists are a perfect example of what RAs should be doing for their readers; we offer three titles and give the patron 3-5 sentences on each, more if they seem interested. Whether it is done casually at the desk or in written annotation form, these lists are an example of readers' advisory done right.
Check out these lists and for that matter, the entire NPR books site which compiles all of their book coverage in one place. Or, try to make a few "Three Books" lists of your own.
Monday, August 18, 2008
Book Discussion: Thunderstruck
Today at the Berwyn Public Library, we discussed Eric Larson's Thunderstruck. In this follow-up to the hugely popular Devil in the White City, Larson again employs his alternating stories style to follow a historical event and a gruesome murder, except this time it is on the other side of the ocean. Larson chooses to recount what he describes as England's second most famous murderer, who it turns out, was only captured because of a new invention, Marconi's transatlantic wireless. In alternating chapters we get the story of Dr. Crippen, a failed American doctor turned potions hawker who brutally murdered his wife in their London home, and the social inept inventor Marconi.
It had been said, before Larson's book, that the international manhunt and ultimate maritime capture of Dr. Crippen and his girlfriend did more to convince people of the usefulness of Marconi's invention than any marketing or demonstrations undertaken by the inventor himself. Larson plays off of this bit of history by building the story of these 2 men, side by side on the page (even if the historical time lines are not exclusively concurrent), and ends with, what everyone at our discussion agreed, was an exciting and worthwhile conclusion.
That is not to say everyone in the discussion loved the book. Many mentioned that they liked Devil in the White City better. Some cited the fact that the setting for Devil was more interesting since we all live near Chicago, but others were turned off by the strong history of science aspect. Interestingly, many also liked this part. There is a lot of explanations into how Marconi used trial and error to invent the wireless and it can get to be a bit much for readers who do not care about electricity and radio transmissions. Finally, the group was also mixed between those who enjoy and do not enjoy mysteries, and since this book had the true crime element, this was crucial to how appealing each reader found the work as a whole.
However, Larson did break up the science by switching to Crippen's more narrative story after each chapter on Marconi. And, everyone, no matter how much they enjoyed the book overall, agreed that once the murder part of the story started to heat up, they were swept up in the story and couldn't stop turning the pages. One participant went so far as to note the page at which she finally starting enjoying the book. (It was when the soon to be dead wife starting suspecting something was going on between her husband and his typist).
Overall, the group agreed that the first 1/2 of the book, at least the parts about Marconi, could have been shortened by 1/2 and they still would have understood the importance of his invention and the sensation it turned the Crippen crime and capture into. It is importance to note that our group had read Larson before, so we had faith he would eventually merge the alternating stories together into a compelling conclusion; but a group without this knowledge, might not have been willing to "stick it out."
Thunderstruck also led us to talk about how the truth is stranger, and messier, than fiction. It was mentioned many times that Crippen and Marconi were both such oddballs that if we did not know they were real people, we would not have believed them as characters. The crime itself also turned out to be quite grisly and the state of the located remains and how the crime was probably perpetrated were both graphically described. This turned off even some of the mystery readers, but we then discussed how in the true crime genre in general, readers are willing to accept more gore than they would normally enjoy in a mystery novel, since the writer can argue that s/he is simply reporting the facts.
Finally, we addressed the topic of instant communication and real time reporting, two very common occurrences today, which only began after Crippen's arrest. First, a participant mentioned how much Inspector Dew's chase of Crippen on a faster boat across the ocean, and its descriptions in newspapers around the world (in just about real time) reminded her of the coverage and chase of OJ Simpson. In fact, she noted how she caught herself wondering how CNN would have covered the Crippen case. I am sure Marconi would have been brought in as an "expert" on Larry King.
Marconi's invention, we decided, ended a time of innocence. We could no longer stay in isolation to the outside world. In cases like natural disasters, we thought this was great. Aid can get to people who need it faster and we can also use the immense amount of information to know if that aid and the response is being carried out correctly. But, in cases like celebrity reporting, we also decided, there is too much information and we just don't care.
There are a few ways one could explore nonfiction readalikes for Thunderstruck. The first is to find a book that looks at an intellectual pursuit and a murderer. In this case there is Simon Winchester's The Professor and the Madman which follows the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary and one of its biggest contributors, Dr. W.C. Minor, a certified lunatic and convicted murderer.
In finding other readalikes, one needs to look at whether or not the reader in question liked the history of science aspect. For those readers, Dava Sobel's Longitude which follows the race to create a clock that can keep accurate time on the seas, and thus, accurately chart a ship's longitude is an excellent (and short) suggestion. Then there are those fans of true-crime. Here there are literally thousands of suggestions, but Anne Rule, the queen of true crime, is a great author to begin with. Also, I highly recommend Larson's first book, Isaac's Storm which chronicles the birth of the National Weather Service and the devastating Galveston hurricane in 1900. Although it was written before Katrina, this book is an even more compelling read in light of recent events.
For fiction readers who enjoyed Thunderstruck I would like to suggest, The Interpretation of Murder by Jed Rubenfeld. Although this mystery novel takes place in America, it is during the same time period and has real life characters (Drs. Freud and Jung). Many participants also noted how very British Thunderstruck was. When pressed to explain further, they said in many places it had the feel of a traditional British mystery. After hearing that, and given that Larson quotes, P.D. James, the Queen of the British mystery, in his opening reader's note, I would also suggest readers try one of her many novels.
It had been said, before Larson's book, that the international manhunt and ultimate maritime capture of Dr. Crippen and his girlfriend did more to convince people of the usefulness of Marconi's invention than any marketing or demonstrations undertaken by the inventor himself. Larson plays off of this bit of history by building the story of these 2 men, side by side on the page (even if the historical time lines are not exclusively concurrent), and ends with, what everyone at our discussion agreed, was an exciting and worthwhile conclusion.
That is not to say everyone in the discussion loved the book. Many mentioned that they liked Devil in the White City better. Some cited the fact that the setting for Devil was more interesting since we all live near Chicago, but others were turned off by the strong history of science aspect. Interestingly, many also liked this part. There is a lot of explanations into how Marconi used trial and error to invent the wireless and it can get to be a bit much for readers who do not care about electricity and radio transmissions. Finally, the group was also mixed between those who enjoy and do not enjoy mysteries, and since this book had the true crime element, this was crucial to how appealing each reader found the work as a whole.
However, Larson did break up the science by switching to Crippen's more narrative story after each chapter on Marconi. And, everyone, no matter how much they enjoyed the book overall, agreed that once the murder part of the story started to heat up, they were swept up in the story and couldn't stop turning the pages. One participant went so far as to note the page at which she finally starting enjoying the book. (It was when the soon to be dead wife starting suspecting something was going on between her husband and his typist).
Overall, the group agreed that the first 1/2 of the book, at least the parts about Marconi, could have been shortened by 1/2 and they still would have understood the importance of his invention and the sensation it turned the Crippen crime and capture into. It is importance to note that our group had read Larson before, so we had faith he would eventually merge the alternating stories together into a compelling conclusion; but a group without this knowledge, might not have been willing to "stick it out."
Thunderstruck also led us to talk about how the truth is stranger, and messier, than fiction. It was mentioned many times that Crippen and Marconi were both such oddballs that if we did not know they were real people, we would not have believed them as characters. The crime itself also turned out to be quite grisly and the state of the located remains and how the crime was probably perpetrated were both graphically described. This turned off even some of the mystery readers, but we then discussed how in the true crime genre in general, readers are willing to accept more gore than they would normally enjoy in a mystery novel, since the writer can argue that s/he is simply reporting the facts.
Finally, we addressed the topic of instant communication and real time reporting, two very common occurrences today, which only began after Crippen's arrest. First, a participant mentioned how much Inspector Dew's chase of Crippen on a faster boat across the ocean, and its descriptions in newspapers around the world (in just about real time) reminded her of the coverage and chase of OJ Simpson. In fact, she noted how she caught herself wondering how CNN would have covered the Crippen case. I am sure Marconi would have been brought in as an "expert" on Larry King.
Marconi's invention, we decided, ended a time of innocence. We could no longer stay in isolation to the outside world. In cases like natural disasters, we thought this was great. Aid can get to people who need it faster and we can also use the immense amount of information to know if that aid and the response is being carried out correctly. But, in cases like celebrity reporting, we also decided, there is too much information and we just don't care.
There are a few ways one could explore nonfiction readalikes for Thunderstruck. The first is to find a book that looks at an intellectual pursuit and a murderer. In this case there is Simon Winchester's The Professor and the Madman which follows the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary and one of its biggest contributors, Dr. W.C. Minor, a certified lunatic and convicted murderer.
In finding other readalikes, one needs to look at whether or not the reader in question liked the history of science aspect. For those readers, Dava Sobel's Longitude which follows the race to create a clock that can keep accurate time on the seas, and thus, accurately chart a ship's longitude is an excellent (and short) suggestion. Then there are those fans of true-crime. Here there are literally thousands of suggestions, but Anne Rule, the queen of true crime, is a great author to begin with. Also, I highly recommend Larson's first book, Isaac's Storm which chronicles the birth of the National Weather Service and the devastating Galveston hurricane in 1900. Although it was written before Katrina, this book is an even more compelling read in light of recent events.
For fiction readers who enjoyed Thunderstruck I would like to suggest, The Interpretation of Murder by Jed Rubenfeld. Although this mystery novel takes place in America, it is during the same time period and has real life characters (Drs. Freud and Jung). Many participants also noted how very British Thunderstruck was. When pressed to explain further, they said in many places it had the feel of a traditional British mystery. After hearing that, and given that Larson quotes, P.D. James, the Queen of the British mystery, in his opening reader's note, I would also suggest readers try one of her many novels.
BPL Displays: August 2008
At BPL we ended summer reading at the beginning of August and put up two new summer related displays. From the looks of the shelves this Monday morning, the lists are quite popular.
The short display is entitled, "Lazy Books for Lazy Days." Here the books are good stories that clock in at about 200 pages. The books cover a wide range of genres and have all been well reviewed.
The tall display features, "Fast Reads for Slow Days." Here there is no page limit, but the stories are all "page-turners."
Enjoy the end of summer with one of these great books.
The short display is entitled, "Lazy Books for Lazy Days." Here the books are good stories that clock in at about 200 pages. The books cover a wide range of genres and have all been well reviewed.
The tall display features, "Fast Reads for Slow Days." Here there is no page limit, but the stories are all "page-turners."
Enjoy the end of summer with one of these great books.
Friday, August 15, 2008
"Cozy" Reads
As I prepare for the new semester, I am updating the resource sheets I give my students for each genre. One of the genres that is most popular with readers, but has the least number of resources are a group of books we RAs refer to a "gentle reads." Now mind you, readers do not refer to them this way. Generally, however, these books are the ones our patrons are expecting when they come in and ask for "a good read."
What these readers are looking for is a good story with meat to it, but no on stage sex, no cursing, and no dark issues. One of the biggest mistakes librarians make when working with these readers is by assuming these readers are looking for unsophisticated books. This is not the case at all. These are nostalgic stories, with complex characters, interesting plots, and plenty of conflict (just not the bloody kind).
One of the best places where the gentle genre is shown in the best light is with the cozy mystery. We are in a boom time for this popular subgenre. To cash in on its success, the term cozy, in fact, is now being embraced by non-mystery titles. A well known and respected blog, Cozy Library, chronicles this growing world of gentler reads. Click here for their definition of cozy and checkout their pages for fiction, nonfiction, mystery, and not quite cozy reading suggestions.
I am excited to finally have a thoughtful resource for my students to use in locating gentle reads for patrons.
What these readers are looking for is a good story with meat to it, but no on stage sex, no cursing, and no dark issues. One of the biggest mistakes librarians make when working with these readers is by assuming these readers are looking for unsophisticated books. This is not the case at all. These are nostalgic stories, with complex characters, interesting plots, and plenty of conflict (just not the bloody kind).
One of the best places where the gentle genre is shown in the best light is with the cozy mystery. We are in a boom time for this popular subgenre. To cash in on its success, the term cozy, in fact, is now being embraced by non-mystery titles. A well known and respected blog, Cozy Library, chronicles this growing world of gentler reads. Click here for their definition of cozy and checkout their pages for fiction, nonfiction, mystery, and not quite cozy reading suggestions.
I am excited to finally have a thoughtful resource for my students to use in locating gentle reads for patrons.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Back from Vacation/World SF Convention
No, I did not forget I had a blog. I was on a wonderful 12 day vacation and just returned, so look for many posts in the coming days, including (but not limited to) new BPL displays, my August book club meeting, and preparation for the Fall Semester of library school students.
But just to keep you up to date, this past weekend, at the World Science Fiction Convention, the Hugo Awards were handed out. Personally, as a casual SF fan, I look forward to the Hugo and Nebula lists each year. It is a great way for me to read the best of the genre. Check them out for yourselves.
Incidentally, this is one of those years, when the same book won for best novel, The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon, a book I had already read and loved.
But just to keep you up to date, this past weekend, at the World Science Fiction Convention, the Hugo Awards were handed out. Personally, as a casual SF fan, I look forward to the Hugo and Nebula lists each year. It is a great way for me to read the best of the genre. Check them out for yourselves.
Incidentally, this is one of those years, when the same book won for best novel, The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon, a book I had already read and loved.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
What I'm Reading: July 2008
This month I am going to share a nonfiction, graphic novel, fantasy, and a Newbery award winner.
One of the read alike articles I am working on for NoveList is for the very popular graphic memoirist Marjane Satrapi. In preparation, I was looking for possible readalike titles and the late Miriam Engelberg's Cancer Made Me a Shallower Person caught my eye. Here Engelberg uses simple black and white pen drawings to describe her personal experience with breast cancer. Like Satrapi, Engelberg takes an extremely serious subject and injects humor into it. I especially liked her honesty about how she reacted to her diagnosis. She gives a voice to all of the cancer patients who do not handle it in a "made for TV movie" way. The book does end with a recurrence of her cancer at a Stage IV level. After the publication of this graphic novel, Engelberg passed away.
Readers who liked Satrapi's Persepolis; specifically how Satrapi deals with very serious issues, yet interjects humor and self deprecation, would enjoy Engelberg's book. Another graphic novel option would be Cancer Vixen by Marisa Acocella Marchetto. This is another non-traditional cancer patient memoir told in graphic novel form, but here, the author survives her ordeal. If you want to read another graphic novel memoir about illness, you could also try Epileptic by David B. where the author recounts his childhood with a sick brother.
Fantasy author, Terry Pratchett has been working on his Discworld series for over 25 years. The world he has created is too complex for me to reiterate, but click here for a great overview and background.
What I love about these books as a librarian is that they do not have to be read in order, and most certainly, there is no need to read every book to enjoy a few in the series. What I love about these books as a reader is the humor and satire. This month I read The Truth. This installment of the series is both a dig at the changing Millennium (it came out in 2000) and a satire on the role of the press. A rag-tag group of humans and dwarfs start printing The Ankh-Morpork Times. Their pursuit of the truth, ends up uncovering a political conspiracy and puts them all in mortal danger. Along the way we meet a zombie lawyer, werewolf police, a vampire photographer, talking dogs, and a fine art loving hitman. just to name a few of the outrageous characters. In true British humor style, the satire is thick and the jokes are dry, but you will be cheering for the newspaper, its publishers, and the truth for all 350+ pages.
There are many authors who have the same sense of humor, use of satire, and other-world settings as Pratchett. The most popular are Jasper Fforde, Douglas Adams, Eric Flint, and Tom Holt. Pratchett has also written a book with Neil Gaiman.
On a completely different note, I also read American Creation: Triumphs, Tragedies, at the Founding of the Republic by Joseph Ellis. Here, Revolutionary Era historian Ellis focuses on six situations during the crucial years of the Revolutionary Era and looks at them in isolation from start to finish. What I most enjoyed here was that each situation got a full treatment. For example, the discussion about how Washington and Company dealt with the Native American question had its own chance to be told without forcing it to fit into the larger narrative of the times. This history book reads more like a book of essays or even short stories. Ellis introduces each piece and lets the reader know who the main players will be. I also enjoyed how Ellis is not afraid to point out where these Revolutionary heroes failed.
Overall I enjoyed the book; it also helped that I read it over the Fourth of July holiday. However, I was getting a bit bored of it by the end. Those who are interested in the Revolutionary Era could try other books by Ellis, but I would also suggest David McCullough's John Adams or 1776 as must reads. There is also Ron Chernow's Alexander Hamilton or Founding Mothers by Cokie Roberts . For a fiction option, Howard Fast's April Morning is worth a look.
One of the read alike articles I am working on for NoveList is for the very popular graphic memoirist Marjane Satrapi. In preparation, I was looking for possible readalike titles and the late Miriam Engelberg's Cancer Made Me a Shallower Person caught my eye. Here Engelberg uses simple black and white pen drawings to describe her personal experience with breast cancer. Like Satrapi, Engelberg takes an extremely serious subject and injects humor into it. I especially liked her honesty about how she reacted to her diagnosis. She gives a voice to all of the cancer patients who do not handle it in a "made for TV movie" way. The book does end with a recurrence of her cancer at a Stage IV level. After the publication of this graphic novel, Engelberg passed away.
Readers who liked Satrapi's Persepolis; specifically how Satrapi deals with very serious issues, yet interjects humor and self deprecation, would enjoy Engelberg's book. Another graphic novel option would be Cancer Vixen by Marisa Acocella Marchetto. This is another non-traditional cancer patient memoir told in graphic novel form, but here, the author survives her ordeal. If you want to read another graphic novel memoir about illness, you could also try Epileptic by David B. where the author recounts his childhood with a sick brother.
Fantasy author, Terry Pratchett has been working on his Discworld series for over 25 years. The world he has created is too complex for me to reiterate, but click here for a great overview and background.
What I love about these books as a librarian is that they do not have to be read in order, and most certainly, there is no need to read every book to enjoy a few in the series. What I love about these books as a reader is the humor and satire. This month I read The Truth. This installment of the series is both a dig at the changing Millennium (it came out in 2000) and a satire on the role of the press. A rag-tag group of humans and dwarfs start printing The Ankh-Morpork Times. Their pursuit of the truth, ends up uncovering a political conspiracy and puts them all in mortal danger. Along the way we meet a zombie lawyer, werewolf police, a vampire photographer, talking dogs, and a fine art loving hitman. just to name a few of the outrageous characters. In true British humor style, the satire is thick and the jokes are dry, but you will be cheering for the newspaper, its publishers, and the truth for all 350+ pages.
There are many authors who have the same sense of humor, use of satire, and other-world settings as Pratchett. The most popular are Jasper Fforde, Douglas Adams, Eric Flint, and Tom Holt. Pratchett has also written a book with Neil Gaiman.
On a completely different note, I also read American Creation: Triumphs, Tragedies, at the Founding of the Republic by Joseph Ellis. Here, Revolutionary Era historian Ellis focuses on six situations during the crucial years of the Revolutionary Era and looks at them in isolation from start to finish. What I most enjoyed here was that each situation got a full treatment. For example, the discussion about how Washington and Company dealt with the Native American question had its own chance to be told without forcing it to fit into the larger narrative of the times. This history book reads more like a book of essays or even short stories. Ellis introduces each piece and lets the reader know who the main players will be. I also enjoyed how Ellis is not afraid to point out where these Revolutionary heroes failed.
Overall I enjoyed the book; it also helped that I read it over the Fourth of July holiday. However, I was getting a bit bored of it by the end. Those who are interested in the Revolutionary Era could try other books by Ellis, but I would also suggest David McCullough's John Adams or 1776 as must reads. There is also Ron Chernow's Alexander Hamilton or Founding Mothers by Cokie Roberts . For a fiction option, Howard Fast's April Morning is worth a look.
Finally, I went to see Wall-E with my family recently and there was a preview for The Tale of Despereaux which is based on the Newbery Award winning novel of the same name by Kate DiCamillo. I decided to read the novel with my daughter this month so that she could go see the movie in the fall and be able to compare and contrast the way the story unfolds on the page vs. the screen. This is a wonderful novel about a mouse, a rat, a young outcast girl, and a Princess named Pea. It is a fairy tale, but be warned it is on the darker side, with child abuse, treachery and murderous rats throughout. We had a great time reading it, especially because the narrator addresses the reader, telling us to ponder certain things, reminding us of key elements from 50 pages back, or telling us to look up words like "perfidy."
This is a children's book with enough depth for an adult to enjoy. Adult novels that capture the themes and mood of The Tale of Despereaux would be The Princess Bride by William Goldman The Last Unicorn by Peter Beagle, Stardust by Neil Gaiman, and The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
BPL Library News Alerts
Our Readers' Advisory Department just began utilizing its new and improved web site to post a newsletter for our patrons. Kathy has done a great job utilizing the best features of online publishing. Click here to see the very first alert.
What Kathy is offering here is an annotated list of a few new or upcoming titles with links to further information about the book from other web sources.
This is a great way to keep your patrons informed, but more importantly, it reminds them of all what we librarians as a human resource have to offer. We have been trained to sift through the great masses of information available, in print and electronic form, in order to provide our patrons with easy access points to what interests them at that moment. Web publishing is a great way to showcase this.
We are increasing the BPL's Library 2.0 presence every day. And the great thing about web publishing is that everyone, all over the world, can utilize our (or any other library's) lists and information--for FREE. Providing further proof on how great we librarians really are.
What Kathy is offering here is an annotated list of a few new or upcoming titles with links to further information about the book from other web sources.
This is a great way to keep your patrons informed, but more importantly, it reminds them of all what we librarians as a human resource have to offer. We have been trained to sift through the great masses of information available, in print and electronic form, in order to provide our patrons with easy access points to what interests them at that moment. Web publishing is a great way to showcase this.
We are increasing the BPL's Library 2.0 presence every day. And the great thing about web publishing is that everyone, all over the world, can utilize our (or any other library's) lists and information--for FREE. Providing further proof on how great we librarians really are.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Public Libraries and the Economy
Public libraries in American are a wonderful resource for recreation as well as information. When the economy is not doing well, people flock to the library. We are experiencing this now in Berwyn and I know we are not alone.
Check out this list by MG Reader, a public librarian, listing 7 ways the library can help you during tough economic times.
What I like best about this list is that it highlights all of the opportunities at your local library besides checking out books. I am happy to say we offer everything on this list (and more!) here at the Berwyn Public Library.
Check out this list by MG Reader, a public librarian, listing 7 ways the library can help you during tough economic times.
What I like best about this list is that it highlights all of the opportunities at your local library besides checking out books. I am happy to say we offer everything on this list (and more!) here at the Berwyn Public Library.
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