A Love of Reading: The Second Collection August 3, 2007

Adams, Robert.  A love of reading: the second collection, more reviews of contemporary fiction.  New York:  McClelland & Steward Ltd., 2003. 

In A Love of Reading: The Second Collection, literary critic Robert Adams presents the reader with reviews of 14 books.  It is evident when reading the reviews that these are books that he is passionate about, and has essentially fallen in love with.  Comparable to having a short english lesson, Adams leaves the reader with an explanation of the material, a rapturous literary description, historical reference.  Adams’ reviews work to sway the reader to read the books.

Adams is honest about the books, and portrays them in a way which depicts his passion and interest in fine literature, but points out the most compelling features of the books.  Adams’ short essays span approximately 10-15 pages, and provide the reader with an intriguing, insightful and indepth assessment of each of the books listed in the index. 

I would recommend this book for someone interested in reading any of the 14 books covered by Adams.  This book would  be a great readers’ advisory tool, as Adams includes the publication date of the materials reviewed, as well as the publisher and place of publication.  In addition to the full bibliographic information, Adams also provides the reader with some background information on the author and an extensive review of the text. 

Contents:

1.  Alias Grace Margaret Atwood

2.  The Hiding Place Trezza Azzopardi

3.  Disgrace J.M. Coetzee

4.  Cold Mountain Charles Frazier

5.  The Dress Lodger Sheri Holman

6.  The Remains of the Day Kazuo Ishiguro

7. A Gesture Life Chang-rae Lee

8.  No Great Mischief Alistair MacLeod

9. Fima Amos Oz

10. American Pastoral Philip Roth

11. White Teeth Zadie Smith

12.  Felicia’s Journey William Trevor

13. The Stone Carvers Jane Urquhart

14.  Aunt Julia and the Script-Writer Mario Vargas Llosa

Book Lust and More Book Lust — Pearl, Nancy August 3, 2007

Avid readers tend to be interested in other people’s opinions about books, whether it is a qualified opinion or not.  People are interested to know what everyone else is reading, and what it was about a particular book that someone liked.  I think many readers would enjoy a book like More Book Lust, (Nancy Pearl).  Pearl is a librarian who clearly defines her book tastes in annotation format in both Book Lust and the sequel More Book Lust.  After reading More Book Lust, I can’t imagine not finding suggestions here to suit almost any reader. Not only is there a thorought and clear index, where you can search for authors and titles, but it is absolutely ’browser’ friendly.  The only drawback is that Pearl did not include the publication dates. 

I would recommend this tool for people interested in doing their own readers’ advisory.  The table of contents is thorough and is subdivided into useful categories. 

In reading Nancy Pearl’s More Book Lust  (2005), I found one quotation in the introduction to be particularly interesting.  Nancy Pearl said “in addition to being an addicted reader, I have to confess that I am a promiscusous reader as well.”  (ix)  Pearl, like many other readers will read anything, so long as the characters are well developed, and it is well written. 

Looking on my book shelf, I have not only those books that are on my husband’s top 200 list, but mine as well, and combined, these materials make a mountain of resources.  Every now and again I take books from the bookshelf that are not mine, and being, what Pearl calls a “promiscuous reader”, I read and enjoy the books that are outside of my typical ‘genre’.  As I write this, I look at the bookshelf, which is piled high with books both fiction and nonfiction, and look at the wicker baskets surrounding the shelf which are spilling over with books. 

I will read basically anything, and I will definitely look to Nancy Pearl for recommendations in the future. Not only does Pearl appear excited about the books she is talking about, but seems even more thrilled to be telling others about them.  Though this RA doesn’t involve a 2-minute interview, she has about 2-minutes to get a reader to read her recommendation.  As well, another interesting aspect of this book, is that she encourages readers to email her suggestions about books, which makes the reader feel involved in the process of recommending books. 

Pearl, Nancy.  More Book Lust:  1000 new reading recommendations for every mood, moment and reason.  Seattle:  Sasquatch Books, 2005. 

Graphic Novels Now July 31, 2007

Graphic Novels Now, Francisca Goldsmith

Less than two decades have passed since the popular notion was that graphic novels were simply comics, which had no place in the library. This was because “comics” were not considered to be “real” books, and because nobody with any “intellectual sense reads them anyways” (Goldsmith, 1). Well, it turns out that graphic novels are huge in public and school libraries throughout Canada, particularly amongst young adults. Goldsmith points out that many of today’s audience for graphic novels have specific traits including being “sophisticated consumers of image-based communications, including film, television, and, more recently, computers” (Goldsmith, 2).
“Graphic novel publishers, sellers, and reviewers struggle with the need to be aware of the wide variety of readers interested in their products, readers who — due to differences in age, ability and personal taste – may have few topics of interest in common. Thus, the notion that the graphic novel is a format, rather than a genre, is important. People who read, or potentially read GN may share little else intellectually or experientially, just like people who read magazines or watch movies.” (Goldsmith, 7)

It is interesting to consider that there is no term, to date, to replace the misnomer “graphic novel” when referring to nonfiction. In the library where I work, the fiction and nonfiction graphic novels are grouped together with manga, under the sign “Graphic Novels”. For now, then, graphic novel may be applied to works that are either factual or fictive.

One just has to open a graphic novel to see that it indeed includes pictures, but the images are different from comics as they must be integrated with the text so that together the narrative is richer than either the text or illustrations provide alone. Above all, a graphic novel tells a story through text and illustrations that work together.  I enjoyed reading a graphic novel, and would definitely revisit this genre. 

Patricia Corwell’s Blow Fly July 11, 2007

For today’s class I was responsible for reading a mystery.  I decided a Cornwell, particularly a Scarpetta novel, because there are many of them, and they are tremendously popular.  In Blow Fly, Kay Scarpetta has just changed positions, working now as Virginia’s Chief Medical Examiner, after having to leave her former position because of allegations of her involvement with a murder of the deputy police chief.  Scarpetta moved to Florida.  Her new life is one where she is a private forensic consultant and she is investigating an instance where a prostitute was brutally murdered and left dead in her hotel room, dressed to go out, keys in hand.  Louisiana is deeply disturbed about this case.  Jean-Baptiste Chandonne (Wolfman), the man who pursued her to her doorstep now demands that Scarpetts is present when he reaches death row.  I think this is a traditional Scarpetta novel where she has to unravel another tricky mysterious conspiracy and confront yet another shock of her life.  The pace was fast, and the crime scenes were CSI gruesome… but all in all, the book was quite enjoyable. 

Cold-Blooded Murderer … Who Dunnit … Hard-Boiled, Whatever! July 11, 2007

June 12^th, 2007 – Mystery Fiction

As we learned today in class, mysteries have the following in common: there’s a puzzle which involves a crime (dead body sometimes), there’s often an investigator who solves the puzzle (with loads of time in between for a guessing game on the part of the reader) and the investigation is tracked with an exploration of victim’s, murder’s and investigator’s lives.  Sounds great, right?!  Well the first mystery I ever read was probably the first ever published A Study in Scarlet, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1887).  This was an interesting read, one which made me laugh out loud periodically, and contained and perhaps coined all of the essential elements of a mystery.  Conan Doyle paved the way for many other mystery writers, creating a recipe for mysteries.  It was interesting for me to realize that the 1970’s brought at time where history was interjected into mysteries – where setting became just as important as plot.  Mysteries could thus be seen as reflective of the changing societal tone.  One author, Nora Roberts, is one that I find particularly interesting, and one that I think would fit into the sub-genre “Celebrity Mystery Author” which our instructor described in class.  Nora Roberts isn’t always your typical romance, chick-lit writer, but she also writes under the pseudonym J.D. Robb, which offer readers a crossover between mystery and Science Fiction.  Authors seem to be getting more creative as time goes on, but I’ve yet to understand why a pseudonym is important to this particular genre. 

I must say, that after reading Blow Fly, by Patricia Cornwell, I might read more mysteries.  I found this book to be quite fast-paced, and it actually compelled me to turn the page (not an easy feat).  There are so many sub-genres of mysteries that I didn’t even know existed.  The ones discussed in class include (but are not limited to): 

-          Private Investigator

-          Harder-edged, urban, first-person narration, detective guided by own moral code

-          Police Detective

-          Amateur Detective

-          Protagonist usually falls into case, hobby/job or setting are important

-          Cosies

When I reach the end of my Library School journey, and actually have some time to read for pleasure, I will be sure to cover all of these areas, which would make it easier to understand when I ask

Readers’ Advisory and Christian/Inspirational Fiction July 11, 2007

As part of our book club in class, we were responsible for reading a Christian/Inspirational novel. About 3 weeks ago, I ventured to the “Christian Section” at the public library where there is an extensive variety to choose from. I asked a co-worker of mine to recommend some titles. She recommended Dee Henderson, Danger in the Shadows—the same book as my instructor. At that moment, I decided that I would approach this book with an open-mind, and try to appreciate the genre for what it was.

It turns out that some people in the class had more positive experiences with Christian fiction than I did. I found this novel to be fast-paced (which is great for me), and suspenseful. The love story was, to say the least, predictable, and the sexism was overt and offensive. There were only a few biblical passages in the book, which a non-religious person could skim over. I found some parts of this book particularly disturbing especially the passages about the engagement ring, and how the ring meant ownership, and how Sara would “belong” to Adam (subservient). I found myself wondering if these sorts of women still exist in the real world.

Call me a feminist, but after reading about the tremendous love between Adam and Sara, I could not believe that they had to take a “break” for Adam to decide if he still wanted to be with Sara if she didn’t want children. This raised the issue of being “childless by choice”. I understood Sara’s decision, as she and her twin sister Kim had been kidnapped when they were 6, and Kim died after 7 days. Sara always blamed herself for her sister’s death, and when Kim died, part of Sara died as well. It is my impression that in today’s society one might understand why Sara would choose not to have children, regardless of what God intends for her. In Danger in the Shadows the reader is left with the impression that women’s role is to bear children and serve the male. My views on this matter may relay my naiveté and reflect my beliefs, which stem from being raised in a non-religious household, but I defend my notions as being a personal opinion.

A classmate sparked an interesting discussion about religion being “private”. I agree with this statement absolutely. It is thus difficult for librarians to provide readers’ advisory to people since religion is private. It is often difficult to talk about religion without offending people, and since there is a lot of crossover between the religions, the librarian is responsible for being able to properly advise on the topic.

I think I will take into consideration my instructor’s recommendation that we continue to read in this genre, and reveal the “hidden gems” in the collection.

The Harry Potter Craze July 11, 2007

Satisfyingly incorporating most of the common characteristics of the fantasy genre, Rowling themes her characters to fit the “good” vs. “evil” motif, the retelling of myths, mythical creatures, detailed setting, coming of age and above all, magic. These popular themes found in the Harry Potter books have carefully aligned characters and themes, where the protagonist is significant and is on a journey, both physical and emotional – discovering himself. Many people around the world have passionately followed these books since their origin in 1997. What is it about these books that people love so much, is it the setting, the characters, the magic, the escapism – I’ve yet to find out.

Using aspects which parallel Tolkein, J.K. Rowling builds a setting which makes the reader believe the world actually exists. The story builds momentum, and has the world waiting in anxious anticipation for the 7th book to arrive on July 16th. The story is continuous throughout the series. A classmate compared the books to the “layers” of a videogame, where Harry gets his wand in the first book, and his invisibility cloak in the second… the appeal of this aspect could be part of what makes the readers ‘die-hards’.

Will Harry die? It seems like even those who aren’t Potter fans are interested to find out.

What is going to happen if Harry does die? As a librarian, I think it’s very important to not disappoint library patrons once they complete the series. In order to adequately do this, I believe that read-a-likes are the way to go. In the RA interview, the librarian is responsible for finding out if the patron is interested in something other than the fantasy appeal (or the characters – human or animal; magic; plausibility; familiarity, etc). We, as librarians are also responsible for distinguishing and revealing the cross-over.

One thing I am sure of is that advisory tools will come in handy in August when people have completed the series.

I’ve got some catching up to do before the 7th book comes out, as I’ve read only enough of the series to provide RA to library patrons. Needless to say, I do not have the new HP book on pre-order!

I “advise” you to read the following … May 22, 2007

I have chosen the book I will be using for at least a portion of my book talk in 775.  Through a recent recommendation, I have discovered a ’sleeper’.  Kim Echlin’s “Elephant Winter” is a masterpiece.  When I looked for it on the shelves in the library, it looked thin – it’s only about 200 pages, and seemed to get lost admist the larger, hardcover fiction materials.  It would turn out that elephants work too.  The winter season for an elephant is their “off season”, where they work with a trainer and develop new tricks for the circus in the spring/summer.  

I felt quite attached to several of the characters in the book.  This book is eloquently written, and depicts elephants in such a way that the reader is left with an entirely new appreciation for these animals.  I felt attached to not only the characters, but the animals as well.  I absolutely could not put it down.  It is short, just over 200 pages, and a really quick read.  I will be posting my “book talk” on June 5th, so stay tuned!

A Critical Blueprint May 19, 2007

In keeping with my discussion posted yesterday about reading, and what aids us in our reading selections, Aidan Chambers, in Introducing Books to Children (2006) considers children, and their responses to books from infancy to adulthood.  The first response of infants is generally to put the book (and whatever else is around) into their mouth, and their regard of “book as toy” remains until they are able to read and appreciate books for their storyline, rather than just a toy made of cheap, coarse papers, thick, durable covers, large exaggerated illustrations and huge text. 

The focus of the Readers’ Advisory course which I am enrolled in is adult RA.  I am a firm believer that in order to adequately serve the adult population, on must first understand child development, and how readers develop their basic conventions of reading.  

Chambers also suggests that paperback publishers are aware of how strong an influence the look and feel of a book can have in attracting or repelling buyers.  At times, there is a disconnection between the image on the cover and the text contained within. 

A couple of months ago, I was lucky enough to meet Barbara Haworth-Attard at a book club organized for a teen group at our library.  It wasn’t until heard her book talk that I realized that authors submit the text, and the publishing company generally takes care of the cover and any other illustrations.  Sometimes books are produced with varying covers, to be distributed in different areas or eras.  Chambers says that good book-selling “seeks to raise the right expectations in the potential reader, expectations which will be satisfied by the text” (2006, 175).  I believe that generally once people read the text, and become more familiar with the story, their attitudes towards “book-as-object” changes considerably.

Another interesting part of Readers’ Advisory which I feel is worth considering is the responses caused by the reader’s personal history.  This is a tremendously difficult concept to consider when performing a 5-minute (maximum) reader’s advisory interview.  It is virtually impossible to know, or even begin to understand how the history of a reader’s life will affect their book selections, or their interpretation of the recommended books.  There are many aspects of patrons, which are not outwardly obvious – there would be no way of knowing, nor should we be assuming, that a patron, for example, struggles with alcohol abuse or was abused as a child, or even, more simply, that the person read and continues to be disturbed by such violent children’s stories as  Little Red Riding Hood.  In this sense, a reader’s history affects the books that they select, and affects the results of the readers’ advisory interview. 

As discussed in class, as readers, the minute we open the books we read, our personal lives are inevitably attached.  All books are made out of other books and, according to Chambers (2006) our reading is dependent on all we have read before – therefore, our “histories as readers” (Chambers, 177) influences how we read the books we read.   Some books I have read seem to deliberately play on previous reading knowledge in order to make the story.  As an obvious and extremely simple example, the content of Goodnight Moon (Wise Brown, Margaret) depicts the process of a child saying ‘goodnight’ to everything around, including “Goodnight cow jumping over the moon”.  This inevitably plays off a Mother Goose rhyme which Wise Brown assumes that either the parent, or the child would know. 

I believe it is important to understand children as readers before one begins to attempt adult RA.  I’ll delve into this another day … (to be continued)

Why do we choose the books we read? May 16, 2007

Last night in class I participated in a very interesting conversation. It was one of those thought provoking conversations which kept me thinking long into the night – and even trickled into the next day. The topic of discussion was “why do we choose the books we read” … a concept which I had previously assigned relatively little thought to. Despite the fact that I have been selecting and reading books for years, I hadn’t stopped to consider or attempt quantify the reasons why I made such selections.

Choosing library school and a part-time job at a library over a career in teaching led me to the one thing that I consider to be my most valuable ‘Readers’ Advisory’ tool- the Children’s Librarian. I place tremendous value on her suggestions and recommendations, especially the ones which she considers to be “must reads”. I consider myself to be very lucky to have my very own brilliant RA tool and it always seems like it’s a ‘treat’ to discuss books with a fellow veracious reader.

This makes me wonder if anyone else values my opinions and recommendations. I have started to spread the word through informal “book talks” with friends and family, but find that I don’t hear a lot of follow up. To me, talking about books is simple – it involves never giving away the ending, while discussing the intricacies of the plot, setting, characterization, storyline, writing style, and making evergy attempt at making it seem as exciting and worthwhile as possible.

“What makes us choose the books we read?”

Last night in Library School, our class  collectively brainstormed several reasons which might guide people’s selections. One answer offered was that some people base their selections on “the cover”. At this moment I realized that I, too am guilty of this, and there are times I, like many other people, choose books based on their cover. Being a library student, in theory I should be basing my selections on the literary worth of a book, on reviews, or on past experiences but there are times I am guilty of choosing based on beautiful covers, delightfully textured pages, portability, and even on the feel of the book. Past experiences has dictated that sometimes there is simply nothing wrong with choosing a book this way.

In a discussion I had this morning with a coworker, I found that she too, chose “pretty” books, or appealing books. She added an interesting point – that she prefers to “own” the books she reads, and chooses not to own books which are not visually appealing. I agree, that there is definitely something different about “owning” the books that you are reading, and passing them forward to others who you feel will also be interested. An interesting study would be to see if there is a difference in the interest in books and whether people will actually read the recommended books if they are physically passed on, as opposed to someone mentioning the title in passing.

I find too, that I am drawn to both the ‘new’ bookshelf and the return cart. I have noted this character in other library patrons as well. The allure of new books is difficult to describe. Admittedly, I do not base all of my selections on the beauty of the books, but a book that looks nice, certainly won’t hurt and may even help to spark interest in those who otherwise wouldn’t be interested.

Most profoundly, this discussion has made me consider the possibility that it matters not how we came to making our reading selections, but more importantly, the fact that we are reading is what is most important.