Juliet, Naked

I had a post interview followup (which reminds me, I need to send a thank you card) call with one of the members of the interview panel in which I let slip that "honestly, I read more children and teen fiction than adult fiction."

"Yes, that seems to be the trend."

My response, "The quality of adult writing just isn't any good."

It's hard to say a statement like that because it dismisses all adult fiction in one lump. Perhaps it is better to say, "popular fiction," but even then, I enjoyed the clear, direct writing of Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris (up until the point she describes the vampires getting aroused at the sight of one of their kind getting killed and the main character's lover-vamp "plows her into the ground"), although I won't be reading any of the remaining books in the series, because a look through the synopsis shows it is more or less the same plot over and over again and how can a character who professes to love another character within days or weeks of meeting then go on to become the lover of a nemesis or some other fellow, while completely ignoring the guy next door who may very well be pining for her through eleven books?

Anyway, the point of this is to say that I read Nick Hornby's Juliet, Naked, which I was putting off because I didn't want to read a book by the author of High Fidelity, which I didn't read either, but saw the movie and saw that the movie was literary in ways at the age when I saw it I wasn't ready to appreciate. And so, Juliet, Naked is a good book to disprove my above assessment of adult fiction.

And disproves it in a better way that Ann Patchet's State of Wonder, which I wanted to like because everyone else liked it and because it was a bestseller and because I was supposed to like it, but just fell short and completely betrayed itself twice by switching once from plot to character and then in the final chapter back to plot. I was so aggravated by the Hollywood-ran-out-of-budget ending that I turned around and read the Hunger Games trilogy three times.

The Reader's Advisory says to look at the blurbs on the books for info for read alikes to see if any other authors or titles are mentioned, but the blurbs on my copy only refer to Hornby. I don't know how to describe the book better than "subtle," which is the very adjective I was searching for when I saw it on the back cover describing Hornby the writer. I laughed at the dialogue, I loved the development of the characters and their emotional evolution. And maybe that's why I prefer teen/children fiction: because so much of adult fiction, including State of Wonder, doesn't address the evolution of an adult's emotional/spiritual/personal being in that cathartic, realistic way that the book the Uses of Enchantment says is so pivotal to children's books. I guess I've been looking for books that address my evolution as an adult and found few books taking it seriously and just focusing on the sex.

Or maybe I just identified with the main character who so desperately wanted to have sex because she is a woman who wants to live, but who wanted her partner to be someone she'd be happy to wake up next to the next morning, even if he's got serious inner conflict of choosing to be an artist over being a parent. And I just didn't get that with Sookie or Dr. Marina Singh. So thanks, Nick Hornby, for writing a book that looks honestly at being an adult. I always liked your column Stuff I've Been Reading in the Believer.

Moyer's Eight Steps to Reader's Advisory

Another tool to beef up my Reader's Advisory skills is to create a journal or log and follow Jessica E. Moyer's How to Read a Book in Ten Minutes: Eight Easy Steps*:

1. Start with the cover: all the colors, images, and text on the cover are meant to convey a message. These elements are critical in the publisher’s marketing of the book and can tell a reader a lot. What does the cover tell you about the book?
1. Do the cover images look like they are aimed at a particular sex or age?
2. Is the cover image off-putting to its intended audience or obviously dated?
3. Does it give you an idea of the potential readership or genre?
4. What does the cover say about the author? Has he or she won any awards?
5. Is the author’s name or title in larger print? A very large name is a good clue that this author might be a best seller.
6. Is an unusual font or color used? Bright red text that drips like blood would be a good indication that this is a scary book.
2. Open the book and read the jacket blurb or the back cover or both.
1. What does the blurb or cover tell you about the book? Is a plot summary given? Is the book directly compared to any other books?
2. What about the author? Is a bio given or a list of previous books?
3. What do other authors think of this book? Who are those authors? Use these to help you start making read-alike connections.
3. Flip to a random page. Check the typeface.
1. How easy is it to read?
2. Is the typeface better for younger or older readers?
3. Is there anything especially noticeable or unusual?
4. Is more than one typeface used?
5. Are there illustrations? Do they have captions or enhance the text? Do they add to the overall story? Are they an integral part of the story?
4. Check the physical characteristics.
1. Heft: Can readers easily carry the book? How big and heavy is it?
2. Will the intended audience be willing or able to hold the book and carry it around?
3. Is it hardcover or paperback or mass market?
4. Can the book be easily opened while reading?
5. Read a sample.
1. Read the first chapter. What happens at the very beginning? Which characters or what setting is introduced? How does the story start—with a description or with action?
2. Read some pages in the middle. Are the same characters or setting still present? What kinds of events are taking place? Is the text mostly dialogue or mostly description? How much white space is on the page?
3. Read the last chapter. How does the story end? Is the ending resolved? Left wide open? Left a little open with room for a sequel? Is it a cliffhanger that demands a sequel? Who is still alive/giving the final speech?
6. Consider the book’s appeal factors.
1. Pacing: How quickly are characters and plot revealed? Is there more dialogue or more description? Check for white space; the more dialogue, the more white space. Are there short sentences, short paragraphs, and short chapters? The shorter the sentences, chapters, and paragraphs, the faster it will read. Are there multiple plotlines, flashbacks, or different points of view, or does the book have a linear plot? Is the ending open or closed?
2. Frame: Is the background detailed or minimal? How is the book supposed to make the reader feel? Is a special background integral to understanding the story? Is the reader assumed to have certain types of knowledge—for example, subject information essential to full understanding or previous knowledge of the world in which the story takes place (e.g., books in a series)?
3. Story line: Does the story emphasize people or events? Is the focus interior/psychological or exterior/action? What is the author’s intent—serious versus light; comedy versus drama?
4. Characterization: Are characters fully developed or are they easily recognized types? Is the focus on a single character or on several who intertwine? Is characterization the most important aspect of the story? Are characters developed during the series or in one book? Are there memorable or important secondary characters?
5. What’s the most important or most dominant appeal factor?
7. Consider other factors.
1. Plot: What is the book actually about? Can you summarize the book in thirty seconds or less? If someone asked you, “What is this book about,” how would you respond?
2. Genre: Is the book part of a recognized genre? If so, which one? What about subgenre? Is it a genre blend? Does the book conform to genre formulas in terms of plot or characters, or does it break the rules?
3. Series: Is the book part of a series? First in a series? Must the other books in the series be read before this book, or does it stand alone? Based on the ending, how eager are readers going to be for the next one?
4. Author: Who is the author? What else has the author written? Does the author usually write in this genre, or is this a new direction for the writer? Is this book a return to a subject the author hasn’t written about for several years?
8. Using all the information gathered in the preceding questions, connect this book to other books.
1. What genre or subgenre might this book fit in?
2. What other books or authors share similar appeal factors?
3. What kind of reader might enjoy this book?

Moyer, J.E., & Stover, K. M., eds. (2010). The Reader's Advisory Handbook. American Library Association: Chicago, IL.

Infopeople Webinar: Digital Preservation: Audio and Video Formats

So in taking a moment to beef up my site, I wandered over the the Infopeople.org website to see what was new and found that they had archived in the webinar section four presentations on Digital Preservation:

• Fundamentals
• Text and Image Formats
• Storing and Managing Digital Collections
• Audio and Video Formats

I just happened to click into the Audio and Video presentation. Key info:

• preservation format should be in WAV and probably in BWV (broadcast wave)
• resolution (96) kilohertz and (24)bit-depth capture is going to be beyond the "limits of human hearing" and while you may ask, why should I capture outside those limits, you may have a collection of animal song (birds, whales) which is outside of human recognition
• video as compared to film is generally captured on "unstable formats" and so digital transfer is a given for video preservation

so I want to be a Readers' Advisory Librarian (wait... I do?)

I just had an interview for a Reference Librarian position in my home town. Who knew that you needed to be able to recommend books to adult readers for the job!?! Well, my home town library appears to cater to a bunch of readers because there's a reader's group (Page Turners), and I was point blank asked why I like adult reference (this was hard to answer because I like people reference- no matter their age, gender, or color), and about my reading habits, (what genre I preferred and what areas of non-fiction which I am "familiar").

Well, I realized that this was an area for growth, because I was flabbergasted. You want to know what I read? I read everything, but only if it is well written. And my tolerance for popular fiction, especially series tends to be very low (as in one book out of a 12 book series low). However, this discovery of where I need to improve has made me realize that I need to be able to talk about books and "recommend" them, but that I don't need to like them. So what are the resources out there besides Novelist?

• First thing to look at might be the catalog of books offer by your library's vendor. In the case of SPL- Baker & Taylor, which would be FC: Forecast
• Library Journal's Reviews
• Bookmarks Magazine
• ALA's Booklist
• ALA bookstore also has a list of Readers' Advisory books (for historical fic, for street lit, etc)
• and finally (at least for this list) the New York Time's Book Review

This would be for Adult RA, because a job description's duty expectations should never be crossed. But I don't believe that.

Watch and Return DVDs

I just had to share. We were getting a lot of DVD donations at my branch and I was feeling so torn because I knew that the cataloging staff did not have the time to add a bunch of single title DVDs (like Andy Griffin shows or a movie starring Brett McKenzie of Flight of the Conchords (whose title escapes me now) which I knew would leap, fly, and zoom off the shelf), but I just felt we would be missing out on providing these resources to our patrons instead of just putting them out to sell and to go home and sit on one person's shelf.

So I went to my sup and I said, "What if I create a "Watch and Return" collection out of these DVDs?"

"Who, what?" she responded.

I held up a "Read and Return*" book and said, "now imagine this," followed by some waving of  the donated DVDs, "but only a DVD."

Then I smiled real big. And waggled my eyebrows. And she said, "sure."

YES!

And guess what? They've been coming back. I like to think that they touch some small part of people, the part that yearns to be an active part of the community, one that depends on trust. Either that, or people just realize, "why should I keep a bunch of DVDs taking up space on my shelves? This is going back to the library and it can take up space on their shelf."

*Read and Return- a paperback book that is not cataloged, nor which has any record in our database. These books serve those who do not have a library card, simply do not care to check materials out, or are surprise titles like our "The Help," which reward patrons for coming into the branch, browsing and finding something that is of interest.