Hey, Blog!
As many training exercises (and most of college) often can be, this blog RA project thing was both a joy and a torture. I think the subject matter was good and important to know and such. Reader's advisory is a vital part of our service to the public and we should keep ourselves (and each other) as informed as possible. So all along the way I'm thinking, 'yes this is good, i should know this stuff' and I was happy about that. But of course, considering that I'm finishing this up on the last day possible, there is some disconnect between my theoretically being ready and willing to go and my actually doing stuff. I think the episodic nature of the blog posts and the potential for sharing between colleagues were both great. But I wish that these blogs had been created in a way to make them visible only to BCPL, and not to the internet at large. I made a decision a long time ago that I wouldn't have a blog for my own privacy but this assignment obligated me to have one anyway. In any case, I did learn from the assignments and I appreciate all the work that went into making this training engaging.
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Operation Book Trailer, Part Du
Book Trailers exist, sadly. I've come across them a lot in romance and I didn't usually watch them. I always considered them lame and less than awesome. And I still think that most of them are, but some of the ones I found on Youtube (the ones that have won Mobys) are fairly decent. I can't really envision a way to use them for reader's advisory at the library without feeling ridiculous. 'Excuse me, but there's this great trailer for this book that you should watch, so let's stand here for 2minutes watching it together.' Weird.
But I think for heavy internet users who are looking for cool new books on their own, these videos could be a cool discovery tool. Maybe that's why teens use book trailers more than other groups for their own browsing.
But I think for heavy internet users who are looking for cool new books on their own, these videos could be a cool discovery tool. Maybe that's why teens use book trailers more than other groups for their own browsing.
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Operation Nonfiction, Part Fyra
Hey, I do this all the time for the blog! I mean, the other blog. Ya know, the Between the Covers one. So....I'm hoping that that is enough. Here are the links to the aforementioned books' entries:
Walden on Wheels by Ken Ilgunas
Consider the Fork by Bee Wilson
Facing the Wave by Gretel Erlich
Tubes: a journey to the center of the internet by Andrew Blum
Walden on Wheels by Ken Ilgunas
Consider the Fork by Bee Wilson
Facing the Wave by Gretel Erlich
Tubes: a journey to the center of the internet by Andrew Blum
Operation Nonfiction, Part Tre
Nonfiction Genres:
Travel--917--Walden on Wheels by Ken Ilgunas
Food--641--Consider the Fork by Bee Wilson
Contemporary Social Issues--360s--Facing the Wave by Gretel Erlich
Science--000s-010 (as well as 500s)--Tubes: a journey to the center of the internet by Andrew Blum
Travel--917--Walden on Wheels by Ken Ilgunas
Food--641--Consider the Fork by Bee Wilson
Contemporary Social Issues--360s--Facing the Wave by Gretel Erlich
Science--000s-010 (as well as 500s)--Tubes: a journey to the center of the internet by Andrew Blum
Friday, July 26, 2013
Operation Teens, Part Apat
Teen Imprints:
Harlequin Teen
Paranormal is still going strong in this genre (as it is with adult fic as well). Not just limited to vampires and zombies any more, there are also monsters, ghosts, magical beings, werecreatures of different species, etc. Some are more fantasy and some are more scifi, and there are still some historical/steampunk books. Other trends are books similar to Gossip Girls or Pretty Little Liars with a contemporary clique-ish sort of feel. Also, there's a vein of what you might call street romance or urban romance coming through as well, where teens with issues and tough lives are drawn together.
Tor Teen (Starscape)
This is a more general imprint than Harlequin Teen, with a range of books for different ages. There's a lot of humorous novels for younger kids, and plenty of dystopian scifi/fantasy novels for older teens. Tor also publishes more serious realistic fiction for teens, as well as a few more straightforward adventure series. Popular backlist titles are also prevalent, especially if there is a movie release in the offing (Ender's Game).
Harlequin Teen
Paranormal is still going strong in this genre (as it is with adult fic as well). Not just limited to vampires and zombies any more, there are also monsters, ghosts, magical beings, werecreatures of different species, etc. Some are more fantasy and some are more scifi, and there are still some historical/steampunk books. Other trends are books similar to Gossip Girls or Pretty Little Liars with a contemporary clique-ish sort of feel. Also, there's a vein of what you might call street romance or urban romance coming through as well, where teens with issues and tough lives are drawn together.
Tor Teen (Starscape)
This is a more general imprint than Harlequin Teen, with a range of books for different ages. There's a lot of humorous novels for younger kids, and plenty of dystopian scifi/fantasy novels for older teens. Tor also publishes more serious realistic fiction for teens, as well as a few more straightforward adventure series. Popular backlist titles are also prevalent, especially if there is a movie release in the offing (Ender's Game).
Operation Teens, Part Tatlo
Teen Blogs!
Shannon Hale's Squeetus
Right now Hale's is running a chapter-by-chapter book club for one of her earlier books, The Goose Girl. Each day Hale goes through the chapter and gives extra details about the characters, the setting, different plot points, and generally lays open her thoughts about as much of the book as possible. This is great value-added material for fans, with the kind of details that get readers excited about the book and about the blog. Hale's tone is not geared towards a younger audience--when she has opinions about sensitive or complex subjects she doesn't hesitate to mention them. This is probably because she doesn't just write for teens, but also for adults. (Btw, a lot of her adult fic stuff is great crossover teen reading.) But neither does she use a lot of foul language or slang that might make certain people feel uncomfortable or unwelcome. From at least the posts this past week, and from the clear consistent voice that comes through in her prose, Hale must be running (or at least writing) this website herself. Who else would know so much about The Goose Girl?
Forever Young Adult
Now this is a website geared towards a New Adult audience. In their About Us section, they describe themselves as "A site for YA readers who are a little less Y and a bit more A." Slang and informal language abound; they even have a page (Lexicon) just for the site-specific acronyms and terminology. It seems that it is more for women than men (notice the pretty pink backsplash). This is not bad, don't get me wrong. This is actually awesome. Just awesome in a different way from Hale's Squeetus. They cover books mostly, but also movies and tv shows (most of which came from books). Plenty there to look at, and it seems really funny.
Shannon Hale's Squeetus
Right now Hale's is running a chapter-by-chapter book club for one of her earlier books, The Goose Girl. Each day Hale goes through the chapter and gives extra details about the characters, the setting, different plot points, and generally lays open her thoughts about as much of the book as possible. This is great value-added material for fans, with the kind of details that get readers excited about the book and about the blog. Hale's tone is not geared towards a younger audience--when she has opinions about sensitive or complex subjects she doesn't hesitate to mention them. This is probably because she doesn't just write for teens, but also for adults. (Btw, a lot of her adult fic stuff is great crossover teen reading.) But neither does she use a lot of foul language or slang that might make certain people feel uncomfortable or unwelcome. From at least the posts this past week, and from the clear consistent voice that comes through in her prose, Hale must be running (or at least writing) this website herself. Who else would know so much about The Goose Girl?
Forever Young Adult
Now this is a website geared towards a New Adult audience. In their About Us section, they describe themselves as "A site for YA readers who are a little less Y and a bit more A." Slang and informal language abound; they even have a page (Lexicon) just for the site-specific acronyms and terminology. It seems that it is more for women than men (notice the pretty pink backsplash). This is not bad, don't get me wrong. This is actually awesome. Just awesome in a different way from Hale's Squeetus. They cover books mostly, but also movies and tv shows (most of which came from books). Plenty there to look at, and it seems really funny.
Operation Teens, Part Dalawa
Articles! PW's "New Adult" and YALSA's "The Next Big Thing"
I love that YA has started to come into its own this past decade or so! There seems to be so much more variety and selection than I remember from when I was a teen, and I feel that YA's reputation as a lesser form of literature is definitely improving. It's great that Adult fiction authors are more and more writing in YA and even Children's fic. Not only do the authors get to cultivate young readers for life, but those readers who move from Children's to YA to Adult with the same author may be more likely to make a successful transition into Adult fic more broadly, which is great for authors, publishers and libraries. I think the label "New Adult" is a useful one for marketing and for descriptive purposes, but I don't think we need to create a new section in libraries that is strictly New Adult, since it is really just a transition slide between YA and Adult and (as one of the articles mentioned) that transition is very fluid. To me, the profile of YA as a section is finally starting to mirror all the characteristics of Adult fic, just maybe with younger characters and less explicit sex and language. There are scifi, fantasy, romances, mysteries, thrillers, urban fic, literary fic, and everything in between, often all bunched together in a single book. Adults reading YA and YA reading Adult--everyone is reading more, and how can that be bad?
Posted to Erika T. and Melanie D.
I love that YA has started to come into its own this past decade or so! There seems to be so much more variety and selection than I remember from when I was a teen, and I feel that YA's reputation as a lesser form of literature is definitely improving. It's great that Adult fiction authors are more and more writing in YA and even Children's fic. Not only do the authors get to cultivate young readers for life, but those readers who move from Children's to YA to Adult with the same author may be more likely to make a successful transition into Adult fic more broadly, which is great for authors, publishers and libraries. I think the label "New Adult" is a useful one for marketing and for descriptive purposes, but I don't think we need to create a new section in libraries that is strictly New Adult, since it is really just a transition slide between YA and Adult and (as one of the articles mentioned) that transition is very fluid. To me, the profile of YA as a section is finally starting to mirror all the characteristics of Adult fic, just maybe with younger characters and less explicit sex and language. There are scifi, fantasy, romances, mysteries, thrillers, urban fic, literary fic, and everything in between, often all bunched together in a single book. Adults reading YA and YA reading Adult--everyone is reading more, and how can that be bad?
Posted to Erika T. and Melanie D.
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