Early Word

I was excited to see that Veronica Roth finally titled the third book in her Divergent Trilogy. I have been eagerly anticipating the release of this installment and was excited to see that it at least has a title. I was one of the first in the hold line for Allegiant.
I also really like the New Title Radar so that I can be aware of what people might be coming in to look for.
The Penguin Debut Author Program is something I hadn't known about before and that I think is a really good idea. I like that there is a live chat with debut authors and that early word members can give questions for Nora to ask the authors. I hadn't noticed the display ideas page until today and I think this is a great idea, but I think they could be doing so much more with it than they are so that it can be the go to place when you can't think of a display to pep up your library. I have also been listening to Hear the Buzz and listening to reviews of books and I enjoy this because it reenforces what I have read.
While listening to Hear the Buzz I heard about The Son by Phillip Meyer and I noticed this on the list for the most anticipated books in Spring 2013. Hear the Buzz indicated that there was a 200K print run on this title and it was highly anticipated because of the huge success of Meyers' first book American Rust which won the LA times book prize and was on the News Week's list of best books ever. The book is a family epic with a strong Native American influence and it reminds me of Legends of the Falls by Jim Harrison which is also a family saga and has Native American influence.

exploring goodreads

I have had a good time exploring good reads and I find that it's one of those site that I only intend on going into for a bit, but can seem to get out because something else catches my eye. I like the idea of setting up shelves of items that I have read and want to read because frequently I have a list in my head, but when it comes time to get a new book I can't remember most of them. I also like that the site makes recommendations for me and I have found that a lot of their recommendation look quite good. I have added a couple of my colleagues as friends and I like the feature that compares what you've read and that I can see how they rated those books.
For one of my colleagues I noticed that she enjoyed The Diary of Anne Frank, Night and these are both non-fiction books about people in a time of turmoil and struggling to get by. They made me think of the book,  First they killed my father because it is also a true story about a person in a time of turmoil within her county. In this book a young girl is forced to separate from most of her family and work as a child soldier in a work camp. She has to find her own way in this tragic and inspiring book.
With another of my colleagues I noticed that she is fan of Janet Evanovich and the Stephanie Plum series as well and they fall into the fluff shelf. Evanovich is great at mixing dysfunctional characters with humor and some action into a quick, light read. She also likes to use strong and independent female protagonists. I think you may enjoy the Skip Langdon series by Julie Smith because she also has a good way of mixing humor in with some mystery and action. The protagonist of this series is also a strong willed investigator.

Week 3

     I thought the article by Neal Wyatt offered some good tips for improving readers advisory services in a way that is comfortable to each person. One thing that I keep seeing that I need to work on is really getting to the appeal factors of book a lot quicker because I don't want to lose the attention of the customer before I get to the meat of the item.
     In conversation 1 I gather that the customer is looking for a book with a strong inner monologue for the protagonist and that setting is important. I also gather that she wants a book for her book club and so the book should have wider appeal and good discussion points. After reviewing Novel List Plus for about a minute and a half I came across Wild by Cheryl Strayed.

     Wild was chosen for Oprah's book club list and is a travel writing book written from the perspective of a woman who is overcoming adversity in her life. The book delves into the inner thoughts of a woman trying to regain perspective after her world has been thrown into disarray.

     In conversation number 2 I understand that the reader would like something about vampires, but where the characters are older. This person also seems to want the book to move at a faster pace. When I first read the conversation I thought of Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse series because the characters are older and the books are quick reads;

 however if the romance is a deal breaker I would suggest Anne Rice's Interview with a Vampire where the characters are older, yet there isn't a lot of romance.



     For conversation 3 I surmised that the reader enjoyed the fact that The River of Doubt was a true story and the fact that the true story was a quick adventure type read. After looking through Good Reads I came across Into Africa by Martin Dugard.



This book is a riveting true story that follows the adventures of Livingston as he travels through Africa to discover the source of the Nile River. Livingston goes into the wilds and doesn't return. After several years of intrigue a media ploy is thrown together in which Stanley will go to Africa and see if he can find the missing Livingston.

Week 2

     It's been a while, but one of my favorite novels is Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet. I like that the book took place in 12th century England because it gave me the opportunity to escape to a different time and place. I think that the characters were very well developed and I enjoyed discovering how their lives would affect one another.I hated seeing one of the main protaganists die half way through the book, but the fact that a book can evoke so much emotions just shows how attached I was to the characters and I think that it also made the book more realistic. I thought the length of the book gave an opportunity to really know the characters and see their different perspectives. It was a darker book and while I enjoyed it, I definitely have to be in a more somber place for that type of overall tone.

     I am also very fond of the Stephanie Plum series. I can't really pick out one book in particular because I've enjoyed them all. I like that they are light and quick reads. I also like to see stong female characters in books and I think that Stephanie Plum isn't just strong, but quirky as well. I like the Jersey setting because I have lived in Jersey and can relate to some of what she is refering to. It makes it easy to visualize and imagine what Evanovich is writing about. I think the tone of these books makes them easy to pick up for a vacation or long weekend when I don't really want to have something too cerebral.

     I made a recommendation for Ellen A. on her blog Lost In A Good Book.