tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5223198102966426592024-04-24T19:40:48.540-05:00RA for AllTraining Library Workers To Help Leisure Readers Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01085260877904727608noreply@blogger.comBlogger4124125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-522319810296642659.post-3583043016613465412024-04-24T11:22:00.002-05:002024-04-24T11:22:24.700-05:00Show Your Patrons the Library Has Something for Every User with "Intergenerational Displays"<p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Last month at the PLA conference, on the final day, I went to <a href="https://raforall.blogspot.com/2024/04/pla-2024-beckys-conference-notes-part-3.html" target="_blank">one of the best programs I have been to at a library conference. </a>&nbsp;I wrote about the program extensively <a href="https://raforall.blogspot.com/2024/04/pla-2024-beckys-conference-notes-part-3.html" target="_blank">here</a> but here is the program title and description:</span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 51); color: #000033; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><blockquote><p style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 51); color: #000033; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">My final program of the day was also excellent and a perfect book end to the first. Curating Diverse Community Collections for Patron Engagement: </span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 51); color: #000033;"></p><blockquote style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 51); color: #000033; line-height: 1.3em; margin: 1em 20px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Much has been written about the need for diversity audits in library collections, but little follow-up has been offered to assist collection development and public service staff in creating real change. Panelists will discuss proven best practices for diversifying and curating community collections. Attendees will leave with a three-point action plan that will work for any size library, no matter the demographics of their particular community.</span></blockquote><p style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 51); color: #000033;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">The <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VSOBa_d3TblGeA2-PhCelm4G52Og1YjB/view?usp=share_link" style="color: #940f04; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">slides are</a></span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VSOBa_d3TblGeA2-PhCelm4G52Og1YjB/view?usp=share_link" style="color: #940f04; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"> here</a> and the presenters were from&nbsp;</span><span style="caret-color: rgb(105, 113, 122); text-align: center;">Cuyahoga County Public Library<span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">.</span></span></span></p></blockquote><p style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 51); color: #000033;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(105, 113, 122); text-align: center;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span><span style="color: #000033;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 51);"><a href="https://raforall.blogspot.com/2024/04/pla-2024-beckys-conference-notes-part-3.html" target="_blank">Please</a></span></span><span style="color: #000033;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://raforall.blogspot.com/2024/04/pla-2024-beckys-conference-notes-part-3.html" target="_blank">&nbsp;go to my full write up</a> </span>because<span style="font-family: inherit;">&nbsp;this program was FULL of useful tips on how Cuyahoga made their </span>library<span style="font-family: inherit;">&nbsp;inclusive. The presenters were from across the organizational chart as well which makes a huge difference. They discussed funding and administrative issues while also making sure to emphasize the work of individuals at the branches.&nbsp;</span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span><span style="color: #000033;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Today, I want to talk about one small thing that was mentioned during that program, something that I made a </span>huge<span style="font-family: inherit;">&nbsp;note about when it was said. <a href="https://raforall.blogspot.com/2024/04/pla-2024-beckys-conference-notes-part-3.html" target="_blank">From my write up post</a>:</span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 51); color: #000033;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span></p><blockquote><span style="font-family: inherit;">I loved that they also do a display right near the door that is always "intergenerational." no matter the topic they have books for all ages of patrons. I LOVE THIS. I tell libraries to do this and they tell me the can't. You can. Just do it. You won't go to library jail.</span></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">For years I have been telling libraries to have a display as close to the entrance as possible that showcase items for all age groups in one place. So if you have "Spring" as your topic, you have books from adult fiction, nonfiction, as many genres as possible, board books, MG, YA, Graphic Novels, audio books, movies, even any gardening items people can check out.&nbsp;</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">At the very least you should have books for all age levels on this display. So for National Poetry Month this month, you should have a display near your entrance that has poetry for all ages.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">I have seen this done at an itty bitty library in rural Maryland and at my own library where we have our "Lucky Day" collection in the main lobby. That display has options for all readers on one display, right as you walk in. The one in Maryland was in the entranceway. They a huge picture of a dog and then around it, books from across their entire collection.&nbsp;</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">What better way to show your patrons that you have a book for them....all of them, not just a book for them if they happen to go to their siloed section. When a family walks in, they can find items for all ages immediately. Often when a caregiver brings children in, they never get the time to go to their section. Even if the person who walks in does not check an item from that display out, at the very least, an intergenerational display it is showing people that their library has something for them. Isn't that the message we want to present?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Why instead are we so focused on filing everything away in places where they have to work to find them?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">I know the answer, because for years we have been gatekeepers, using "rules" to make access to our materials hard. I hate this way of thinking. Instead, we should be doing as much as we can to get our items out and into people's hands. As I like to say-- your job isn't done until every single item is checked out at the same time.&nbsp;</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Intergenerational displays are a great way to get more books into people hands because you are showcasing that you have books for every age level. It reminds people that there is something for them in the library. It encourages them to use our entire collections because we are reminding them that we are away of our siloed spaces and while we cannot change that easily, we can highlight books on a rotating basis that remind people to check out every section of the library.&nbsp;</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">In other words, not only do intergenerational displays show all users that the library is for them, but also, they lead to more checkouts.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">And yet, people tell me all the time they aren't allowed to mix books for different age levels together. I was told this on Monday. Again, the argument is old and out dated. Too often those in charge are unwilling to rethink positions as the world changes, but we have to. Nothing stays the same. The way the library was organized and functioned in the late 1980s when I was a kid is not the way it does now. Stop with this, those are the rules, arguments. I am sorry but it used to be the rules to not let Black people in the library. We changed that rule because it was wrong. And yes, I am purposely picking an obvious change to make the person you would argue with uncomfortable.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">This attitude of we can't even put a book for a kid next to a book for an adult is DUMB and against everything we preach about being "for everyone."</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Intergenerational Displays as Cuyahoga has named them, are key to their vision of making the collection engaging to their community. At the branch where that speaker is in charge, they have a table that is always a display of books around a topic or display idea that has books for any reader, at any age or ability. Again, it is part of their larger mission to be community centered. It works in conjunction with the other initiatives they have started throughout their system.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">If your library has a rule against doing this, I encourage you to ask why? <a href="https://raforall.blogspot.com/2024/04/pla-2024-beckys-conference-notes-part-3.html" target="_blank">Counter with the slides and information from PLA</a>. Use the contact information they have provided to ask them to help you explain why intergenerational displays promote belonging and showcase the breadth of your collection the second people walk in. Use your mission statements about serving everyone to bolster your argument. Remind those in charge that there is no better way to make sure your community knows the library is for them than to simply show them that the second they enter your building with the items you have collected for them to use.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">I hope this encourages you to try an intergenerational display at your library. Again, <a href="https://raforall.blogspot.com/2024/04/pla-2024-beckys-conference-notes-part-3.html" target="_blank">use PLA and the Cuyahoga library's example</a> as your conversational starter at your library. And of course, tell them Becky told you to discuss it if that helps. I am always up for my readers and training attendees to blame me for bringing up touch questions. <a href="http://raforall.blogspot.com/p/about.html" target="_blank">Share my contact info</a> and encourage your managers to call me to argue.&nbsp;</span></p><p></p>Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01085260877904727608noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-522319810296642659.post-31469467431853406962024-04-23T09:08:00.003-05:002024-04-23T09:08:48.033-05:00Using Awards Lists As a RA Tool: NYPL's Young Lions Fiction Award Edition<blockquote style="line-height: 1.3em; margin: 1em 20px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><blockquote>This is part of my ongoing series on using Awards Lists as a RA tool.&nbsp;<a href="https://raforall.blogspot.com/search?q=using+awards+lists&amp;max-results=20&amp;by-date=true" style="color: #940f04; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Click here for all posts in the series</a>&nbsp;in reverse chronological order.&nbsp;<a href="https://raforall.blogspot.com/2011/10/using-award-lists-as-ra-tool.html" style="color: #940f04; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Click here for the first post which outlines the details how to use awards lists as a RA tool.</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;</blockquote></b></span></blockquote><p style="caret-color: rgb(54, 50, 45); color: #36322d; margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The New York Public Library recently announced their finalists for the You Lions Fiction Award. <a href="https://www.nypl.org/help/about-nypl/awards/young-lions-fiction-award#about" target="_blank">From the About page:</a></span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(54, 50, 45); color: #36322d; margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><blockquote><p style="caret-color: rgb(54, 50, 45); margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Established in 2001,&nbsp;The New York Public Library Young Lions Fiction Award is a $10,000 prize awarded each spring to a writer age 35 or younger for a novel or a collection of short stories. Each year, five young fiction writers are selected as finalists by a reading committee of Young Lions members, writers, editors, and librarians.&nbsp;A&nbsp;panel of&nbsp;judges selects the winner.</span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(54, 50, 45); margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Founded by&nbsp;Ethan Hawke, Jennifer Rudolph Walsh, Rick Moody, and Hannah McFarland<span id="docs-internal-guid-30ae4c25-2553-0638-dd6b-2a384af3cae0">—</span>and made possible by&nbsp;an endowment created with generous gifts from Russell Abrams, Nina Collins, Hannah and Gavin McFarland, Ethan Hawke, Stephan Loewentheil, Rick Moody, Andrea Olshan and Jennifer Rudolph Walsh<span id="docs-internal-guid-30ae4c25-2553-0638-dd6b-2a384af3cae0">—</span>this annual award recognizes the work of young authors and celebrates their accomplishments publicly, making a difference in their lives as they continue to build their careers.&nbsp;​</span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(54, 50, 45); margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This prize is part of the Library's&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nypl.org/support/membership/young-lions">Young Lions</a>&nbsp;program,&nbsp;a membership group for people in their 20s and 30s who are committed to supporting the organization and to celebrating young writers and artists who are making an impact on this city's cultural life.</span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(54, 50, 45); margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Young Lions Fiction Award is given each spring during a special ceremony at The New York Public Library. </span><span face="Lato, &quot;Lucida Grande&quot;, &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;, Helvetica, Verdana, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14px;">&nbsp;</span></p></blockquote><p style="caret-color: rgb(54, 50, 45); color: #36322d; margin: 1em 0px;"><span face="Lato, &quot;Lucida Grande&quot;, &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;, Helvetica, Verdana, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14px;"></span></p><div>Before we get to the 5 finalists this year, I want to talk about how important <a href="https://www.nypl.org/help/about-nypl/awards/young-lions-fiction-award#finalists" target="_blank">the finalists list is for libraries</a>. This is a LIBRARY making sure the world knows about young voices that are worth their time. We should be collecting the books called out by this award every single year. They also link to their catalog so you can borrow each book. Love it!</div><div><br /></div><div>Speaking of every single year, because this award is from a library, at the very top of the <a href="https://www.nypl.org/help/about-nypl/awards/young-lions-fiction-award#finalists" target="_blank">main page for the Young Lions Fiction Award</a> you have access to <a href="https://www.nypl.org/help/about-nypl/awards/young-lions-fiction-award/list-winners-finalists?_ga=2.117544649.1779744366.1645019558-71234495.1636552679" target="_blank">the link to see all past winners and finalists and judges</a>.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>Speaking of judges, I love that every year, the winner gets to be one of the judges for the next year. Too often when authors are asked to be a part of literary prizes, they are not asked until they are far into their careers. Who better than to judge the best book by an author 35 or under, than the last person to win it?</div><div><br /></div><div>Back to the award's backlist though, the authors and titles are names you know. This is an award of sure bet books for the literary fiction audience, which is very popular with library patrons.</div><div><br /></div><div>Also, let's talk money. $10,000 is enough money for some of these young writers to keep going; the difference between having to cut back on writing because the day job needs attention to cutting back on those day job hours because you have a cushion.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>Now, I know that there is no other library in America that can offer this kind of money to an emerging writing who lives in their city (well maybe LA), but I think this is an example everyone should consider. Find ways to locate the writers in your &nbsp;community and raise them up. Maybe it's by having a local writers festival, maybe it is to give them a "writer in residence" tag for a year. You can buy all their books, put them on display, and have them host a few programs throughout the year. An honorarium of any size along with buying their books would be a great boost to them AND part of your mission to promote reading and life long learning. You don't need a $10,000 prize to uplift the authors in your community.</div><div><br /></div><div>Below are this year's finalists. I know you have a few of these, but probably not all. Go back and check the last 10 years as well. Many of these titles you own and the authors have broken out. Why not make a display of authors who have been singled out as finalists over the years. People will flock to it, especially when they see a back list title or author they never got to but remember wanting to read. You look brilliant and super helpful when you remind them of good reads they would not have found on their own.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://www.nypl.org/help/about-nypl/awards/young-lions-fiction-award#finalists" target="_blank">Here is the link to the landing page for the award</a> with the finalist announcement for this year below:</div><p style="caret-color: rgb(54, 50, 45); margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong>The New York Public Library is</strong>&nbsp;excited to announce the finalists for the 24th annual Young Lions Fiction Award. The&nbsp;<strong>finalists are:&nbsp;</strong></span></p><ul style="caret-color: rgb(54, 50, 45); margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 40px;"><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah for&nbsp;<em><a href="https://borrow.nypl.org/search/card?id=8a24216c-9c0d-5dd6-8500-640816be841a&amp;entityType=FormatGroup">Chain-Gang All-Stars</a></em></span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Monica Brashears for&nbsp;<em><a href="https://borrow.nypl.org/search/card?id=f356f9da-df82-572c-87c2-3746dd395ec6&amp;entityType=FormatGroup">House of Cotton</a></em></span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Eskor David Johnson for&nbsp;<em><a href="https://borrow.nypl.org/search/card?id=332bd6a1-98f8-5a93-bb83-74390c7e41c2&amp;entityType=FormatGroup">Pay As You Go</a></em></span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">E. J. Koh for&nbsp;<em><a href="https://borrow.nypl.org/search/card?id=711c4d81-7149-526f-ae6c-c669e8852682&amp;entityType=FormatGroup">The Liberators</a></em></span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">C Pam Zhang for&nbsp;<em><a href="https://borrow.nypl.org/search/card?id=bc819776-d70d-56b3-8d94-cf8eea3162e4&amp;entityType=FormatGroup">Land of Milk and Honey</a></em></span></li></ul><p style="caret-color: rgb(54, 50, 45); margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong>Judges:&nbsp;</strong>A. M. Homes, Caoilinn Hughes, Zain Khalid (last year's winner)</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.nypl.org/help/about-nypl/awards/young-lions-fiction-award#finalists" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="1300" height="122" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpBtZluNrhD21jyNdbhUQrLjQm6N_eBUiBkz_kNG8AFv4gVnxTIdKW9iDPXDlkEd31snFbAeDXBsTv2oPiYZ20rSAN3f2z_4gjNRoW5p1UPOeFU28Lyvjap5D8bpExVDHqSnLhmnq7a_w6Y6qro9sOLwMTJPBl3zqGhwl0ZKCGHWUWSkOd9Uo6FGDOwqQn/w400-h122/young_lions_2024_finalists_covers.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p style="caret-color: rgb(54, 50, 45); margin: 1em 0px;"><br /></p>Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01085260877904727608noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-522319810296642659.post-44399683249497510962024-04-22T06:00:00.001-05:002024-04-22T06:00:00.241-05:00Ask Patrons What They Didn't Find and Then Actually Listen To Their Answers<p><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 51); color: #000033; font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://raforall.blogspot.com/2019/06/call-to-action-ask-patrons-what-they.html" target="_blank">This is a repost from 2019</a></span></p><p><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 51); color: #000033; font-family: inherit;">One of the biggest changes in RA Service from when I began until now is that we have gone from it being a transactional service like reference-- where we only worry about being asked for a title suggestion and then giving it-- to a conversation based service-- where we create a culture where books and reading are discussed, titles are shared both by staff and patrons, and ultimately books are discovered through the overall experience.</span></p><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-6738059347123772933" itemprop="description articleBody" style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 51); color: #000033; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">To that end,&nbsp;<a href="http://raforall.blogspot.com/search/label/conversation%20starter" style="color: #940f04; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">I have posted a variety of conversation starters here on the blog</a>. These are ideas to spark conversations about books in our libraries-- both our in buildings and online.<br /><br />We spend a lot of time creating conversations around the books we have. We try to book talk under the radar titles, we ask patrons to share books they have liked, or even the ones they have tried and did not enjoy. All in order to learn about how our collections are working for our patrons.<br /><br />However, one thing we do not do explicitly ask them bout is what we don't have. Things they wish we did, but don't. In the wake of spending so much time thinking and talking about how we provide&nbsp;<a href="http://raforall.blogspot.com/2019/06/ra-for-all-roadshow-visits-ala-annual.html" style="color: #940f04; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Reader Focused Collection Development</a>&nbsp;one of the questions that kept coming up is how do we craft collections for those who don't use our libraries. How do we know what they want so that we can have it for them? So we can get them to come and use it. So that we can be for everyone, not just our regulars.<br /><br />Now there is no easy answer to this question, but I think the key to starting this conversation is encapsulated in this tweet from a librarian in SC from back in April. [I am using it with her permission.]<br /><br /></span><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 51); margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 4px; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGeE44qMXQK1R5KZvf200Q-4SzPpsQJvEcTPQSEDkoElzZq4OxpJbu6Bx3ZQsWZ4aoWPZ22KcTiGDXzhDDA7L1ThRAeyolxDdn_uCmQwL71bK1apgsYyM8XPSAooXWJz9z-JKWnmPQn7Ij/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-04-18+at+2.53.03+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; color: #940f04; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="188" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGeE44qMXQK1R5KZvf200Q-4SzPpsQJvEcTPQSEDkoElzZq4OxpJbu6Bx3ZQsWZ4aoWPZ22KcTiGDXzhDDA7L1ThRAeyolxDdn_uCmQwL71bK1apgsYyM8XPSAooXWJz9z-JKWnmPQn7Ij/s320/Screen+Shot+2019-04-18+at+2.53.03+PM.png" style="border: medium; padding: 0px;" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://twitter.com/andriaamaral/status/1118556045373255680" style="color: #940f04; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Click here for original Tweet</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: inherit;">Since we cannot figure out the best way to bring non users in to our buildings, if we begin by asking those who do come what they wanted but didn't find, we can start to see what we are NOT providing for everyone.<br /></span><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Our users already love and appreciate us. Yes, they ask for us to purchase specific things they want, but often these are new items or something on a topic or genre that is new to them. However, this larger question, which isn't about a specific title or item, just to ask them what they wanted but they couldn't;t find, this is a great way for us to start to get to the root of where we are not meeting our community's needs.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Now, as I said above, there is no easy answer to this question of how do we craft collections for the the people who aren't coming in, but I think asking our users where there are gaps in our collections, that is a great place to begin delving into this important topic.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">So take Andria's advice and instead of asking if they found everything they NEEDED today, change it up and ask if there was anything they WANTED that they couldn't find. And then, here is the most important part....</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">....Listen to their answers. Take note of them. No matter how pie in the sky or completely undoable they seem.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Within those answers, be they super practical or way too expensive or anything in between, those answers hold the key to making our collections and services better. We have to be able to listen to what we don't have without freaking out that we already do too much and we can't be everything to everybody.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">I am not saying we have to do everything our patrons ask. Rather, what I am saying is we can learn a lot more from our patrons and their needs [especially about our collections] when we ask the right questions, listen, and really ponder where the gaps are. And especially if we look at a variety of different answers to this question, put them together, and see where the commonality is.&nbsp;</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">For example, I have a friend at a large library near me whose World Languages collection is exploding, and yet many people still don't even know they have it and keep asking why they don't have one. She realized it would probably be doing even better if they moved it from the back corner, to right up front. This would both raise its physical visibility and it will also give her room to grow it with more accurate data on who actually wants it.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">That is just one small example. No matter where you work, try asking what patrons couldn't find and see what happens. Just asking them will make your patrons happy, but when you listen and take note, you have the chance to make a well reasoned change for the better too.</span><br /></div></div>Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01085260877904727608noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-522319810296642659.post-40138250813996852302024-04-19T09:59:00.006-05:002024-04-19T10:02:58.283-05:00Using Awards Lists As a RA Tool: LA Times Book Prize Edition<b style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 51);"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><blockquote>This is part of my ongoing series on using Awards Lists as a RA tool.&nbsp;<a href="https://raforall.blogspot.com/search?q=using+awards+lists&amp;max-results=20&amp;by-date=true" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Click here for all posts in the series</a>&nbsp;in reverse chronological order.&nbsp;<a href="https://raforall.blogspot.com/2011/10/using-award-lists-as-ra-tool.html" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Click here for the first post which outlines the details how to use awards lists as a RA tool.</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;</blockquote></span></b><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeAWY88DSPa6cJdV1GQYLVA3qUqtKjqJXiT1zf6lsLM_cEv2SWkCRv9XYwzrAjyHV90cL-PUYvee5Gk5o7VixVW5s7qOaQ1P0mj5Af4cz_F_ZbLniS8QFSmA_mv2w_r5cvOsClSaV5YXX2ZrQ1u1huWGM9hJIv4jV6mgthfvSQ0eEUpPIRwfN1A8kG_Ef0/s2984/Screenshot%202024-04-19%20at%2010.00.18%E2%80%AFAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="566" data-original-width="2984" height="76" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeAWY88DSPa6cJdV1GQYLVA3qUqtKjqJXiT1zf6lsLM_cEv2SWkCRv9XYwzrAjyHV90cL-PUYvee5Gk5o7VixVW5s7qOaQ1P0mj5Af4cz_F_ZbLniS8QFSmA_mv2w_r5cvOsClSaV5YXX2ZrQ1u1huWGM9hJIv4jV6mgthfvSQ0eEUpPIRwfN1A8kG_Ef0/w400-h76/Screenshot%202024-04-19%20at%2010.00.18%E2%80%AFAM.png" width="400" /></a></p><p>Tonight the 44th Annual LA Times Book Prizes will be given out. <a href="https://events.latimes.com/festivalofbooks/bookprizes/" target="_blank">Click here for all of the details</a>, including a list of finalists in 12 categories.</p><p>Of course I am parietal to the SF/FSY finalists-- 3 of which were among <a href="http://raforall.blogspot.com/2023/12/what-im-reading-beckys-best-books-that.html" target="_blank">my favorite reads of 2023</a>:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5333320085" target="_blank">The Reformatory</a> by Tananarive Due</li><li><a href="https://raforall.blogspot.com/2023/05/what-im-reading-and-booklists-annual.html" target="_blank">Whalefall</a> by Daniel Kraus</li><li><a href="https://raforall.blogspot.com/2023/02/what-im-reading-lone-women-by-victor.html" target="_blank">Lone Women</a> by Victor LaValle.</li></ul><div>But the LA Times Book Prize finalists are a stacked bunch. <a href="https://events.latimes.com/festivalofbooks/bookprizes/" target="_blank">Click here to browse</a> all of the categories, but also here is a screen shot of what they are:</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7eYjgT33Nqm0TEt9djt3BJCqoExt8xryYis3mWcnXDim6IABq7xzQeMO67GXDlMUC7VXGpPW5W43NeAvDwPAPgxN6qFJBUlSbH96oRUnTmUIpiq1Ck0fGXIG-7y7tHuzm62bl65g3CMlYNejb07eA_t4Ovn3ND7WTh4g_Y2oed-PH4uiDhnEXR5Tr-qNw/s2446/Screenshot%202024-04-19%20at%209.38.33%E2%80%AFAM.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="292" data-original-width="2446" height="48" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7eYjgT33Nqm0TEt9djt3BJCqoExt8xryYis3mWcnXDim6IABq7xzQeMO67GXDlMUC7VXGpPW5W43NeAvDwPAPgxN6qFJBUlSbH96oRUnTmUIpiq1Ck0fGXIG-7y7tHuzm62bl65g3CMlYNejb07eA_t4Ovn3ND7WTh4g_Y2oed-PH4uiDhnEXR5Tr-qNw/w400-h48/Screenshot%202024-04-19%20at%209.38.33%E2%80%AFAM.png" width="400" /></a></div>I love that these categories take how readers see books into play. You can use words like "History" and "Current Events" to have conversations with readers about what they are looking for.<p></p><p>Go forth and do the usual with this list (see the header if you are new to this rodeo). Remember, these are all books that came out in 2023, so they will probably be available on shelf to suggest and display. You should 100% own every single one of these titles. Hand down, no excuses. These are all titles you can own and suggest to a wide variety of readers with confidence.</p><p>This would be such a great display near the entrance of the library. Gather the fiction, nonfiction, poetry, YA, and audiobooks all together in one display. Print out something from the <a href="https://events.latimes.com/festivalofbooks/bookprizes/" target="_blank">website</a>&nbsp;to post as well. They have some great graphics. Show people the breadth of your holdings and promote a current event, with books that are ready for check out right now. They will love it, and really, it is not that much work for you to do. This is the power of using resources to help readers in a nutshell.</p><p>There is also a "<a href="https://events.latimes.com/festivalofbooks/bookprizes/history/" target="_blank">History</a>" tab for the awards which allows easy and graphically appealing access to finalists and winners in every category going back to 2011.&nbsp;</p><p>Remember "best" does not have a shelf life. The titles from the last 8 years especially, are still excellent sure bet suggestions to your readers. And the conversation starter is on the page for you.. Ex: "<a href="https://events.latimes.com/festivalofbooks/bookprizes/history/" target="_blank">This book was a finalist for the SciFi/Fanatsy award in 2019.</a>&nbsp;You might have missed it but here you go." Remember, if it is new to your reader, you have helped them find something they could not have found without you. It does not have to be new to the world, just new to them. The backlist is our best asset. It is what we have that bookstores do not. We also have a human helping them to find the titles they might like, not an algorithm. Lean in to this.&nbsp;</p><p>Back to that display near your entrance-- grab some titles from the last two years if you need help filling the display out.</p><p>One last note, the awards ceremony <a href="https://events.latimes.com/festivalofbooks/bookprizes/" target="_blank">tonight</a> kicks off a full weekend of the <a href="https://events.latimes.com/festivalofbooks/" target="_blank">LA Times Festival of Books</a>. I think some of it may be available online, but if not, simply looking at the schedule and panels will give you a great idea of topics and genres and books that are worth your time.<br /></p><div><br /></div><div>Good luck to my friends, Due, Kraus, and LaValle. 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--align-items: initial; --align-self: initial; --background-transition: 0.3s; --bc-margin-block-end: var(--margin-bottom); --bc-margin-block-start: var(--margin-top); --bc-margin-inline-end: var(--margin-right); --bc-margin-inline-start: var(--margin-left); --bc-padding-block-end: var(--padding-bottom); --bc-padding-block-start: var(--padding-top); --bc-padding-inline-end: var(--padding-right); --bc-padding-inline-start: var(--padding-left); --border-block-end-width: 0px; --border-block-start-width: 0px; --border-color: initial; --border-inline-end-width: 0px; --border-inline-start-width: 0px; --border-radius: 0; --border-style: initial; --container-widget-align-self: initial; --container-widget-flex-grow: 0; --container-widget-height: initial; --container-widget-width: 100%; --content-width: min(100%,var(--container-max-width,1140px)); --display: flex; --e-con-grid-template-columns: repeat(3,1fr); --e-con-grid-template-rows: repeat(2,1fr); --flex-basis: auto; --flex-direction: column; --flex-grow: 0; --flex-shrink: 1; --flex-wrap: initial; --gap: 0px 0px; --height: auto; --justify-content: initial; --margin-block-end: 0px; --margin-block-start: 0px; --margin-inline-end: 0px; --margin-inline-start: 0px; --min-height: initial; --order: initial; --overflow: visible; --overlay-mix-blend-mode: initial; --overlay-opacity: 1; --overlay-transition: 0.3s; --padding-block-end: 0px; --padding-block-start: 0px; --padding-inline-end: 0px; --padding-inline-start: 0px; --position: relative; --swiper-navigation-size: 44px; --swiper-pagination-bullet-horizontal-gap: 6px; --swiper-pagination-bullet-size: 6px; --swiper-theme-color: #000; --text-align: initial; --widgets-spacing: 20px 20px; --width: 100%; --z-index: revert; align-content: var(--align-content); align-items: var(--align-items); align-self: var(--align-self); backface-visibility: hidden; border-radius: var(--border-radius); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: var(--display); flex-direction: var(--flex-direction); flex-wrap: var(--flex-wrap); flex: var(--flex-grow) var(--flex-shrink) var(--flex-basis); font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; gap: var(--gap); height: var(--height); justify-content: var(--justify-content); margin-block-end: var(--bc-margin-block-end,var(--margin-block-end)); margin-block-start: var(--bc-margin-block-start,var(--margin-block-start)); margin-inline-end: var(--bc-margin-inline-end,var(--margin-inline-end)); margin-inline-start: var(--bc-margin-inline-start,var(--margin-inline-start)); margin: 0px; min-height: var(--min-height); min-width: 0px; order: var(--order); outline: 0px; overflow: var(--overflow); padding-block-end: var(--bc-padding-block-end,var(--padding-block-end)); padding-block-start: var(--bc-padding-block-start,var(--padding-block-start)); padding-inline-end: var(--bc-padding-inline-end,var(--padding-inline-end)); padding-inline-start: var(--bc-padding-inline-start,var(--padding-inline-start)); padding: 0px; position: var(--position); text-align: var(--text-align); transition: background var(--background-transition,0.3s),border var(--border-transition,0.3s),box-shadow var(--border-transition,0.3s),transform var(--e-con-transform-transition-duration,0.4s); vertical-align: baseline; width: var(--width); z-index: var(--z-index);"></div></div></div></div></div></div>Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01085260877904727608noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-522319810296642659.post-82881800040876268642024-04-18T09:49:00.002-05:002024-04-18T09:49:13.921-05:00GoodReads Cross-Genre Trends As a Resource to Help Your Readers<p>One of my favorite resources to use as I help readers is Goodreads. Look, I know the site has issues, but it is the best resource we have to access data and trends about readers in real time. I can go there and get a snapshot of what people are reading and how they feel about it. Yes, I know some people use it to be racist, sexist, homophobic etc.... but the vast majority of information is from passionate readers sharing their opinions in a public space.</p><p>The people behind the database know this as well and they use the data they are gathering on every single user in so many ways, some probably nefarious, but also, some that help us serve readers better.&nbsp;</p><p>At our individual libraries., we are never going to be able to get a wide enough picture of what people are most interested in reading in real time. We might find out about trends after they crest, when really we need to be ahead of the wave so that we can not only have the books but also have them displayed in a way that shows people we know what they are looking for without them having to ask.</p><p>Here is a great example of how Goodreads uses their data in a way that helps us. At the beginning of the month they had <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/blog/show/2758?ref=CrossGenreTrends24_sa" target="_blank">this article listing the Five Cross-Genre Trends</a> that they are noticing. I have posted the introduction below, but please <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/blog/show/2758?ref=CrossGenreTrends24_sa" target="_blank">click through</a> and see what they have gathered and then look at the comments as well. Of course normally the comments are a place to avoid, but in this case, it is simply a continuation of the conversation but readers adding their own thoughts.&nbsp;</p><p>This is a treasure trove of information about readers-- from all over-- and their preferences right now. Also, since cross-genre books are one of the biggest trends in all of fiction AND it is a trend that has been driven by readers, following this conversation is essential to staying relevant in the eyes of your patrons.</p><p>First and foremost, an article like this one is a resource for you. Make sure you are aware of these cross-genres and the titles that readers are excited about. Order them if you don't have them. Suggest them or readalikes for them as you place holds.</p><p>Second, turn these 5 categories into mini-displays or lists. You can use Goodreads or NoveList or simply a Google search to find more titles that you already own to add to these ready made display titles. Get those displays up in your buildings, on your websites, and out on social media. Use a link <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/blog/show/2758?ref=CrossGenreTrends24_sa" target="_blank">to the Goodreads article </a>to draw even more interest.</p><p>Do not underestimate how much more alluring your displays look to your patrons when they see that the wider book world is talking about the same thing as their library. Too often we think that references make us look less competent when it comes to helping leisure readers, but that is completely wrong. When we show our readers that we are engaged with and part of the larger "book atmosphere" (credit Robin Bradford on that phrase), they trust us even more.&nbsp;</p><p>Third, this article is a great example of a conversation starter like the ones I suggest in this "<a href="http://raforall.blogspot.com/2023/04/new-booktalking-exercise-worksheet.html" target="_blank">Conversation Starter to Display</a>" handout. Why not show your patrons that you want to know what they are enjoying. Put up a display simply entitled, "Cross-Genre Trends." Don't specify the specifics of which genres are crossing. Trust me, they won't care. The "cross-genre" alone will be a huge draw. Then use the information in my "<a href="http://raforall.blogspot.com/2023/04/new-booktalking-exercise-worksheet.html" target="_blank">Conversation Starter to Display</a>" post to gather information from you patrons about their favorite genre blends, both specific titles and any names they are giving to those blends.&nbsp;</p><p>There is so much we can do with the data Goodreads is already collecting. This post is simply a starting point. They are not going to stop and readers are there in numbers we cannot replicate, so why not use it all for good.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/blog/show/2758?ref=CrossGenreTrends24_sa" target="_blank">From Time Travel to Tech Startups: Five Cross-Genre Book Trends We're Noticing&nbsp;</a></h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/blog/show/2758?ref=CrossGenreTrends24_sa" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="630" data-original-width="1200" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1AfK_zpiy5mXp4CcM9GPpSpWicsugCPJ0qEXhdVxkNy8rMBFanWrKzF6AJXGmslEdLEe5Oxwy04u1x8r3SYWkIphFr4WZdMKhkTzMXxu64zi_VmZ5yTx7re1xTKkIFcTp9GIHPCp-JcsJqMMMxcrBlU_J6r7YsVeFbU65ld5gBm-bQWWbrTBroK-cMhsZ/s320/1711044773-1711044773_goodreads_misc.png" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(24, 24, 24); color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span><blockquote><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(24, 24, 24); color: #181818;">As life’s rich pageant of books passes through Goodreads World Headquarters, we often take note of certain thematic and topical trends that suddenly feel like they're everywhere. These aren’t genre trends, exactly. In fact, what makes them interesting is that they often manifest&nbsp;</span><i style="caret-color: rgb(24, 24, 24); color: #181818;">across</i><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(24, 24, 24); color: #181818;">&nbsp;multiple genres.</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(24, 24, 24); color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(24, 24, 24); color: #181818;">&nbsp;</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(24, 24, 24); color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(24, 24, 24); color: #181818;">We like to catalog these strange little pulses while they’re still in circulation, so we've gathered below a selection of new (published since 2022) and upcoming books sorted into five cross-genre trends we're currently spotting. Some are familiar and tend to come in waves over time—vampires are back, for instance—while others feel like distinctly 21st-century concerns. What's with all the books that are set in 2040, anyhow?</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(24, 24, 24); color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(24, 24, 24); color: #181818;">&nbsp;</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(24, 24, 24); color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(24, 24, 24); color: #181818;">We’ve added some quick introductions and synopses. Click on the book cover images for more information about each book. Have fun, and if you want to add books or compare notes on other cross-genre trends you're noticing in books these days, feel free to continue the discussion&nbsp;in the comments section!</span></span></blockquote><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(24, 24, 24); color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, &quot;Times New Roman&quot;, serif; font-size: 14px;"></span></div><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/blog/show/2758?ref=CrossGenreTrends24_sa" target="_blank">Click here to read the whole article. which includes annotated book lists,&nbsp;</a>and use it to start conversations with your readers.<br /><p><br /></p>Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01085260877904727608noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-522319810296642659.post-28104057946828287752024-04-17T09:17:00.000-05:002024-04-17T09:17:22.430-05:00A Unique Take on Best Books: Tournament of Books 2024<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.tournamentofbooks.com/about" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="928" data-original-width="928" height="182" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSPBiSjpnQriGmZUV-FK70ufHdTYknApkW0Yu8rj1HsXhRiTPiV1Epv0EBWV1eGgDiDPynCXPnbYjBYXqqNxDL0EF61WYqIvj06GroYiMO1m86pN2Sp62viKnqtxHzvxEqU5lDrtraxo9n6vXMQvXYEwCO8Lfib0qK5awWxcwbwM_jefNiDvTw35giKa-V/w182-h182/Fill+1.png" width="182" /></span></a></div><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Morning News' <a href="https://www.tournamentofbooks.com/about" target="_blank">Tournament of Books</a> is one of my favorite "best books" resources for a few reasons.&nbsp;</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Every year, I take a moment, after the </span>competition<span style="font-family: inherit;">&nbsp;is completed to remind you of what a great resource the ToB is to help your readers looking for thought provoking reads across the full spectrum of genres and storytelling styles.</span></p><p><a href="https://www.tournamentofbooks.com/2024-books" target="_blank">Click</a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.tournamentofbooks.com/2024-books" target="_blank">&nbsp;here to see the 2024 list of books with summaries</a>.</span></p><div><p><span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #000033;">On the surface this appears to be just another list of "best books," so</span><span style="color: #000033;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">&nbsp;why do I think it such a valuable resource? Well you can read their full </span>explanation<span style="font-family: inherit;">&nbsp;here,<a href="https://www.tournamentofbooks.com/about" target="_blank"> on their "About" page here</a>, but here is an </span>excerpt that<span style="font-family: inherit;">&nbsp;I think sums up why I like it so much:</span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></p><blockquote><span style="font-family: inherit;">But it’s not really a contest. We’re not even sure it’s a “tournament.” What the ToB has been and will be, as long as we’re putting it on, is a month-long conversation about novels and reading and writing and art that takes place on weekdays in March.</span></blockquote><p></p><p class="preFade fadeIn" style="line-height: var(--body-font-line-height); margin: 0px 0px 1rem; opacity: 1 !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; transition-delay: 0.07619s; transition-duration: 0.9s; transition-property: opacity; transition-timing-function: ease; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><blockquote><p class="preFade fadeIn" style="line-height: var(--body-font-line-height); margin: 0px 0px 1rem; opacity: 1 !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; transition-delay: 0.07619s; transition-duration: 0.9s; transition-property: opacity; transition-timing-function: ease; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Here’s how it works. Throughout the year, we gather, read, and assess the works of fiction we think would make worthy Tournament competitors. In December we present our findings in the form of a "long list." We then cull it to a final shortlist of 16 or so books. (Some years we expand the list beyond the core 16 to include an extra set of two or more books that compete in a pre-Tournament play-in match.)</span></p><p></p><p class="preFade fadeIn" style="line-height: var(--body-font-line-height); margin: 1rem 0px; opacity: 1 !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; transition-delay: 0.080952s; transition-duration: 0.9s; transition-property: opacity; transition-timing-function: ease; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">When the Tournament of Books begins in March, each weekday two works of fiction go head to head, with one of our judges deciding which book moves forward in the brackets, according to whatever criteria matters to them. Along the way, the judges reveal their biases and interests, any connections they have to the participating authors, and, most importantly, an elaborate explanation of how they decided between the two books.</span></p></blockquote><div><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #000033; font-family: inherit;">The <a href="https://www.tournamentofbooks.com/about" target="_blank">ToB</a> is not your average book award and not only because it is a battle between the books as judged by other writers using a bracket system.&nbsp;</span></span><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 51); color: #000033; font-family: inherit;">With&nbsp;<a href="https://themorningnews.org/tob/" style="color: #000033; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">ToB</a>&nbsp;we also get the most diverse list of “best books” you will see anywhere, both diverse in authorship and genre.&nbsp;</span></p><div><span style="background-color: white;"><span><span style="color: #000033; font-family: inherit;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 51);">And because it happens in March each year, but the books are from the year before-- so the 2024 ToB uses 2023 books--there are a lot of titles that are already off holds</span></span><span style="color: #000033; font-family: inherit;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 51);">. So it's a current "best list" option of a wide range of best books, many of which are on the shelf.</span></span></span></span></div><div style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 51); color: #000033;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #000033; font-family: inherit;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 51);">With&nbsp;</span></span><a href="https://www.tournamentofbooks.com/about" style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 51); color: #000033; font-family: inherit;" target="_blank">ToB</a><span style="color: #000033; font-family: inherit;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 51);">&nbsp;you not only learn about great books and why they are wonderful, but you also learn about the judges themselves, also a very diverse group of people throughout the publishing industry. </span></span><a href="https://www.tournamentofbooks.com/2024-judges" style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 51); color: #000033; font-family: inherit;" target="_blank">You can learn about the judges who always get their own page here</a><span style="color: #000033; font-family: inherit;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 51);">. Just the list of </span></span><span style="color: #000033;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 51);">judges</span></span><span style="color: #000033; font-family: inherit;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 51);">&nbsp;alone makes for it's own resource to suggest books to readers.</span></span></span></span></div><div style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 51); color: #000033;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 51); color: #000033; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;">Each “battle” has a full write up which gets to the heart of the two books’ appeal and structure. These essays give us valuable information on who would like the book and why. Readalikes are also often mentioned.&nbsp;</span></span><a href="https://www.tournamentofbooks.com/2024/" style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 51); color: #000033;" target="_blank">This is the easiest link to use to pull up each match-up</a><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black;">&nbsp;and enjoy it for fun while also learning something new and unique about these popular books</span><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black;">.&nbsp;</span><span><br /><br /><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #000033; font-family: inherit;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 51);">Oh and the comments. The readers who follow along religiously and have entire discussions about each pairing of books for pages and pages are THE BEST. Following just the comments is like reading a novel itself. Plus those are the comments of </span></span><span style="color: #000033;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 51);">regular</span></span><span style="color: #000033; font-family: inherit;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 51);">&nbsp;readers. There&nbsp;is even a running commentary on the battle itself by the tournament organizers. <a href="https://www.tournamentofbooks.com/2024/" target="_blank">Again use this link and click on one of the matches to see what I mean.</a></span></span></span><br /><br /><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 51); color: #000033; font-family: inherit;">And don’t forget the back list. From 2005 to the present. Each with their own full bank of the above mentioned information and more! It is no longer all on one page like it used to be but,&nbsp;</span></span>if you want to see the archive of ToB from the old format from 2005-2020,&nbsp;<a href="https://themorningnews.org/tob/superrooster/" target="_blank">click here and scroll to the bottom of the right gutter for all the links</a>. And then click on the years for&nbsp;<a href="https://www.tournamentofbooks.com/2023/" target="_blank">2023</a>, and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.tournamentofbooks.com/2024/" target="_blank">2024</a>&nbsp;to see the details of those tourneys. For 2021 and 2022, I cannot figure out the link (they don't do a full list with links to the matches after 2020), but you can see their announcement of the books for the&nbsp;<a href="https://themorningnews.org/article/the-2021-tournament-of-books-shortlist-and-judges" target="_blank">2021</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://themorningnews.org/article/the-2022-tournament-of-books-shortlist-and-judges" target="_blank">2022</a>&nbsp;tourneys my clicking on the year.</div><div style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 51); color: #000033;"><br /></div><div style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 51); color: #000033;"><span style="background-color: white;"><a href="https://www.tournamentofbooks.com/about">ToB</a>&nbsp;has also become my go-to&nbsp;resource&nbsp;for "literary fiction." Why? Because the ToB takes the idea of "</span>literary" titles, titles worthy of being deemed as&nbsp;worth your time [which I hate, but it is a thing], and gives it a wide&nbsp;berth. I especially love using the backlist titles for book discussions.&nbsp;</div><div style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 51); color: #000033;"><br /></div><div style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 51); color: #000033;">Speaking of backlist, I love the "Wall of Champions," which you can&nbsp;<a href="https://www.tournamentofbooks.com" target="_blank">click here and scroll down</a>&nbsp;to see. That page alone is an awesome "sure bet" resource.</div><div><span><span style="color: #000033; font-family: inherit;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 51);"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span><span style="color: #000033; font-family: inherit;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 51);">In terms of actively using the ToB to help readers, beyond keeping the cache of suggestions readily </span></span><span style="color: #000033;">available, you can stage your own ToB at any time. Use theirs as an inspiration. Here's an example, kick off Summer Reading by taking a look at your most circulated titles-- overall or in specific genres-- or stage a tourney based on your Summer Reading Theme. This is a great participatory display that can be put up in the building or online. Have your patrons vote yes, but also have your library workers do commentary. Get everyone on staff involved who wants to be and have fun with it. You will showcasing your staff's expertise and your collection.</span></span></div><div style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 51); color: #000033;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div></div><div>I hope you use the <a href="https://www.tournamentofbooks.com/about" target="_blank">ToB</a> as a resource to get your patrons excited about reading. You can use all of the past years to create a diverse (in every way) display to attract a wide swatch of readers.</div><p>If you want to take a deeper dive, you can read "<a href="https://themorningnews.org/article/a-brief-history-of-the-tournament-of-books" target="_blank">A Brief History of the Tournament of Books.</a>"&nbsp;</p><p>If you want more "Rooster Events," <a href="https://www.tournamentofbooks.com/about" target="_blank">scroll to the bottom of the "About" page</a> to see the "<a href="https://themorningnews.org/tob/superrooster/" target="_blank">Super Rooster</a>" (a contest to decided the champion of champions), "Camp ToB" (a summer book club of past titles: 2023 event is <a href="https://www.tournamentofbooks.com/camp-tob-2023" target="_blank">here</a>; archive is <a href="https://themorningnews.org/archive/tag/camptob" target="_blank">here</a>), and "<a href="https://themorningnews.org/article/welcome-to-the-rooster-nonfiction-popup" target="_blank">The Nonfiction Pop-Up</a>" (a one time event).</p></div><p></p>Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01085260877904727608noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-522319810296642659.post-57246905561979003062024-04-16T09:06:00.004-05:002024-04-16T09:06:47.089-05:00Graphic Novels Preview via LJ (Includes an Interview with Emil Ferris)<p>Today I am finishing up my Horror Review Column for the June issue of Library Journal and then later this week, I will begin my Horror Genre Preview article for the July issue. As I mentioned a few months ago <a href="https://raforall.blogspot.com/2024/03/crime-fiction-genre-preview-in-lj.html" target="_blank">here</a>, LJ has streamlined their Genre Preview articles to make them more standard and as a result, more helpful.&nbsp;</p><p>This month, they have a format preview-- <a href="https://www.libraryjournal.com/story/Graphics-Novels-Preview-Trends-and-Titles" target="_blank">Graphic Novels</a>. And guess what the first trend is? Horror!</p><p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.libraryjournal.com/story/LJ-Talks-with-Emil-Ferris-Author-of-My-Favorite-Thing-Is-Monsters" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="158" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7oPdoXbNqFXdhQluP_EbwEGU_cEuehV54wJVPPOJdvkuWqEDHcj5NlxBJlVkeDRHorpK5lx6DScO9agmCyIjTdVEnJTvwltbyciWCbrzRJ-eiRGJT9LgHbuTJsBQYlEykr0EF41pqdwXGShqqUM3MEOmGdSLEtnN50Cxz3bKWL6KoXi5N4u0iUip38quG/w158-h200/Jlibrary-twohundred.jpeg" width="158" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.libraryjournal.com/story/LJ-Talks-with-Emil-Ferris-Author-of-My-Favorite-Thing-Is-Monsters" target="_blank">Click here to read<br />the interview</a></td></tr></tbody></table>Below you will find the introductory paragraph, a direct link to read the full article, and the downloadable list of titles to make your ordering easier.</p><p>But first, each preview is also paired with an interview of a key person in the Genre at that moment (or format in this case). I have an AWESOME person lined up for mine, a LibraryReads Hall of Famer who has one of the hottest books of the Fall. But the Graphic Novel Preview issue may rival my upcoming interview as they chatted with Emil Ferris about <a href="https://www.libraryjournal.com/story/LJ-Talks-with-Emil-Ferris-Author-of-My-Favorite-Thing-Is-Monsters" target="_blank">My Favorite Thing Is Monsters Book 2,</a> which I have already preordered. <a href="https://www.libraryjournal.com/story/LJ-Talks-with-Emil-Ferris-Author-of-My-Favorite-Thing-Is-Monsters" target="_blank">Click here to read that</a>.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.libraryjournal.com/story/Graphics-Novels-Preview-Trends-and-Titles" target="_blank">Graphic Novels Preview | Forthcoming Reads and Format Trends</a></span></h3><p><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: AkzidenzGroteskBQ-Reg; font-size: 15px;">by&nbsp;</span><a class="author" href="https://www.libraryjournal.com/author?query=Melissa%20DeWild%20and%20Neal%20Wyatt" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(219, 26, 33); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: AkzidenzGroteskBQ-Reg; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 10px; text-decoration: none;">Melissa DeWild and Neal Wyatt</a><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: AkzidenzGroteskBQ-Reg; font-size: 15px;"></span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: AkzidenzGroteskBQ-Reg; font-size: 15px;" /><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: AkzidenzGroteskBQ-Reg; font-size: 15px;">Apr 10, 2024 | Filed in&nbsp;</span><span class="tag" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(219, 26, 33); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: AkzidenzGroteskBQ-Reg; font-size: 15px;"><a href="https://www.libraryjournal.com/section/Reviews%2B" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; text-decoration: none;">Reviews+</a></span></p><blockquote><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; white-space: break-spaces;">The opportunity to experiment with line and form, matching design to mood and carrying story through innovative panel layout and art, clearly holds deep appeal for graphic novel creators and readers alike. Design of both story and page is the point in many of the key works this season. Frank Silva, marketing and communications coordinator at Mad Cave Studios, notes, “The trend of presenting stories in unconventional formats…showcases a growing interest in experimenting with narrative structures.” Look toward </span><em style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; white-space: break-spaces;">Attaboy</em><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; white-space: break-spaces;">, </span><em style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; white-space: break-spaces;">Iris</em><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; white-space: break-spaces;">, and </span><em style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; white-space: break-spaces;">Between Two Sounds</em><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; white-space: break-spaces;"> for examples. At the same time, underscoring the format’s avid readership, trends from text-only fiction and nonfiction are finding equal home in graphic novels—particularly with a focus on horror, SFF, adaptations, and memoirs. </span><a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1OB1MTX2oqMxjIZT5U1Vz4_CkTX6yuPTXWkFcaUSLW_Q/edit#gid=0" style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); text-decoration-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); white-space: break-spaces;" target="_blank"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">A downloadable list of all titles mentioned can be found here</strong></a><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; white-space: break-spaces;">.</span></span></p></blockquote><p><a href="https://www.libraryjournal.com/story/Graphics-Novels-Preview-Trends-and-Titles" target="_blank">Click here to read the full Graphic Novel Preview.&nbsp;</a></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; white-space: break-spaces;"></span></span></p>Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01085260877904727608noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-522319810296642659.post-88022091436739038612024-04-15T09:51:00.007-05:002024-04-15T09:51:34.804-05:00LibraryReads: May 2024<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;<span style="font-family: inherit;">&nbsp;&nbsp;</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">&nbsp;</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">&nbsp;</span><span style="clear: left; font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><a href="https://libraryreads.org/" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="332" data-original-width="1192" height="111" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCkWdAtH92K1MEwmkWjcwcOKhqKLgRa3edcuTkGkuPFyKqsUupQngNZvfRn22AdkxdW7QOJD3WZ-4TuZ2YLm_CpaQrdQ-5ESAqNokrt521uYwcv510MTeCe-IJvBJqP9To2TFaEbm3UWj_VjN__xg5xFiNJt35HYBHodwXrfmg-a7doPo_T9UMtmnLGQ/w400-h111/Screenshot%202023-04-17%20at%209.52.11%20AM.png" width="400" /></a></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">It's LibraryReads day and that means four things here on RA for All</span></p><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #201f1e; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; text-decoration-thickness: initial; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 2;"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-8564489571573251139" itemprop="" style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 51); color: black; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"></div><ol><li><font><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I post the list and tag it “</span><a href="http://raforall.blogspot.com/search/label/library%20reads" style="text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration: none;"><span style="text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Library Reads</span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">” so that you can easily pull up every single list with&nbsp;</span><a href="http://raforall.blogspot.com/search/label/library%20reads" style="text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration: none;"><span style="text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">one click</span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></font></li><li><font><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I can remind you that even though the newest list is always fun to see, it is</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">&nbsp;</span><span style="text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://libraryreads.org/archive" target="_blank">the older lists</a></span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://libraryreads.org/archive" target="_blank">&nbsp;</a>where you can find AWESOME, sure bet suggestions for patrons that will be on your shelf to actually hand to them right now. The best thing about LibraryReads is the compound interest it is earning. We now have hundreds and hundreds of titles worth suggesting right at our fingertips through</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">&nbsp;</span><a href="https://libraryreads.org/archive" style="text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">this archive</span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">&nbsp;</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">OR</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">&nbsp;</span><span style="text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1lPUm92torTikJ1FlwQDfAzRWTXvzMSONk3AuSRWG10Y/edit#gid=830225595" style="text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">the sortable master list allowing you to mix and match however you want.</a></span></font></li><li><font><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You have no excuse not to hand sell&nbsp;</span><span style="text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://libraryreads.org/archive" target="_blank">any LibraryReads</a></span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">&nbsp;titles because there is a book talk right there in the list in the form of the annotation one of your colleagues wrote for you. All you have to say to your patron is, “such and such library worker in blank state thought this was a great read,” and then you read what he or she said.</span></font></li><li><font><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Every upcoming book now has at least 1 readalike that is&nbsp;</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">available to hand out RIGHT NOW. Book talk the upcoming book, place a hold for it, and then hand out that readalike title for while they wait. If they need more titles before their hold comes in, use the readalike title to identify more readalike titles. And then keep repeating. Seriously, it is that easy to have happy, satisfied readers.</span></font></li></ol><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So get out there and suggest a good read to someone today. I don’t care what list or resource you use to find the suggestion, just start suggesting books.</span></div><font><br /></font><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><font><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Please remember</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">&nbsp;</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">to&nbsp;</span><a href="http://libraryreads.org/for-library-staff/" style="text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">click here</span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">&nbsp;for everything you need to know about how to participate.&nbsp;</span><span style="text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1nyuBdpdWxKZaIEuGHxmeiW85-YzGGlsVytp_MQUezBY/edit#gid=0" style="text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Click here to see a database of eligible diverse titles sorted by month.</a></span></font></div></div></span></span></div><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 51); orphans: 2; widows: 2;">And finally,&nbsp;</span><a href="https://libraryreads.org/resources" style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 51); orphans: 2; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;" target="_blank">here is LibraryReads' extremely helpful Resources page</a><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 51); orphans: 2; widows: 2;">.</span></span></p><p style="orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://libraryreads.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/May24.pdf" target="_blank"><b style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 51);">Now let's get to the May 2024 list....</b>&nbsp;</a></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="182" data-original-width="420" height="87" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIA5MywyWvcfOQKr4LszopQDtPwz-CnTPnujdQNcPr3sqGMzP6tiKyyPPNLcUcmyL6mNiRyuYYbVeObffAvJuqLZUY8onchQChiW5HGOUrn11k2STfKeXXKQHREUW6NWxOx-OzsyT4FVaqBT1_S_PslIou0r0SUK3lotpP4YWFUF5XWX5umekDPlBDnw/w200-h87/Screenshot%202023-04-17%20at%209.19.14%20AM.png" width="200" /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ4dpEoHyVx2z4zeBjJTRJGmaVBBvfPZdqYFTcyoZQuggrpOk8sRU85GeTVNd4kPlAAMT1AUf8mJaLOLh3nfKuIznwCeLF2aZtD7hAyXhhXrIlUpMTm3iv2nfjWJTPNL34e5DT71IF6IwEl8xvUbSEz2nofV6454TPzb03CitUrY3-jtPg9mnRyulf6qNi/s1500/136276877.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1000" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ4dpEoHyVx2z4zeBjJTRJGmaVBBvfPZdqYFTcyoZQuggrpOk8sRU85GeTVNd4kPlAAMT1AUf8mJaLOLh3nfKuIznwCeLF2aZtD7hAyXhhXrIlUpMTm3iv2nfjWJTPNL34e5DT71IF6IwEl8xvUbSEz2nofV6454TPzb03CitUrY3-jtPg9mnRyulf6qNi/w133-h200/136276877.jpg" width="133" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: inherit; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><div class="page" style="text-align: start;" title="Page 1"><div class="section" style="background-color: white;"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>The Last Murder at the End of the World</b></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Stuart Turton</span></div><div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">(Sourcebooks Landmark)</span></div><div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">After a deadly fog decimates most of humanity, the small population that’s left lives on an island. As one villager begins investigating a murder, what once seemed like utopia begins to reveal dark secrets that no one could have predicted. Turton raises tantalizing social questions, presents an inventive world structure, and keeps readers intrigued and surprised throughout the novel.</span></div><div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">—Sharon Layburn, South Huntington Public Library, NY</span></div><div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">NoveList read-alike: Clean Air by Sarah Blake</span></div><div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;"><b><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 238);"><a href="https://libraryreads.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/May24.pdf">Now for the rest of the May 2024 list!</a></span></b></div><div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="page" title="Page 1"><div class="section"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>The Ministry of Time: A Novel<br /></b></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Kaliane Bradley<br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">(Avid Reader Press)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span><span style="font-family: inherit;">An employee of the Ministry of Time becomes a "bridge," helping </span>an<span style="font-family: inherit;">&nbsp;Arctic explorer adjust to modern life after being rescued from the lost Franklin expedition of 1845. But as she begins to grow closer to him, she finds herself wondering who she can trust, what the real reason for pulling people out of time may be, and whether her life might be in danger. Totally gripping, with great character development.</span><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">—Mara Bandy Fass, Champaign Public Library, IL<br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">NoveList read-alike: This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar</span></div><div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="page" style="font-family: inherit;" title="Page 1"><div class="section"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Daughters of Shandong<br /></b></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Eve J. Chung<br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">(Berkley)</span></div><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">At times both heartbreaking and uplifting, this novel follows the journey of the women of the Ang family from their farm in rural China to Taiwan during the horrific land reforms of 1948-1950. With this story based on Chung’s grandmother’s experience of a turbulent era, readers will be riveted from page one by the mother/daughter bonds and their will to survive.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">—Martha DiVittorio, Bellmore Memorial Library, NY<br />NoveList read-alike: A Woman of Pleasure by Kiyoko Murata</span></p><div class="page" title="Page 1"><div class="section"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Savor It<br /></b>Tarah DeWitt<br />(St. Martin's Griffin)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">This Pacific Northwest rom- com has delicious tension from the first interaction. Add in fake dating and a steamy scene in a library, and who could ask for more? Readers will appreciate how much attention and care DeWitt put into creating fully-formed characters grappling with grief, chasing dreams, and figuring out how to live in the moment.</span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">—Ebby Bowles, Hingham Public Library, MA<br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">NoveList read-alike: Chef's Choice by TJ Alexander</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="page" title="Page 1"><div class="section"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>This Summer Will be Different<br /></b></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Carley Fortune<br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">(Berkley)</span></div><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Filled with emotional moments as well as fun and flirty scenes, this wonderful story set in picturesque Prince Edward Island is about friendships and found family. More than a love story, this novel has a lot that readers will relate to, including friendship and family. A perfect steamy romance book for the summer.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">—Karen Troutman, LibraryReads Ambassador<br />NoveList read-alike: How To Marry Keanu Reeves in 90 Days by K.M. Jackson</span></p><div class="page" title="Page 1"><div class="section"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Lies and Weddings: A Novel<br /></b></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Kevin Kwan<br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">(Doubleday)<br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Arabella Leung is doing everything she can to match her son Rufus to a very wealthy titled woman in this romp around the world with controlling parents, one of whom is desperately matchmaking to save the family estate. Readers who love high entertainment and the bad behavior of the haves and the have-even-mores will devour this wild ride.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">—Kimberly McGee, Lake Travis Community Library, TX<br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">NoveList read-alike: Family Trust by Kathy Wang</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="page" title="Page 1"><div class="section"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>When Among Crows<br /></b></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Veronica Roth<br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">(Tor Books)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">This painful and fascinating (but ultimately hopeful) urban fantasy set in Chicago is a packed novella steeped in Slavic folklore. Dymitr is on a quest to retrieve a guarded plant that might relieve the demon Ala of a deadly curse so he can bargain with her for a hint on how to seek an audience with Baba Yaga herself.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">—Jessica Trotter, Capital Area District Libraries, MI<br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">NoveList read-alike: Thistlefoot by GennaRose Nethercott</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="page" title="Page 1"><div class="section"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Long After We Are Gone<br /></b></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Terah Shelton Harris<br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">(Sourcebooks Landmark)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">This moving story follows four siblings trying to hold onto their family property. Secrets and dubious life choices threaten to break the family apart as the siblings experience despair followed by self-discovery and self-determination, seeking what truly matters. An engaging and satisfying read, featuring believable, complex characters.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">—Monica McAbee, PGCMLS Surratts-Clinton Branch, MD<br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">NoveList read-alike: Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="page" title="Page 1"><div class="section"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club<br /></b></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Helen Simonson<br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">(The Dial Press)</span></div><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Constance, companion to an elderly woman, meets Poppy, a young woman trying to start a business for women motorcycle riders. Constance gets drawn into the circle of friendship and independence the motorcycle ladies enjoy. Readers will love the characters, the setting, and the portrayal of life after&nbsp;</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Great War.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">— Linda Quinn, LibraryReads Ambassador<br />NoveList read-alike: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer</span></p><div class="page" title="Page 1"><div class="section"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Can't Spell Treason Without Tea<br /></b></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Rebecca Thorne<br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">(Bramble)</span></div><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This book is so cozy, readers will want to snuggle under a heap of blankets with a delicious cup of tea. Kianthe and Reyna were the perfect opposites-attract couple—determined to make things work no matter the obstacles. Lots of humor with a serious amount of heart. Perfect for fans of Legends &amp; Lattes.</span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">—Laura Eckert, Clermont County Public Library, OH<br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">NoveList read-alike: Notorious Sorcerer by Davinia Evans</span></div><p style="text-align: left;"></p><div class="page" style="text-align: left;" title="Page 1"><div class="section" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: -webkit-standard; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><div class="page" title="Page 1"><div class="section"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><div class="page" title="Page 1"><div class="section"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: #0e5d67;"><span>Bo</span>ard Bonus pick:</span></b></p><div class="page" title="Page 1"><div class="section"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>The Return of Ellie Black<br /></b></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Emiko Jean<br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">(Simon &amp; Schuster)</span></div><p style="text-align: left;"></p><div class="page" style="text-align: left;" title="Page 1"><div class="section" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: -webkit-standard; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><div class="page" title="Page 1"><div class="section"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><div class="page" title="Page 1"><div class="section"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><b style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #0e5d67;">Notable Nonfiction:</span></b></p><div class="page" title="Page 1"><div class="section"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Silka;"><b>The Light Eaters: How the Unseen World of Plant Intelligence Offers a New Understanding of Life on Earth</b><br /></span><span style="font-family: Silka;">Zoë Schlanger<br /></span><span style="font-family: Silka;">(Harper)</span></div><p style="text-align: left;"><span><a href="https://twitter.com/LibraryReads99" target="_blank">See our social media for annotations of the bonus picks</a></span></p><p><br /></p><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 51); line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; text-size-adjust: auto; widows: 2;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://libraryreads.org/hof" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><span><img border="0" data-original-height="822" data-original-width="2654" height="124" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0WTQQrDxyIzbOAxYzNSZwiwKJAWcG_xnu4kBwvDCXgf-MdhP1uFAsKxn8g9JSGYiXe6nxCAEg9De-I0M8RlWD9Q2dCyUdgyWwrMBqmpu22pzcKiwxV2th7PwwLrMkZm9nmUStLKuQ-728TZINiHdNZzhp-5PWXpQxgXwnTrftxS5vLJXlGP9Bo2zbmg/w400-h124/Screenshot%202023-04-17%20at%209.31.17%20AM.png" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span><a href="https://libraryreads.org/hof" target="_blank">Click here to see the entire Hall of Fame</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><div class="page" title="Page 2"><div class="section"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><p style="text-align: center;"><span><span>The LibraryReads Hall of Fame designation honors authors who have had multiple titles appear on the monthly LibraryReads list since 2013. When their third title places on the list via library staff votes, the author moves into the Hall of Fame.&nbsp;</span><a href="https://libraryreads.org/hof" target="_blank">Click<span>&nbsp;here to see the Hall of&nbsp;</span>Fame<span>&nbsp;authors organized in alpha order.</span></a></span></p><div class="page" title="Page 2"><div class="section"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Summers at the Saint<br /></b></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Mary Kay Andrews<br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">(St. Martin's Press)<br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">NoveList read-alike: An Island Summer by Jenny Hale</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="page" title="Page 2"><div class="section"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>If Something Happens to Me<br /></b></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Alex Finlay<br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">(Minotaur Books)<br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">NoveList read-alike: Just Another Missing Person by Gillian Mcallister</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="page" title="Page 2"><div class="section"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>The Paradise Problem<br /></b></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Christina Lauren<br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">(Gallery Books)<br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">NoveList read-alike: The Fiance Farce by Alexandra Bellfleur<br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Love at First Book&nbsp;<br /></b></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Jenn McKinlay<br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">(Berkley)<br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">NoveList read-alike: Better Than Fiction by Alexa Martin<br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Mind Games<br /></b></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Nora Roberts<br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">(St. Martin's Press)<br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">NoveList read-alike: Hold Back the Dark by Kay Hooper<br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>You Should Be So Lucky<br /></b></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Cat Sebastian<br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">(Avon)<br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">NoveList read-alike: The Prospects by KT Hoffman<br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>The Guncle Abroad<br /></b></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Steven Rowley<br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">(G.P. Putnam's Sons)<br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">NoveList read-alike: The Bump by Sidney Karger<br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>One Perfect Couple<br /></b></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ruth Ware<br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">(Gallery/Scout Press)<br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">NoveList read-alike: The Guest List by Lucy Foley</span></div><div class="page" title="Page 2"><div class="section"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><div class="page" title="Page 2"><div class="section"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><div class="page" title="Page 2"><div class="section"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><div class="page" title="Page 2"><div class="section"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><div class="page" title="Page 2"><div class="section"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><p><span style="font-family: Silka; font-size: 7pt;"><br /></span></p></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></span></div>Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01085260877904727608noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-522319810296642659.post-1824690101025787492024-04-12T07:00:00.108-05:002024-04-12T08:08:30.366-05:00What I'm Reading: Horror Movie by Paul Tremblay<p><span style="font-family: inherit;">This is a book I curse for be allowed only 200 words to review it. I loved it so much and needed so many more words. &nbsp;In the end, for the published review, I settled on the most important plot info you need and doubled down on the feel of the book but there is so much more here than this review can articulate. But good news, I can </span>give you "bonus" review content here.&nbsp;<span style="font-family: inherit;">But that's getting too far ahead of ourselves. First, that draft review:</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7FwkJtrRPM8XJ3yAgD3P0ZYlmeJp1R9kEARzCEjS-gu7gkJJCIPQvV9tASulA4RrKdg84MCOCDlDSeqGCRpimvxeFAfLwk2JapFYw2-4pKLgom0QwW6rbu4gLBaThi6qV8-VRPgsDwhVC1C9r_WIjKPj7lhS_N_LAPbBNyfDY_k5y4nUZVRDtofA8b6l8/s159/content.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="159" data-original-width="128" height="159" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7FwkJtrRPM8XJ3yAgD3P0ZYlmeJp1R9kEARzCEjS-gu7gkJJCIPQvV9tASulA4RrKdg84MCOCDlDSeqGCRpimvxeFAfLwk2JapFYw2-4pKLgom0QwW6rbu4gLBaThi6qV8-VRPgsDwhVC1C9r_WIjKPj7lhS_N_LAPbBNyfDY_k5y4nUZVRDtofA8b6l8/s1600/content.jpeg" width="128" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;"><div><span style="background-color: white;"><b>STAR</b></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6299119590" target="_blank">Horror Movie&nbsp;by Paul Tremblay</a></span></div>June 2024. 288p. Morrow, $30&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.worldcat.org/isbn/9780063070011" target="__blank" title="Link to WorldCat and see if your local library has this book">(9780063070011)</a><span style="background-color: white;">.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">First published&nbsp;</span><a style="text-decoration: underline;">April 15, 2024 (<i>Booklist</i>).</a><br /></span><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><blockquote><span style="font-family: inherit; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tremblay returns with a terrifying novel about the creation of art and its effect on all it touches. Told with a strong Gen X perspective and dark humor, readers are led by, “The Thin Kid,” identified solely by his character’s name in the 1993 cult film </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Horror Movie</span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, a film marked by tragedy (he is the only surviving team member). Although never released in full, the film has risen to cult status and is being rebooted 30 years later. Moving effortlessly between “Then” and “Now,” “The Thin Kid” speaks directly to readers, placing them under his spell, despite repeated warning signs not to trust him, explaining the details of the original film, its current reboot, and including sections of the original screenplay. The result, a suspenseful story that is indelibly marked by its relentless unease and disturbing revelations, about the characters, yes, but also, the readers themselves. An immersive reading experience that will forever alter the way those who encounter it watch any Horror movie, ever again. For fans of the cursed film trope like in </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54820062-the-remaking?from_search=true&amp;from_srp=true&amp;qid=17HzgvXyIT&amp;rank=1" target="_blank">The Remaking</a></span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> by Chapman or </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/199263512-how-to-make-a-horror-movie-and-survive?from_search=true&amp;from_srp=true&amp;qid=XLQVg3IrPm&amp;rank=1" target="_blank">How To Make a Horror Movie and Survive</a></span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> by DiLouie, but it pairs even better with the menacing, intricately plotted, and unputdownable storytelling of <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13801540.Catriona_Ward?from_search=true&amp;from_srp=true" target="_blank">Catriona Ward</a>.</span></blockquote><span style="font-family: inherit; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><p></p><p><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Three Words That Describe This Book</b>: cursed film, disturbing, immersive&nbsp;</span></p><p><b><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Further&nbsp;</span></span>Appeal</b>: As promised I have no many notes and thoughts that I didn't get to. Here we go:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">This novel was clearly a direct result of his experience watching CABIN AT THE END OF THE WORLD be made into a movie.&nbsp;</span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">It is about the creation of art, cult fandom, Horror movies in general. How what artists create becomes its own thing outside of their creation….like his experience with seeing a movie made out of his book.</span></li><li><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="white-space: normal;">Tremblay is the master at breaking you as a reader in a way that you are crushed but also so glad you read the book. Yes, he did it again.&nbsp;</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Thin Kid is both sympathetic and sinister. The story building and twists upon itself until you are all knotted up in it, implicated even, and then you are forced to watch it unravel in a way that is horrifying but also it makes sense in the story. Live with that feeling! I have to now, soon you will too.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">We never completely trust The Thin Kid and yet, we are drawn to him– in all of his iterations. Which is the real Thin Kid? Does he even know? Where does the human end and the character begin? Is there a difference anymore? The fact that he never has a name is important to this point/feeling.&nbsp;</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">The levels of </span></span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">storytelling here are compelling as a reader, but also awe inspiring when you think about the narrative's conscious and meticulous construction that somehow feels like it was effortless. The fact that it works so well proves that it was the opposite of effortless. Take this into account-- the book is told in the "then" and "now" timeframes. There is also the screenplay which carries some of the storytelling. And it all feels real. And yet-- all of it is a construct- a story on top of a story, on top of a story, surrounded by 2 movies.</span></li><li><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Great storytelling– 4 distinct layers– adds even more unease that build to outright terror. </span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">The audio book we are “reading” The story of the making of the film and the story of its reboot and finally, the script as written by Cleo.</span></li><li><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">But for all the layers and intricacies, none of it is at the expenseof the pacing and the ease of falling into the story.&nbsp;</span></li><li><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">You experience this book-- immersive-- whether</span> <span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">you want to or not.</span></li><li><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">This is one of the best, most original, and most terrifying books about a cursed movie ever. And no surprise, but Tremblay nails the ending.&nbsp;</span></li><li><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">There is no coddling here. It is intense but also enjoyable to read. Again, live with yourself after finishing it and knowing this is true. </span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Captivating, compelling, you can’t stop reading, even as the tension builds to outright terror.</span></li><li><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Finally, it is true here-- The Book Was Better Than The Movie. (if you know, you know).</span></li></ul><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><b>Readalikes:</b>&nbsp;There are so many, and yet this book is so unique, there are none. That contradiction defines the feel of the story.</p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Of course we have the cursed film readalikes from the two above and many more, but this book is both about a cursed movie but unlike all books about cursed movies that have come before it. <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27276249-we-eat-our-own?from_search=true&amp;from_srp=true&amp;qid=j3bqItAq4y&amp;rank=1" target="_blank">We Eat our Own </a>by Wilson is another good title in this subgenre.</p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">It has a similar feel to <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60784412-looking-glass-sound" target="_blank">Looking Glass Sound</a> by Catriona Ward-- a layer, meta book also about story telling itself. Others by her too, but this one for sure.</p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">He dedicated the book to <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6941.Peter_Straub?from_search=true&amp;from_srp=true" target="_blank">Peter Straub</a>, and I can see that as well.&nbsp;</p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">This one pairs very well with <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59314692-the-pallbearers-club?ref=nav_sb_ss_1_11" target="_blank">The Pallbearers Club</a> as a Tremblay double feature.</p>Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01085260877904727608noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-522319810296642659.post-70223967090484423442024-04-11T07:00:00.001-05:002024-04-11T07:00:00.147-05:00From the Haunted Stacks: Space Horror That Actually Terrifies <p><span style="font-family: inherit;">My bonus 5th column for <a href="https://the-line-up.com/space-horror-books" target="_blank">The Lineup</a> in 2024 posted recently and since today is my weekly <a href="http://raforallhorror.blogspot.com/search/label/giveaway" target="_blank">#HorrorForLibraries giveaway</a> over on the Horror blog, I thought today would be a good day to post this one.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Please note, it is part of a larger trend in both Horror and all genre fiction. Space Horror is hot, yes, but so is the entire concept of merging two genres into one awesome reading experience.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://the-line-up.com/space-horror-books" target="_blank">Click here to read the article</a>&nbsp;and enjoy the links to related articles&nbsp;or see below for my draft text. <a href="https://the-line-up.com/author/Becky%20Spratford" target="_blank">Click here to see everything I have written </a>for The Lineup as well.</span></p><h1 class="jsx-2254688871 jsx-3026691256" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><a href="https://the-line-up.com/space-horror-books" target="_blank">From the Haunted Stacks: Space Horror&nbsp;That Actually Terrifies&nbsp;</a></span></h1><p class="jsx-2254688871 jsx-3026691256 post-subtitle" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 27px; min-height: 30px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">These books have an other-worldly fear factor.</span></p><p class="jsx-2254688871 jsx-3026691256 post-subtitle" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 27px; min-height: 30px;"><a href="https://the-line-up.com/space-horror-books" target="_blank"><img alt="rocky mountains in space" class="postImage" height="320" src="https://orion-uploads.openroadmedia.com/md_90a7f9b15ee8-space-horror-feature.png" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: __Montserrat_804fba, __Montserrat_Fallback_804fba; height: auto; max-width: 100%; width: 680px;" title="space-horror-books_feature" width="757" /></a></p><figcaption class="jsx-9900691a49693584" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: __Montserrat_804fba, __Montserrat_Fallback_804fba;"><ul class="jsx-4acf2f1edadbf928 caption-text" style="-webkit-box-align: start; align-items: start; box-sizing: border-box; display: flex; list-style: none; margin-top: 0px; padding: 0px;"><li class="jsx-4acf2f1edadbf928" style="align-self: center; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1c1e1f; cursor: pointer; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px;"><img alt="camera-icon" class="jsx-4acf2f1edadbf928 camera" height="20" src="https://orion-uploads.openroadmedia.com/Camera-Icon.svg" style="box-sizing: border-box; height: 20px; margin-right: 5px; max-width: 100%; width: 20px;" width="20" /></li><li class="jsx-4acf2f1edadbf928" style="align-self: center; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1c1e1f; cursor: auto; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px;"><span class="jsx-4acf2f1edadbf928" style="align-self: center; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: auto; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; padding-right: 6px;"></span><span class="credit" style="align-self: center; box-sizing: border-box; color: #999999; font-size: 12px; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px;">Photo Credit:&nbsp;John Fowler / Unsplash</span></li></ul></figcaption><div class="jsx-2254688871 jsx-3026691256 single-article-info" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 600; padding-bottom: 15px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">By&nbsp;<span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a href="https://the-line-up.com/author/Becky%20Spratford" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #3d70b2; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.2s ease 0s;">Becky Spratford</a></span><span class="jsx-2254688871 jsx-3026691256 Date" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; margin: 0px;"></span><span class="jsx-2254688871 jsx-3026691256 separator" style="box-sizing: border-box;">&nbsp;|&nbsp;</span><span class="jsx-2254688871 jsx-3026691256 Date" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; margin: 0px;">Published&nbsp;Apr 4, 2024</span></span></div><div class="jsx-2254688871 jsx-3026691256 single-article-info" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 600; padding-bottom: 15px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The universe is vast, cold, empty, and mostly unknown. Sounds like the perfect setting for a Horror novel, right? It is, but honestly, until recently, there were not many Space Horror tiles to choose from. Sure there are many books, including some newer titles, set in the </span><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/series/64778-aliens-predator-prometheus-universe" style="font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Aliens</span></a><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> movie franchise universe and there are a few anthologies of classic scary Science Fiction stories set in space such as </span><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17571510-in-space-no-one-can-hear-you-scream?from_search=true&amp;from_srp=true&amp;qid=Q2KTkZh56L&amp;rank=1" style="font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In Space No One Can Hear you Scream</span></a><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> edited by Hank Davis, but what about some intentional 21st Century takes on the subgenre? Books that set out to scare in space, not just Science Fiction featuring some serious chills that are good enough for Horror readers.</span></span></div><div class="jsx-2254688871 jsx-3026691256 single-article-info" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 600; padding-bottom: 15px;"><p dir="ltr" style="font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Today, I am here to help you navigate the current Space Horror landscape, with nine books that offer a range of scare levels, inventive otherworldly monsters, storytelling styles, and settings from generation ships to exploring new planets and more.&nbsp;</span></span></p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="font-weight: 400;" /></span><p dir="ltr" style="font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Gideon the Ninth</span><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> by Tamsyn Muir</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The first book in the Locked Tomb series, this novel is set in a fantasy world similar to&nbsp; an epic Fantasy series like Game of Thrones, except it is in space. Gideon, our narrator, is a lesbian neuromancer, who must compete in a violent series of events all driven by the Undead Emperor. She is snarky, hot tempered, complicated, and utterly fascinating to follow. Gothic, tense, and violent, this is a story that is driven by the way it invokes real, raw emotions. Readers who are new to Space Horror but already familiar with Dark Fantasy, will find this to be a great bridge title to dip their toes into a new genre.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="font-weight: 400;" /></span><p dir="ltr" style="font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dead Silence</span><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> by S.A. Barnes</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Clarie Kovalik, is leading a final mission on the farthest outpost in space, when the crew are shocked to discover a lost luxury ship, one that held a who’s who of the rich and famous, before it went missing. After some deliberation, the crew decides to enter the ship to see what happened to everyone inside, but immediately, they can tell this was no ordinary disaster, and, even worse, they might be the next victims. Featuring a compelling ghost ship frame, sustained visceral unease, an exclusive first person narration from Koalik’s increasingly unreliable point of view, and biting social commentary, Barnes is quickly cementing herself as the go-to author in Space Horror. Look for her next standalone, Space Horror novel, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ghost Station</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, to be published in April 2024.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="font-weight: 400;" /></span><p dir="ltr" style="font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hematophages</span><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> by Stephen Koziniewski&nbsp;</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #000033; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Paige, a historian on a team sent to salvage a ship that has been lost for centuries, has never left her space station home base. She narrates, giving the reader insight into a future where the male gender is extinct, corporations have replaced governments, and most humans live off-Earth. But when the team reaches the ship, the true terror begins, a terror which springs from the hematophages, lamprey-like creatures, who attach onto their prey and suck out their insides for nourishment. They especially enjoy the brain. Think </span><span style="color: #000033; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Office Space</span><span style="color: #000033; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> meets </span><span style="color: #000033; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Event Horizon</span><span style="color: #000033; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, with excellent world building, dark humor, a fast pace, awesomely gross scenes, and a perfect Horror ending. Readers may also want to check out the prequel novella, </span><span style="color: #000033; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Skinwrapper.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="font-weight: 400;" /></span><p dir="ltr" style="font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Scourge Between the Stars</span><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> by Ness Brown</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Generation ships are a big subgenre within Science Fiction and Space Horror has titles that embrace the theme such as in this critically acclaimed, fast paced, and emotionally resonant, debut novella by Brown, a self proclaimed “</span><span style="background-color: white; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">speculative fiction author by day and astrophysicist by night.” Jacklyn “Jack” Albright is the Captain of a doomed generation ship populated by the last humans, with nowhere left to go. She is not only trying to keep the peace among her understandably anxious passengers, but also, there appears to be something evil, and not human, stalking the ship as well. </span><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is a great choice for readers who want their chills wrapped up in a scientifically accurate blanket.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="font-weight: 400;" /></span><p dir="ltr" style="font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Luminous Dead </span><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">by Caitlin Starling</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In this intensely claustrophobic novel, Starling brings readers to a near future dystopia, sending them deep underground on a non-earth planet while introducing them to two captivating but very unreliable women. Gyre, our narrator, lies her way into a great paying job, exploring a system of caves. Em is the person above ground who acts as her guide and is monitoring Gyre’s well being through a very intricate bodysuit. But as Gyre begins to find the dead bodies of past explorers, the entire story takes a terrifying and monstrous turn. This is a psychological horror tale that will burrow into your soul. Starling is a rising star in Horror, an author who is a great choice for all Horror fans, but please note, this is her only title in the Space Horror category.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="font-weight: 400;" /></span><p dir="ltr" style="font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We Have Always Been Here</span><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> by Lena Nguyen</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Grace Park is the psychologist on the Deucalion, a ship that is scouting the icy planet Eos, to see if it is habitable. None of the crew like Park and treat her poorly, but it gets worse as a radiant storm cuts off all communication with the outside world. And then,&nbsp; the crew begin acting strange, as if possessed. But by what? And how can she figure out why? There are dangerous secrets about Eos and the mission being withheld, and her only hope to find answers may be the ship’s androids, with whom she has a unique relationship. This atmospheric debut satisfyingly straddles the line between Science Fiction, Thriller, and Horror.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="font-weight: 400;" /></span><p dir="ltr" style="font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Salvation Day</span><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> by Kali Wallace</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Cult Horror fans, rejoice as there is a perfect Space Horror novel for you to devour. Zahra and her team, acting on a plan devised by their leader, set out to find their exiled cult a new home on the exploration spaceship, House of Wisdom, now deserted because a virus killed everyone on board. In order to gain access to the ship, however, Zahra and her team must kidnap the only survivor of the House of Wisdom disaster so that they can access the ship using his genetic signature. And because this is solidly a Horror novel, once on board, they find out the truth behind what killed the previous crew, a secret that is not happy to be awakened. Featuring great characters, an intricate plot, and suspenseful tone, this is a riveting and creepy read.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="font-weight: 400;" /></span><p dir="ltr" style="font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Screams from the Void</span><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> by Anne Tibbets</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mechanics Ensign, Reina is done with living on the freighter Demeter after two years in deep space, stuck with a small crew, collecting plant life from other planets, all alongside her abusive ex, a fellow crew member. However, she may have even bigger problems, as a wolfesque creature appears to have snuck on board during one of their stops. As it literally tears through the crew, Reina needs to figure out how to stop it. Horror fans will be uneasy from the start as the ship’s name will ring a doomed bell. This is also a great choice for fans of the </span><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Aliens</span><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> film franchise.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="font-weight: 400;" /></span><p dir="ltr" style="font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Paradise-1</span><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> by David Wellington</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I began this list with a title that was a great way for Dark Fantasy fans to try Space Horror, and now I want to end with a great option for Hard Science Fiction readers. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Special Agent Petrov and Dr. Lei Zhang are being given another chance to serve the interstellar government by being sent to Earth’s first deep space colony, Paradise-1. However, the second they are woken from their travel sleep, their ship comes under attack by frozen yams!?! Working with the ship’s Captain and its inventive and scene stealing robot, Rapscallion, the crew realize that they are surrounded by dozens of spacecraft that appear to be devoid of life. Balancing a steady stream of increasingly dire action, creepy world building, satisfying character development, an original monster, and the right dose of humor, readers will be eagerly awaiting the sequel, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Revenant-X</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> coming in November of 2024.</span></span></p></div>Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01085260877904727608noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-522319810296642659.post-30760720403227528642024-04-10T07:00:00.001-05:002024-04-10T07:00:00.134-05:00Using Most Anticipated Lists as a Resource for Being Prepared as As a Backlist Resource<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="https://themillions.com/2024/04/most-anticipated-the-great-spring-2024-preview.html" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="862" data-original-width="1572" height="219" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR2C_5eCtZWEL7qk1Z8fN9888jWQEoGJm8ZyQ8YSy4Ztd1ZO6GZaOETSHfwDp5qMaOoLgcgNsdv1eRxxkGuykpI7ghAb6IkWMFBulg4yZHnbLvvKfq5Qnx8v8ThB0Zl1qtTgh9n1jTBAxN6WbJKf4FpFSwF25cLlkuUoLfLXshOmZgm_zlfKlVLES4CoAY/w400-h219/Screenshot%202024-04-09%20at%206.12.52%E2%80%AFPM.png" width="400" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://themillions.com/2024/04/most-anticipated-the-great-spring-2024-preview.html" target="_blank">Click here to see the list</a></td></tr></tbody></table><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Earlier this week, The Millions released their&nbsp;Great Spring 2024 Preview here. It covers April through June and is part of their excellent and regular "<a href="https://themillions.com/?s=most+anticipated" target="_blank">most anticipated</a>" coverage.</span></p><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-5157569574577312143" itemprop="description articleBody" style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 51); color: #000033; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em;"><p></p><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">This lists obviously helps you to prepare for the coming months. Those of you who do collection development will want to use this list to get your orders in while those who work at the services desk need this information to get ready with their "while you wait" readalike suggestions for many of of the high demand titles and to get ready to promote some promising new voices.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />But this post is not only about upcoming books, it is also here to remind you that these "anticipated" lists make an even better recourse after the fact. Let me explain.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><a href="https://themillions.com/?s=most+anticipated" style="color: #940f04; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Use this link to see all&nbsp;of The Millions' "most anticipated" coverage</a>. And there are a lot because&nbsp;<i>The Millions</i>&nbsp;is always doing lists of upcoming titles to be excited about. Vetted by their editors and contributors,&nbsp;<a href="https://themillions.com/?s=most+anticipated" style="color: #940f04; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">these lists</a>&nbsp;feature fiction, nonfiction, poetry, graphic novels, books in translation, literally everything of note that adult services library worker who are helping leisure readers should be aware of. These lists are diverse and inclusive as well. But, most importantly, they are also annotated! This means for every title you have a talking point about it to share with a patron. You don't need to know anything other than&nbsp;<a href="https://themillions.com/?s=most+anticipated" style="color: #940f04; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">how to access these lists</a>; then you read the annotation written by an expert, and viola, you have a booktalk for that title, as well as a way to start a conversation about upcoming books.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">[<a href="http://raforall.blogspot.com/2018/04/you-can-use-words-of-others-to-booktalk.html" style="color: #940f04; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Remember you can and should use the words of others to book talk a book.</a>]</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />Not only are the titles all annotated, you can pull up every "<a href="https://themillions.com/?s=most+anticipated" style="color: #940f04; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">most anticipated</a>" list in reverse chronological order&nbsp;<a href="https://themillions.com/?s=most+anticipated" style="color: #940f04; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">with this link</a>.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />Why use the backlist? I mean if you read this blog you should know, but some of you are new here and others need the reminder.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />Any title that has appeared on any of their "<a href="https://themillions.com/?s=most+anticipated" style="color: #940f04; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">most anticipated</a>" lists, especially those from 2-5 years ago, make great suggestions. Why?</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />First, the titles were vetted by experts meaning they are worth your attention at any time, not only when they are new or upcoming.&nbsp;</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />Second, there is a good chance if they were on lists like this that you ordered them for your collections so you own them and probably have not weeded them yet. 2-5 years means they are probably still relevant as well.&nbsp;</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />Third, the book talk for you to handsell the title-- verbally or on a list [web or in the library]-- is right there for you on that list. No work beyond knowing&nbsp;<a href="https://themillions.com/?s=most+anticipated" style="color: #940f04; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">where to click to pull up these lists</a>.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />Fourth, and this is the most important point, when you suggest titles to your patrons that they could not have found on their own, that's when you shine. Reminding people of the treasures that are in the stacks is fun and useful. We need to show them that we are here to help with their leisure reading needs so that they continue to value and seek out our services. When we recommend great titles they may have missed, our users understand the breadth of our collections &nbsp;and the care with which we have built them, which is something we are not great at communicating to the public.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />So yes, go look at the bright and shiny list for <a href="https://themillions.com/2024/04/most-anticipated-the-great-spring-2024-preview.html" target="_blank">Spring 2024 from&nbsp;The Millions,</a> but also make sure you are also using the backlist of &nbsp;"<a href="https://themillions.com/?s=most+anticipated" style="color: #940f04; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">most anticipated</a>" content to help readers all the time.</span></div></div>Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01085260877904727608noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-522319810296642659.post-69517421560953104532024-04-09T07:00:00.001-05:002024-04-09T07:00:00.138-05:00Promote Yourself and All You Do For Your Community Today<p>It is National Library Worker Day and I want to speak directly to all my readers here-- almost all of whom are library workers themselves. Today, you need to not only allow yourself to be celebrated, but also&nbsp;<b>BRAG ABOUT YOURSELF</b> to the world. This should not be a day where we should be waiting for people to thank us. No, that passive attitude is what has gotten us into our current predicament.&nbsp;</p><p>Today is the day we are <b>LOUD</b> and <b>CLEAR</b> about how awesome every single library worker is. How much we help everyone and with not enough financial resources. How we serve those from the most marginalized to the most privileged. Howe selflessly we work to serve our communities. Every. Single. Day.</p><p>I know many of my colleagues are uncomfortable using this week to celebrate themselves. But today is your day. Get over it. You will not have a chance to shout about yourself and your co-workers without guilt for another year. I mean I will keep doing it all the time for you, but I know most of you won't.</p><p>Get out there and be a bragger. Get in people's faces telling them how great you are. This is your chance because it is your day.</p><p>Don't know where to start? You can use the talking points provided by the <a href="https://www.ala.org/conferencesevents/celebrationweeks/natlibraryweek" target="_blank">ALA here for National Library Week here</a> or even better those for today, <a href="https://ala-apa.org/nlwd/" target="_blank">National Library Worker Day, here</a>. You can even nominate one of your co-workers as <a href="https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/SubmitAStarforNLWD" target="_blank">a STAR library worker here</a>.</p><p>Besides this post, I am celebrating as a Trustee by spending an hour pushing a Library Worker Day treat cart around my library as I personally thank the workers at my library for all that they do every single day.</p><p>I will also make sure every patron who sees this happening explicitly knows how much they should appreciate what these library workers do for them. And no, they don't get any treats.</p><p>I spent 15 years serving the public and I know firsthand how much of themselves these library workers give to their patrons every single day.&nbsp;</p><p>But again, the public takes us for granted, Much of that is because they perceive our services as "free." Remember, <a href="http://raforall.blogspot.com/2022/09/ra-for-all-greatest-hits-library-books.html" target="_blank">they are not free, they are pre-paid</a>. Get that value message out this week as well. <a href="http://raforall.blogspot.com/2022/09/ra-for-all-greatest-hits-library-books.html" target="_blank">I have this post to help you articulate that.</a></p><p>Be strong this week, be bold, brag about yourselves and your libraries far and wide. This is our chance to try to regain control of the narrative about what the public library is here to do every day for all people (even the ones who think we should be destroyed).</p><p>Embrace the day and what it means. Use it to advocate for yourselves. Waiting for the accolades to come is not going to happen. Share the message about how great you are. I know many of you will hate the feeling, but it is one day, and trust me, it will be more appreciated than you think.</p><p>Happy Library Workers Day 2024!</p>Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01085260877904727608noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-522319810296642659.post-56898395214129063562024-04-08T07:00:00.020-05:002024-04-08T08:58:54.316-05:00PW Summer Reads 2024 An Epic Year Round Resource<span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 51); color: #000033;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYyyLcDZfnrWZbI5faKH3nb1KpfhGH-lZIGboSLS4TpHsrj4ws9RI5mS1XoQw4VM0HB56wU2ZMr_FZo1xJLllFc5ebmCtQTpXFwRx2lspzyROm4f5wUb2KSBzUbqMSKx6nlKvwfJ_8P2nbSbRqucxpq21qazrzNLxjjJObRR6LImVmnoRT-UpXj7kfj_oK/s732/Screenshot%202024-04-07%20at%204.35.09%E2%80%AFPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="238" data-original-width="732" height="104" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYyyLcDZfnrWZbI5faKH3nb1KpfhGH-lZIGboSLS4TpHsrj4ws9RI5mS1XoQw4VM0HB56wU2ZMr_FZo1xJLllFc5ebmCtQTpXFwRx2lspzyROm4f5wUb2KSBzUbqMSKx6nlKvwfJ_8P2nbSbRqucxpq21qazrzNLxjjJObRR6LImVmnoRT-UpXj7kfj_oK/s320/Screenshot%202024-04-07%20at%204.35.09%E2%80%AFPM.png" width="320" /></a></div><br />This database&nbsp;<span style="background-color: white;">is one of your best YEAR ROUND Resources hands down. Why? Well I am going to let a picture do a lot of the explaining.</span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">&nbsp;</span><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlM1ULDyXTLHbEsaX75hv1YElx0HDB7tkUMkM1l3eBCycBdXoWuS8bSuDAQ7BChj1QoY_GYnG-tywJF6AzfQEbv9Vm2nXaz2N-t5ggKo4zbCch-zf87T3j_eurg94HfClYpvGII-DX6opckvYoPGOLe3zdtAS9nlMDB5aK9TennfMZzfON3hBH_jFLnGKG/s1832/Screenshot%202024-04-07%20at%204.42.16%E2%80%AFPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1178" data-original-width="1832" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlM1ULDyXTLHbEsaX75hv1YElx0HDB7tkUMkM1l3eBCycBdXoWuS8bSuDAQ7BChj1QoY_GYnG-tywJF6AzfQEbv9Vm2nXaz2N-t5ggKo4zbCch-zf87T3j_eurg94HfClYpvGII-DX6opckvYoPGOLe3zdtAS9nlMDB5aK9TennfMZzfON3hBH_jFLnGKG/w400-h258/Screenshot%202024-04-07%20at%204.42.16%E2%80%AFPM.png" width="400" /></a></span></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://best-books.publishersweekly.com/pw/best-books/summer-reads-2024/" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 51); color: #000033;">The&nbsp;</span>Summer Reads database</a><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 51); color: #000033;"><a href="https://best-books.publishersweekly.com/pw/best-books/summer-reads-2022/top-10" style="color: #940f04; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">&nbsp;</a>is more than the sum of its parts, those parts being the wide swath of categories offered.&nbsp;</span><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 51); color: #000033;">As you can see</span><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 51); color: #000033;">, they also make backlist access of every Summer Reads and year end Best Books list going back to 2012 easily accessible from the top of the page.</span></span></p><div style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 51); color: #000033;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 51); color: #000033;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;">Let&nbsp;that sink in.... EVERY SINGLE SUMMER READS AND PW YEAR END BEST LIST IN <a href="https://best-books.publishersweekly.com/pw/best-books/summer-reads-2024/" target="_blank">ONE PLACE</a>.<br /></span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">Nowhere will you find a resource that puts this many "sure bet" options in front of you so easily. There are literally hundreds of titles&nbsp;</span>here<span style="background-color: white;">, at your fingertips, both old and new, that you can confidently suggest to readers immediately. And so many readers. Readers who read&nbsp;across&nbsp;all age&nbsp;levels [down to infants] and in just about every genre.&nbsp;</span></span></div><div style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 51); color: #000033;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 51); color: #000033;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;">And, since every title is annotated, you also have a book talk [or annotation] for each title right there. You don't have to have read the book to suggest it. [Reminder:&nbsp;</span><a href="http://raforall.blogspot.com/2020/05/staff-booktalking-practice-exercise-use.html" style="color: #940f04; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Use the Words of Others.</a><span style="background-color: white;">]</span><br /><br /><span style="background-color: white;">I could keep gushing about how much I love&nbsp;</span>this resource<span style="background-color: white;">&nbsp;but I would rather you played around with it yourself.</span><br /><br /><a href="https://best-books.publishersweekly.com/pw/best-books/summer-reads-2024/" target="_blank">Click through</a><span style="background-color: white;">, check out the upcoming titles, but also look back at older titles, read the annotations, check genres you love and those you don't normally read, especially those you don't normally read because you will learn much about the current state of that genre [trends, popular authors] this year and going back a few years. You can both get access to some great sure bet suggestions AND brush up on your genre knowledge&nbsp;<a href="https://best-books.publishersweekly.com/pw/best-books/summer-reads-2024/" target="_blank">all&nbsp;</a></span><a href="https://best-books.publishersweekly.com/pw/best-books/summer-reads-2024/" target="_blank">in one place</a><span style="background-color: white;">.</span><br /><br /><span style="background-color: white;">Spend some time really getting to know&nbsp;</span>this resource<span style="background-color: white;">. And then&nbsp;</span><a href="https://best-books.publishersweekly.com/pw/best-books/summer-reads-2024/" target="_blank">use it</a><span style="background-color: white;"><a href="https://best-books.publishersweekly.com/pw/best-books/summer-reads-2024/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #940f04;">-</span>- all of it</a>-- including past years and both summer and year end lists-- to make your own lists for your readers. Make displays and lists [online and in the building], make suggested reading lists by genre, by year, by whatever you want. Just embrace the wealth of information available to you with&nbsp;</span><a href="https://best-books.publishersweekly.com/pw/best-books/summer-reads-2024/" target="_blank">one click</a><span style="background-color: white;">&nbsp;and help readers in ways they would not think to help themselves.</span><br /><br /><span style="background-color: white;">Proof reading this post before publishing it, I realize how many times I am repeating myself about using the entirety of the information&nbsp;</span>that <a href="https://best-books.publishersweekly.com/pw/best-books/summer-reads-2024/" target="_blank">PW is making available here</a><span style="background-color: white;">, but I also know from years of suggesting this resource to people that you don't all listen to me. And so, I will keep beating this drum of using best lists all year long and especially checking the backlist until I run out of breath [or strength to type].</span><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 51); color: #000033;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 51); color: #000033;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Go <a href="https://best-books.publishersweekly.com/pw/best-books/summer-reads-2024/" target="_blank">check out this database of "sure bet" reads for any season</a>, and keep it bookmarked for use anytime you need a solid&nbsp;suggestion [especially&nbsp;for those hard to&nbsp;satisfy readers].</span></span></div><div><br /></div>Before I go, I want to highlight a few books that appear on this list for which I already have STAR reviews as well as one more that I picked up at PLA and am super excited to read. Click on the covers for more details. And get ready, because summer is just around the corner.&nbsp;<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6217162434" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="618" data-original-width="400" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxt-4pwfR1H33iZ62c48BImeUt0WxThPb81xRePEd6qRqY6btHRJIv-2w5qoEA8T-46ft4i5TB1Q-clfb3UrWJPkCOG7sVH9Y6oLIUfmH76bcxRskUByd3FgHBE8qjvB5MzrLSlqwCbCV8pGsERJVIJ3HkOsF339gX5vveRZgr6s4B2A2f7-hryUiMOO68/w129-h200/3572-1.JPG" width="129" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6319461416" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="618" data-original-width="400" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixvID3lBbGNFCOKK4YDCEDY_zsKiWNEhWwR0HqyViJ87q9wE6r26O1rIziUsoqm8idE_CFR39GdzW4wX7CV1UGk0cYLKXx5dCVVge_QflOZMMV5kn6UaqeAxOT7nwKoL3VTwOz7ifso36Sy7YVpR_yu0bHtonOcsCaiXPmMutzr1h2IDwskZBUgPbCDzzP/w129-h200/3611-2.JPG" width="129" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/200555174-the-lost-boy-of-santa-chionia?ac=1&amp;from_search=true&amp;qid=HGPq1O4Ju5&amp;rank=1" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="596" data-original-width="400" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5vrIXzs0ImOix-9vvUhQuJVrzMMc3tmfe-SetmciaB8biZvQR3KHW7__Js_ZypOMOYWjB-3fvgPrN6ph_8VMK7YmM2N63DMN6KaZ69psu2zKQUaOiUmQ_8BrkUOjz7A-03AiPwtCzQD44ueF27s2VfMbNhTQ7BdNDNMOEHfoWpUAQR3LTpDTMcbXRT1MJ/w134-h200/3591-1.JPG" width="134" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div><br /></div>Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01085260877904727608noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-522319810296642659.post-44552767884379781332024-04-06T07:00:00.226-05:002024-04-06T07:00:00.138-05:00PLA 2024: Becky's Conference Notes Part 3 of 3<p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;<a href="https://www.placonference.org/event/016e56a2-bc16-4851-a9ce-699d90a92e7c/websitePage:0bb7bace-0326-4f15-99fe-b034f033b2c5?gad_source=1&amp;gclid=CjwKCAjwtqmwBhBVEiwAL-WAYfn-gRdwLYMOvMn76qZsPD2pJKsoWydgOwuGHQMgK3l1cuJz8xdq3hoCl3EQAvD_BwE" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="216" data-original-width="410" height="169" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh60GO8H7nD2Zj0_hrUgEeQkCmA1yMysVNK7bsh69xFkdzKXx63CrSqcaJdobjLCXwsFHI327PtKtd0mHqsqKB1XCTsoEYqvFkAFpPF4S75WiMw2QGnsi1-q8mSGUTorP6k1A1j0MNsw4aJtYkQRoJAyHwv5x7E-IY31fYPBvgFR46L7KpC7DLFu9cgCDk4/s320/Screenshot%202024-04-01%20at%2011.22.32%E2%80%AFAM.png" width="320" /></a></p><p style="text-align: left;">Today I will have a recap of what I saw and heard at PLA, yesterday, Friday April 4, 2024. Please note, I write these posts at night, after a long day at conference. Also yes, I know it is Saturday today and I don't normally post on the weekends, but I didn't want to wait until Monday to get this out.&nbsp;</p><p style="text-align: left;">I began my day at a program whose title is something Robin and I say all the time: <b>African American is Not a Genre</b>:</p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span></span></span></p><blockquote style="font-family: inherit; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span>This session will focus on how to employ anti-racist practices in reader’s advisory conversations, as well as the collection development process. We will engage in a discussion of the influences of white supremacy within collections policies, and how those influences work against the visibility and promotion of Black interest collections. This session will cover the reader’s advisory process of urban fiction and other Black author collections, and provide a practical learning experience for this content.</span></blockquote><p style="font-family: inherit; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span><a href="https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Tzoa-brKDLp25NTbLu1P3LO1r93IMiRE?usp=share_link" target="_blank">The handouts including the slides, but actually more, are all here.&nbsp;</a> These presenters were from Memphis Public Library.</span></p><p style="font-family: inherit; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span>I am not going to give a lot of notes here based on what is <a href="https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Tzoa-brKDLp25NTbLu1P3LO1r93IMiRE?usp=share_link" target="_blank">on the slides</a> because they speak for themselves. This program was unapologetically about have a "culturally responsive collection" for Black patrons and I loved that.</span></p><p style="font-family: inherit; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span>They reminded us all that public libraries began in 1712 and were never meant to be for Black people. They are inherently racist, white supremecist institutions by deign and until 1970 they didn't even think about altering that.&nbsp;</span></p><p style="font-family: inherit; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span>Another great point to start, there has been NO research into Black readers so when you are trying to make a Black interest collection we are all flying blind.</span></p><p style="font-family: inherit; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span>The slides have some great information about the RA conversation, how RA is about conversations, not transactions, and how to do RA the right way-- well at least in my opinion, the opinion I express here and you all read.</span></p><p style="font-family: inherit; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span>For a bit, Robin and I got worried they were going to want to have a "Black Interest" collection that stickered or separated the books, but the actual opposite happened. The also reminded the group that not only is Urban Fiction the only Black interest genre, but it is worth having in libraries.</span></p><p style="font-family: inherit; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span>Then they tackled genre fiction and reminded everyone that genre fiction authors are genre writers first. They paraphrased NK Jemisin saying that she was not a Black author, she is a Fantasy author who happens to be Black.&nbsp;</span></p><p style="font-family: inherit; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span>The presenters rightfully said, when you remove Black genre writers from their genre, and classify them as Black, you are taking them away from their genre's readers. <a href="https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Tzoa-brKDLp25NTbLu1P3LO1r93IMiRE?usp=share_link" target="_blank">Check the slides</a> for more examples, but they do also address international Black authors who are not African American.</span></p><p style="font-family: inherit; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span>We also had 2 examples readers and were asked to work with our neighbor to give them some reading options. <a href="https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Tzoa-brKDLp25NTbLu1P3LO1r93IMiRE?usp=share_link" target="_blank">Those profiles are included with the handouts here as well</a>.</span></p><p style="font-family: inherit; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span>And they also talked about making sure you have funding lines specifically for diverse populations in your budgets because then it has to get ordered. If it has a line, it has to get spent for that. They acknowledged that this can get tricky, but I heard this in the Tulsa Program yesterday and another program later in the day. I heard it from Black and White librarians who are managers, who are fighting for this because change can't come from only good intentions, there needs to be money behind it so the staff knows the organization is serious about the change being successful.</span></p><p style="font-family: inherit; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span>This was one of the most direct and honest program I have ever been to at a conference. I got to sit with Robin we both agreed that this was great. Later, after she left, we were texting about how we both saw more Black librarians who stood up and spoke their truth loud and clear at this conference than ever before. No more couching it in terms the white librarians could handle. As Robin said, people are tired of everything and they<span style="font-family: inherit;"> are being loud about it. </span></span></p><div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span>Next I went to: After the Audit: Sustainable Steps to Maintaining a Diverse Collection:</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><span><blockquote style="font-family: inherit; white-space: pre-wrap;">You’ve completed a diversity audit of your collection. What’s next? This panel will provide an overview of the steps Kent District Library implemented to ensure that all patrons in their service area are being represented in the collection. From tagging to staff training, from discovery to collection development, learn how to better serve your patrons through a lens of equity, diversity, and inclusion.</blockquote><p style="font-family: inherit; white-space: pre-wrap;">You can find their handouts <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/159BE_t51z0xcAn3oNySUkTZ-648-pk_B/view?usp=share_link" target="_blank">here</a> and <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1M1UGsmkGEKPsOyxmhDvLV_FapdfSnvwi/edit?usp=share_link&amp;ouid=105169512484880343667&amp;rtpof=true&amp;sd=true" target="_blank">here</a>.&nbsp;</p><p style="font-family: inherit; white-space: pre-wrap;">This program was about how Kent District Library did their Diversity Audit using Ingram, but also worked hard to create tags using more natural language in the 690 field so that staff and also patrons could find diverse materials more easily. </p><p style="font-family: inherit; white-space: pre-wrap;">When Ingram identified something as "diverse: they dug deeper and gave that higher level of detail. For example, Ingram tagged a title "Black Interest" but they also saw that it was about discrimintation-- racism. Use the links above to see their handouts where you get ALL of the tags they can use. It is extensive. </p><p style="font-family: inherit; white-space: pre-wrap;">But one of the ways they were making their work "sustainable" is by training the staff, They made scenario videos of staff on how they can find diverse materials for a patron and make a display list. It is easy because of the behind the scenes work in the tagging but if they don't take the time to explain it to staff, they won't even know it is there to search for. </p><p style="font-family: inherit; white-space: pre-wrap;">My final program of the day was also excellent and a perfect booked to the first. Curating Diverse Community Collections for Patron Engagement: </p><p><span></span></p><blockquote style="font-family: inherit; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span>Much has been written about the need for diversity audits in library collections, but little follow-up has been offered to assist collection development and public service staff in creating real change. Panelists will discuss proven best practices for diversifying and curating community collections. Attendees will leave with a three-point action plan that will work for any size library, no matter the demographics of their particular community.</span></blockquote><p><span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">The <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VSOBa_d3TblGeA2-PhCelm4G52Og1YjB/view?usp=share_link" target="_blank">slides are</a></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VSOBa_d3TblGeA2-PhCelm4G52Og1YjB/view?usp=share_link" target="_blank"> here</a> and the presenters wer<span style="font-family: inherit;">e from&nbsp;</span></span><span style="caret-color: rgb(105, 113, 122); text-align: center;">Cuyahoga County Public Library<span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">.</span></span></span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span><span style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(105, 113, 122); white-space-collapse: preserve;">They went into a lot of detail about </span></span><span style="caret-color: rgb(105, 113, 122); white-space-collapse: preserve;">CommunityCollections. They defined it all well on the slides, so </span><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VSOBa_d3TblGeA2-PhCelm4G52Og1YjB/view?usp=share_link" style="caret-color: rgb(105, 113, 122); white-space-collapse: preserve;" target="_blank">please check them</a><span style="caret-color: rgb(105, 113, 122); white-space-collapse: preserve;">. But taking the official definition the slides, they explained it this way-- After the pandemic when they had 0 checkouts, they realized that they had a chance to think about circulation differently. They challenged themselves to think of their 27 branches as 27 </span></span><span style="caret-color: rgb(105, 113, 122); white-space-collapse: preserve;">independent indie book stores. What would we do differently? What if our circulation statistics were thought about more like sales, meaning their paychecks depended on it? Not that anyone would get fired, but what if they made it that serious.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span><span style="caret-color: rgb(105, 113, 122); white-space-collapse: preserve;">This is not a floating collection. They still do that with items. These are permanent collections for each community's branch that live there, that serve the needs of that specific community.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span><span style="caret-color: rgb(105, 113, 122); white-space-collapse: preserve;">And what about holds? Holds get books moving between branches. Well-- and this is the single best thing I heard someone say so directly, articulating why public library structures are racist-- Holds are privileged. Not everyone can plan when they come to the library. Many branches need to have items there that they want at all times. And the middle aged white lady who was the highest manager on the panel said it. </span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span><span style="caret-color: rgb(105, 113, 122); white-space-collapse: preserve;">And that woman was key because she also said they made these collections a separate line item (later she shared it settled at 6% of the branches' book budget). The branches were very worried about these collections and what if they don't circulate. It is a huge investment. But she was able to say, yes and the administration supports this by making a budget line for the community collections. This step empowers the staff responsible for increasing diversity in collection to actually do it.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span><span style="caret-color: rgb(105, 113, 122); white-space-collapse: preserve;">Some great slides about what constitutes a "diverse collection" and how to be community facing. <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VSOBa_d3TblGeA2-PhCelm4G52Og1YjB/view?usp=share_link" target="_blank">Again, go here for that info.</a></span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span>Then they did a section on how these collections and diverse displays in general needs to happen. A lot of what this presenter said is exactly what Robin and I say. Again it is in the slides, but she straight up says to staff, in emails and with one-on-one conversations that there are NO blockbuster authors on any endocarps. No Patterson and Steele. She says that directly as the manager. She also tells them to give marginalized authors a chance to shine-- even if the metrics say you should weed them</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span>I loved that they also do a display right near the door that is always "intergenerational." no matter the topic they have books for all ages of patrons. I LOVE THIS. I tell libraries to do this and they tell me the can't. You can. Just do it. You won't go to library jail.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span>They also talked about the "succession planning." How to make sure the work lives on with new staff or if the manager is gone. Again, <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VSOBa_d3TblGeA2-PhCelm4G52Og1YjB/view?usp=share_link" target="_blank">see the slides for more</a>.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span>I was very impressed by this presentation and by their commitment to do this work correctly. I am so glad I stayed until the end and saw this program and could share it with all of you.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span>I did stay for the Closing Session but I made the choice to experience it, not take notes and I sat with my friend Kristi who lives in MA, which was also nice.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span>I hope these recaps were helpful. And as I said yesterday, I will write more about Tulsa City-County's program specifically soon. I have a lot of catching up to do next week.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span>And specking of next week, those who did not enjoy these posts, well we are back to the regular schedule next week so...</span></p><p></p></span></span></div><p></p>Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01085260877904727608noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-522319810296642659.post-80295143794522000142024-04-05T06:00:00.005-05:002024-04-05T07:26:26.770-05:00PLA 2024: Becky's Conference Notes Part 2 of 3<p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;<a href="https://www.placonference.org/event/016e56a2-bc16-4851-a9ce-699d90a92e7c/websitePage:0bb7bace-0326-4f15-99fe-b034f033b2c5?gad_source=1&amp;gclid=CjwKCAjwtqmwBhBVEiwAL-WAYfn-gRdwLYMOvMn76qZsPD2pJKsoWydgOwuGHQMgK3l1cuJz8xdq3hoCl3EQAvD_BwE" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="216" data-original-width="410" height="169" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh60GO8H7nD2Zj0_hrUgEeQkCmA1yMysVNK7bsh69xFkdzKXx63CrSqcaJdobjLCXwsFHI327PtKtd0mHqsqKB1XCTsoEYqvFkAFpPF4S75WiMw2QGnsi1-q8mSGUTorP6k1A1j0MNsw4aJtYkQRoJAyHwv5x7E-IY31fYPBvgFR46L7KpC7DLFu9cgCDk4/s320/Screenshot%202024-04-01%20at%2011.22.32%E2%80%AFAM.png" width="320" /></a></p><p>Today I will have a recap of what I saw and heard at PLA, yesterday, Thursday April 4, 2024. Please note, I write these posts at night, after a long day at conference.&nbsp;</p><p>This the middle day of the conference and it was very busy, filled with exhibit hall time and panels.</p><p>The day began in the Exhibit Hall where I was going to visit all of the Adult Library Marketing people at the publisher booths, but with a twist. You see my friend Sarah Read who on one side of her life is a Bram Stoker Award Winning Author [for <a href="https://www.thebramstokerawards.com/first-novel/read-sarah/" target="_blank">The Bone Weaver's Orchard</a>] and a nominee right now [for <a href="https://www.thebramstokerawards.com/first-novel/read-sarah/" target="_blank">Root Rot</a>], but on the other side she is a librarian who is the Readers Advisory Librarian for the <a href="https://www.oshkoshpubliclibrary.org" target="_blank">Oshkosh [WI] Public Library</a>. She is new to her role and needed to meet all of the fabulous library marketers. And she also wanted to recruit them to do book buzzes for her <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVMQV7DJkV1G-gUah1a3ZC1-xWPCCGUd0" target="_blank">Library's YouTube Book Buzz series</a>.</p><p>We visited, <a href="https://www.ireadprogram.org" target="_blank">iRead</a>, <a href="https://penguinrandomhouselibrary.com" target="_blank">Penguin Random House</a>, <a href="https://sohopress.com/soho-press/" target="_blank">Soho</a> [who have a<a href="https://www.hellshundredbooks.com" target="_blank"> new Horror imprint</a>], <a href="https://read.sourcebooks.com/librarians-and-educators" target="_blank">Sourcebooks</a>, <a href="https://www.simonandschuster.net/library" target="_blank">Simon &amp; Schuster</a>, <a href="https://macmillanlibrary.com" target="_blank">Macmillan,</a> <a href="https://www.hbglibrary.com" target="_blank">Hachette</a>, and <a href="https://www.librarylovefest.com" target="_blank">Harper Collins</a>.. We chatted with all of the reps, learned about the new books, and got Sarah introduced to everyone.</p><p></p><p>I even took this picture of Sarah and Lila Denning at the <a href="https://www.simonandschuster.net/library" target="_blank">S&amp;S</a> booth:</p><p></p><p></p><p><img alt="Image" height="240" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GKVAvjdbwAAdf90?format=jpg&amp;name=medium" width="320" /></p><p></p><p>From 12-1 Robin and I were at the NoveList Booth and then we had a lovely meeting with our editor from ALA Editions, but first, we visited our books at the booth (photo credits to Lila)</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnuQKQrA99ujDHREUFNW7h5tjgnJD10Lo2q7jf_et7pLMVeflOB0ju70UWcF_hp2xGNReNz0_NAxzCMGtLAv52IqelUzcojoJHJeK-6niUUyZIkqmDxsEklaxR1YC7KiozYSpMTTYZdrB34qSqFk-_kh0i2jlJKMtAQYD_FTqe_j_fqzDTC6gqswL7YhJa/s1600/IMG_0045.heic" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnuQKQrA99ujDHREUFNW7h5tjgnJD10Lo2q7jf_et7pLMVeflOB0ju70UWcF_hp2xGNReNz0_NAxzCMGtLAv52IqelUzcojoJHJeK-6niUUyZIkqmDxsEklaxR1YC7KiozYSpMTTYZdrB34qSqFk-_kh0i2jlJKMtAQYD_FTqe_j_fqzDTC6gqswL7YhJa/s320/IMG_0045.heic" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnuen7jqxh_pEQYiIaY1NQYhzw_LIHHgPDld6H-CkFXfVOX01TdX6vzXhQk0maHQFr6m1pk-DQLsBx87P38OZzbyEcYLIkQ-Bgj8FgJznQ2VWY4aaJRUxTJiopnb3vHFQ9A26Lci5H9dmJNCmxJ1o31g7pomYaBsTAg48KrFmO8Y1mGag66nIg4zu9NMDt/s3754/IMG_0047.heic" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3754" data-original-width="2495" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnuen7jqxh_pEQYiIaY1NQYhzw_LIHHgPDld6H-CkFXfVOX01TdX6vzXhQk0maHQFr6m1pk-DQLsBx87P38OZzbyEcYLIkQ-Bgj8FgJznQ2VWY4aaJRUxTJiopnb3vHFQ9A26Lci5H9dmJNCmxJ1o31g7pomYaBsTAg48KrFmO8Y1mGag66nIg4zu9NMDt/s320/IMG_0047.heic" width="213" /></a></div><p>Then, I finally made it to a session, and it is great one to share with everyone as well, the Book Buzz" Presented by Booklist which featured the Library Marketers I saw earlier presenting their upcoming titles. And for all of you I have not only <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1F5kxFDHmcfpCD103L7GaHLQfe4g8xb9x/view?usp=share_link" target="_blank">their wonderful PDF with all the titles and key appeal info about each</a>, but also <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1oFYAGfyufYBVM1qq0h8KOm68hn2GckkO/edit?usp=share_link&amp;ouid=105169512484880343667&amp;rtpof=true&amp;sd=true" target="_blank">a spreadsheet of the titles with ISBNs</a> to make your ordering much easier.</p><p>The next program was in the same room and it was one that Robin and I were very interested in attending, and I will tell you, it was worth it: Diversifying Your Displays and Book Lists presented by the Tulsa City-County Library. The crux of this program was about creating Diverse Displays Guidelines. I will be writing a much longer post about this program in the future when I can give it the time it deserves. But they did<a href="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1zOozDxxUPvl6URinM5VX-3PdWl90Q8uw/edit?usp=share_link&amp;ouid=105169512484880343667&amp;rtpof=true&amp;sd=true" target="_blank"> make their slides</a> (with speaking notes) and their <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/18n3y3HftdNznzKFJTqp5BFh7kpxs6H_i/edit?usp=share_link&amp;ouid=105169512484880343667&amp;rtpof=true&amp;sd=true" target="_blank">Diverse Display Guidelines</a> available for all and encouraged all of us (and by extension you) to use all of it to help you serve your patrons.</p><p>I ended my sessions with:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://libraryreads.org/events" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-ykEon8ZOhNGpL35eYrMJu73jQAIfM65Cbhyb2ZQ_4c8rru5KK4g0kRG3wdoWJmM-k8fHRsekV8AD50bN6IKObO-KxklBcq2bEXAvSEZFoVCziyhRaTzEM9XNiktfQgWPVYx4EfUkcL0B1WeO1LK1Di1tPFzK2XWct2fOgl4rNh9euehGsTOzRMhSXSKV/s320/Your-Evening-is-Booked-PLA24.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p>Each author spoke about their books and we had a room full of RA library people, friends old and new, listening to it all and spending time together. A great way for day 2 to come to a close.</p><p>But wait, there's more...I want to end this recap with a nod back to yesterday. During Robin, Yaika, and my presentation there was a question about where to find books list featuring plus sized and curvy characters. Our friend Lila Denning, who runs a site focused on Passive RA was on the case and <a href="https://bookdisplays.blogspot.com/2024/04/book-display-reference-plus-sizecurvy.html" target="_blank">wrote this blog post to answer that question.</a></p><p>Tomorrow is the final day. I will be staying until the end as my flight does not leave until after 9pm, so look for a recap on Saturday morning as well.</p>Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01085260877904727608noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-522319810296642659.post-4356869299180819852024-04-04T05:00:00.002-05:002024-04-05T07:26:16.686-05:00PLA 2024: Becky's Conference Notes Part 1 of 3<p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;<a href="https://www.placonference.org/event/016e56a2-bc16-4851-a9ce-699d90a92e7c/websitePage:0bb7bace-0326-4f15-99fe-b034f033b2c5?gad_source=1&amp;gclid=CjwKCAjwtqmwBhBVEiwAL-WAYfn-gRdwLYMOvMn76qZsPD2pJKsoWydgOwuGHQMgK3l1cuJz8xdq3hoCl3EQAvD_BwE" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="216" data-original-width="410" height="169" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh60GO8H7nD2Zj0_hrUgEeQkCmA1yMysVNK7bsh69xFkdzKXx63CrSqcaJdobjLCXwsFHI327PtKtd0mHqsqKB1XCTsoEYqvFkAFpPF4S75WiMw2QGnsi1-q8mSGUTorP6k1A1j0MNsw4aJtYkQRoJAyHwv5x7E-IY31fYPBvgFR46L7KpC7DLFu9cgCDk4/s320/Screenshot%202024-04-01%20at%2011.22.32%E2%80%AFAM.png" width="320" /></a></p><p style="text-align: left;">Today I will have a recap of what I saw and heard at PLA, yesterday, Wednesday April 3, 2024. Please note, I write these posts at night, after a long day at conference.&nbsp;</p><p style="text-align: left;">Today I presented and had meetings so this is my lightest panel day.</p><p style="text-align: left;">I started my day at the Opening Session with Shola Richards:</p><blockquote><p class="carina-rte-public-DraftStyleDefault-block" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0.75em;"><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Shola Richards</span>&nbsp;is the CEO and Founder of Go Together Global™, the best-selling author of&nbsp;<span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Making Work Work</span>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Go Together</span>, and he is a civility writer with a passionate worldwide following. His articles and extremely popular "Go Together Movement" email series have been read by readers in over 160 countries, and his work has been featured on the Today Show, CBS This Morning, Forbes, Black Enterprise, Complete Wellbeing India, Business Insider Australia, and in numerous other outlets all over the world who recognize him as an authority on workplace happiness and engagement.</span></span></p><p class="carina-rte-public-DraftStyleDefault-block" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0.75em;"><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As a speaker, Shola has shared his transformative message with top universities, leading healthcare organizations, Silicon Valley, the motion picture industry, on the TEDx stage, and in his greatest honor to date, in September 2021, he was invited to testify in front of the House of Representatives on Capitol Hill to share his expert recommendations on how to bring more civility to Congress.</span></span></p><p class="carina-rte-public-DraftStyleDefault-block" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Last, but certainly not least, Shola is a father, husband, identical twin, and self-professed "kindness extremist" who will not rest until bullying and incivility are extinct from the American workplace.</span></span></p></blockquote><p>The talk was about looking at kindness and resilience and just how we are to each other specifically in the work environment. It was inspirational and a great way to kick off the conference. He was an engaging speaker. This is a great example of a talk that is better to experience than to trip to recap. I know I did not capture him as well as I could have, but I did try to get down some of what was best to share here.&nbsp;</p><p>He uses Three Questions to frame his talk: Is it kind? Is it true? Is it necessary?</p><p><b>Is it kind?</b></p><p>He showed a sign from a hospital: "Please take responsibility for the energy you bring to this space." And then told us about the 2 kinds of people in the world, and once he began describing them we all knew where it was going:&nbsp;</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>the ones who make you feel good the second they walk into the world</li><li>the ones who make you feel good the second they walk out of the room</li></ul><div>I am glad he took the time to talk about the difference between "nice" and "kind" because I live my life not worrying about nice and focusing on being kind. Nice means you are agreeable and it is a breeding ground of passive aggressiveness. Kind means you try to leave everything you touch a little better than before you came.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>He had a slide about how we all need to actively practice self kindness. There were many things on the slide, but two that resonated with me were:</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>maintain healthy boundaries-- including saying no</li><li>some people in your life need to be loved from a distance</li></ul><div><b>Is it true?</b></div></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>This part was about building trust. And a central question, "how are we expecting people to do what we can't do ourselves.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>He talked about bad behavior and how it is the manifestation of an unmet need. Also the concept of being an "upstander" over a "bystander." And up stander sees bad behavior that harms people and speaks up.</div><div><br /></div><div>He talked about his childhood library-- The Jones Library in Amherst, MA (love that library)-- and an experience as a child when a library worker was an up stander for him.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Is it necessary?</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>He told a story from his West African father about being the Buffalo vs the Cow. The cow runs away in a flood and the buffalo stays put and deals with what the flood brings.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>He reminded us all that what we are dealing with tin the world is not going to get any easier, so we need to figure out how to deal with it. When we have to do hard things, doing them together means we can deal with them easier and face what is coming.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>Since true reliance needs to be done together, not alone, he asked us to reimagine resilience. He defined it as:</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Someone who will feel with you</li><li>Someone who will laugh with you</li><li>Someone who will stand with you (also can be the person who reminds you why you do this)</li></ul><div>He then said to use those three questions about in conjunction with a reimagined concept of resilience to being us back together.&nbsp;</div></div><div><br /></div><div>He mentioned the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning–Kruger_effect" target="_blank">Dunning Kruger Effect</a>, the concept that the people who are very incompetent at something are too incompetent to know they are incompetent at it.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>And then left this fact which I think was the most powerful thing he told us because it is the most obviously problematic pairing of statistics, and if I saw them before this talk I might have looked twice at them, but after his talk, they are stunning in presenting the problem we are all dealing with together:</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>75% of Americans think incivility has reached an all time high</li><li>But, 94% of Americans think they are always or usually polite.</li></ul><div>Now I can see what he is saying-- both things cannot be true. It is a huge problem that in our country we all see ourselves as polite but we also see everyone as being uncivil.</div></div><div><br /></div><div>He was not going to solve this problem in our 60 min talk. But he was going to help us learn to be resilient without getting overwhelmed by how big the problem is by telling us: You don;t have to do the right things everyday, you just have to do the right things today. You only have to being the fight to show up just today.</div><div><br /></div><div>Right after the Opening Session was my presentation with Yaika and Robin, <a href="http://raforall.blogspot.com/2024/04/my-pla-program-w-slide-access-and-happy.html" target="_blank">which I posted the slides for here</a>. Many others posted about it on X.</div><div><br /></div><div>Right after my talk I went to this:</div><div><span style="background-color: white; white-space: pre-wrap;"><blockquote><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(39, 88, 204); color: #2758cc; font-weight: 700;">RA Meets AI: Building and Launching a Reader’s Advisory Kiosk</span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</blockquote><blockquote><span style="font-family: inherit;">Allow us to introduce you to the Recommendation Station: Scan a book barcode, browse read-alikes, check local availability and print shelf locations—from a touchscreen kiosk with built-in barcode scanner and receipt printer. Learn the motivation behind the project. Hear how Worthington Libraries leveraged the Novelist and Polaris APIs to build the software. Find out how they branded and promoted the new kiosks. Discover insights on how the new technology service has impacted the library.</span></blockquote></span></div><p></p><p>&nbsp;Here is the 1 page handout they provided on the site:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhngSSHZ1isA95XgwAP0_7Q5qex80geTTicWPyY5AKMPXmBR0iWtQP6jZjIhcaDMhjUD9130HljF5yZCXC6sEB9V1muooLRbY7bexmpc2s3X8lmoa2OEBzvsuXeXF2Xp-u-g7hujl3SI_Gb2gurk6pARWuFxaDW0NuOS1YkDs2OV4YqWX3ce-02XBw3cd7m/s2794/Screenshot%202024-04-03%20at%2011.57.13%E2%80%AFPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1768" data-original-width="2794" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhngSSHZ1isA95XgwAP0_7Q5qex80geTTicWPyY5AKMPXmBR0iWtQP6jZjIhcaDMhjUD9130HljF5yZCXC6sEB9V1muooLRbY7bexmpc2s3X8lmoa2OEBzvsuXeXF2Xp-u-g7hujl3SI_Gb2gurk6pARWuFxaDW0NuOS1YkDs2OV4YqWX3ce-02XBw3cd7m/w400-h253/Screenshot%202024-04-03%20at%2011.57.13%E2%80%AFPM.png" width="400" /></a></div>This program explained how they created 7 kiosks across 3 buildings that give out reading recommendations to people without a human giving them the recs. Except, it is not AI. They kept calling it AI but they use NoveList Select's recommendation engine to print out readalikes for people and NoveList Select's reading recommendations are made by humans.<div><br /></div><div>Now, I did appreciate the detailed discussion of how they built the software and how they want to use this as a gateway to interacting with the staff, nudging them to take advantage of the RA Service they offer at the desk by using a self-service model.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>And, I also liked their next steps which will include "While You Wait Lists" for hot titles and using the stations in a more promotional manner, almost as another display opportunity where they can have timely, staff created lists that are scheduled to appear and disappear, being replaced by a new list.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>But, I was uncomfortable that they used NoveList as the main software to drive this service without checking with NoveList. Yes they pay for NoveList Select, but that is an add on product to be used in your catalog. This is not their catalog. I know people from NoveList also attended this session. I am interested to see what happens.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>My advice, don't use someone else's product to make a brand new service and then present it at a national conference without checking with the company whose product is providing the intellection property behind your service.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>After this I had a lunch meeting, went to the exhibits for about 45 mins after they opened and headed to the LibraryReads dinner where I got to see many of my favorite people.</div><div><br /></div><div>Tomorrow, I will not be going to the "Big Ideas" session so I can get a tiny bit more sleep. I do have a full day of panels and I will need energy to report on them when I return to my room in the evening.&nbsp;</div><div><div><p class="carina-rte-public-DraftStyleDefault-block" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span></p></div></div>Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01085260877904727608noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-522319810296642659.post-17678852599303108402024-04-03T06:00:00.131-05:002024-04-03T06:00:00.137-05:00My PLA Program w Slide Access and Happy 30th Anniversary NoveList <p style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.placonference.org/event/016e56a2-bc16-4851-a9ce-699d90a92e7c/websitePage:0bb7bace-0326-4f15-99fe-b034f033b2c5?gad_source=1&amp;gclid=CjwKCAjwtqmwBhBVEiwAL-WAYfn-gRdwLYMOvMn76qZsPD2pJKsoWydgOwuGHQMgK3l1cuJz8xdq3hoCl3EQAvD_BwE" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="216" data-original-width="410" height="169" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh60GO8H7nD2Zj0_hrUgEeQkCmA1yMysVNK7bsh69xFkdzKXx63CrSqcaJdobjLCXwsFHI327PtKtd0mHqsqKB1XCTsoEYqvFkAFpPF4S75WiMw2QGnsi1-q8mSGUTorP6k1A1j0MNsw4aJtYkQRoJAyHwv5x7E-IY31fYPBvgFR46L7KpC7DLFu9cgCDk4/s320/Screenshot%202024-04-01%20at%2011.22.32%E2%80%AFAM.png" width="320" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p>This morning, is my presentation with Robin and Yaika which is in conjunction with the work Robin and I do with the Learn with NoveList database.</p><p>Here are the detail on that from <a href="https://www.placonference.org/event/016e56a2-bc16-4851-a9ce-699d90a92e7c/websitePage:0bb7bace-0326-4f15-99fe-b034f033b2c5" target="_blank">the PLA Conference site</a> with slide access:</p><p><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pVpr_PQDubOPmnaodp0fbN28UPlioaA0/view?usp=sharing" style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: 700;" target="_blank"></a></p><blockquote><p><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pVpr_PQDubOPmnaodp0fbN28UPlioaA0/view?usp=sharing" style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: 700;" target="_blank">Anti-racist Reader Services: Beyond the Basics</a></p><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">April 3, 2024<br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">10:15 AM-11:15 AM</span><span class="AgendaV2Styles__sessionModalDateTimeSpace___LHk8s" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 0.3em;">ET</span></div><div class="AgendaV2Styles__sessionDetailModalLocationContainer___znnYs" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">GCCC Union Station C</span></div><div class="AgendaV2Styles__sessionDetailModalLocationContainer___znnYs" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pVpr_PQDubOPmnaodp0fbN28UPlioaA0/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">SLIDE ACCESS</a></span></div><p><span class="AgendaV2Styles__sessionModalLocationAndCodeContainer___ym4jJ" style="border-radius: 0px; border: 0px rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; display: flex; justify-content: flex-start; line-height: 1.3; margin: 5px 0px; padding: 0px;"></span></p><div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="AgendaV2Styles__sessionModalDescription___US0vY AgendaV2Styles__sessionDescriptionFull___GWbvJ AgendaV2Styles__sessionDescriptionListView___rWIy8" data-cvent-id="session-modal-description-session-description" style="border-radius: 0px; border: 0px rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.3; margin: 5px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><div data-cvent-id="styled-session-description" style="-webkit-line-clamp: 3; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="-webkit-line-clamp: 3; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="ag87-crtemvc-hsbk" style="-webkit-line-clamp: 3; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">You're committed to providing anti-racist service to your community, and you've learned basics, like where to find diverse titles and how to audit your collection. So, what's next? This session will discuss deeper concerns and questions about actively anti-racist reader services, like how to deal with racist comments from patrons, whether every viewpoint deserves a spot on the shelves, and how to create your vision of anti-racist collections and services.</span></div><div class="ag87-crtemvc-hsbk" style="-webkit-line-clamp: 3; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="ag87-crtemvc-hsbk" style="-webkit-line-clamp: 3; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Presented by&nbsp;</span></div><div class="ag87-crtemvc-hsbk" style="-webkit-line-clamp: 3; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Robin Bradford,&nbsp;</span></span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Pierce&nbsp;</span></span><span style="font-family: inherit; white-space: pre-wrap;">County Library System</span></div><div class="ag87-crtemvc-hsbk" style="-webkit-line-clamp: 3; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yaika Sabat, NoveList</span></div><div class="ag87-crtemvc-hsbk" style="-webkit-line-clamp: 3; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Becky Spratford, RA for All</span></div></div></div></div></div></blockquote><div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="AgendaV2Styles__sessionModalDescription___US0vY AgendaV2Styles__sessionDescriptionFull___GWbvJ AgendaV2Styles__sessionDescriptionListView___rWIy8" data-cvent-id="session-modal-description-session-description" style="border-radius: 0px; border: 0px rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.3; margin: 5px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px;"><div data-cvent-id="styled-session-description" style="-webkit-line-clamp: 3; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div style="-webkit-line-clamp: 3; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="ag87-crtemvc-hsbk" style="-webkit-line-clamp: 3; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></div></div></div></div></div><p>This program is going to be very focused on the "next level" of Antiracist Service to Leisure Readers, with half of it focused on 3 big concepts and then we will move into the most popular questions, concerns, and/or issues that come up every time we offer this training through NoveList. And, we are going to have multiple ways you can ask your questions as we are leaving at least 15 minutes [hopefully 20] for live questions. We will have notecards in the back with someone collecting them for us, if you don't want to ask at the microphone as well as taking questions live.</p><p><b>I am going to be very clear here. If your question is a comment, I will cut you off. We have limited time and want to help those who have questions.</b></p><p>Comments can come after, or as <a href="https://raforall.blogspot.com/2024/04/beckys-pla-schedule-in-person-and-blog.html" target="_blank">I mentioned yesterday</a>, Robin and I are also appearing at the EBSCO/NoveList booth [2123] on Thursday from 12-1 to answer your questions in a more private setting. This is also where we can handle comments, but especially, we want that booth time for those who are not comfortable having their questions taken during the program time. We are doing as much as possible to create a safe space to discuss these sensitive topics. The information about that booth time is also in the <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pVpr_PQDubOPmnaodp0fbN28UPlioaA0/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">slides</a>, as is our contact info. You can always email us as well.</p><p>Since I am presenting as part of the work I do with NoveList, I also wanted to take this moment to remind you that they are celebrating their 30th Anniversary. Please <a href="https://www.libraryaware.com/14/Posts/View/f553948b-0802-49f8-aad4-516fde082317?SID=947ed028-3aee-4279-a355-e62bb77f9612" target="_blank">click here</a> to see their latest newsletter.&nbsp;</p><p>From <a href="https://www.libraryaware.com/14/Posts/View/f553948b-0802-49f8-aad4-516fde082317?SID=947ed028-3aee-4279-a355-e62bb77f9612" target="_blank">the introduction to that newsletter</a>:</p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" role="none" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%;"><tbody style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><tr style="border-collapse: collapse; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><td align="center" class="es-m-p0r" style="border: 0px; float: none !important; font-family: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: 530px;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" role="presentation" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%;"><tbody style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><tr style="border-collapse: collapse; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><td align="center" class="es-m-txt-l" style="border: 0px; float: none !important; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 35px 0px 20px; vertical-align: middle;"><h2 style="border: 0px; color: #3d3f42; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: normal; line-height: 34px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">1994 to 2024 and beyond</span></b></h2></td></tr><tr style="border-collapse: collapse; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><td align="center" class="es-m-txt-l" style="border: 0px; float: none !important; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 15px 0px; vertical-align: middle;"><p style="border: 0px; color: #3d3f42; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Back in 1994 — when&nbsp;<em style="border: 0px; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Sign</em>&nbsp;by Ace of Base was number one on the charts,&nbsp;<em style="border: 0px; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Lion King</em>&nbsp;ruled the box office, and 3.5 inch floppy disks were the storage media of choice — NoveList came up with a solution to a problem libraries still face today: The world of books is simply too vast for one person's memory.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; color: #3d3f42; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br /></span></p><p style="border: 0px; color: #3d3f42; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">We believe in finding the right books for each individual, and we're proud to still be helping libraries help readers, 30 years later. We're also thrilled to have moved on from floppy disks and are here to celebrate our 30th with you!</span></p><p style="border: 0px; color: #3d3f42; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></p></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table>There are some great articles there. Give it a read. And if you are at PLA, NoveList will be hosting a series of one-on-one opportunities to meet with their staff at the EBSCO booth all day Thursday, Robin and I are simply a small part of that. Please make sure you stop by booth 2123 if you are at the conference.<div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.libraryaware.com/14/Posts/View/f553948b-0802-49f8-aad4-516fde082317?SID=947ed028-3aee-4279-a355-e62bb77f9612" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="730" data-original-width="943" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-LMtb0NTCYGPj_5DEXUJpjLdFoOfbq1Ozuts24C4qf8fe7Qt8U39kWmtoihg69rZi97acJmhOdQyTK-MGaBlpoQzBMvUMKNE8GPTSPJzSFpRyJLYQJwiw9uD1eUU7mFiShL1RwZGEPIl-SWRn4dQL2CMjL9WtRMr_zsYanrO2kDhCAx_3NFKJrpo_cPsI/w320-h248/285b8497-c6b8-4598-b849-23144d858bd9.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.libraryaware.com/14/Posts/View/f553948b-0802-49f8-aad4-516fde082317?SID=947ed028-3aee-4279-a355-e62bb77f9612" target="_blank">Click here to read the the post</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p></div>Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01085260877904727608noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-522319810296642659.post-83383461003202701152024-04-02T07:00:00.231-05:002024-04-02T17:25:39.801-05:00Becky's PLA Schedule in Person and Blog Plans<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.placonference.org/event/016e56a2-bc16-4851-a9ce-699d90a92e7c/websitePage:0bb7bace-0326-4f15-99fe-b034f033b2c5?gad_source=1&amp;gclid=CjwKCAjwtqmwBhBVEiwAL-WAYfn-gRdwLYMOvMn76qZsPD2pJKsoWydgOwuGHQMgK3l1cuJz8xdq3hoCl3EQAvD_BwE" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="216" data-original-width="410" height="169" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh60GO8H7nD2Zj0_hrUgEeQkCmA1yMysVNK7bsh69xFkdzKXx63CrSqcaJdobjLCXwsFHI327PtKtd0mHqsqKB1XCTsoEYqvFkAFpPF4S75WiMw2QGnsi1-q8mSGUTorP6k1A1j0MNsw4aJtYkQRoJAyHwv5x7E-IY31fYPBvgFR46L7KpC7DLFu9cgCDk4/s320/Screenshot%202024-04-01%20at%2011.22.32%E2%80%AFAM.png" width="320" /></a></div><br />Today I am enroute to <a href="https://www.placonference.org/event/016e56a2-bc16-4851-a9ce-699d90a92e7c/websitePage:0bb7bace-0326-4f15-99fe-b034f033b2c5?gad_source=1&amp;gclid=CjwKCAjwtqmwBhBVEiwAL-WAYfn-gRdwLYMOvMn76qZsPD2pJKsoWydgOwuGHQMgK3l1cuJz8xdq3hoCl3EQAvD_BwE" target="_blank">PLA</a>, so I prepared this post before I left with some key information about where I will be and what I am most interested in seeing at PLA.<p></p><p>However, this post is NOT only for those who are attending the conference. I will be turning my notes into recaps on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. The posts will be a day behind. So Thursday, that will be my Wednesday recap, Friday my Thursday recap, and Saturday my Friday recap. I realize it is a bit confusing, but I want to be as clear as possible about what you can expect. Also, you will not have to wait until Monday 4/8 for Friday's recap.</p><p>So while this post (or the PLA app where I made my schedule public) is a great way to see what I will be, it is also a great guide to see what I will be writing about in more detail in the coming days. Of course, things always come up at conference and there may be things I want to attend and don't or things that I find out about that seem better than what I had previously planned. The key to conferencing is to stay flexible.</p><p>Finally, if you are attending, come find me. I have pens and stickers for anyone who asks.</p><p>Enough preamble. Let's talk schedule.</p><p><span style="orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">First up a note from ALA Editions who will have <a href="https://alastore.ala.org/content/becky-siegel-spratford" target="_blank">my book</a> and <a href="https://alastore.ala.org/RAromance" target="_blank">Robin's book</a> available with discounts:</span></span></p><p><span style="orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span></p><blockquote><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="orphans: 2; widows: 2;">Those of you attending the Public Library Association (</span><a data-auth="NotApplicable" data-informz-do-not-track="false" data-informz-link-name="" data-informz-link="true" data-linkindex="1" href="http://americanlibraryassociation.informz.net/z/cjUucD9taT0xMTQ3NTY5MCZwPTEmdT0xMTIwMTU2NTc4JmxpPTEwODA4NDAxNw/index.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="border: 0px; color: #125f9f; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 2;" target="_blank">PLA</a><span style="orphans: 2; widows: 2;">) Conference in Columbus April 3rd to 5th can meet our staff at the ALA Store. Its location in the Greater Columbus Convention Center will be&nbsp;</span><strong style="orphans: 2; widows: 2;">Booth #612</strong><span style="orphans: 2; widows: 2;">. We will have many of our titles available to purchase in person at PLA and many others available at special online rates for conference registrants. Ask about our virtual sale promotions when you visit the ALA Store in Columbus!</span></span></blockquote><p>Next up, my planned schedule via the official things on the app. Anyone can learn more about these <a href="https://www.placonference.org/event/016e56a2-bc16-4851-a9ce-699d90a92e7c/websitePage:0bb7bace-0326-4f15-99fe-b034f033b2c5?gad_source=1&amp;gclid=CjwKCAjwtqmwBhBVEiwAL-WAYfn-gRdwLYMOvMn76qZsPD2pJKsoWydgOwuGHQMgK3l1cuJz8xdq3hoCl3EQAvD_BwE" target="_blank">sessions here,</a> you do not need to log in. I am simply posting the titles and locations. If you want to know more BEFORE I attend things, <a href="https://www.placonference.org/event/016e56a2-bc16-4851-a9ce-699d90a92e7c/websitePage:0bb7bace-0326-4f15-99fe-b034f033b2c5?gad_source=1&amp;gclid=CjwKCAjwtqmwBhBVEiwAL-WAYfn-gRdwLYMOvMn76qZsPD2pJKsoWydgOwuGHQMgK3l1cuJz8xdq3hoCl3EQAvD_BwE" target="_blank">go here to see the entire schedule with session descriptions</a>.&nbsp;</p><p><b>Wednesday:</b></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>8:30 AM - 10:00 AM EDT GCCC Hall A <b>Opening Session with Shola Richards</b></li><li>10:15 AM - 11:15 AM EDT GCCC Union Station C <b>Anti-racist Reader Services: Beyond the Basics</b></li><ul><li>This is my session with Yaika Sabat and Robin Bradford. I will have a post about it and the slides along with other things we are doing in conjunction with NoveList during the conference as tomorrow's post</li></ul><li>11:30 AM - 12:30 PM EDT GCCC C160-162AB <b>RA Meets AI: Building and Launching a Reader’s Advisory Kiosk</b>.</li><li>3:00 PM - 6:00 PM EDT GCCC <b>Exhibits Hall Exhibits Opening Reception</b></li><ul><li>I will be there for just a short time because I have an event with the person who did my library's Strategic Plan and then a dinner.</li></ul></ul><div><b>Thursday:</b></div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>8:00 AM - 9:00 AM EDT GCCC Hall A <b>Big Ideas with Ta-Nehisi Coates</b></li><li>9:00 AM - 10:30 AM EDT GCCC Exhibits Hall - <b>Book Buzz Stage Book Buzz Stage: Adult Publishers</b></li><li>10:15 AM - 11:15 AM EDT GCCC Union Station <b>A Building Pathways to Diverse Librarianship and Leadership</b></li><li>10:15 AM - 11:15 AM EDT GCCC B230-235 E<b>quitable Collections Use: Is Floating the Answer or a Hindrance?</b></li><ul><li>Yes I have 2 things scheduled at 10:15. I know. We will see which I go to. Also I often divide and conquer with colleagues. And if I know someone is going to one, I may go to the other and ask for their notes on the one I missed.&nbsp;</li></ul><li>11:30 AM - 12:30 PM EDT GCCC Union Station A <b>Changing Subject Headings for a More Inclusive Library</b></li><li>2:00 PM - 3:00 PM EDT GCCC A110-115 <b>Book Buzz: Presented by Booklist</b></li><li>3:30 PM - 3:50 PM EDT GCCC Exhibits Hall - <b>How-To Stage HOW TO Build a Virtual Readers' Advisory Website</b></li><li>4:00 PM - 5:00 PM EDT GCCC A110-115 <b>Diversifying Your Displays and Book Lists</b></li><li>5:00 PM - 6:30 PM EDT GCCC Battelle Grand Ballroom <b>All-Conference Happy Hour</b></li><li>5:30 PM&nbsp;GCCC Room C150-51 <b>Your Evening is Booked: a LibraryReads Panel</b></li><ul><li>This one is not on the schedule but is open to any and all PLA attendees. <a href="https://libraryreads.org/events" target="_blank">For more details, visit the Events page on the LibraryReads site here.</a></li></ul></ul><div>Also on <b>Thursday, Robin and I will be at the NoveList Booth [2123] from 12-1 </b>on Thursday to have more private conversations about the challenges you are facing in regards to Anti-Racist Services to Leisure Readers. More information during our session about this and in the slides.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Friday:</b></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>8:00 AM - 9:00 AM EDT GCCC Hall A <b>Big Ideas with Mary Annaïse Heglar</b></li><li>10:15 AM - 11:15 AM EDT GCCC A110-115 <b>Pivoting to Meet New Censorship Tactics</b></li><li>11:30 AM - 12:30 PM EDT GCCC C170-172 <b>African American Isn’t a Genre: Collecting and Promoting Black Books</b></li><li>11:30 AM - 12:30 PM EDT GCCC Short North AB <b>Reimagining Public Service and Staffing Models with Flexibility Top of Mind</b></li><li>12:30 PM - 2:00 PM EDT GCCC Exhibits Hall - <b>Book Buzz Stage Book Buzz Stage: Adult Publishers</b></li><li>1:30 PM - 2:00 PM EDT GCCC Exhibits Hall Exhibits <b>Closing Reception</b></li><li>2:15 PM - 3:15 PM EDT GCCC Union Station A <b>After the Audit: Sustainable Steps to Maintaining a Diverse Collection</b></li><li>2:15 PM - 3:15 PM EDT GCCC C160-162AB <b>Is a Bigger Collection Better? The Relationship between Collection Size and Access Equity</b></li><li>3:30 PM - 4:30 PM EDT GCCC Union Station C <b>Curating Diverse Community Collections for Patron Engagement</b></li><li>3:30 PM - 4:30 PM EDT GCCC C160-162AB <b>Read Romance/Fight Patriarchy</b></li><li>3:30 PM - 4:30 PM EDT GCCC A210-215 <b>Rethinking Dewey (Dewey or Don't We?)</b></li><li>3:30 PM - 4:30 PM EDT GCCC C170-172 <b>The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Toolbox</b></li><li>5:00 PM - 6:00 PM EDT GCCC Hall A <b>Closing Session with Dulcé Sloan</b></li></ul></div><div><div>As you can see, my Friday is very double-booked. I am also staying until the very end; in fact, over the last few PLA Conferences, I have seen some of the best presentations for the entire conference on the afternoon of the last day.</div><div><br /></div><div>Finally, I have not noted when I will be roaming the exhibit hall, besides when Robin and I are working at the NoveList Booth, but I will be spending time there to visit the publishers and such.</div><div><br /></div><div>And, I mean this, if you see me, even if we have never met but you know me from Twitter or read my blog, please stop me and say "Hi." It is not weird. It happens multiple times a day, every day at conferences. I want to meet you. I have met some of my favorite library people this way. Plus, I will give you stickers and a pen if you stop me. You know who I am but I do not know who you are....yet. Let's change that.</div><div><br /></div><div>Now let's do this PLA.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>Back tomorrow with a post all about my Wednesday presentation including slide access.</div></div>Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01085260877904727608noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-522319810296642659.post-80683316690059443082024-04-01T07:00:00.067-05:002024-04-17T12:20:43.452-05:00What I'm Reading: Horror Review Column in the April 2024 Issue of LJ<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.libraryjournal.com/search?query=spratford" style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 51); font-weight: 700; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="110" data-original-width="200" height="110" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTPKvyncbENePW7hmysi-o9FAtU0q13TtSSmgeL4CZrTUY5_8Mhc9f5xpg3PJm3vfj9hlD8JDTMQWv8R3PqN9LFjqv2uGUBSrplDRXMJ8rYakVPR6I8kJ8AN_H1r2kIbpGeOEmDQMP04RXqsZ7KDpm36oLvw_DqVNx7N-LgywAQX0WYnH7RwlEUrZR6Q/s1600/LJ.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">This is no April Fool's, my Library Journal column in the April 2024 issue is out now! In this post I have gathered the titles with my three words and links to my full draft reviews on Goodreads. Click through for more readalikes and more appeal information.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>First this month's&nbsp;<span style="color: red;">STARS</span></b>:</span></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6204583274" target="_blank">The Eyes Are the</a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6204583274" target="_blank">&nbsp;Best Part</a> by Monika Kim</span></li><ul><li><a href="https://www.libraryjournal.com/story/LJ-Talks-with-Monika-Kim-The-Eyes-Are-The-Best-Part" target="_blank">Interview with the author is now live here</a></li></ul><li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6234701963" style="font-family: inherit;" target="_blank">Midwest Gothic</a><span style="font-family: inherit;"> by Scott Thomas</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6217162434" target="_blank">Craft: Stories I Wrote for the Devil</a> by&nbsp;Ananda Lima</span></li></ul><div><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">And the other 5 excellent titles:</span></b></div><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6219976632" target="_blank">How To Make a Horror Movie and Survive</a></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> by Craig DiLouie</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6229176775" target="_blank">Ghostroots: Stories</a><span style="font-size: small;"> by ’Pemi Aguda </span></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6226589826" target="_blank">The Z-Word </a>by Lindsay King-Miller</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6234467910" target="_blank">Cuckoo</a> by Gretchen Felker-Martin </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And the 5th book is not on Goodreads yet so I will post the full draft review here. I'll move it over to Goodreads like the others when it is </span></span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">available.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Beyond the Bounds of Infinity: An Anthology of Diverse Cosmic Horror</span><span style="background-color: white; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #181818;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"> edited by Vaughan A. Jackson and Stephanie Pearre coming out in June by Raw Dog Screaming Press. Coming&nbsp;</span></span><span style="color: #181818;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(24, 24, 24); white-space-collapse: preserve;">June&nbsp;</span></span></span><span id="docs-internal-guid-ee3fa784-7fff-c8b9-c9b3-83058310ed9f">2024.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Cosmic Horror is popular precisely because its horror stems from a powerful force that is indifferent to human suffering, a feeling to which people can unfortunately relate. But it also has a public relations problem as its founder, Lovecraft, was</span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> not only virulently xenophobic but also, embedded this hatred into his stories. Thankfully a new generation of authors, the very best of which identify as the people Lovecraft despised, are taking the genre back. Editors, Jackson and Pearre, set out to share tales created by marginalized voices inviting guest authors like S.A. Cosby and Mary SanGiovanni to anchor the volume while saving 15 of the 19 slots for an open call that resulted in 350 submissions. The resulting anthology highlights the vibrancy and breadth of the genre, as readers are taken on a journey from the attention grabbing second person voice, ominous static, and immersive anxiety of Timaeus Bloom’s opener straight through to the closing terrors that emerge from L. Marie Wood’s movie director in an impossible situation, a story that leaves readers with the uneasy, Lovecraftian realization that the fear may never let up, and in fact, it may already be too late for us all.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="white-space: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Verdict:</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> A great introduction to both today's Cosmic Horror and a plethora of new, talented voices. An easy handsell to fans of Jordan Peele, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Ballad of Black</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Tom by Victor LaValle, or the work of rising star, Hailey Piper.</span></span></span></span></p><div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Three Words That Describe This Book: existential dread, wide range of writing styles, compelling</span></span></span></span></p>Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01085260877904727608noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-522319810296642659.post-23631042144326735082024-03-29T07:00:00.164-05:002024-03-29T09:34:25.620-05:00What I'm Reading: Booklist April 1, 2024 Issue<p><span style="font-family: inherit;">The April 1, 2024 issue of Booklist dropped a few days early and&nbsp;I have 2 reviews in this issue. As usual, you can find my draft review here with my three words and bonus appeal info and more readalikes.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Both titles are from small presses that I trust for you to add to your library collections. They are professionally edited and bound in a way that stands up to multiple checkouts.&nbsp;</span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6264996012" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="625" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg561tqVBoPMETOM_o8rM7YRcVt-dg6zvAXNd1iybVU_t02KxJJQqxPD9W5lqV37yl5gvfRZVDHt0ZtEpR4U84pwCrigUVo93rAQFEFZP3PGKbc_KAlgc9Z96EEg65nyvTAbX0QCXYOndS5H0zwvg42jYsrs1OPqJeKZjEqw0V0Pe-OUwNJUQUEi0y5fVMj/w125-h200/205162620.jpg" width="125" /></a></div><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6264996012" target="_blank">Cranberry Cove<br /></a>By Hailey Piper</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span><span id="docs-internal-guid-9cee5077-7fff-fabb-e044-660ed1c7d849"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span><span style="background-color: white;">Apr. 2024. 152p. Bad Hand, paper, $12.99&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.worldcat.org/isbn/9798988128632" target="__blank" title="Link to WorldCat and see if your local library has this book">(9798988128632)</a><span style="background-color: white;">.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="background-color: white;">First published&nbsp;</span><a style="text-decoration: underline;">April 1, 2024 (<i>Booklist</i>).</a></span></p><br /></span></span><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Piper, known for her Cosmic Horror, employs the same terrifying tone, this time setting it all in a “people eating hotel.” Connor and Emberly are the private security staff for underground crime boss, Ricard, sent to investigate what really happened when his son was sexually assaulted by an unseen male attacker during a weapons deal at&nbsp; the notorious, long deserted, and possibly haunted, Cranberry Cove hotel. What follows is the best crossover episode of&nbsp; </span><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Law and Order SVU</span><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and </span><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">X-Files</span><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> that you never knew you wanted and now cannot live without. Readers experience the horror emanating from the walls with all five of their senses, as the compelling story ropes them in from the start and holds them rapt until the final, emotional scene, but it is Emberly and Connor, their tender relationship as long time partners and their honest discussions about gender and Emberly’s transition which standout here. This is a one-off novella that will appeal to fans of supernatural crime and intense haunted hotels such as in </span><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3101087466" target="_blank">The Return</a></span><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> by Rachel Harrison and the backlist gem, </span><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1514833641" target="_blank">Travelers Rest</a></span><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> by Keith Lee Morris.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><span><span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Three Words That Describe This Book</b>: immersive, compelling, haunted hotel.</span></p></span><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span><b>Further Appeal: </b>You can easily booktalk this novella with the sentence I wrote above: "</span><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What follows is the best crossover episode of&nbsp; </span><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Law and Order SVU</span><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and </span><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">X-Files</span><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> that you never knew you wanted and now cannot live without."</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The strong sense of place dominates this story. On page 21, Emberly refers to the place as a "people eating hotel." Piper tips her hat early, yes, but she really works hard to make this NOT a gimmick. The hotel and the world/mythology around it is built meticulously. This is not your ordinary haunted hotel. The world is immersive. You feel, smell, and see the rotting hotel. You get a sense of the underworld Em and Connor operate within.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span>Also of note is Emberly. She carries the story with the seriousness it needs. She is an excellent investigator, she is a fully realized person, not just a 2D </span>character<span>&nbsp;on a page.&nbsp;</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span>And it might sound like with all the world building and </span>character<span>&nbsp;development it would move slow, but this is not the case at all. With short chapters that feel like scenes or mini </span>episodes<span>, things move&nbsp;</span>briskly. But not too fast to put plot over the mood, place and characters. it is well balanced.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And I am very tough on endings. This one has a great ending for the story. No other way it could end and feel like the story worked, in my opinion.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Readalikes:</b><span>&nbsp;I had a whole bunch jotted down but the two above capture the mood of this story. It is </span>menacing<span>&nbsp;and&nbsp;</span>Weird. The Harrison is a little more on the nose but Morris' novel is one of my all-time favorites. It is the very best menacing hotel story I have ever read.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I would also suggest Carmen Maria Machado's <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3076722427" target="_blank">In the Dream House</a> which is a memoir, but works very well here.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And for those who like supernatural investigative elements the best, fans of <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4981568.Simone_St_James" target="_blank">Simone St. James</a> can be directed to this Piper title. While <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3847872525" target="_blank">The Sun Down Motel</a> seems like the most obvious option, I would actually direct people to <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58371432-the-book-of-cold-cases" target="_blank">The Book of Cold Cases</a>.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6264994467" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="198" data-original-width="128" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPnsf_Zh7kXiAmOcfACGS1m7_RNffPpL6iAn0Qu9BtqcDDYrjIrCgil7HJEakbfCRBOBN9RFF5n5E3xMD7luRGx6RJfxYVZpq0fE9ao5p810RcQsimrGXHO9_JQfdosWNuRNpN1GKaoJd4xkTbeoDnj9emI-N69qFHp490Vz-XuF-XE0UgdGZdw1ZRRNtr/s1600/content.jpeg" width="128" /></a></span></div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6264994467" target="_blank"></a></span><p></p><blockquote><p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6264994467" target="_blank">Invaginies</a></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">&nbsp;<span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: black; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">By Joe Koch June 2024. 238p. Clash, paper, $16.95 (9781960988119). First published April 1, 2024 (Booklist).</span>&nbsp;</span></p></blockquote><blockquote><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: black; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Shirley Jackson Award nominee, Koch, presents a collection of 18 stories that are Weird, lyrical, and grotesquely beautiful. Featuring all of the creepy things readers would want in a Horror collection (e.g. rats, clowns, body horror), but showcased in ways readers would never expect, this is a volume that leaves both its characters and readers transformed. To describe the plot of any single story does Koch a disservice because each tale is more of a character sketch, a prose poem, or&nbsp; a moment in time, but as the reader moves through, they are stitched together into a book that feels like it could all be one cohesive story, and yet, clearly it is not. A thought-provoking collection that readers will experience physically, making it a great&nbsp; suggestion for those who like to mix their their literary fiction with visceral, lush prose, recounting stories that captivate and discomfort in equal measure, such as in </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: black; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3007792143" target="_blank">Tinfoil Butterfly</a></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: black; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> by Rachel Eve Moulton and </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: black; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3332309102" target="_blank">The Seventh Mansion</a></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: black; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> by </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #000033; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Maryse Meijer.</span></span></p></blockquote><p><span id="docs-internal-guid-45107b5c-7fff-ddf4-4203-4016c1a943e6" style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Three Words That Describe This Book: grotesquely beautiful, thought provoking, lyrical</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Further Appeal:</b><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">&nbsp;This is not an "easy" book to read in just about every way that statement can be interpreted; however, that is not a negative thing about it. It is the best thing about it. This also is a signal to you that it is NOT for everyone. But people who really like dark, thought provoking, extremely well constructed prose that challenges the reader to look into themselves as well as makes them uncomfortable, this is the book for them.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">A phrase that didn't make the review which I saved for here is, "</span>told with lyrical prose&nbsp; that will burrow into readers, leaving them transformed."</span></p><p><b style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Here are some more notes from when I was reading and trying to figure out how I was going to talk about this book as a single volume:</span></b></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; orphans: auto; white-space: normal; widows: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This is literary fiction told through a Weird lens where the grotesque odd and dark corners shine through or twist around the prose&nbsp;</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Prose is complex and lyrical but also beautiful in a grotesque way. You get lost in the prose and how it takes over you grabs a hold of you and then lets you go feeling changed.</span></li></ul><div>Koch, already critically acclaimed, will keep rising, so get this book on your radar now.</div><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><b>Readalikes: </b>The two books in the review are perfect examples of the reading experience of this collection. I really liked both of those novels and gave them reviews in Booklist as well. If you use those links to read more, you will see many other readalike options.</p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Back Monday with my April LJ column, so 8 more reviews. And that's no April Fools.</p>Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01085260877904727608noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-522319810296642659.post-7789977473012354442024-03-28T07:00:00.009-05:002024-03-28T07:00:00.369-05:00Common Myths About Book Bans via Kelly Jensen at Book Riot<p>Today I am mostly off to assist a family member, but I saved <a href="https://bookriot.com/common-myths-about-book-bans" target="_blank">this important article</a> for today.&nbsp;</p><p>As I have mentioned multiple times in the past, Kelly Jensen is one of the only people doing the hard work <a href="https://bookriot.com/category/censorship/" target="_blank">reporting on censorship</a> and she has been doing it with journalistic integrity and without help from main stream media, for years now. You can access <a href="https://bookriot.com/category/censorship/" target="_blank">that reporting</a>, which she also complies in a weekly round-up with <a href="https://bookriot.com/category/censorship/" target="_blank">this link</a> that Book Riot has created to make their "<a href="https://bookriot.com/category/censorship/" target="_blank">Censorship</a>" reporting available with one click.</p><p>But specifically, last week's roundup is one that every single person who works in any library <a href="https://bookriot.com/common-myths-about-book-bans/" target="_blank">needs to read</a>, especially those of you who think you are "safe."</p><p>It is entitled, "<a href="https://bookriot.com/common-myths-about-book-bans/" target="_blank">You're Wrong About These Common Myths About Book Bans.</a>" Don't think you know it all and don't need to read this. I needed to read this. So do you, so do your co-workers, and so do your patrons.</p><p>Please <a href="https://bookriot.com/common-myths-about-book-bans/" target="_blank">click through and read it</a>. Read her <a href="https://bookriot.com/category/censorship/" target="_blank">censorship coverage</a> every week. And also, ACT. These pieces have action steps. Do something no matter who you are and where you live. We are still losing ground as a society. As we gain victories in court, the banners switch tactics and go after us in new and horrifying ways. Case in point, <a href="https://bookriot.com/bookmarked-onshelf-book-banning-app/" target="_blank">this report Jensen put out this past Monday</a>.&nbsp;</p><p>And thank you to Kelly Jensen for all of her hard work. There are not enough of us out there helping her though. Let that sink in and do something.</p><p><br /></p>Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01085260877904727608noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-522319810296642659.post-26431144363532979052024-03-27T07:00:00.001-05:002024-03-27T07:00:00.140-05:00Shelf Care Podcast Gets Taken Over By Summer Scares PLUS Access to All 3 Booklist Webinars Featuring Our 9 2024 Authors<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://raforallhorror.blogspot.com/p/summer-scares.html" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1797" data-original-width="3440" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiPQ-jY0rq8ZQZXqagBajPr-m7lMdBnHWu3h-Yd9OeQnO3nqT33ZSS8-k4afi-ohtNKP-X9HyrrIt9x4naTUsHxXyhTa7QMVNexrFsyJWknU2988gGWN1pfHFNB86l46DOJ-XJk39kC5qWPLuUR5nA3r6dwFEZdRP9-UwlEarjsz0oOtIucDlMdMmND2u7/w400-h209/HWA-summer-scares-new2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://raforallhorror.blogspot.com/p/summer-scares.html" target="_blank">Click here to access the</a><br />Summer Scares resource page</td></tr></tbody></table><p>A huge part of the work of <a href="http://raforallhorror.blogspot.com/p/summer-scares.html" target="_blank">Summer Scares</a> comes AFTER to books are announced as we prepare the resources to help you understand the books and get them into readers' hands.&nbsp;</p><p>It begins with <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CBI3U-Kt9_de7S5SsXb1UgF1ExJE2MeZ/view?usp=share_link" target="_blank">the programming guide</a> yes, but as one of our sponsors, Booklist allows us to bring the program to life, putting the authors and library workers who have had success using Summer Scares to promote Horror front and center.</p><p>Monday we completed our series of three webinars, one with each set of the three authors. All are free to view now and in perpetuity:</p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://youtu.be/6opQRbuH5Xg?si=HfY3xR6v8JYvuNnE" target="_blank">2024 MG authors</a>&nbsp;in conversation with Sarah Hunter, Editor, Books for Youth and Graphic Novels</li><li><a href="https://youtu.be/eS7OQLqxyOo?si=DUt3pCptMTbJfqea" target="_blank">2024 YA authors</a>&nbsp;in conversation with Yaika Sabat, Manager of Readers Services, NoveList</li><li><a href="https://youtu.be/472jI7eNzj4?si=8yX5U-AytsRERIiz" target="_blank">2024 Adult authors</a>&nbsp;in conversation with Clay McLeod Chapman, Author and 2024 Summer Scares Spokesperson</li></ul><div>You can also <a href="https://www.booklistonline.com/webinars" target="_blank">click here for all upcoming Booklist webinars</a>, on every type of book and for all ages of readers, or<a href="https://www.booklistonline.com/webinars-archive" target="_blank"> here for the archive of all past webinars</a>. And all are always free to view.</div><div><br /></div>Also now available, you can listen to committee members and some librarians who use Summer Scares in their libraries talk about the program, in general, and this year's selected titles, specifically, on Booklist's Shelf Care, the podcast&nbsp;<a href="https://soundcloud.com/shelfcare/summer-scares-2024?utm_source=clipboard&amp;utm_medium=text&amp;utm_campaign=social_sharing" target="_blank">here on Sound Cloud</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.booklistonline.com/shelf-care" target="_blank">here through&nbsp;Booklist Online's landing page for the podcast </a>where you can scroll down to see the most current episode and browse the archive for more.<p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Specifically, big thanks to Clay McLeod Chapman for appearing with me and for sharing the personal story behind his latest novel, <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/75568069-what-kind-of-mother?from_search=true&amp;from_srp=true&amp;qid=PvzdB18p8C&amp;rank=1" target="_blank">What Kind of Mother</a>. We were the adult-YA tag team dream team.</p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">I have updated the <a href="http://raforallhorror.blogspot.com/p/summer-scares.html" target="_blank">Summer Scares Resource page</a> with all of this info as well.&nbsp;</p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">And, don't forget the&nbsp;<a href="http://raforallhorror.blogspot.com/p/summer-scares-archive.html" target="_blank">Summer Scares Archive</a>&nbsp;for past year's webinars, programming guides, podcasts, and resources. You can use any year's information now and in the future, and at anytime of year, not just Summer.</p>Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01085260877904727608noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-522319810296642659.post-9767834287406775022024-03-26T09:00:00.001-05:002024-03-26T09:44:06.167-05:00Jade Daniels' Story is Finally Complete and She is THE 21st Century's Final Girl<p><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5917636589" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="2113" data-original-width="1400" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBlpxCzmS6otgxIGoCzEcoF_lZDuvXV4YooIzdB0YinGEAnZT-A4ePm-z1vKE3G7EgxATB64Trra-8hFsumQI6ntVNKDqOhtOeShQ-O0ESZEcr9BxUOmK_t070AeF8qijtSLW7mlMWsTDfPkKRmfwqLeJVuvtFky2L9Z96fT7Z_gGy0ZLEYf8PbeTfG51O/w133-h200/178019710.jpg" width="133" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Today is a day that will be remembered and celebrated for years to come. I am not exaggerating either. May 26th 2024 is the day that the final installment in the <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/series/329344-the-indian-lake-trilogy" target="_blank">Indian Lake Trilogy by Stephen Graham Jones</a> releases and Jade Daniels story comes to its moving&nbsp;</span>conclusion.&nbsp;<p></p><p>In honor of the release of the this book, <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5917636589" target="_blank">The Angel of Indian Lake</a>, I wanted to repost my STAR review from Library Journal and make a few comments about the entire trilogy.&nbsp;</p><p><span style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0px;">First <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5917636589" target="_blank">my draft review and 3 words</a> for this specific book.:&nbsp;<br style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(30, 25, 21); color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(30, 25, 21); color: #1e1915;"></span></span></p><blockquote><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(30, 25, 21); color: #1e1915;">It’s October, 2023. Four years have passed since the Dark Mills South Massacre and eight years since the Lake Massacre both which sent Jade to prison. Now, thanks to her best friend Lethe, she is back as the high school history teacher just as Proofrock is about to face another massacre, its most devastating and deadly night yet. This Halloween, will be Proofrock’s final stand against the secrets that have been hidden under the pristine waters of the lake at the center of this cursed town for generations. Readers will get wrapped up in the action, as the bodies pile up, but it will be Jade who leads them through as she comes to terms with traumas both personal and historical, relies on her knowledge of slashers, and learns to trust herself and her renewed connection to her Native heritage. It is the perfect conclusion to this story of ghosts and monsters, both real and supernatural and of secrets that must finally be brought to the surface. A story masterfully told, allowing every detail to matter, but most of all one that provides a final girl to cherish, the angel at its center, the one who believes it is all worth saving.&nbsp;</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(30, 25, 21); color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(30, 25, 21); color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(30, 25, 21); color: #1e1915;">Verdict: Jones has given the world a gift, an epic tale for the ages, one that is both a violent, high octane slasher and a frank, thought provoking indictment of America, past and present. For any reader but especially those who love when Horror stays true to its genre roots while always striving to let readers see themselves and their reality in its terror such as written by Due, Moreno-Garcia, and Tremblay.</span></blockquote><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><blockquote><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(30, 25, 21); color: #1e1915;">Three Words That Describe This Book: heartbreakingly beautiful, thought provoking, perfect ending</span></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">So that's the final book in my limited review word count.&nbsp;</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">But that is the last book, let's talk about the trilogy now that it is </span>finished<span style="font-family: inherit;">. Here is my review of <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3896538641" target="_blank">My Heart is a Chainsaw</a> [book 1] where we first meet Jade, Proof Rock, ID, and all of the&nbsp;</span>townspeople. And here is my review of <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5029797269" target="_blank">Don't Fear the Reaper</a> [book 2] in which the world building and mythology of Proof Rock was expanded in important and necessary ways. I am going to break down a few of the reasons why this trilogy is so perfect.</p><p>First, let's talk construction of the trilogy as a single story. Books 1 and 3 are ONLY from Jade's POV while book 2 is from the point of view of a variety of people. THIS WAS BRILLIANT. I know some readers were bothered by book 2 moving away from Jade. I thought it was a great idea while reading because it fleshed out not only the other people in Proof Rock, but also it enhanced the world building and mythology of what was REALLY going on. Second books in a trilogy are the lynchpin of the entire story. If you don't expand the world, the action, the characters properly, the ending will fall flat. It is tricky. When SGJ returned to Jade's POV exclusively in Book 3, it is was more striking and important that Book 2 was different. You could see in the first few pages of Book 3 how great Book 2 was, and how it set the stage for this final chapter. And this leads to....</p><p>Second, and this is something that amazes me in every book Jones writes....every. single. detail. matters. I am not giving them away, these details, but some are glaring, like a certain window in the police station is key. Others are much smaller, like multiple scenes that take place on a bench, or a cut in Jade's skin that becomes important, all of it matters. And often, in books or series where details are key, you need to pour over the books and take notes, but not with SGJ. He is able to keep the story going, in his unique and mesmerizing cadence, and remember for the reader, through the narrative, effortlessly sharing and reminding the reader of the details they need to know about things that happened before and why they matter now. And it is not in a way that makes you feel bad for missing it. Like the excellent professor Jones is in real life, he allows you to discover what, for lack of a better phrase, he did there, and make you feel like you did that work on your own.</p><p>Third, this is a the story of Jade coming into her adult self, of over coming trauma, both personal and the trauma of really being a marginalized human in America. And that is another part of the brilliance here. Marginalization comes in a variety of forms and it is explored in the present, but also the past. Oppressors are everywhere and everyone can be an oppressor. Take the Elk, who appear throughout the trilogy, who have been harmed by humans as a great example, and yet, they survive.&nbsp;</p><p>But Jade specifically, the girl who becomes a woman, in front of us. She becomes her true self amidst the Horror (of her life, in front of her) and unites past and present, taking on so much the pain to help heal us all. The pure joy I felt as a reader at the end of this trilogy, despite the death and destruction, the pure joy I felt that Jade was going to be alright not because she was the Final Girl, but because she knew who she was, was finally happy with who that person was, and had the power and confidence to help others be their best selves going forward.</p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Fourth, despite all this in-depth discussion, this is a Horror novel. Yes it is thought </span>provoking<span style="font-family: inherit;">&nbsp;and has a lot to say about the world we live in now, but it is also a Slasher with a high body count, with bloody, well described, and creative kill scenes. Many </span>people<span style="font-family: inherit;">&nbsp;die. Key </span>characters<span style="font-family: inherit;">&nbsp;do not make it out alive (in every book). More specifically, it is in </span>the<span style="font-family: inherit;">&nbsp;Slasher subgenre, and yet, it has turned the entire genre on its head, in the process setting a new standard that redefines the subgenre.&nbsp;Like all Slashers, </span>there<span style="font-family: inherit;">&nbsp;is violence and revenge. The revenge is for specific things in Jade's time and life but also historical. The revenge is sought by creatures both </span>living<span style="font-family: inherit;">&nbsp;and dead.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">But most&nbsp;</span>importantly, this trilogy presents a Final Girl for our current times. Jade is NOT forced to fight the same monster over and over like the Slashers of our childhood, one she cannot beat until the final sequel (if that ever comes). Each book presents a new killer, one she defeats. And her scars from her "wins" are discussed in the next book-- explicitly-- become part of who she is, and help her to be the woman she will become at the end of this final book. One that is ready to be herself, one that is proud of who she is, and one who will share what she has learned with those she loves. But I should also say, SGJ does retain a bit of the subgenre that inspires him. There is an overall "killer" that permeates all of the books and in that way Jade is also a traditional Final Girl, saving the entire town by the end.&nbsp;</p><p>Yes I am saying this book both supports the history of the Slasher and makes it new. Both are true and it is why this trilogy is going to be read FOR YEARS TO COME.</p><p>All of this is why I am going one the record, very clearly to say this. Just as the generation before me looked to Stephen King's <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/149267.The_Stand" target="_blank">The Stand</a> and it's 1,500 pages as the epic book that defined Horror in the 80s and 90s, just as Brian Keene is on record saying that he rereads it every year, I am saying to you now-- Jade's story, all 1,000+ pages of The Indian Lake Trilogy is <b>THE</b> 21st Century's Horror epic. It will forever define this time and place; it has taken talk of Stephen Graham Jones being the best Horror author of our time and risen him to one of the best authors, period. <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52180399-the-only-good-indians?from_search=true&amp;from_srp=true&amp;qid=NHTRuHeRaw&amp;rank=1" target="_blank">The Only Good Indians</a> showed us he could be one of the best living writers today, but the <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/series/329344-the-indian-lake-trilogy" target="_blank">Indian Lake Trilogy</a> proves it. This is why I said, in writing, in Library Journal (above), "<span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(30, 25, 21); color: #1e1915;">Jones has given the world a gift, an epic tale for the ages..." It is a gift to all readers, now and those into the future. And I NEVER reread books, but I may listen to my mentor Brian Keene and start rereading Jade's story from start to finish every year.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">But wait, there's more....</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">I am also writing this blog post as I prepare to turn in my review of Jones' second novel coming out in 2024, <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/199798522-i-was-a-teenage-slasher?from_search=true&amp;from_srp=true&amp;qid=kqKqYcIfEH&amp;rank=1" target="_blank">I Was a Teenaged Slashe</a>r, later this week, and it is not only great on it's own, it is the yin to Jade Daniels' yang. I would even go so far as to give it to people new to SGJ &nbsp;first. It lays the foundation for how </span>Jones<span style="font-family: inherit;">&nbsp;sees the S</span>lasher<span style="font-family: inherit;">, how he takes the trope, raises it up to the status of a </span>capital<span style="font-family: inherit;">&nbsp;C Classic form of storytelling (across all mediums), honors its roots, and then probes it deeply, turning it into something new (and I would argue better).&nbsp;</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">I know some people may read this and think I am </span>exaggerating<span style="font-family: inherit;">. And that's fine. But may I remind you of my track record in elevating and praising the very best Horror books out there. And may I remind you that these words </span>eliciting<span style="font-family: inherit;">&nbsp;the highest praise, I rarely use them. I am paid to write about books for a living. I take my job as one </span>of<span style="font-family: inherit;">&nbsp;the most important reviewers of </span>Horror<span style="font-family: inherit;">&nbsp;fiction VERY SERIOUSLY. I know what I am saying and choose my words carefully. I am not willing to </span>risk<span style="font-family: inherit;">&nbsp;my career on any old book.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">That being said, I know for a lot of my library worker readers, this series is not for you. It is terrifying in ways both violently </span>gruesome<span style="font-family: inherit;">&nbsp;and existentially personal. That is fine. However, that does not mean you can ignore what I am saying. This is </span>series<span style="font-family: inherit;">&nbsp;you need to have, promote, and share with as many people as possible. </span>Use<span style="font-family: inherit;">&nbsp;my words to book talk it. Buy all of <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/96300.Stephen_Graham_Jones" target="_blank">SGJ's books</a>&nbsp;and make them&nbsp;</span>available in as ubiquitous a way as you have made Stephen King's books front and center for years.</p><p>Today, let's celebrate Jade Daniels on the day that her full story is officially out in the world. And the absolutely perfect ending that will leave you in tears, the best kind of tears, tears that make you want to go back and start at the beginning of <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/series/329344-the-indian-lake-trilogy" target="_blank">the trilogy</a> immediately after finishing the story.</p><p>Happy Book Birthday to <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5917636589" target="_blank">The Angel of Indian Lake</a>. Now Jade's story is complete and we are all better because of it.</p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(30, 25, 21); color: #1e1915;"></span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/series/329344-the-indian-lake-trilogy" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="444" data-original-width="768" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVhlmv5hvAn-ET0dOlBctR1GrxmUyFIv74x0PHq6qt_NiZYTUgMvzmScLiLAfjn7zWsyhr9s_O0aJfsA81sliSUCoM_O8ocrQfqclWF6nbLIsJKY13LhggN0sCqFekFEUPOexUGSx31LFQBhyphenhyphen1Sr-GHS6nMCARiBMo6etIy7qaDuXMwnOcMwuELN3Z8twN/s320/Screenshot%202024-03-25%20at%201.07.25%E2%80%AFPM.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/series/329344-the-indian-lake-trilogy" target="_blank">Click here to explore the trilogy</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(30, 25, 21); color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span><p></p>Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01085260877904727608noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-522319810296642659.post-77286733888352817462024-03-25T09:06:00.006-05:002024-03-27T16:44:54.079-05:00PLA Galley Guide and Becky's Plan to Keep Those Left Behind In the Know <p style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 51); color: #000033;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/ImageCloud/editorial/lj/2024/PLAGalleyGuide2024FINAL.pdf" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1056" data-original-width="1336" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj70eDVBgfIRZySz1QO3Ws1wzUodL9J7BkxXRBugL-ZGw_muj3YldYnSOdx4IzhsLRzP1k94U_CUZrUnoLCvDpQfmpNEhY1tzBSj4rSAD58yd8pppAwBavn0KV7dCHKWclDH37vbH-6Ict_AYyegQ0v2vXtPkKihnnR55RAGRsz2O7WbJC_XbZr4-qetap/s320/Screenshot%202024-03-22%20at%209.17.43%E2%80%AFAM.png" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />I leave for PLA in Columbus a week from tomorrow. I will be presenting my general schedule at that time, including details about my presentation on Wednesday morning and a chance to meet one-on-one with Robin and I on Thursday.</span><p></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 51); color: #000033;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I will also have a more details about my blogging plan&nbsp;</span>because I want to bring as much of the conference to you, my readers who cannot make it, as possible. But to see what you can expect from me in terms of reporting back,&nbsp;<a href="https://raforall.blogspot.com/search?q=ALA+Annual+2023+Becky" target="_blank">click here for my ALA 2023 recap posts</a>. I no longer live Tweet events as I don't pay as good attention when I do that. I may retweet others but I focus on recaps from my handwritten written notes.</p><p style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 51); color: #000033;">So you can all plan on next week being ALL PLA info and recaps.</p><p style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 51); color: #000033;">But today, I want to focus on one of my favorite resources that comes out before every major Library conference and it is one that is useful to all, especially those who are not in attendance-- <a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/ImageCloud/editorial/lj/2024/PLAGalleyGuide2024FINAL.pdf" target="_blank">the Library Journal PLA Galley Guide </a>(Sponsored by Sourcebooks). This resource is a list of all of the ARCs that attendees can get in the exhibit hall. But again, it is not about being there. It is important to remember that&nbsp;<a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/ImageCloud/editorial/lj/2024/PLAGalleyGuide2024FINAL.pdf" target="_blank">the LJ Galley Guide&nbsp;for any conference</a> is a wonderful resource for everyone, but it may be even more valuable for those staying home.</p><p style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 51); color: #000033;">First, and most obvious,<a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/ImageCloud/editorial/lj/2024/PLAGalleyGuide2024FINAL.pdf" target="_blank">&nbsp;every single one of the ARCs listed here</a>&nbsp;is also going to be super easy to download from NetGalley or Edelweiss. The publishers are prioritizing that. &nbsp;If you get the Library marketing emails, you have probably already seen that. They want everyone to have access to these books.</p><p style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 51); color: #000033;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Second,&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">those of you who are back at home, you have time to go through the&nbsp;</span><a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/ImageCloud/editorial/lj/2024/PLAGalleyGuide2024FINAL.pdf" target="_blank">Galley Guide</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">, taking note of which books the publishers are pushing the hardest. What do they think will take off? What should we be pre-ordering? We should all be using it as a resource to help our patrons and craft our collections, but unfortunately,&nbsp;those who are there, they mostly use it to be greedy and go around and grab books.&nbsp;[</span><a href="https://raforall.blogspot.com/2016/05/ra-for-all-call-to-action-part-2-of.html" style="color: #940f04; font-family: inherit; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">I am on the record here saying that running around trying to get free books and wait in long lines is not a good use of your time.</a><span style="color: #000033;">] You should take your time and use it for collection&nbsp;development. I will be using it as </span><span style="color: #000033;">resource not for a treasure hunt.</span></span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 51); color: #000033;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">Third, everyone, whether they are attending PLA or not, should look through<a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/ImageCloud/newsletters/AIA/2022/ALAGalleyGuide2022_2.pdf" style="color: #000033; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">&nbsp;</a></span><a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/ImageCloud/editorial/lj/2024/PLAGalleyGuide2024FINAL.pdf" style="font-family: inherit;" target="_blank">the guide</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">&nbsp;and note trends or authors who you already have in your collections&nbsp;who are going to have a new book, etc...&nbsp;Across the entire guide, what are you seeing that is&nbsp;similar? Where are&nbsp;the trends?&nbsp;</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Promote these upcoming titles and start taking holds. You could even make a few lists based off trends you find that would most interest your patrons and call them, "Hot Upcoming Titles from the Publishers Library Association Conference."&nbsp;</span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 51); color: #000033;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I will be going through <a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/ImageCloud/editorial/lj/2024/PLAGalleyGuide2024FINAL.pdf" target="_blank">the guide</a> in detail this week to find those trends that I am seeing and then compare them with the Book Buzzes and programs I attend. If you take your time to go through <a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/ImageCloud/editorial/lj/2024/PLAGalleyGuide2024FINAL.pdf" target="_blank">this guide</a> before I start my recaps, you will reap the same benefits.</span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 51); color: #000033;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;">Fourth, after noting&nbsp;<a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/ImageCloud/editorial/lj/2024/PLAGalleyGuide2024FINAL.pdf" target="_blank">trends in the guide</a>&nbsp;and trying to gather advanced holds numbers to make your ordering easier, you should also be making displays&nbsp;of titles that fit those trends you are noticing at the same&nbsp;time.&nbsp;Reminding people of&nbsp;what you already have that they may like&nbsp;while&nbsp;you are letting them know what is coming soon is very&nbsp;</span>important to do in tandem. Those buzzy titles&nbsp;coming soon can be&nbsp;supplemented by readalikes from your backlist. You are&nbsp;anticipating what they want to read&nbsp;by giving your&nbsp;readers&nbsp;targeted displays now. You get them excited about a trend or some readalieks of the titles you know are coming soon, and then when they see those titles promoted in the books news, they feel like you "get them," because you promoted books just like the ones they already like. Trust me it works and you look&nbsp;brilliant and even a bit clairvoyant.&nbsp;</span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 51); color: #000033;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So that is my push for the&nbsp;<a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/ImageCloud/editorial/lj/2024/PLAGalleyGuide2024FINAL.pdf" target="_blank">PLA Galley Guide</a>&nbsp;for those left behind. &nbsp;I hope those of you who are going, go back to this post and do the same thing after you return.</span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 51); color: #000033;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Here is the introduction to the <a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/ImageCloud/editorial/lj/2024/PLAGalleyGuide2024FINAL.pdf" target="_blank">Galley Guide </a>which is organized by booth number.</span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 51); color: #000033;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black;"></span></span></p><blockquote><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black;">Is there anything better&nbsp;than discovering new titles?&nbsp;Library Journal’s Galley Guide serves as a&nbsp;finding tool for just that, highlighting books readers will be asking for. Get a jump on demand and get in the know with this listing of the giveaways on offer. Also included are in-booth signings, both by publisher and listed in a handy daily guide. Our thanks to Sourcebooks, Booth 1115,&nbsp;</span><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black;">for supporting this guide to the key titles to be found</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black;" /><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black;">at the 2024 Public Library Association conference.</span></span></blockquote><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black;"></span></span><p></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 51); color: #000033;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/ImageCloud/editorial/lj/2024/PLAGalleyGuide2024FINAL.pdf" target="_blank">Click here to explore it.</a></span></p>Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01085260877904727608noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-522319810296642659.post-29563021455358219502024-03-22T09:15:00.002-05:002024-03-22T09:15:30.958-05:00Library Freedom Project's Events at PLA<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://libraryfreedom.org/" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1420" data-original-width="3010" height="189" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghOVoI2sWoNVkg3D13PU7JAStr8DrYgtREKGzLfLhGcHEMOjUjeCfIIUXF9DPQw7ztk2RG_Rk5_J_KLRaH0lVUFdEHyoMipVecUDsNYyRkSLjXIICgz8vCcDR_XkVXrx2gX9sxls-dYrrZhwwJLVPDT5bI_WjdpLK6T-QHHbyVWyAo52u3QCuqWbWzejiL/w400-h189/Screenshot%202024-03-22%20at%208.56.58%E2%80%AFAM.png" width="400" /></a></div>Allison Macrina from Library Freedom Project reached out to ask me to help spread the word about their 2 events at PLA. Details below but first, for this eof you who are unfamiliar with LFP <a href="https://libraryfreedom.org/" target="_blank">here is the link to their homepage and their mission</a>&nbsp;(also embedded in the image):<p></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">Library Freedom Project is radically rethinking the library professional organization by creating a network of values-driven librarian-activists working together to build information democracy.&nbsp;</span></p><p>Whether you are going to PLA or not, I encourage <a href="https://libraryfreedom.org/" target="_blank">you to visit their website</a> and consider finding ways to get involved in their regional hubs. Robin and I often have conversations with Alison about the work all three of us do.</p><p>Alison wanted to make sure the RA and Collection Development library workers out there know about their 2 events. I am going to link them and include the descriptions below, but I would also like to reiterate that although these events have a fee, NO ONE has to pay if they cannot afford it. 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font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 20px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; text-align: inherit; text-overflow: unset; white-space: nowrap;"></span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; orphans: 2; text-align: inherit; white-space: inherit; widows: 2;"></span></span></p><blockquote><span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; orphans: 2; text-align: inherit; white-space: inherit; widows: 2;">"please emphasize that no one should be deterred by the ticket cost - we are a small nonprofit and would love to recoup some of our costs but we do not want that to be a barrier to entry."</span></blockquote><p></p><p>Alison will be at Robin, Yaika and my presentation at PLA as well, in case you want to ask her questions about these events.</p><p>[Side note: That program is <a href="https://www.placonference.org/event/016e56a2-bc16-4851-a9ce-699d90a92e7c/websitePage:0bb7bace-0326-4f15-99fe-b034f033b2c5" target="_blank">Anti-Racist Reader Services: Beyond the Basics on Wednesday, April 3 at 10:15am in GCCC Union. </a>But I will have more on the conference and my schedule closer to the event.]</p><p>Please reach out to me with questions as well, but these events will not only be fun but a great chance to have some real conversations -- not the well-meaning, toothless ones-- about the work we really need to be doing to fight systemic oppression in libraries.</p><div class="actions-panel" style="box-sizing: border-box; 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box-sizing: border-box; flex: 1 1 0%; margin: 0px; max-width: var(--LayoutMainMaxWidth,720px); padding: 0px; word-break: break-word;"><div class="Layout-module__module___2eUcs Layout-module__summary___1srt-" data-testid="summary" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="event-details__main-inner" style="-webkit-box-flex: 1; box-sizing: border-box; flex: 1 1 0%; margin: auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5rem; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/lfp-presents-radical-book-buzz-at-pla-tickets-857076297277?aff=oddtdtcreator" target="_blank"></a></span></p><blockquote><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5rem; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/lfp-presents-radical-book-buzz-at-pla-tickets-857076297277?aff=oddtdtcreator" target="_blank">Library Freedom Project presents: a Radical Book Buzz!</a></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5rem; margin: 0px; padding: 10px 0px 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Join us on Wednesday, April 3rd at Two Dollar Radio, 1124 Parsons Ave.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5rem; margin: 0px; padding: 10px 0px 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Doors are at 6 pm, event will begin around 6:30 pm</span></p><p class="summary" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5rem; margin-bottom: calc(4*var(--base-unit)); margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding: 0px; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"></strong></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5rem; margin: 0px; padding: 10px 0px 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Publishers including Haymarket, Seven Stories, Europa Editions, Verso, Beacon Press, Feminist Press, Two Dollar Radio, Wave Books, Microcosm, Grove Atlantic, Daydreamer Press, and Coach House will take turns sharing new and upcoming titles.</span></p></blockquote><p><a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/lfp-presents-radical-book-buzz-at-pla-tickets-857076297277?aff=oddtdtcreator" target="_blank">Click through for all of the details and to reserve your spot.&nbsp;</a></p><p>AND the second event.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5rem; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><blockquote><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5rem; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/mix-n-mingle-with-lfp-library-futures-and-urban-librarians-unite-tickets-857099717327?aff=oddtdtcreator" target="_blank">Join Library Freedom Project, Library Futures, and Urban Librarians Unite</a> on Thursday April 4th, between 5 and 8 pm, for a cute little networking and social event.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5rem; margin: 0px; padding: 10px 0px 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Library Freedom Project is radically rethinking the library professional organization by creating a network of values-driven librarian-activists working together to build information democracy. We host events, create resources, and build community with other library workers who are motivated by social justice.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5rem; margin: 0px; padding: 10px 0px 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Library Futures conducts research and advocacy for the future of libraries. We mobilize a community of experts to encourage the adoption of technologies that uplift libraries in the digital age, promoting new possibilities for preservation of and unfettered access to information.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5rem; margin: 0px; padding: 10px 0px 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Urban Librarians Unite (ULU) is a passionate group of urban library professionals and advocates working to build community centered 21st Century Libraries.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5rem; margin: 0px; padding: 10px 0px 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Come hang out and learn what our organizations are all about!</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5rem; margin: 0px; padding: 10px 0px 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Novak's Tavern and Patio is located at 475 N High Street (very close to the PLA conference). We've reserved the patio space (it'll probably still be covered for the winter), we're offering an open bar, and we'll have pizzas from Mikey's Late Night Slice.</span></p></blockquote><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5rem; margin: 0px; padding: 10px 0px 0px;"><a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/mix-n-mingle-with-lfp-library-futures-and-urban-librarians-unite-tickets-857099717327?aff=oddtdtcreator" target="_blank">Click here for all of the details and to reserve your spot</a></p></div></div></div></div>Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01085260877904727608noreply@blogger.com0
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