Week 8: Assignment 2

The E-Learning video from the Maryland State Library Resource Center was very informative.  The lists of 16 different genres and 16 different appeal factors will be extremely helpful with becoming more comfortable with nonfiction reader's advisory.

Week 8: Assignment 1

The two articles regarding narrative non-fiction were very interesting and helpful!

Week 7: Assignment 4

I spent some time exploring Tor Teen and Teens@Random.  The current trends that I noticed in these two websites is a prevalence of Science Fiction and Fantasy titles.  Ender's Game, the 1985 science fiction novel by Orson Scott Card, will be released as a film in November 2013 and this has created a resurgence of interest in science fiction.




                                  

Week 7: Assignment 3

Forever Young Adult

This is a blog that is definitely intended for an adult audience, although the primary focus is literature for teens.  There are 14 writers (13 of which are women) who post reviews for young adult books on this blog.  As is stated on their "About" page, this blog is "a place where you can let your inner Lady Nerd loose and swoon over fictional characters without shame."

Stacked

This blog does not appear to be quite as successful as the FYA blog.  The blog and the reviews are written by librarians and the intended audience appears to be primarily librarians and other adults.

Week 7: Assignment 2

I read  YA Comes of Age and Who's Buying Teen Books? Lots and Lots of Adults.  I was a little surprised with the findings from the Bowker study, that over half of the customers who purchase young adult books are over 18.  It was also interesting to learn that the publication of The Hunger Games was a major factor in bringing an older audience into the realm of young adult books.  Personally, young adult literature has always been my overall favorite to read.

Week 7: Assignment 1

The "What to Read Next" flowchart was very interesting to examine and I got some great ideas for readers advisory while looking at it.

Week 6: Assignment 3

SUBGENRES

Paranormal Romance - authors
     Gena Showalter
     Lora Leigh
     Ilona Andrews

Techno Thriller - authors
     Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
     Warren Fahy
     Clive Cussler

Pet Investigators Mystery - authors
     Spencer Quinn
     Susan Conant
     Laurien Berenson
   
           

Week 6: Assignment 2

The Fiction Genres and Subgenres on the Prezi link were interesting to explore.

Week 6: Assignment 1

The genre link that I chose to follow was Stop, You're Killing Me!  This is an amazing website, packed with all of the features one would expect, but also with an incredibly useful indexing feature.  I love the fact that I can search for mysteries involving librarians or a psychotic Vietnam Vet hit man in Iowa or an investigator in Athens, Greece in the year 461 BCE.

Week 5: Assignment 3

From Huffington Post - Best Books of 2013

Year of the Jungle: Memories From the Home Front, by Suzanne Collins and James Proimos.  This 40-page picture book, due to be released on September 10, 2013, has already received rave reviews from Time Magazine, Publishers Weekly, and School Library Journal.  It's an autobiographical account of a little girl named Suzy, the youngest of four children, whose father has gone to Vietnam.  Suzy struggles to conceptualize what "war" means, and gradually senses the truth through the increasingly distressing tone of the postcards her father sends home.  He eventually returns from Vietnam, very different, but, is some ways, still the same.

As her first picture book, the award-winning author of The Hunger Games series is sure to find success and a new following with her heartwarming story of love and family and reassurance.

Week 5: Assignment 2

Early Word is an incredible website that I will definitely begin using on a regular basis.  So many useful things are included in this site, such as a huge list of awards, including a few I had never heard of, such as the IACP Cookbook Awards.  Also, it contains links to 14 different Best Seller Lists.

Week 5: Assignment 1

I chose to follow NPR and Stop, You're Killing Me!

NPR Books - I found this to be a very comprehensive site for book reviews.  One of my favorite features is "Three Books..." found under "Reviews."  In this section, authors will recommend a set of three titles based on a shared theme.

Stop, You're Killing Me! -  This is an amazing resource for people who enjoy mysteries, thrillers, suspense novels, etc.  The site includes awards and reviews, but is also indexed so that searches may be done according to character diversity (ie., African American, Jewish, disables), location, historic period, sub-genre, and many more!

Week 4: Assignment 1

I have been using Goodreads for almost three years and still continue to discover new features that help with finding, organizing, and sharing books.  I enjoy creating my personal "bookshelves," reading recommendations and reviews, exploring various book lists in "listopia," and keeping track of what I have read as well as what I would like to read.

Because M'Lissa Moss read and enjoyed "The Art of Racing in the Rain," I recommended another book that I thought she might enjoy called "One Good Dog," by Susan Wilson.