Week 5 - Building Base Knowledge Part II

Week 5: Assignment 1What useful information have you learned from the resource that you have been monitoring  since week one?

I have been monitoring Early Word since week 1. I think Early Word is a great resource. It lets me know when an author has a new book coming out and even provides a trailer for the book in some cases. Also you can find out when a book is being made into a movie and when it will be in theatres.

Week 5: Assignment 2What’s popular in your branch?  If it’s “popular” or “commercial” fiction then you want be sure to look at The New York Times Best Seller List or People Magazine.  For forthcoming titles check the Publisher’s Weekly On Sale calendar. If literary fiction and narrative nonfiction is popular, you can monitor the Indie Next Best Seller List (formerly BookSense) and NPR.  Do your customers want to read the book before the movie comes out?  More than likely, you have a diverse mix of customers who have equally diverse reading preferences, but all of these resources are available via Early Word.  Take a look at the site and click around; there are lots of links in both sidebars.  Post to your blog: What resources are new discoveries for you?  What do you think that you will continue to use?

I like the sidebar and how it is broken down into categories. I can choose any category I need depending on the customer I am assisting. I also like the newsworthy articles in the middle of the page. It informs me of the popular or hot items I need to be aware of. I will definitely keep using Early Word because it is a tool I can use to help my customers find what they are looking for.


Week 5: Assignment 3 Pick a title from the highly anticipated titles of 2013, found under the righthand “Coming Soon- Season Previews” sidebar on Early Word.  Write a blog post using appeal factors or read alikes to describe the title.  Why is this title expected to be popular and to whom would it appeal?

Here's the books the stood out to me:
1. The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
2. Doctor Sleep by Stephen King

I chose these two titles because I like both authors and their writing style. Neil Gaiman's books are normally in the Fantasy genre. Stephen King is known as the master of Horror. I would recommend the Neil Gaiman book to anyone who likes his books. I would recommend the Stephen King book to anyone who read the Shining because it is a sequel to that book. I expect both books to be popular because both authors are well known and have a fan base.

Week 4 - Building Base Knowledge

Explore Goodreads (especially features like Listopia and Explore) and write/share your impressions/discoveries/revelations on your blog.   If you have not already, please join Goodreads and add and rate at  least 15 titles.  Look at what Goodreads recommends for you – why do you think those titles were chosen? 

I have been using Goodreads for awhile. Some of the title suggestions that are given on Goodreads are okay if you like alot of books in the same genre or books from the same list. Since I read books in alot of genres, not all title suggestions appeal to me.

Complete the following Goodreads features and functions:

• Create shelves for the books you rated.  - done
• Make friends with colleagues.  - done
• Recommend a title to a colleague based on a title or titles that they have enjoyed using the comments field on Goodreads.  Be sure to include appeal characteristics in your recommendation and note why it is similiar to the title or titles they enjoyed.  - done
• Include this recommendation on your blog and write/share your impressions, discoveries, or revelations from exploring Goodreads. - done

I recommended Gilead by Marilynne Robinson to Julie McCann on Goodreads because she liked Plainsong. Both books have a midwestern setting and evoke the stalwart characters who settled there. Also both books have characters with similar values that face familiar trials.

Week 3 - Readers Services Conversation

Assignment 1
I read the RA conversation by Neal Wyatt. Here are some things that I took from the article:

• Ask the customer to tell you about a book he/she has read recently
• Listen to what the reader has to say and think about what appeal terms might apply
• Always end the RA conversation with an invitation to return to share what they liked about the book
• Use appeal terms when describing a book and remember to keep it short or the reader will lose interest.
• For each book I should identify:
• The tone of the book
• The major appeal of the book
• The key feature of the book

Assignment 2
I listened to the podcast of Nancy Pearl describing books she has enjoyed. When she described a book she kept her description short and always made you want to read the book. She gave highlights of the book and the reason why she loved it. I am going to try to do this the next time I recommend a book.

Assignment 3
Conversation 1
The reader just finished Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert and she loved it. She enjoyed the descriptions of the countries but she really loved how the author shared her inner thoughts. The reader has read all of the Oprah Books and loved them. She is looking for a few suggestions for her book group.

I would recommend "Wild" by Cheryl Strayed. Wild is a powerful, blazingly honest, inspiring memoir. The story is of a 1,100 mile solo hike that broke down a young woman reeling from catastrophe--and built her back up again. The reason I recommend this book is that the reader likes descriptions of countries and the author's inner thoughts.

Conversation 2
The reader loves vampire books but does not like the Twilight series. She thought the Twilight series was too slow and does not like teen love stories. The series that I would recommend is Black Dagger Brotherhood Series by J.R. Ward. The series is about  a deadly turf war going on between vampires and their slayers that takes place in Caldwell, New York. Since the series is fast paced and not about teens the reader might enjoy this vapire series.

Conversation 3
The reader just finished reading River of Doubt by Candice Millard. The reader likes a fast paced, non-fiction book about history. I would recommend Destiny of the Republic: a Tale of Madness, Medicine and  Murder of a President by Candice Millard. Destiny of the Republic is about how James Garfield rose from poverty to the presidency and the state of medical care in the 1890's and the murder of James Garfield. Since the reader enjoys a fast paced non-fiction book, she might like this book.

Week 2 - Recommending Title

Assignment 3

I recommended two titles to Tina Pickens that I thought she would like based on her book annotations.