Week 16 Prompt: Final Thoughts

How have reading and books changed since I was a child?  One thing I always think about when I'm looking at the books I would have read as a kid is that the vast array of choices are so unbelievable.  I grew up in a small town with a small library that had just a bunch of dusty, old-timey books nobody wanted to read.  My parents weren't big readers, so we didn't have much around the house to read except some dusty, old-timey books, Good Housekeeping magazine, National Geographic magazine and an encyclopaedia.  I craved books and words.  I read anything I could find.  So I can only wonder how different my life would have been with so many options for reading, in so many formats and so easily accessible.  

You'd think that with a deluge of books and authors focused on young people that young people would be voracious readers.  I'm dubious of that, though, because the vice grip that phones have on people today is scary.  My own daughter, who was raised with books everywhere, could not care less about reading.  But take that phone away from her for an hour and she goes bananas!  This is what makes it seem that reading in the future will be all but eliminated.  Taking the time to sit and read a good book is a ridiculous notion when you could be scrolling through your phone to find the next awesome meme or youtube video, or instagramming your millionth selfie out to hundreds of incurious followers.  

Ok, reading eliminated might be over the top.  But I am pretty sure that print books, at least, will gradually phase out.  Moving into a technological future of electronic reading is inevitable because it seems that the material to actually make books and magazines - paper - is a finite resource.  Also, waste is a serious problem for our world and paper creates waste.  Books, magazines and newspapers create waste.  Eventually, everything will need to be electronic because we will have no more room for storing or disposal of all that paper.  I definitely think we should all get used to electronic reading because it's going to take over at some point.  That's just my opinion, though. 

I wouldn't presume to predict how reading will change in the future.  Obviously, there will always be people like myself and probably most of the other people in this class who were simply born to read.  And we are the ones who will keep the publishing industry going - albeit in an electric format.  Will everyone else decide to give up reading completely?  Will we descend into a Brave New World type scenario where people don't read or think for themselves?  Will publishing diminish into a hobby horse for well-to-do intellectuals?  It's anyone's guess.  At the current time, though, I feel optimistic.  With so many people fancying themselves writers in the world, and with so many thousands of books being published and marketed that it's overwhelming, I'd say we have a long way to go before reading and books become obsolete.

Week 15 Prompt

When I went to read Joyce Sarick's article on promoting and marketing readers' advisory collections and services, I already had an idea of what I wanted to include in this prompt.  Book displays focusing on genre or subject, book marks and annotated lists and a prominent presence on the library website were my three ideas for marketing the library's fiction.  Lo and behold, these were exactly what confronted me in the article!  So I had to think some more.  This is a good thing, of course.  Because I came up with a couple of great ideas.

1. Facebook: A book club on Facebook would be a great way to promote good books and connect readers.  An involved presence on one of the most popular social sites in the world seems like a no brainer, but at least at my library, the closest thing we have to an online readers' advisory presence is the new books list scrolling at the bottom of the website and absolutely nothing on Facebook.

2. Read-Alike posters/blurbs: Positioning posters and lists next to or near certain bestsellers is a great way to get people to try other authors.  For instance, right next to Gone Girl should be a list of books with twisty endings or other psychological thrillers.  Amish books are extremely popular in our community, so lists of other authors of Amish fiction could be situated right by Wanda Brunstetter's books.

3. Great Books You Might Have Missed: This obviously was not my idea, but I really loved it and is something I will truly do when I am a readers' advisor.  I am always thinking about that book that I may have missed, the one that is still sitting there waiting for me to read it and love it.  I believe that I would absolutely love this display as a patron.  I would love the challenge of getting those books out there as a readers' advisor, too.  At my library, we have a staff picks display which should be similar, but the same books keep getting put up and the display sort of languishes.  Further, the one readers' advisor we have only reads romance and mystery, so these are the only books she promotes.  As Saricks pointed out, the display should have a great variety of genres and quality authors for the best patron experience.

Week 14 Prompt

Separating certain types of fiction out from the main collection is a bad idea.  Setting up regular displays of different types of books like street lit, LGBTQ or African American is a great way to promote lesser known authors and genres.  Permanently separating them isolates them as not a part of mainstream fiction, which of course, they are.  They should be there in the stacks with everything else, discoverable by all who are browsing. 

Where LGBTQ fiction is concerned, a prominent section with such material is not viable.  “It is important to note that LGBTQ and gender variant youth are not choosing public libraries because they feel the most comfortable in these spaces; they are forced to patronize public libraries because of a total lack of support from other social groups and services” (Robinson, 163).  If they are not able to privately browse for relevant material or feel comfortable getting help finding the materials, they’ll be less likely to check out information and reading that may change or improve their lives.  If you’re a closeted youth, desperate to find reading that helps you figure out your journey or you really want to read a story about someone like yourself, would you be caught dead perusing the big LGTBQ display?  Of course not!  There are other ways to help these people. “Offering printed booklists with recommended LGBTQ related titles is a guaranteed way of making patrons aware of such materials 365 days a year” (Ritchie, 62).  The article about the Iowa library patrons wanting to separate the LGTBQ books so that they won’t accidentally burn their righteous eyes on scandalous filth, made me seethe with fury.  I fail to understand why they insist on trying to subvert everyone else’s rights by screaming about their own religious rights – their rights not to see anything they don’t believe in!  Just, no. 

As far as African American authors, why separate them permanently?  It is definitely imperative to regularly promote African American authors with displays and book lists, but these authors are equal to white authors!  Ralph Ellison, anyone?  Alice Walker?  Classic, amazing  works!  They belong in the stacks along with Herman Melville and  Leo Tolstoy.  I really like the webpage for the Cincinnati Public Library listing African American authors.  This is a great way to single these works out…without separating them out!

Ritchie, C., & McNeill, D. ( 2011) . LGBTIQ issues in public libraries.  Serving LGBTIQ Library and Archives Users, ed. E. Greenblatt, 59–80. Jefferson, NC and London, England: McFarland & Company Inc.

Robinson, T. (2016 ).  Overcoming social exclusion in public library services to LGBTQ and gender variant youth.  Public Library Quarterly, 35(3), 161-174.

GLTBQ Annotation

TIPPING THE VELVET
AUTHOR:  Sarah Waters
PUBLISH DATE: 1998
GENRE: Literary fiction; GLTBQ; Historical fiction 


Nancy is an oyster girl from small town Whitstable in Victorian England. When she meets and falls in love with male impersonator, Kitty Butler, she leaves her family and follows Kitty to London to work the music hall circuit.  When Kitty breaks her heart, she flees into the seedy underworld of London, meeting more women and coming to terms with being a "tom" in a world where such things are unthinkable.  At one point, she is kept by a vicious, depraved wealthy widow as a sex slave, then tossed into the street with nothing but a cheap dress and pinching shoes.  She has forsaken her family and abandoned friends; alone and penniless she finds herself desperate for shelter.  She finds a woman she spoke briefly to 18 months before, the only person in the world she felt to be a "friend".  After finding her new "family", she must decide the course of her future by remembering what matters in love and loyalty.  


ELEMENTS OF APPEAL

Tone: Steamy, reflective, romantic, strong sense of place
Writing style: Lush, descriptive, candid
Pace: Leisurely
Storyline: Character-driven

READ-ALIKES

DESERT OF THE HEART by Jane Rule (1964): When Evelyn goes to Reno to get a divorce, she meets Ann, a casino worker and the two fall in love. 

SHE RISES by Kate Worsley (2013): Kate and Luke Fletcher's lives in 18th century England unfold in vivid, descriptive language.  As young Luke survives aboard a Royal Navy boat bound for the West Indies, Kate becomes a lady's maid to Rebecca, with whom she will fall in love and whose life she will save. 

MY TAKE

This was a really good book.  Sarah Waters' writing is lovely and reminds me of one of my favorites, Donna Tartt.  The story of Nancy begins unhurriedly as she begins to discover her true self with Kitty Butler, and then picks up as she must find unknown resources within herself to survive the gritty streets of London.  I found myself thinking about the book when I wasn't reading it, and I was impatient to see where the story went.  That, in my mind, makes great reading.  This was rather explicit, though, so readers' advisors should be aware.  Interestingly, NoveList classifies this book as "erotic fiction", but I'm dubious about that.  Yes, there are some detailed erotic scenes, but the book was not particularly focused on sex in itself.  Reviews on Goodreads ranged from "masterly" to "meh".  It appears that Ms. Winters has written some better books. including The Paying Guests and The Night Watch.  I am definitely going to check them out!

Young Adult, New Adult and Graphic Novels: Who are they for?

I, personally, don't really like YA novels, only because I find them a little too simplistic for my tastes.  However, I didn't think for a minute that this was the overall consensus.  Especially after the Harry Potter, Hunger Games and Twilight crazes.  Whoever says that adults don't read young adult fiction are not looking around.  I've even noticed since I started graduate school that many of my classmates list YA fiction as their favorite genre to read.  At my library, many adults ask for YA titles.  I get it.  Like Flanagan said in the Atlantic article, people are nostalgic for their young adult experiences.  It's interesting to read about situations that once flummoxed us as kids from an adult perspective.  And, many adults just want the simple, straightforward storytelling that YA and NA deliver.

As librarians, we are intrinsically supposed to respect all categories of books for all categories of book readers.  So, should we include YA, NA and graphic novels along with adult fiction promotions?  Yes.  When I think of the perfect display, it would include all representations of the subject or theme: adult, YA, NA, children's, non-fiction, DVDs, audio books, graphic novels, CDs, board games, or anything else that sparks interest and further informs.  Also, a display in the adult area of YA and NA titles that might interest is a great way of informing those who are unaware of this popular and provocative genre.

If I may play devil's advocate for a moment, though.  I wonder if displaying the YA and NA fiction so prominently will introduce the books to conservative or fearful parents who were unaware that such explicit material is available to their sacred offspring?  It's hard even for me as a rather liberal parent to think of my teenager reading books with sex scenes, even though I read them myself as a youngster.  So, I'm thinking of the...what do I call them..."less than liberal" parents who are perusing the display of books that should be geared towards young adults, picking up one of the Gossip Girl books and landing on a page with a sex scene in a Bergdorf's changing room. Or what about that graphic novel Sex Criminals?  We have that in our library, and it's in the Young Adult area!  I'm imagining a Tipper Gore type revolution against the filth that is being distributed to our young people.  Do we hide the YA/NA books, then?  No, but there is something to be said about everything in it's place, and a place for everything!  Although it creeps me out that my daughter might be reading this, I fully respect her right to do so.  I would hate to see that right be eroded by people who don't feel the same way.

Week 12 Prompt: Non-Fiction Matrix

Author: Corinne Hofmann

Title:  The White Masai

Publication date: 1998

Number of pages:  320

Geographic setting:  Kenya, Africa

Time period:  Late 1980's

LOC Subject headings:   Hofmann, Corinne

                                      Women, White -- Kenya -- Biography

                                      Masai (African people) -- Biography

Type:  Narrative memoir

Series notes:  There are two sequels that follow: Back from Africa (2003) and Reunion in Barsaloi (2007).

Book summary:  Corinne, a European entrepreneur, finds herself fallen hopelessly in love with a Masai warrior, so she leaves her home in Switzerland and relocates to Kenya to marry him and forge a new life.  She recounts the trials and triumphs of living in the African bush.  Ultimately, though having survived several life-threatening diseases and an arduous pregnancy, she flees her husband, who has become jealous and violent, and has begun to drink and use drugs, and returns to Switzerland to raise her daughter.   The "fish out of water" element to the story is enthralling reading.  

Reading elements:  

Pacing/setting: This is a fast-paced adventure/love story with fascinating details about home life in the African bush.  The author writes in a straight-forward way about her endless surprise at the strange and foreign customs she neglected to research before her adventure began.  She describes the gritty, uncomfortable living conditions, the unpredictable kindness of the locals, and the struggle to make ends meet in a place where poverty is crushing.  

Language: The author writes in a concise way, avoiding prose and flowery language.  Though not a diary, it reads like one. 

Characterization:  Corinne not only describes herself and her own motivations with great detail, she introduces us to her husband, Lketinga and family, and gives the reader an idea of their thought processes, as she interpreted them, and their customs and values.  Her description of Lketinga's slow transition from adoring husband to abusive drunk is compelling.

Annotation: A European businesswoman falls in love with a Masai warrior and moves to Africa to marry him and live in the African bush.  

Similar works:  

My Masai Life: From Suburbia to Savannah by Robin Wiszowaty (2009). A twenty-something, longing to escape the complacency of suburbia, travels to rural Kenya to live for a year as an adopted member of a Masai family.

Warrior Princess: My quest to become the first female Masai warrior by Mindy Budgor (2013).  The true story of a young entrepreneur who makes the spontaneous decision to volunteer in Kenya and, after living and working with the Masai, embarks on a quest to become the group's first female warrior. 

Married to Africa by G. Pascal Zachary (2009).  A former foreign correspondent describes how he fell in love with an African zoologist while working in Ghana, his subsequent immersion in lesser-known aspects of African culture, and their equally disparate married life in California. 

Western Genre Annotation

BLOOD MERIDIAN, OR THE EVENING REDNESS IN THE WEST
AUTHOR: Cormac McCarthy
GENRE:  Western; literary fiction; southern fiction

In a devastating epic, the fourteen year-old Kid, having left his drunken, abusive father, joins a brutal gang of mercenaries hired to kill Indians and terrorize the Southwest around 1850.  The riders move back and forth across Mexico and California, killing everything in their sights. The harsh landscape is its own character as the narrator describes in detail its savage assault on anyone who dares to traverse it.   More than that, man's cruelty to man is featured in all its glory as the gang massacres and pillages with horrible efficiency.  American westward expansion is portrayed as a blood-soaked, cutthroat nightmare in which death was almost preferable to life.  In a twist of the Western genre, the hero of the book, while perhaps the least repugnant of his compadres, is no hero. And his mission is not noble.  He'll be tempted by evil personified in The Judge, an immense, albino, hairless monster of a man.  Will he be able to resist the darkness? 

APPEAL FACTORS
Tone:  Atmospheric, bleak, disturbing, menacing
Writing style:  Gritty, lyrical, stylistically complex
Storyline:  Character-driven, open-ended
Character: Unlikeable

READ-ALIKES

No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy:  This is much like Blood Meridian with its bleak, violent tones.  In the late 20th century, Llewelyn Moss happens upon a massacre and $2 million in cash and his decision to take it will plunge him and his family into a typical McCarthian nightmare.

The Winter Family by Clifford Jackman:  Follows the adventures of group of outlaws from their formation during the Civil War through a blood-soaked three decades to 1900.  This book has the same gritty writing and bleak tone, as well as unlikable characters that populate McCarthy's books. 

Savage Country by Robert Olmstead:  A widow organizes a buffalo hunt to pay off her dead husband's debts.  What follows is a dramatic story of survival in a harsh and inhospitable landscape.  This story contains the same gritty violence and character-driven story line as Blood Meridian.  Incidentally, Blood Meridian contains a scene relating to the horrific buffalo slaughters of the same time period.  

MY TAKE

Boy, was I glad to finish this book!  The ghastly violence and horrific cruelty was almost too much to bear.  McCarthy managed to craft a lyrical image of hell on earth which while gorgeous in its prose, was sickening in its gore.  There isn't much of a story line except that the riders rode and killed and rode and killed and rode through the deserts and the mountains and through sand and through snow.  They came upon no less than eight massacred Mexican villages and visions of horrific brutality.  They hunted Indians and were hunted by Indians.  And the ending.  That ending!  I hated the book, but I had to love the beauty of McCarthy's writing.  His prose is unbelievably complex and many times I had to re-read a sentence several times just to understand it.  Had there been a real story arc and less horror, this would have been one of my favorites.  

This is not a typical Western.  Where Westerns usually feature a hero riding into town and saving the day or the lady, this book featured terrible people doing terrible things.  There are no good guys fighting the bad guys.  Further, while the landscape was drawn in detail as harsh and treacherous, McCarthy's landscape fairly throbs with menace.  The overall mood in the book is menacing and hopeless.  I would definitely not recommend this to a patron asking for a Western.  While it has Western elements and is listed in the Western genre, it's more of a literary novel.  Also, patrons should be made aware of its unremitting violence.