Be More Bookish is drawing to a close. :(
I found that keeping this blog was a helpful and fun exercise, though it was more work than I was expecting it to be. I've kept blogs before (for work and for pleasure), but some weeks seemed to take a long time to get done (or maybe that's just my perfectionist nature coming through).
I loved exploring different genres and subgenres. A fellow librarian and I even used the Fiction Genre Flowchart prezi in a readers advisory conversation with a real-live customer! (This customer usually read chick lit, and wanted to read some "adventure" fiction for the first time but didn't know what kind she was looking for. Bingo! Perfect opportunity to wield newly gained sub-genre knowledge.)
I also found the appeal characteristics work to be quite helpful. Not just in giving me more descriptive language to describe books, but in learning how to pare down a book talk from mostly summary to mostly appeal terms. I've been practicing this, too, as often as I can. I hope that it's working!
Overall it was a great experience and one that I would willingly sign up for again. :)
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Week Nine: Book Trailers
Book trailers seem like such a great idea, but sadly, before this exercise, I had never really seen one that was a great hook. I did enjoy Jeanette Walls' trailers for The Glass Castle and Half Broke Horses, though. Book trailers seem to be well-suited for nonfiction titles, since tie-in footage can enhance the reader's knowledge of the topic presented.
Pamela Paul in the New York Times article Author Takes a Star Turn makes a good point about teens: as this audience matures, so may the book trailer come into it's own. In fact, YA lit may be the current best fit for the book trailer, since that audience is already largely internet-savvy and more likely to be online to view the trailers in the first place.
Still, to appeal to teens (or anyone else, for that matter) and be useful readers' advisory tools, book trailers need to be more polished than a slap-dash of stock footage. They don't have to be super-shiny or have high production costs - but they need to present a relevant and interesting visual element that enhances the future reading experience. The trailer for Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children was spooky and a great lead-in to the book. I also really enjoyed this Shatter Me trailer:
It doesn't have as many visuals as the one for Miss Peregrine's, but the music was exciting and the message was powerful. Plus, it ends just before a kiss - what a cliffhanger!
Then there's the conundrum of how to get readers to view book trailers. Just putting something on the internet does not guarantee an audience. If your readers have to seek out a book trailer, it will almost certainly be ineffective. I've watched a few on Amazon.com, since (if they exist) they are commonly placed right on the buying page (albeit buried under the cover and customer images). I've also seen a book trailer on a DVD, right in with the movie trailers. It was slick and exciting enough to compete with the movies before and after it, though unfortunately I cannot remember what book it was for... (so was it really that effective??).
Pamela Paul in the New York Times article Author Takes a Star Turn makes a good point about teens: as this audience matures, so may the book trailer come into it's own. In fact, YA lit may be the current best fit for the book trailer, since that audience is already largely internet-savvy and more likely to be online to view the trailers in the first place.
Still, to appeal to teens (or anyone else, for that matter) and be useful readers' advisory tools, book trailers need to be more polished than a slap-dash of stock footage. They don't have to be super-shiny or have high production costs - but they need to present a relevant and interesting visual element that enhances the future reading experience. The trailer for Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children was spooky and a great lead-in to the book. I also really enjoyed this Shatter Me trailer:
It doesn't have as many visuals as the one for Miss Peregrine's, but the music was exciting and the message was powerful. Plus, it ends just before a kiss - what a cliffhanger!
Then there's the conundrum of how to get readers to view book trailers. Just putting something on the internet does not guarantee an audience. If your readers have to seek out a book trailer, it will almost certainly be ineffective. I've watched a few on Amazon.com, since (if they exist) they are commonly placed right on the buying page (albeit buried under the cover and customer images). I've also seen a book trailer on a DVD, right in with the movie trailers. It was slick and exciting enough to compete with the movies before and after it, though unfortunately I cannot remember what book it was for... (so was it really that effective??).
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Week Eight: Nonfiction Genres and Dewey Classification
Of the 16 nonfiction genres outlined in this SLRC video, I'm going to focus on Politics, Essays, Crime, and Sports and what kinds of narrative nonfiction titles can be found within these genres.
As a caveat, I should also say that pretty much all of these genres are also represented in the Biographies section if the work has a more general approach to the life of its subject.
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Friday Night Lights by H.G. Bissinger is another book that I would find easy to recommend. For one thing, it's the basis of a popular television show (and was also made into a movie). It's a story of everyday failures and triumphs, with plenty of exciting football action to keep things moving along at a riveting pace. I'd recommend this book to sports fans - both ESPN and Sports Illustrated highly recommend the book as a good football story - as well as readers who are interested in engaging characters and suspenseful, realistic fiction set in a small town.
Flawless by Scott Andrew Selby and Greg Campbell is definitely a title I would recommend. Well-researched and highly detailed, this true crime story takes readers around the globe as it follows the skilled group of theives known as "The School of Turin." It's a gripping story with a big, cinematic feel - definitely a fast-paced read and a vicarious thrill for readers. I'd recommend it to fans of Crime Fiction or Thrillers.
- Political nonfiction can be found in the 320's for current issues flavored with distinct political party viewpoints. For political issues of a more historical flavor (generally also more party-neutral) try the 973's. Pretty much any title here is politically charged and anything but neutral, but I tried to find one that may appeal beyond party lines. A Nation of Wusses by Ed Rendell might be a good pick for someone who normally reads fiction - he's a Democrat and not shy about saying so, but this is the politician who called the NFL a bunch of wusses over cancelling a 2010 Eagles-Vikings game.
- Essays can be found mostly in the 814's, with more humorous selections mixed into the 818's. Lies that Chelsea Handler Told Me is a great collection of humorous, anything-goes essays written by the comedic actress' friends and family.
- Narrative nonfiction relating to Crime - such as modern true crime stories, biographical takes on infamous criminals, and historical narratives of famous crimes - can be found in the 363-364's. Flawless: Inside the Largest Diamond Heist in History by Scott Andrew Selby and Greg Campbell is a great title for crime thrill-seekers.
- Sports-related nonfiction can be found in the 796's. Friday Night Lights by H.G. Bissinger is a great title for sports fans and readers of small-town fiction.
As a caveat, I should also say that pretty much all of these genres are also represented in the Biographies section if the work has a more general approach to the life of its subject.
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Friday Night Lights by H.G. Bissinger is another book that I would find easy to recommend. For one thing, it's the basis of a popular television show (and was also made into a movie). It's a story of everyday failures and triumphs, with plenty of exciting football action to keep things moving along at a riveting pace. I'd recommend this book to sports fans - both ESPN and Sports Illustrated highly recommend the book as a good football story - as well as readers who are interested in engaging characters and suspenseful, realistic fiction set in a small town.
Flawless by Scott Andrew Selby and Greg Campbell is definitely a title I would recommend. Well-researched and highly detailed, this true crime story takes readers around the globe as it follows the skilled group of theives known as "The School of Turin." It's a gripping story with a big, cinematic feel - definitely a fast-paced read and a vicarious thrill for readers. I'd recommend it to fans of Crime Fiction or Thrillers.
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Week Eight: Nonfiction Appeal
In Borderlands: Crossing between Fiction and Nonfiction in Readers' Advisory crossover between fiction and narrative nonfiction is highlighted. I find that for myself, I tend to stick to narrative nonfiction more often than not. I am particularly drawn to memoirs, often covering topics that I wouldn't find particularly appealing in fiction (such as the emotional journey of Elizabeth Gilbert in Eat, Pray, Love). Why is that? I guess I like the "this happened to a real person!" factor, but without that factor I need some other appealing hook to pique my interest.
Catherine Sheldrick Ross, in her article Reading Nonfiction for Pleasure: What Motivates Readers?, poses the question: "Do [readers] experience the two kinds of reading very differently, for example, by turning to fiction when they want a pleasurable experience but choosing nonfiction when they want to find out facts about the real world?" For myself, at least, it's almost always both. Even in the humorous farce of a Carl Hiaasen novel, I enjoy learning about Floridian culture. And gems like Awkward Family Pet Photos provide some measure of truth (mostly about how weird people are, especially those who take portraits with their pets...) but at the same time it's a laugh riot, certainly a pleasurable experience.
I suppose you could say that the pace is different, and the degree of continuity can also be different (following the plot of a novel vs. digesting sometimes only loosely related bits of information). But I like my fiction and nonfiction reads to be pleasurable and informative, and I think there are a lot of other readers who feel the same.
Week Seven: Not Just for Teens III
In this concluding chapter in my YA-focused trilogy of posts, here's a follow-up on the two blogs I started following for last week's assignment:
Is this a successful blog? It's hard to tell, but there are never too many comments on their posts (excepting Kelly Jensen's Female Sexuality in YA Fiction: Exploring the Range of Experiences, which has amassed a whopping 24 comments so far). I'm certainly enjoying it, though, and I hope they keep it up.
Teen Reads is fairly successful in the getting-a-large-audience category: their main banner touts their 7,500 Facebook fans (not to mention their Twitter and YouTube followers). As an offshoot of Bookreporter, Teen Reads also benefits from the larger site funnelling in readers.
Stacked
Stacked is written by two public librarians, Kimberly Francisco and Kelly Jensen. Book reviews, reading lists, and links of note are some of their recurring features, with an occasional academic/professional-type article thrown in. I would have to say that their audience may more likely be adults who read teen novels or other librarians, simply because of the high-level of some of their articles. Also, their format, while crisp and pleasing, is more professional than other glitzy teen-centric sites I've seen (like last week's LB Teen).Is this a successful blog? It's hard to tell, but there are never too many comments on their posts (excepting Kelly Jensen's Female Sexuality in YA Fiction: Exploring the Range of Experiences, which has amassed a whopping 24 comments so far). I'm certainly enjoying it, though, and I hope they keep it up.
Teen Reads
A flashier site than Stacked, Teen Reads' content is provided by Bookreporter writers and it seems geared towards actual teenage readers. The polls are fun and quirky. They've got a "He Said/She Said" feature and another for "Adult books you want to read." That all suggests a younger audience.Teen Reads is fairly successful in the getting-a-large-audience category: their main banner touts their 7,500 Facebook fans (not to mention their Twitter and YouTube followers). As an offshoot of Bookreporter, Teen Reads also benefits from the larger site funnelling in readers.
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
Week Seven: Not Just for Teens II
I'll be following Stacked from this week onward. I just can't resist a tagline that includes mayhem. :) I'll also be following Teenreads. Check back in a week for my reviews of these sites!
This week, I also took a look at the Teen/Penguin Young Readers and the Little, Brown Books for Teens sites. Here's what I found and what was trending:
The Penguin Young Readers site had some pretty cool "minisites" for its hot titles/series, including No Safety in Numbers, Matched, and Across the Universe. Lots of little worlds to get lost in there. They also have a "most viewed books" feature, which shows that realistic teen fiction is still popular, despite the glut of paranormal titles on the market: the paperback release of Sarah Dessen's What Happened to Goodbye, and The Disenchantments by Nina LaCour comprised 50% of the four books included.
I like that the look of the Little, Brown site mimics the look of tumblr, all dynamic chaos with shiny images/teasers linking to the main article content. Lots of books being turned into movies over on LB Teen, too, including Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor. Also found a lot of teen series, and plenty of new titles released by authors of already-published bestsellers, such as Icons by Margaret Stohl (coauthor of the Beautiful Creatures books).
This week, I also took a look at the Teen/Penguin Young Readers and the Little, Brown Books for Teens sites. Here's what I found and what was trending:
The Penguin Young Readers site had some pretty cool "minisites" for its hot titles/series, including No Safety in Numbers, Matched, and Across the Universe. Lots of little worlds to get lost in there. They also have a "most viewed books" feature, which shows that realistic teen fiction is still popular, despite the glut of paranormal titles on the market: the paperback release of Sarah Dessen's What Happened to Goodbye, and The Disenchantments by Nina LaCour comprised 50% of the four books included.
I like that the look of the Little, Brown site mimics the look of tumblr, all dynamic chaos with shiny images/teasers linking to the main article content. Lots of books being turned into movies over on LB Teen, too, including Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor. Also found a lot of teen series, and plenty of new titles released by authors of already-published bestsellers, such as Icons by Margaret Stohl (coauthor of the Beautiful Creatures books).
Week Seven: Not Just for Teens
Okay, first impression of Lawrence Public Library's flowchart on what to read next? They've really got a bead on my to-read list. I just started Scott Westerfeld's Uglies, apparently I have been "living under a rock." Zing for LPL!
The LPL's flowchart also highlights the incredible boom in YA paranormal and dystopian fiction, which was also mentioned in the article "The Next Big Thing" on the YALSA Hub as part of YA's crossover appeal. Personally, I think this is a major (if not the major) reason why adults are reading so much YA. Vampires, werewolves, zombies, cyborgs: all sorts of monsters are being given the romanticized, YA makeover. And if you're interested in the paranormal but not gratuitous gore? YA titles will fill the bill.
Crossover appeal from television shows like Gossip Girl and The Vampire Diaries, another big lure mentioned in the YALSA Hub article, seems like it's also still pulling in audiences. With TV shows, fans can follow long, slow-building series, experiencing in detail the world of a favorite cast of characters - why not read a book series and get the same effect? That's definitely something which YA has going for it: a seething multitude of series and trilogies with imaginative world-building aplenty. Seriously, it seems like every book on my to-read list (and LPL's flowchart) spawns a sequel or two before I can even get the first one read. It's definitely a series-lover's market.
"New Adult: Needless Marketing-Speak Or Valued Subgenre?" on the Publishers Weekly site focuses on the New Adult genre, and the overlap between YA and Adult markets. It discusses, in part, the difficulty that bookstores face when finding the right location in their stores for New Adult and other crossover YA titles. Which makes me wonder, where can/should we put them in the library?
The LPL's flowchart also highlights the incredible boom in YA paranormal and dystopian fiction, which was also mentioned in the article "The Next Big Thing" on the YALSA Hub as part of YA's crossover appeal. Personally, I think this is a major (if not the major) reason why adults are reading so much YA. Vampires, werewolves, zombies, cyborgs: all sorts of monsters are being given the romanticized, YA makeover. And if you're interested in the paranormal but not gratuitous gore? YA titles will fill the bill.
Crossover appeal from television shows like Gossip Girl and The Vampire Diaries, another big lure mentioned in the YALSA Hub article, seems like it's also still pulling in audiences. With TV shows, fans can follow long, slow-building series, experiencing in detail the world of a favorite cast of characters - why not read a book series and get the same effect? That's definitely something which YA has going for it: a seething multitude of series and trilogies with imaginative world-building aplenty. Seriously, it seems like every book on my to-read list (and LPL's flowchart) spawns a sequel or two before I can even get the first one read. It's definitely a series-lover's market.
"New Adult: Needless Marketing-Speak Or Valued Subgenre?" on the Publishers Weekly site focuses on the New Adult genre, and the overlap between YA and Adult markets. It discusses, in part, the difficulty that bookstores face when finding the right location in their stores for New Adult and other crossover YA titles. Which makes me wonder, where can/should we put them in the library?
Monday, June 3, 2013
Week Six: Genre Mashups
Dare I mention Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith? Literary romance meets zombie horror fiction. Pretty much what's on the box and the archtype for mashups: this is literally Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, with zombies grafted in. This is the book that inspired a thousand remakes, just see Android Karenina or Little Vampire Women.
For a purely original take, there's Andrew P. Mayer's steampunk superheroes in The Society of Steam trilogy (The Falling Machine, Hearts of Smoke and Steam, and Power Under Pressure). The books take place in an alternate 19th century New York protected by the "gentlemen adventurers," the Society of Paragons and populated with megalomaniacal villans, mechanical men, and clockwork mechanisms galore. The books' heroine, Sarah Stanton, follows a superhero-like character arc, wrestling with many moral choices given the chance to discover the hero within herself.
For a purely original take, there's Andrew P. Mayer's steampunk superheroes in The Society of Steam trilogy (The Falling Machine, Hearts of Smoke and Steam, and Power Under Pressure). The books take place in an alternate 19th century New York protected by the "gentlemen adventurers," the Society of Paragons and populated with megalomaniacal villans, mechanical men, and clockwork mechanisms galore. The books' heroine, Sarah Stanton, follows a superhero-like character arc, wrestling with many moral choices given the chance to discover the hero within herself.
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| Kermit T. Bond [source] |
Week Six: Sub-Genres, Ahoy!
Stories that fall into the steampunk genre tend to feature mad scientists, steam-powered machines, and dystopian worlds. They are high on the 'what if?' end of the sci-fi spectrum, yet they mostly are set in the re-imagined past, generally in the Victorian Era. The plots - and world-building - can get highly detailed, but they are also by-and-large adventure stories with high stakes, dashing heroes, and dastardly villains. There tends to be some crossover with mystery, especially of the Sherlock Holmsian, "art of detection" variety. Typical characters include the aforementioned mad scientists as well as hosts of mechanics, detectives, airship pilots, thieves and ruffians, lady adventurers, and steam-powered automatons. Steampunk can be a rollicking jaunt through a clockwork world, but it can also take a a more philosophical tone, proposing what-ifs of a sinister variety. Either way, expect the writing to be clever, the plots to be full of twists and turns... and the engines to be steamy.
More than a literary genre: steampunk has also become a lifestyle. Do you want to go to a convention to mingle with like-minded steampunk fans? Try SteamCon, or the Steampunk World's Fair. Do you want to investigate steampunk art, steampunk music, or steampunk fashion? Well you're in luck: The Steampunk Empire is a great place to explore all aspects of the subculture at once. There are oodles of internet rabbit holes to fall down. In fact, I found it to be a bit of a challenge just to narrow down my choices.
Starting at the "Know Your Meme" page for Steampunk, I was able to find lots of different angles on the genre, including the literary-bent blog Steampunk.com which I'll use as my main example of a fansite. Steampunk.com covers television shows, events, news and more but what drew me in was its monthly feature article on what's new in books. The coolest article has to be the loosely-termed "steampunk" Legos: yes, please! Fans of steampunk are definitely into inventive building techniques with a high empasis on personalized craftsmanship and intricate design. May releases of steampunk novels included The Havoc Machine by Stephen Harper (the latest in his Clockwork Empire series).
Finding a fansite for hard-boiled mysteries was a breeze. I went on good-old Goodreads and looked under groups, narrowing it down to "Books & Literature," then further into "Mystery & Thrillers." Unfortunately, that was the deepest level of detail, so from there I scanned the list of groups that came up and found the Pulp Fiction Group. Bingo.
The group is mainly a reading group, choosing a new (or classic) hard-boiled mystery to read each month. June 2013's read is Grifter's Game by Lawrence Block. Discussion on the group's boards brought up "The Magic of Pulp Fiction," a recent article on the genre by big-name author Walter Mosley, best known for his Easy Rawlins stories.
Culinary Capers
Culinary capers = cozy mysteries for foodies. Fans of this genre are looking for lighthearted mysteries with a plucky main character who uses his/her sleuthing skills to solve the crime (which is generally not a particularly gory one). The hallmark of this genre is that major plot points are usually related to food (the main character is a chef, a food critic, a candy-shop owner, etc. and is deeply involved in the world of food) or the story may be set in a restaurant/bakery/cafe. They may also include real recipes that tie-in to the plot for readers to experience the story in a real-life setting (without all the dead bodies, of course). They are largely written in series, which means that each book is a fast-paced read with a series-long character arc for the main characters.
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| Check out all twelve titles in the Coffeehouse Mysteries series by Cleo Coyle. |
It was a bit difficult to find a fansite, per se, of only this particular niche. Google searches turned up many lists of popular culinary mysteries (including the more general Cozy Mystery Blog which had a "where to start"-type entry on these so-called culinary capers).
Eventually, through trolling some author websites whose nom de plume's I found on the more general reading list sites listed above, I did come up with a multi-author recipe and book blog that may fit the bill: Mystery Lovers Kitchen. Big name culinary mystery writers contribute to the blog, including Cleo Coyle (of The Coffeehouse Mysteries series), Krista Davis (of the Domestic Diva series), and Lucy Berdette (of the Key West Food Critic series). And their recipes are... to die for! (Please pardon the pun - must be all these cozy mystery titles!)
It seems that fans of this genre are buzzing about food, food, food! It's not much of a surprise, but culinary caper fans love to read about new recipes, almost as much (it seems) as the love to pick up the latest title in a favorite on-going series. Right now, seasonal foods are on fans' minds (picnic-ready chicken salad, and summery peach cobbler are some of the newest recipe entries on the Mystery Lovers Kitchen blog) as well as the newest Key West Food Critic title, Topped Chef. The author, Lucy Berdette, just wrapped up her book tour during which she met the real chef who inspired one of her characters and ate some of his fabulous cooking. Yum!
Steampunk
Steampunk seems to be trending lately, so it's no wonder that there are many, many, many, many fansites to choose from. Coming at the tail-end of the Industrial Revolution, with the sentiments of the Victorian Era, proto-steampunk writers Jules Verne and H.G. Wells were crafting visions of the future based on the technologies of their present. Later writers tend to look backward to an alternate past: what would the world have looked like if steam-power had remained the dominant power source? William Gibson and Bruce Sterling's 1990's novel The Difference Engine, is a major work in the genre, paving the way for modern writers such as Phil and Kaja Foglio (authors of the Agatha Heterodyne books and the ongoing webcomic series Girl Genius) and Cherie Priest (author of the Clockwork Century Novels). |
| Steampunks - models Liza James and Jared Axelrod on board Baldwin 60000 by Kyle Cassidy |
More than a literary genre: steampunk has also become a lifestyle. Do you want to go to a convention to mingle with like-minded steampunk fans? Try SteamCon, or the Steampunk World's Fair. Do you want to investigate steampunk art, steampunk music, or steampunk fashion? Well you're in luck: The Steampunk Empire is a great place to explore all aspects of the subculture at once. There are oodles of internet rabbit holes to fall down. In fact, I found it to be a bit of a challenge just to narrow down my choices.
Starting at the "Know Your Meme" page for Steampunk, I was able to find lots of different angles on the genre, including the literary-bent blog Steampunk.com which I'll use as my main example of a fansite. Steampunk.com covers television shows, events, news and more but what drew me in was its monthly feature article on what's new in books. The coolest article has to be the loosely-termed "steampunk" Legos: yes, please! Fans of steampunk are definitely into inventive building techniques with a high empasis on personalized craftsmanship and intricate design. May releases of steampunk novels included The Havoc Machine by Stephen Harper (the latest in his Clockwork Empire series).
Hard Boiled
The third sub-genre that I investigated were hard-boiled mysteries (also referred to as "pulp fiction," or "film noir" in tv and movies), in which the men will be wise guys, and the dames will be femme fatales. According to TVTropes, the trope of the hard-boiled detective character is a "tough, cynical guy with a gun and a lot of Street Smarts, who solves mysteries with dogged persistence rather than astounding insight." [source] The mise-en-scene of this type of story is gritty and atmospheric, while the narration tends to be first-person monologue. These read at a fairly fast clip, no matter how quickly or leisurely the mystery unfolds, due to the prominent use of short sentences and pithy metaphors.
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| Chandler's detective Philip Marlowe is a classic example of the hard-boiled detective. [source] |
Finding a fansite for hard-boiled mysteries was a breeze. I went on good-old Goodreads and looked under groups, narrowing it down to "Books & Literature," then further into "Mystery & Thrillers." Unfortunately, that was the deepest level of detail, so from there I scanned the list of groups that came up and found the Pulp Fiction Group. Bingo.
The group is mainly a reading group, choosing a new (or classic) hard-boiled mystery to read each month. June 2013's read is Grifter's Game by Lawrence Block. Discussion on the group's boards brought up "The Magic of Pulp Fiction," a recent article on the genre by big-name author Walter Mosley, best known for his Easy Rawlins stories.
Raymond Chandler is a is a classic author in the genre, while Sue Grafton's "alphabet mysteries" series, nearing the end of its 26-book run - with W is for Wasted to be released later this year - features a female hard-boiled detective, Kinsey Milhone. Other authors include Mickey Spillane and his Mike Hammer books. Stephen King also has a new book coming out in the noir genre, Joyland, which is generating some decent buzz.
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