Student Annotations: Graphic Novels, Audiobooks, and Bestsellers

Last night just about every student posted an annotation on the Word Press blog. Why? Because it was "special formats" day.

Click here to see what they thought about the graphic novels, audiobooks, and bestsellers that they read for this week.

Three New Reading Maps

For midterms, three students have completed excellent reading maps.

Click here to see Christine's reading map for Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse novels.

Click here to see Madeline's reading map for Julie and Julia.

Click here to see Chris's reading map for Johnny Got His Gun.

All are worth a look both for their content and to see all a reading map can offer your readers. Neither student is a professional web designer. They used the templates on Word Press and their imaginations to create attractive and useful tools for readers of very popular books.

I have added these examples to the ongoing Reading Map Archive over on the class Word Press blog.

BPL Displays: Horror 2009

And so it begins, the home stretch to Halloween. I will be doing a series of posts on the year in Horror over the next 10 days, but to begin, here is the list I made for Berwyn, complete with readalikes both old and new.

Look for at least 2 more posts highlighting horror in the coming days.

What I'm Reading: The Help

I had heard about The Help by Kathryn Stockett, how can I not have? This book has some of the best buzz I have seen in a long time. But when 5 separate patrons and 2 staff members told me I had to read it, I moved it to the top of the to-read pile. And, I am glad I did.

The Help is one of best novels I have read about the Civil Rights Era mostly because the ironies and contradictions of everyday life for blacks and whites is not sugar coated. Everything is laid out in plain language and the true life horrors of this part of our country's history are painfully exposed without excuses. If you are uncomfortable addressing our country's complicated history with race, do not read this book.

Stockett sets her novel in 1962 in Jackson, Mississippi. She gives the reader three narrators. Skeeter, a recent college graduate and aspiring writer. Skeeter is white and lives on an old plantation with her family. She has fond memories of the black maid who raised her, but has questions about her mysterious disappearance during Skeeter's last semester at Ole Miss.

Our other guides through the novel are two of the town's black maids: Aibileen and Minny. Aibileen is an older maid who works for one of Skeeter's friends and is a mentor and friend to Minny. Minny is younger, hot headed, and opinionated. She has been fired by Skeeter's best friend and is now working for a nice, but troubled woman who lives outside of town.

Skeeter is trying to start her writing career, and after talking to an editor in NY, tries to convince Aibileen and Minny to help her collect the stories of Jackson's maids. It is heart wrenching watching the lengths these three women and their contributors need to go to in order to work on this extremely subversive project. Along the way we are given access to an entire town of characters, the work of the Junior League, and the contradiction of a world where black maids raise the white children, but cannot even use the same bathroom them. It is a peek into a white ruled world about to be turned on its head.

I think this quote from the Washington Post says quite a bit about what a great job Stockett (a white woman) does with the African American narrators:

"Aibileen and Minny share the narration with Skeeter, and one of Stockett's accomplishments is reproducing African American vernacular and racy humor without resorting to stilted dialogue. She unsparingly delineates the conditions of black servitude a century after the Civil War."

I listened to the audio version of The Help and I would highly recommend it as long as you don't mind that there are three different women narrating depending on whose chapter it is.

Appeal: The Help is an uplifting and hopeful novel. Skeeter's desire to have a career and find love is a timeless tale. Her growth is realistic and inspiring; it mirrors Stockett's own personal story quite closely. All of the characters are nuanced and well developed. For example,the racist, alpha-female in town could be portrayed as all bad, but even as she is held out as the novel's villain, she is so much more than a stereotype.

Despite Stockett's emphasis on her characters, this is a fairly quick read. Two things propel the plot. First, our knowledge of what is coming next. We know the Civil Rights Movement is about to take a pivotal turn, and we know the people of Jackson will be caught in the middle of the struggle. The characters do not. We keep turning the pages to see, for example when Medgar Evers will be killed and how they will all react. Second, with each switch of the narrator, the reader is excited to see a new character's reaction to the novel's events. You want to take a break, but you cannot. I dare you to try.

There is no graphic violence or sex in this novel, but there are discussions of violence both racial and domestic. Life in 1962 Mississippi is relayed in a truthful manner. Some readers may be uncomfortable with the gross injustice and hypocrisy in this novel, but all of it is historically accurate.

The ending is fairly resolved, but extremely open. All three main characters end the book by beginning a new chapter in their lives, but where that new chapter will lead them is unclear. We know the road for each will not be easy, but it is implied that they will all end up the better for it.

Readalikes: For those who enjoyed the Civil Rights era story with a white girl learning from the strong black women around her, The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Mink Kidd is a great readalike. Both books were huge first novel blockbusters that tackle similar issues. The coming of age theme for the white girl is also big in both novels.

Other authors write novels about women who use what little freedom they have to subvert their oppressive systems. Lisa See's novels do just this as she looks at the historic lives of women in China. In Snow Flower and the Secret Fan the girls are at the mercy of tradition as they are forced to have their feet bound, marry who they are told, and move away from their families. They use their secret language to communicate and try to make life better for the next generation of women.

Others may be looking for books with a southern feel. For those readers I would suggest Fannie Flagg or Joshilyn Jackson.

Finally for fiction, although the setting here is in the early 1960s, I kept thinking about novels that tackled the issue of slavery and the intimate white/black relationship in the south during earlier times in our history. Two that popped into my head immediately were Sally Hemmings by Barbara Chase-Ribould and The March by E.L. Doctorow.

For nonfiction the Sweet Potato Queens series (it has now branched into fiction too) is like the modern (non-racist) version of the Junior League. Also books about Jackson, MS and The Civil Rights Movement (specifically, Eyes on the Prize) will be of interest to many readers.

I have a big backlog of books which I have finished and not written about, so look here for more reports soon.

Every Reader Reads a Different Version of the Same Book

That is my first rule of Readers' Advisory. What I find most appealing about a certain novel may not be why you liked it. As we librarians help leisure readers, we need to pay attention to how they describe a book that they recently enjoyed, and we have to listen even more carefully if we have read this book ourselves.

I teach this and we discuss it every semester, but never was this concept more clear to me than over the weekend when I saw this post in which Abe's Books customers named The Road the most depressing book ever.

Would it surprise you that I found this post-apocalyptic novel of a boy and his dad traveling through a ruined American landscape extremely uplifting? Those of you who think I am being sarcastic, I assure you, I am not.

I found The Road uplifting because despite the almost end of the world, a father protects his son at all costs. Their love for each other is inspiring. And the ending is hopeful; in fact, it is the most hopeful and optimistic ending I have ever seen in a Cormac McCarthy book.

Obviously a great number of people disagree with me, but that is fine. I read my own version of this book. Someone helping me would need to use what I said about The Road to find me other dark but uplifting titles.

Other books I would suggest to a patron with these criteria (in this case myself) would be Haruki Murakami's Kafka on the Shore, books by Ian McEwan, and The White Tiger (which again lots of people say is too depressing, but I disagree). Also, other books on the list of the 10 most depressing novels may also be good options, although looking at it I know I hated Jude the Obscure, but not because it was depressing. I just didn't care enough about the main character to be caught up in his problems.

So, please remember as you help others and even as you reader reviews for yourself: we all read a different version of the same book. What is considered depressing to you, may be perfect for me. And finding a reader the best book for them, based on what they want to read at that moment, is the ultimate goal.

Jonathan Lethem Recommends

As I mentioned here, I wrote the readalike article for Jonathan Lethem on NoveList. He also has a new book out today. Yeah!

As part of his parade on the media circuit flogging Chronic City, Lethem was on The Daily Beast, with his annotated suggestions of his 5 favorite "icy" novels-- those that take place in cold settings.

I like the varied suggestions, but what I really love is reading what he (and for that matter any author I like) had to say about each novel.

Another great resource for finding lists of the books your favorite authors enjoys is Fantastic Fiction. Here is Lethem's entry. Go to the bottom to find the "Jonathan Lethem Recommends" section. Each author has a "recommends" section on this website and they have over 25,000 author entries. Try your favorite.

Worth a Look: Shelf Renewal

My friends and colleagues, Karen and Rebecca have started a great RA blog called Shelf Renewal. I love the concept of their blog. It is epitomized by a great tag line, "Nobody puts backlist in a corner."

Readers of this blog know how much I push for the backlist-- all of those great titles we have on the library shelves from days gone by, that are just waiting to be read. Well, Shelf Renewal takes the backlist and lets it shine in the spotlight.

This blog will take popular trends, tv shows, movies etc... and give you "dusties," older titles that are great readalikes for today's hottest issues and ideas. Click here for their full mission statement/manifesto.

I would have mentioned their new endeavor anyway, but they also made me their "Web of Crush of the Week." I get to hold the "title" until this Friday when they name a new one. I am very honored.

Thanks Rebecca and Karen for mentioning RA for All and for creating such a useful blog for librarians and readers. I have already signed up for the RSS feed. Have you? I am excited to see where Shelf Renewal takes its authors and readers.

Me Live In Wheeling: SF and Fantasy

Come to the North Suburban Library System HQ on Tuesday 10/13 from 1-4 pm to see me present "Aliens and Dragons @ Your Library: Meeting Readers' Science Fiction and Fantasy Needs."

I have a brand new, presentation planned. I have also been having lots of fun preparing it since I personally love these genres.

Here are some of the resources I will be highlighting during the presentation.

Becky’s Favorite Overall Speculative Fiction Resource:

Fantastic Fiction: http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/

Becky’s Favorite Science Fiction Resources

Print

Strictly Science Fiction: A Guide to Reading Interests by Diana Tixier Herald and Bonnie Kunzel (LU, 2002)

The Year’s Best Science Fiction edited by Gardner Dozois (2009 is the 26^th edition)

Web

Locus Magazine in print and online: www.locusmag.com

Portal to just about every conceivable SF link is here: http://www.locusmag.com/Links/Portal.html

Also, every February, Locus Magazine publishes its recommended reading list for the previous year. Here is the current list. http://www.locusmag.com/2009/2008RecommendedReading.html

Older lists can be explored through their website

io9, an online Science Fiction Magazine: www.io9.com

“io9 is addicted to science fiction because it's the storytelling branch of prophesy. We'll be writing obsessively about scifi in every format: books, movies, TV, Web, comics, games, art, music, and fashion.”

SyFy Channel (formerly the SciFi Network): http://www.syfy.com/

Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America: http://www.sfwa.org/

SFF World: http://www.sffworld.com/

SF Site, The Homepage for Science Fiction and Fantasy: http://www.sfsite.com/

Also the host site for the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction

NoveList’s “Getting Up to Speed in Science Fiction” article (right hand frame under genre outlines)

Don’t forget to check Author Homepages. Lots of links and info for fans.

Becky’s Favorite Fantasy Resources

Print

Fluent in Fantasy: The Next Generation by Diana Tixier Herald (LU, 2007)

The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling (annual publication)

Read On…Fantasy Fiction: Reading Lists for Every Taste by Neil Hollands (LU, 2007)

Web

Realms of Fantasy (print magazine): http://www.rofmagazine.com/ (right now it is under contruction, but I hope it comes back better than it was before)

Recommended Fantasy Author List: http://www.sff.net/people/Amy.Sheldon/listcont.htm

Locus Magazine in print and online: www.locusmag.com

Also, every February, Locus Magazine publishes its recommended reading list for the previous year. Here is the current list. http://www.locusmag.com/2009/2008RecommendedReading.html

Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America: http://www.sfwa.org/

The Fantasy 100: http://home.austarnet.com.au/petersykes/fantasy100/lists_books.html

NoveList’s “Getting Up to Speed in Fantasy” article (right hand frame under genre outlines)

Fantasy is a genre that uses the power of the Internet to its fullest. Author websites are very useful here. To sample the wide range of offereings, try www.raymondfeistbooks.com, http://elvandar.com, or www.temeraire.org (Novik) or http://www.neilgaiman.com/

Some authors go even further. Jasper Fforde adds special features to his books on the Internet: http://www.jasperfforde.com/

The talk will focus more on why people like SF or Fantasy and what else they may enjoy. I will be spending a good deal of time talking about specific authors and trends too.

There are a few spaces still available to see the full 3 hour talk. Click here to sign up.