I provided readers’ advisory to five friends and family members who
were very patient with all of my questioning.
I learned a lot about trying different sources, using elements of
appeal, and evaluating the available choices.
Although I told them all that it was okay if they didn’t love the books I
suggested, I just wanted honesty, they all said they enjoyed the books I
recommended for them.
Reader Profile: Austin
Austin has traditionally read and enjoyed
nonfiction. Recently he has begun
reading science fiction, particularly Star Wars fiction, and some graphic
novels. His favorite authors are Jules
Verne, H.G. Wells, and Timothy Zahn. He
enjoys books that are fast paced, which he said was surprising because he likes
movies that are thought provoking, but not all that action packed. His preferred tone is ultimately hopeful with
some bleak moments. Characterization is
very important to him; he must like or at least respect the characters to enjoy
the story.
I asked Austin about the last book he read and
loved. It was Vector Prime (a Star Wars novel). I asked him what it was that he liked
about the book and he mentioned the story and the characters. He felt that the characters were relatable
and the story was “cinema-esque” (his word). When I asked what he would like to read next,
he said he’s really enjoying the Star Wars books, and would probably like
another one. I asked who his favorite
Star Wars character was and he said, “Luke Skywalker.” I also asked him if there was anything he
didn’t like and he said he was not a big fan of mysteries.
To find a good book for him, I tried several
sources. I first tried Novelist, but did
not find Vector Prime. Since it wasn’t listed in Novelist, I
asked the selector at EPL and looked on Goodreads. I found some good suggestions on Goodreads,
and eventually ended up finding a new source that worked well – Wookiepedia, a Star
Wars wiki.
I suggested three possibilities for him:
1)
Ambush at Corellia (book 1 in the Corellian
Trilogy)
This was suggested by the
science fiction selector at EPL.
According to Wookiepedia, it is set about 7 years before Vector Prime,
so might be a good fit for Austin.
2)
Heir to
the Empire (book 1 in the Thrawn Trilogy)
A Goodreads reader who also liked
Vector Prime mentioned liking this
series, so I looked it up in Wookeipedia.
It features Luke Skywalker, Austin’s favorite character, and is also set
in approximately the same time frame, and was written by Timothy Zahn, Austin’s
favorite Star Wars author.
3)
Dark Tide,
the next book in New Jedi Order series, of which Vector Prime is the first.
Since this is the next in the series
from the book he recently read and enjoyed, I thought it might be a good choice
for him.
Austin did not read Ambush at Corellia, he thought the plot line was a little too
political. He had already read and loved
the Thrawn Trilogy. Dark
Tide was a winner. When I suggested
it, he rather sheepishly said he just bought it. He hasn’t finished the book yet, but it
enjoying it so far.
Reader Profile: Emily
Emily reads science fiction and fantasy, romance,
diaries, and loves biographies. She has
also read and enjoyed mysteries by Ted Dekker.
She enjoys the setting and the characters most in books she reads. She likes stories to have a dark mood with a
little bit of happiness thrown in. She
really likes a good story, but it has to have action, so pacing must be a
little quick. The voice and language are
not as important to Emily.
I asked Emily what her last favorite book was and why,
and she said she loved Wicked. She loved that it was a different take on a
traditional story, and she liked the characters and the fantasy setting. I also asked her what she didn’t like. She said that she likes some romance, but
really can’t stand mass market paperback romances. She is not a huge mystery fan, doesn’t like
westerns, and is really over the werewolf-vampire thing.
I decided to look for something with same elements of
appeal as Wicked, which I thought might be challenging. I checked Novelist first, as it’s my
go-to. There were a few suggestions, but
none of them seemed to fit. I looked on
Goodreads next and found a promising title.
Finding a book with the particular items of appeal in Wicked proved to
be difficult, but I was reasonably confident in my selection, so just suggested
the one title: The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor.
I learned that suggesting only one title is not a good
idea! Emily loved the book, but she had
already read it. In fact, she loved it
so much, she owned a copy. The good news
was, I’d found a great choice for her, but the bad news was, she still didn’t
have anything to read. This story,
however, does have a happy ending. Emily
was unaware that The Looking Glass Wars was
the first title in a series and that there are more books about this
world. I have promised to get Seeing Redd, the next book in the series
for her, and she is very excited about getting it.
Reader Profile: Sabrina
Sabrina likes character-driven stories about lives and
relationships with some romance.
She likes the pacing to be a little bit leisurely and the characters to
be likable. Sabrina likes the mood of the
story to be hopeful; while she likes for there to be some conflict, she enjoys
an ultimately a happy ending. She enjoys
humor in what she reads. The setting and
the language are not as important to her as the relationships between characters. She enjoys reading young adult novels.
I asked Sabrina for her favorite authors, which are
Sarah Dessen, Deb Caletti, and Meg Cabot.
I asked about books she enjoyed and she mentioned the Mediator series by Meg Cabot, Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer, and
the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series
by Ann Brashares. I asked her about the
last book she read that she really loved and why she loved it. At first she said, “The Host because it was really different,” but then then she said, “No,
since then I read The Story of Us by
Deb Caletti and I really loved it for the characters and the story. I also asked if there was anything she didn’t
like and she mentioned the Gossip Girls
series.
To find a book for Sabrina, I first checked Novelist
and two of the suggestions seemed like a good fit for Sabrina. After
checking Novelist, I checked Goodreads and Amazon, but ultimately ended up
choosing two of the books suggested by Novelist. A third one of their suggestions was a
possibility, but I felt that the fourteen year old heroine was too young to
appeal to Sabrina, who is now 23.
I suggested just two titles for Sabrina:
1)
How to
Build a House by Diana Reinhart
This story, like The Story of Us features a young romance
and a setting of family conflict.
2)
This
Lullaby by Sarah Dessen
This is also a character-driven, humorous book featuring a likeable
teen heroine and a romance by one of her favorite authors.
Sabrina looked at both books, and decided to read This Lullaby because of the humor. She told me that they both looked good. She is not yet finished reading This Lullaby, but said she is really
enjoying it so far.
Reader Profile: Jerry
Jerry reads mostly nonfiction, although he really
enjoyed The Shack. He is a lifelong
learner and his favorite books are those he can learn from. Jerry works out, but would like to lose
weight so has read some diet and fitness books.
He enjoys psychology and sociology as well as the Bible and
inspirational biographies. Characters
and pacing do not apply to most of the books he likes to read. He likes an uplifting mood and generally
chooses books that are highly fact based as opposed to narrative books that
read like fiction.
I asked Jerry about the last great books he read and
he said he really liked Change Your
Brain, Change Your Life by Daniel Amen because he enjoys studying the human
brain and what makes us who we are, plus he wants to learn so he can be healthy
for as long as he lives. I asked him
what he doesn’t like and he said doesn’t care for new age philosophy.
Since Novelist in not helpful for nonfiction, I first
went to the library catalog and searched for Change Your Brain, Change Your Life.
Once I found it, I used the subject heading, “Brain” to find other
books about brain health. I also looked
on Amazon to see what other people who purchased Change Your Brain, Change Your Life were also reading, but only
found other books on the brain by the same author. The library catalog gave me the best choices,
so I used choices from the catalog for my recommendations. I suggested these books for Jerry:
1)
Chicken
Soup for the Soul: boost your brain power! By Marie Pasinski with Liz
Neporent
This book seemed like a good fit
to me because it is about brain health and is also uplifting and inspirational.
2)
The Daniel
Plan: 40 days to a healthier life by Richard Warren
This is a faith based guide to improving
your brain, your health, and your attitude.
Jerry thought they both sounded good, but decided to
read The Daniel Plan. Because Jerry has
mild dyslexia, he prefers audiobooks to print books, so I found this book for
him on audio. He has been listening to
it in his car and said that it has been very good.
Reading Profile: Claire
Claire reads fantasy, dystopian fiction, and memoirs. She likes the tone of her books dark and
humorous. While Claire, like Jerry, enjoys
nonfiction, she prefers the story to be highly narrative and read like
fiction. The most important element for
Claire is the characterization and the relationships. Language is important to Claire; she likes
books to be well written with spare prose.
I asked Claire about the last book she read and loved
and she told me about Let’s Pretend This
Never Happened by Jenny Lawson, which she said was amazing. I asked her what she liked about it, and she
mentioned the dark humor. Amazon
describes it as “a poignant and hysterical look at the dark, disturbing, yet
wonderful moments of our lives.” (Amazon, 2015) I also asked her what she did not like, and
she doesn’t like mysteries or romance.
Because Claire wanted a memoir, I could not use
Novelist, so I tried Goodreads and Amazon.
Sometimes Amazon is disappointing and has nothing relevant, but this
time, there were a few that were promising and checking them out led me to
others. After looking through quite a
few choices, I found three. My
suggestions for Claire were:
1)
You’re Not
Pretty Enough by Jennifer Tress
Jennifer Tress writes a darkly
humorous memoir. According to Amazon, “The
true stories contained here are smart, uproarious, and utterly relatable.” (Amazon, 2015)
2)
Yes, Please by Amy Poehler
I chose this for the humor, although
it is not dark.
3)
Tiny Beautiful
Things: advice on love and life from Dear Sugar by Cheryl Strayed
I had read Wild and
knew Cheryl Strayed writes beautifully, so thought this might appeal to Claire.
Claire decided to read Tiny Beautiful Things. I
saved her for last because after reading it, she said it was the best books she’d
read in a long time. Yes! Connecting a reader with a book they really
enjoy is an amazing feeling.
Readers’ Advisory
is one of my favorite things to do at the library. That awesome feeling I get when I am able to
clue in on the elements of appeal, use the resources available to me, and connect
a reader with a book is one of the reasons why I love working in the
library. Finding a great book for a
young person who might not think they like to read, but discover how wonderful
it can be with the right book is so very rewarding. I believe readers’ advisory is a very
important service, and I intend to continue to improve my readers’ advisory
skill.
References
(2015). Retrieved from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/
Chandler, O. (2015). Goodreads. Retrieved from
https://www.goodreads.com/
Ebsco. (2015). Novelist. Retrieved from
http://web.b.ebscohost.com/novelist/search/novbasic?sid=f9ffd71e-609d-47c4-ba37-4afab27be055%40sessionmgr198&vid=9&hid=123
Kent District Library. (2015). KDL What's Next.
Retrieved from http://ww2.kdl.org/libcat/whatsnext.asp
Saricks, J. G. (2009). The Readers' Advisory Guide
to Genre Fiction. Chicago: American Library Association.
Wikia, Inc. (2015). Wookieepedia. Retrieved
from http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page
Wyatt, N. (2007). The Readers' Advisory Guide to
Nonfiction. Chicago: American Library Association.
