Category: Books

Updates

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  • The folks at SF Signal have devised a flowchart to add context to NPR’s list of top science fiction and fantasy books (though if you follow that link to NPR, you’ll see they did at least add a blurb about each book – the initial list was really just a list). I originally posted about it here.
  • Sadly, there were technical difficulties recording the GSLIS Perspective on ALA panel, and there will be no podcast. There is, however, a podcast of the ASIS&T event from the day before.
  • James Patterson’s article on CNN links out to a number of good readers’ advisory resources for children and teens, especially boys.
  • My YA Literature class has a blog where we’ll each be posting a review of one YA book.
That’s it for now – have a great weekend!

 

Amy Pattee quoted in Salon.com article

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This fall I’ll be taking Amy Pattee’s course on Young Adult (YA) Literature. I’ve been working my way through the reading list already: Forever by Judy Blume (I somehow missed this when I was younger, though I did read Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret), Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan, Stitches by David Small (actually I read this in galley form before it was published – they were giving it away at BEA a couple years ago), and many others.

One of Amy’s articles was quoted in a Salon.com piece back in July, “The case for raunchy teen lit.” Generally speaking, in the U.S., when parents or other adults get upset about or offended by a book and want to censor it, it is often because they (the books, not the adults) are “sexually explicit.” (Offensive language is next, followed by violence. See statistics on challenges on the ALA site.) In Europe, on the other hand, violent content is much more likely to raise opposition than is sexual content; one could extrapolate from this and say that Europeans are more comfortable with sex, and Americans are more accepting of violence.

Either way, the Salon article makes a good point; it’s much safer to explore these topics through literature than in person.

Top 100 Sci-Fi and Fantasy books (according to NPR poll)

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A comment thread in the ALA group on LinkedIn alerted me to an article about an NPR poll’s Top 100 list of science fiction and fantasy books. Science fiction (or sci-fi, or SF) and fantasy are generally regarded as two quite distinct genres by people who read one or the other (or both); people who read neither tend not to distinguish as much. It was a little jarring to see them all mixed together – William Goldman’s The Princess Bride, at #11, is sandwiched between Neil Gaiman’s American Gods and Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time series – but it’s certainly a great list.

Readers’ Advisory, or, What do I read next?

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For my summer class, I’ve been working on designing an evaluation of readers’ advisory services at a public library. “Readers’ advisory” is the library-speak term for suggesting books that people will like, either directly (through a conversation or “readers’ advisory interview”) or indirectly (e.g., displays).

I’ve been doing this for family and friends for years without realizing it was a “service” – we just called it talking about books. But it is definitely something that people expect from libraries (and from bookstores), and of course now there are online tools as well, from Amazon’s “If you like this, you might also like…” feature to social networking sites like Goodreads and LibraryThing to the subscription-based NoveList.

Whichbook is a site I learned about recently, and it’s unique in a number of ways. First, it’s incredibly browsable – I got pulled in right away. I don’t think any online experience can really replicate the experience of wandering around in a bookstore or library, but this comes closer than anything else I’ve found.

You can manipulate a number of factors (see below) to get results, and you can also look through lists (“weird and wonderful,” “bad luck and trouble,” “a terrible beauty”), or search by author.

 

Whichbook’s About page explains that all of the books are fiction or poetry, written in or translated to English, and published within the last ten years. They focus on “books people won’t find for themselves,” not bestsellers, and have a wide range.

The site is British, and once you’ve found a book that interests you, there are links to borrow from a library or buy through Amazon. If you’re not in the UK, there’s a link to WorldCat, so you can find a copy of the book in a library near you. I’ve played with the variables a lot, and the results are promising: a few books that I’ve already read and enjoyed came up, as well as a number of titles I hadn’t heard of before but that looked good. Try it out!

Summer InfoLink

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Still a bit backlogged with more New Orleans posts to come, as well as a post about the Wikipedia in Higher Education Summit; meanwhile, here’s a short piece I wrote on GSLIS After Dark for this summer’s issue of InfoLink. I’m also in the “Summer Reading” article.

Speaking of summer reading, I just finished Ben Nugent’s American Nerd: The Story of My People, and would definitely recommend it to anyone interested in the evolution and psychology of the nerd. It’s a great blend of well-researched history and the author’s personal experience.

And for those who are looking for a tech-heavy young adult novel set in a dystopian but not-too-distant future (lots of people are looking for that kind of book, right?), try Cory Doctorow’s Little Brother. The main character is well-written and compelling, and you will learn a lot about technology, privacy, and security in a painless way. Warning: it may make you a little paranoid.

Books: How they work.

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This post is not related to the ALA Annual Conference, except in that probably a lot of people who were there would agree. I just wanted to share this image, which someone sent to me and which I have described to many people:

Here’s a larger image from the original source.

HarperCollins Book Buzz and Modernist Cuisine

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Lumping two events together so as not to be a complete commercial for either. The HarperCollins Book Buzz consisted of a panel of HarperCollins marketing people talking about upcoming HC titles (including The Lantern by Deborah Lawrenson, galleys of which they distributed at the event). They also mentioned several readers’ advisory-type blogs (all quotes below are taken from the respective sites’ About pages):

NetGalley is a “connection point for book publishers, reviewers, media, librarians, booksellers, bloggers and educators…Professional readers–reviewers, media, journalists, bloggers, librarians, booksellers and educators–can join and use NetGalley at no cost.”

EarlyWord is “a Blog and Web site on a mission — to give libraries the earliest information possible on the books their customers will be looking for, so they can stay ahead of demand. By giving readers what they want, when they want it, we believe libraries can increase their circulation and their support.”

The Book Report Network (BookReporter) provides “thoughtful book reviews, compelling features, in-depth author profiles and interviews, excerpts of the hottest new releases, literary games and contests, and more every week.”

And now for something completely different…(except in that it is a book, or more accurately several volumes)…

“In Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking, Nathan Myhrvold, Chris Young, and Maxime Bilet—scientists, inven­tors, and accom­plished cooks in their own right—have cre­ated a six-volume 2,400-page set that reveals science-inspired tech­niques for prepar­ing food that ranges from the oth­er­worldly to the sub­lime. ”

Maxime Bilet himself was at the What’s Cooking at ALA? stage, demystifying Modernist Cuisine. I have actually had the opportunity to browse through it, and was completely overwhelmed, but Bilet helpfully pointed out that recipes for superior macaroni & cheese and caramelized carrot soup can be found in Vol. 3, and that recipes for beurre blanc, pistachio gelato, and chocolate mousse can be found in Vol. 4.

And for those who are wary of “modernist,” scientific cooking, Bilet says, “Cooking relies on science…Healthful cooking is flavorful cooking.” Another helpful tip: you can oxidize wine in a blender.

Now you know.

Keep ‘Em Coming – Fiction Series Creators Talk Shop

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I may have left this one off the list originally because it wasn’t one I had planned to go to. However, it was a really interesting panel: authors Lauren Myracle, Jonathan Stroud, Dan Gutman, and author/editor David Levithan. Of these, I had only heard of David Levithan previously (he wrote The Lover’s Dictionary, which I thought was unique and poetic and just generally wonderful. Read it!) He has also, it turns out, written a whole bunch of young adult (YA) novels, and has edited over 300 YA series books, including many of the Babysitters’ Club books. (“I was the 19-year-old male reading The Babysitters’ Club on the subway…with a highlighter.”)

One explanation for the popularity of series books among teens, Levithan said, was “the love of story, the love of wanting to know what happens next, wanting the story to continue.” When kids – and adults, I would contest – find a book they like, they want more of it. However, speaking as an author rather than as an editor, Levithan said that sometimes, “There’s a reason I ended the book there – the story’s over.”

Other bits of wisdom from the panel:

Lauren Myracle: “Middle school is painful. Writing is painful. But writing about middle school…surprisingly cathartic!”

“Every book must be a game-changer.” I forget who said this – Stroud or Gutman, I think – but they were emphasizing the need for something to happen in each book in the series that caused the character to grow. The story may have its arc, but each book must have an arc of its own as well as be part of the larger story.

Jonathan Stroud talked about the importance of building a brand, which is easier with series books than with stand-alone novels.

Lauren Myracle: “Series are born in different ways.” Sometimes a story might be conceived as a series from the beginning; other times reader response might prompt a second book, and then a third.

Though there may not be the proliferation of series fiction for adults as there is for the YA group, adults are likely – speaking solely from experience here and not from any particular data – to develop loyalty to certain authors. The characters may not be the same from book to book, but one can have confidence in the quality of writing, character, and story.

Friends of the Library

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Monday of this week was the annual meeting of the Friends of the Somerville Public Library. There was a guest speaker, Kenneth Gloss, the proprietor of the Brattle Book Shop in Boston. I have been there once – last summer a friend and I made a project of visiting all the used book shops we could find in Boston and Cambridge – and can vouch that it is an excellent place to poke around.

Gloss brought some “show and tell” objects: a 14th-century manuscript page (which has held up better than cheap novels printed much more recently); a cookbook from the 1790s that included a recipe for “how to cook eel, the common way”; and a facsimile of Poe’s Tamerlane. “Almost anything you can think of out there, people are interested,” he said.

For those who are interested in valuable/rare books, here are a few things to check for:

  • Is it a first edition?
  • Does it have an intact dust jacket (for hardcovers)?
  • Is it in good condition?
  • Is it signed by the author?
  • Is it an association copy? That is, has the author inscribed it to someone in particular?

And for those who are wondering about how to store old books properly, a good rule of thumb is “if you’re comfortable, the books are comfortable” – it shouldn’t be too hot or too cold, too dry or too humid. Keep the books out of direct sunlight, and don’t pack them too tightly on the shelf (or so loosely that they lean over).

For the book collectors out there, I also recommend Allison Hoover Bartlett’s excellent and enthralling The Man Who Loved Books Too Much: The True Story of a Thief, a Detective, and a World of Literary Obsession.