Week 6 Picks

Assignment 1: Although I haven't been checking it until recently (thanks, Salon) NPR Books has been a great resource so far. I enjoy the ability to search by genre and by other categories that are more timely, like summer books. Plus the ability to read author interviews or listen to them via podcast makes for such a wealth of information that any bibliophile could get lost in. I think the favorite thing I discovered on this site was the "My Guilty Pleasure" page, which has some delightfully offbeat treats.


The other site I've been poking around is Mystery Readers International. This site is interesting because it isn't strictly about books. It seems to be a site full of things that fans of mysteries would like. Including a whole mess of Dying for Chocolate dessert recipes, which I gaze upon as I shovel food into my face at another all out Pikesville staff party. While not as useful a literary resource as NPR, the blog sections seems the best source of information. One thing I discovered here that brought me joy was the daily cartoon. Here's a painfully dry one:

Assignment 3: As a super macho dude, one subgenre I'm unfamiliar with is Chick Lit. This genre's appeal factors are light heartedness and its humor. Confessions of a Shopaholic, the Devil Wears Prada, and Something Borrowed are popular titles in this genre by popular authors.


Paranormal is another subgenre I don't read. It's appeal factors are spirits, haunted things and a general spooky/eeriness. James Herbert, Christopher Ransom, and Scott Nicholson are authors who seem to have many books or series in this subgenre.


A final subgenre that I know nothing about is Hip-hop. The appeal of this seems to be that the stories are about the characters trying to break into the music industry. Popular authors in this genre are Azarel, Ericka Williams, Allison Hobbs who have written several books and series within this subgenre.


Mashups. Who doesn't love a good mashup? The first such book that comes to mind for me is Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, which is somewhere between historical fiction and horror. It uses the foundation of Pride and Prejudice and adds a horror spin. Another mashup would be Beauty Queens by Libba Bray. It takes the characters of your typical chick lit book, a dance team, and thrusts them into a survival situation on a mysterious island. The team continues to practice their dance moves while their lives are in danger. It sounds delightfully fun.

Week Five, Feeling Alive

Well, had a bit of a snag with one of the sites I chose to keep tabs on. It would seem Salon's What to Read page stopped being updated one year ago today. So I decided to check out NPR Books instead, which is much more helpful. I find the author interviews to be particularly interesting. Recently, as I've been listening to Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk on Overdrive I've been wondering about the authors motivation/inspiration. There are a few articles about the book on there that shed a bit of light so I found that of particular interest. Overall, it's a great and seemingly comprehensive resources.


The other resource I've been trying to check periodically has been Mystery Readers International. Pessimistically, this website sort of reaffirms for me the things I don't like about the mystery genre. The site seems geared towards fans of the Cozy Mystery genre. Optimistically, it provides various recipes involving chocolate. I look forward to attempting some of these if I can find a rare moment of free time.


At Pikesville, the most popular books are probably those on our Thriller and Staff picks displays. They seem to fly off the tables and often need to be replaced. For me, replacing the thrillers is more about recognizing authors than anything else. Patterson, Coban, Baldacci, and Child are typically on this table. If those tables doesn't stop the customer, the new fiction section usually does. The staff picks table is, of course, quite a bit more diverse. This is always more challenging for me to replace because I always blank on books I've read and have to wander around the shelves to remind myself.


From Amazon's Best of the Month list The Atomic Weight of Love caught my eye. Be forewarned, my comments are based entirely off of the synopsis I read. It looks like somewhere in between a love story and a female empowerment or self discovery story. She is pulled between her career and love. The setting seems important. In this case, by setting I mean the US through the different decades of the 20th century. The main character seems to transform as she is influenced by the different men in her life. From the Mad Men era into the contentious 1970s. I'm thinking of Forest Gump, except Jenny is a physicist.


A read alike for this might be Joy by Anne L. Watson. Judging by its description, it appears to be another story of an independent woman who is coping with changing relationships and other factors in the world around her. At the risk of sounding sexist, I these books will be popular with women. I think there is some buzz around The Atomic Weight of Love because it is the first book by lawyer turned author, Elizabeth J. Church.

Week Four Bookish

Does anybody else have the hardest time trying to remember the books they've read? I feel like it takes me an inordinately long amount of time. Anyway, I made myself a shiny new Goodreads account. As I went through my favorite books and authors I picked up momentum and started to realize all the books I read are kind of similar. I apparently like to read dark, serious books and nonfiction, which is vaguely depressing. See for yourself here! Perhaps I'll try to read some more upbeat titles. I welcome recommendations.






Rebecca is the first person I found on Goodreads so I'll subject her to a recommendation:
Since you read Y and The Walking Dead, which are apocalyptic in nature, I'll recommend this I am Legend by Richard Matheson. In this novel, protagonist Robert Neville is on his own against what are described as "vampires." However, they aren't just bloodthirsty beasts (like in the movie). They're intelligent and they verbally taunt Robert. I'm not sure I would even call it an apocalypse since the vampires seem to be organized. Maybe we can call it a regime change?


The pace of the book is slow but well written. The tone is creepy and will give you some chills. Roberts point of view makes for a very claustrophobic narrative. I recommend reading in the dark, when you're alone, and there's a thunder storm!


The main character is a flawed man. Robert tries to find a cure but he's no doctor. He uses alcohol to cope and brute force against the vampires when possible. He's clearly in over his head and seeing how he deals with that is interesting.




And since Kayla is my second Goodreads friend she will also be subjected to a recommendation. For her, The Gunslinger by Stephen King:
Since you appear to enjoy some fantasy titles I'm going to recommend the first book in Stephen King's Dark Tower series. This story could be described as wild west meets Lord of the Rings. It's pacing is generally slow, which I think adds to its western feeling. The book is almost completely focused on the main character, Roland. King develops this character but leaves enough mystery in his backstory and the world around him to keep the reader interested.


The setting is meticulously described by King and, I think, very important to understanding Roland. It is well written with attention to detail required to create an entire fantasy world that runs parallel to our own. It's tone is dark and ominous (evidently like everything I like to read). And just think, if you like it there's 6 more books to read!

Three Conversations

Conversation One:
The last book I read was Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. Everyone is reading it so I had to pick it up. It was lovely. She is such an interesting woman and so brave. I enjoyed the descriptions of the countries she went to and what she did while she was there, of course, but I think what I liked most was how she shared her inner thoughts — so reflective but funny too. I thought it might be just light fluff or all me, me, me, me, but it was so much more than that. I read all the Oprah books and just love them. Anyway I wanted to ask you for a few suggestions for my book group. It’s my turn to pick the title.


What I take away from this is that the reader enjoyed a book about an empowered woman and it helped that the story fanned the flames of her wanderlust a bit. Of course, being able to relate to the main character got her more into the book. A book I heard about recently that this reader might enjoy is The Taliban Shuffle: Strange Days in Afghanistan and Pakistan a memoir by Kim Barker about her time as a correspondent in the Middle East. I am also reminded of Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by, the appropriately named Cheryl Strayed, which is a compelling story and an alright movie.




Conversation Two:

Customer: Can you recommend any vampire books that are nothing like the Twilight series?

Librarian: Let me see how I can help you. What don’t you like about Twilight?
Customer: Everything, but especially that teen love story – way too much angst! And way too slow.  Have you read any good vampire stories lately?


I like this customer. While I haven't read the books, I feel exactly that way about the movies. The first thing I think of is True Blood TV show, which I describe as the antithesis of Twilight; lots of action, limited angst. Therefore, I might steer the reader towards The Sookie Stackhouse Series by Charlaine Harris, which the show is based upon. As this is a series, it might keep the reader busy for a while. Alternatively, I would suggest the classic Dracula by Bram Stoker. I enjoy the way this book is written as a compilation of letters and journal entries. The different perspectives keep the reader engaged.


Conversation Three:


Customer: I just read this great book The River of Doubt.  It was about Teddy Roosevelt and this ill fated expedition to chart an uncharted river in the Amazon.  They lost almost all their provisions, the president was injured, and it turns out one of their crew was a murderer since there was a murder.  And the most amazing thing was that it true.  It was fascinating and really fast paced.  Do you have anything to recommend that is like that?


This is the type of reader I can relate to, a history nerd. When I read this I take away that they like true stories of real life adventures and how people overcame seemingly insurmountable odds. For this reason I would recommend A Land So Strange: The Epic Journey of Cabeza de Vaca by Andre Resendez. This book is about the disastrous Navarez Expedition of 1527 where a crew of 600 men set out from Spain to explore Florida and only 4 survivors staggered into Mexico City 8 years later. The story is compelling and explains how this tiny band of men were able to overcome hurricanes, epic distances, enslavement, and failures of leadership to survive. As an alternative, I would also suggest my pick from last week, In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick for action packed nonfiction. However, I'd preface that by telling them to avoid the movie.