Week 5

Assignment #1 - I have been following NPR books. The page setup makes it easy to browse. By following this site, I received information on new books, new authors, books turning into movies, and deaths of authors. This is a useful tool because it also highlights what is discussed on NPR. Many customers listen to NPR and request books that were mentioned. I enjoyed listening to many of the podcasts that were also uploaded to this site.


Assignment #2- The customers at my branch ask for many genres of books, but I feel the majority of the time I am helping customers find popular fiction authors, children's books, or DVD's. Early Word is a fantastic resource for keeping me updated on new items in each of these categories. I signed up for the newsletter and it is emailed to me often. This works well for me. Sometimes I can spend a lot of time reading the updates and other times I may look at it on my phone. Even if I am looking at it on my phone, I am able to see the covers of the new books and that is better than nothing! :) The Early Word Kids site is also very helpful to me. I am a mom and a preschool teacher as well as being a librarian, so I use this source a lot!!


Assignment #3- The Last Pilot by Benjamin Johncock is a fictional book that focuses on the Space Race of the 1950's. It is a story that has action, adventure, and love. By reading the synopsis, it reminded me of the new TV show The Astronauts Wives Club. Also, the movie The Martian is set to come out in October and the trailers have been shown at many recent movies. The Last Pilot sounds that it would have a similar fan base as The Martian. I just added this book to my list of want to read books! Thanks Early Word! :)

Week 4: GoodReads

I have had the GoodReads app on my phone for about 3 years. I used it mainly as a tool for myself so I could remember what books I have read. I never really set up the shelves and organized the books I was reading. Because of this assignment, I spent more time really looking at all of the options this app and website offer. It is an extremely useful tool. I have used my account many times while helping customers with reader's advisory questions. I read so many books that usually once I am finished a book, I forget what it is about. With GoodReads I am able to see the books I read, how I rated them, and a little synopsis of the book. This usually jogs my memory so I am able to use my prior reading selections to help customers select a book.


Friend #1 - She enjoys reading chick-lit, Young adult, and biographies about women. I suggested that she read Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell. This book is about first love and really tugs at the reader's heart strings. Based on her list of read books, I think this book is the perfect choice for her.


Friend #2- This friend enjoys reading fictional crime, mysteries, and psychological thrillers. I suggested she read In the Blood by Lisa Unger. This book is a bit of all of the above characteristics, especially a psychological thriller! This book kept me on the edge of my seat and based on my friend's previous reads, I know this book would do the same for her.

Week 3

Conversation 1:  A book similar to Eat, Pray, Love


A book that has a similar feel to Eat, Pray, Love is The Pelee Project: One Woman's Escape from Urban Madness. This book is about a overworked single mother who finds herself exhausted; physically and mentally from her life. She always dreamed of having a simple life, but all of her responsibilities lend her to quite the opposite. After being in a horrific car accident, she quits her job, sells her home, and moves to Pelee Island. Just like in Eat, Pray, Love the author shares her inner thoughts and the reader connects with her on a personal level.










Conversation 2: Fledgling by Octavia Butler
A vampire novel that is nothing like Twilight is Fledgling by Octavia Butler. This well written vampire tale tells the story of a young amnesiac girl who comes to the realization that she is in fact a 53 year old genetically modified vampire. This book is a riveting story that has the reader discover and question their own self and does not include teen vampire love.




Conversation 3: A Higher Call: An Incredible True Story of Combat and Chivalry
A fast-based true story similar to The River of Doubt is A Higher Call: An Incredible True Story of Combat and Chivalry. This book tells the true story of an American pilot in World War II who finds himself flying over Germany with a crew that is mostly dead and injured. On his tail is a German pilot that can easily destroy the American plane. Their story is said to be "the most incredible encounter between enemies in World War II.” Similar to The River of Doubt, this story pulls the reader in and tells a true story that defies imagination.

Week 2: Appeal Factors

Read Bottom Up is a modern day humorous love story. Madeline and Elliot meet at a restaurant opening and their relationship unfolds in funny exchanges with each other and their best friends. The entire book is written in emails and texts, which makes this book an extremely fast paced read. Just when you think you know what is going to happen, the author takes the story in a totally different direction.  If you are looking for a light beach read, than this is the book for you!

What would it be like to wake up every morning and not remember who you are and what happened to you the day before? In the novel, Before I Go to Sleep, the main character Christine, has amnesia and goes through this every day. She secretly begins seeing a doctor that encourages her to keep a journal. As her journal grows, she begins to learn more and more about herself and the people in her life. Who can she really trust? This psychological thriller is full of suspense and will keep you on your toes!

We Were Liars is unlike any young adult book that I have read before. Adults will enjoy this book as much or more than teenagers. I actually didn't even realize it was a young adult book until I was trying to find it for a customer! This book is full of suspense, lies, and tells the story of a family and how one accident during their family vacation changed their lives forever. This book is extremely well written and left me feeling like I needed someone to talk to about it immediately. The ending is a complete surprise and a complete twist. Once I was finished I read it again to see how I could miss what was coming. It is a must read in my book!

Week #1 Assignments #3-5

The Golden Rules of Reader' Advisory Service are rules that I usually try to apply to when working with customers. I use Goodreads as a way to keep a log of the books I have read and I usually write a little description about the book after I am finished reading. Glad to see I was following these rules with that process! :) I do need to work more on pairing the books I have read with read alikes. Rule 7 was the one rule that I am not certain I agree with completely. Yes, it is our jobs to find out what the customer is really trying to find, but sometimes customers enjoy making that personal connection with a librarian about their opinion of a book. I think after talking to the customer for a bit that you can gage if they want that personal connection or not. I will definitely be looking back and reviewing these rules frequently to improve my readers' advisory skills.


I chose to follow NPR because I thought the page layout was easy for me to understand. I already follow EarlyWord so I didn't want to "cheat" and choose that. The more resources the better! I am not a Scfi person, so I decided to follow Locus to branch out of my comfort zone. This will really be a challenge for me!


Judging a Book by it's cover really made me laugh! I love listening to the reasoning of a child! So fun! I want to ask my own kids and see what they have to say.

Week #1 Assignment #1 + #2

I really enjoyed the two name the title by the book cover quizzes. I scored a 90% on the children's quiz and a 75% on the Adult quiz. I am not surprised by this at all. My background as an elementary school teacher and a mom has given me more access to children's books. This just proves to me that I need this training in order to expand my horizons! :)


Assignment #2 I missed two of the subgenres; thriller and fantasy. These genres are not normally ones that I read, so again I am not surprised by my score. This assignment left with me wanting to learn more about subgenres. There were quite a few I was not familiar with. Looking forward to learning more!