Week Seven Prompt

I found this article online that discusses fake memoirs and how they should be not be shunned and not stir up such an outrage because they contain merits of great fiction. Fake memoirs like those mentioned in the article are deem as great works of literature but lost its worth when the truth was reveal these books where made up.

Fans and those purchased fake memoirs have the right to be outraged.  The reasons these people may want to read memoirs is for the mere fact that they are nonfiction and they may like to read stories based on real life experiences. It’s upsetting that later on, they would find out that these stories are not true. When I hear about these type of stories, I get upset. Readers believe in these life stories and finds inspiration for their own lives and to later on tell them that it’s all a lie is so upsetting for me to hear this.

In all cases where its revealed that someone’s memoir is fake, they should not be moved to the fiction section because it interferes with the genre of fiction itself. Those who want to fiction do not want to see a book there that was once being marketed as nonfiction.  Fiction is about fictitious characters with fictitious names, so these books to me; do not really qualify to be catalog as fiction. If these books are being continuous printed and cataloged they need to remain in the nonfiction section and catalog as fake memoirs. Hopefully celebrity life stories will not be dominating the fiction shelves in the near future.

Mystery Annotation: Cinnamon Roll Murder by Joann Fluke

Title: Cinnamon Roll Murder (A Hannah Swensen Mystery)

Author: Joanne Fluke

Publication: Kensington; Reprint edition (January 29, 2013)

Edition: Mass Market Paperback; 384 pages

Series: Hannah Swenson Mystery

Synopsis: Hannah Swenson a baker and also runs a coffee shop with her sister. One icy April afternoon in Minnesota on their way to deliver cinnamon rolls at a local club, the two are driving their catering van which swerves slightly of the road and end up in an accident with a tour bus of the band Cinnamon Roll Six. Set to play at a local club that night, majority of the band members suffered no injuries while the keyboardist Buddy is rushed to the hospital. With his injuries are getting worse, he ends up being murdered at the hospital.  Hannah and her sister suspect that the death of Buddy isn’t from the tour bus accident so they go on to solve the mystery of who killed Buddy.

Setting/Time Period: Set in present time in Minnesota during early spring.

Genre: Mystery; cozy mystery

Subject Headings: Detective and mystery stories, Swenson, Hannah (fictitious character); Women and private investigators--fiction; cooking-fiction; Minnesota--fiction

Elements of a mystery: There’s a crime that is under investigation in form of a puzzle. The Hannah Swenson Mystery series follows the same characters throughout the whole series as she and her friend investigate different murders that occur in each book. The murders are solved at the end of each book but the characters internal plots are ongoing in the series.

Appeal: There is element of romance, mystery for those who prefer mysteries that are on the calmer side. The series has a specific formula so it can be bit predictable but each mystery within itself has twists and not easily predictable yet it holds the readers attention. Intertwines food and mysteries and also includes recipes in the book.

Read A Likes:

• All the president’s Menus (A White House Chef Mystery) by Julie Hyzy

• In Hot Water (A Sweet Pepper Fire Brigade) by J.J. Cook

• Lie of the Needle (A Deadly Notions Mystery) by Cate Price

This series is definitely what I would consider a cozy mystery. A good series to start of with if you haven’t read many mysteries and prefer not to read violent books. It’s safe book to read with content isn't consider violent. Easy to read, investigation and overall progression of the book flowed well and easy to follow. Noting to throw your off course of guessing who the killer is. Good character development if you haven’t read any books from the series prior to reading this one.

Reading Prompt Week 6

Halloween Horror October Display: Featuring Horror Books that have been Adapted into a TV Series of Movie

This display can run all October or anytime during year where there is a popular release of an upcoming season of a  horror TV series or movie, for example the Walking Dead. If the latest season release date on DVD is in October, the display will mainly consist of The Walking Dead promotion release information (the day it will be available at the library and display art as well as other horror books and their movie/TV series counterpart all in one bundle. With these bundles, patrons have the opportunity to check out the whole bundle or choose if they would like just the DVD or the book. The goal is to promote an upcoming release while also promoting other items that are in the horror genre that patrons may enjoy. Promoting the horror genre in October is ideal because most patrons are starting to watch and read more of these items because of Halloween. The display will make items in this genre easy to find and also help decorate the library for Halloween.

Prompt Response

I do feel the two reviews are reliable because they are of an actual reader’s opinion. They have nothing to gain by reading this book and are offering their honest opinion of what they are reading. Their opinions should not necessary be discredited since they are not formally educated on reading/writing book reviews and their opinions matter as much as any other book reviewers out there. As for buying this book for my library, I would invest in it being that it would add to the other gentle reads in our eBook collection and its holiday themed. This eBook is not what I would consider romantic suspense. This is a light gentle read that I would consider general romance because there is not any sort of suspense that is likely to be found in Nora Roberts books. It contains clean dialogue and content and there is not any hint that the heroine is in any sort of danger and needs some sort of saving. She seems to be fighting for only one man’s affections, not typical of that of romantic suspense.

I think it’s fair that one book is reviewed more than others. Books that receive the most buzz get the attention of reviews very fast and so it becomes this chain reaction. Everyone wants his or her opinion of this particular book to be heard. There are some that prefer to read books that aren’t talked about as much so they can come to their own opinions about what they’ve just read. This affects the library collection in way that the majority of its space is filled with multiple copies of the same books that everyone has pretty much have read already. Those diamond and the rough books get over looked and weeded because of the lack of attention and awareness that these book exist let alone are available at your local library. I think review sources that don’t print negative reviews are censoring opinions that provides limited perspectives and are manipulating readers with false opinions in order to get readers to read this book. If readers are going to put effort into reading reviews trusting in what these reviewers think, their work should be honest and allow for the reader to decide if they should read the book or not. 

I help assist with the purchasing of materials by picking out books they would be great for our collection. I decide based on the provided synopsis and my manger would from there, look up reviews and decide if the book should be purchase for our collection or not. For personal reading, I do occasionally read reviews but I make my decision to read based on the synopsis or recommendations. When I browse books online, I do take time to read reviews to get a general feel as to how the book will play out. I also agree that reading reviews are time consuming and I always feel as though after reading five or more reviews on the same book, I talk myself out of reading the book or I put off reading it until months later.  For personal reading, my favorite resources are Amazon and online blogs.

Kirkus Review: Baby Proof by Emily Giffin

A married couple decides right from the beginning of their relationship that parenthood would never be their future, or is it?

Every since Claudia can remember she knew having children of her own was out of the question so any potential partners would need to have the same view right? Of course, she meets Ben who also never wants to have children and the two are happily married until one day friends of theirs become pregnant. Ben begins to see first hand how being parents can be a joyful and wonderful experience. He approaches Claudia with his change of heart and wants to have a baby. Claudia is of course shocked and horrified, destined to stand her ground she gives Ben an ultimatum, if he wants to have kids so badly, than their relationship is over. The couple divorce and go their separate ways. After a year apart, Claudia's life is anything put happy with a horrific babysitting mishap with her niece and a failed hook up with a co-worker, Claudia realizes that she loves Ben and can’t live without him.

This story dabbles in conflicts that arise in relationships and presents underlining decisions that couples must make in order for their relationship to work.

Secret Shopper

Secret Shopper

When first entered the library, I felt like it was different than I remembered from a few years ago. As I began to make my way to the reference area, it felt more familiar. I approached the reference desk and was immediately greeted with a friendly “Hello” and a “how can I help you”. I responded with a “Hello” and I began to ask my reference question: I’m looking for a good YA book that would be interesting to adult readers? I mentioned that I’ve read plenty of paranormal teen literature in my teenager days and I dislike the dystopia craze that’s currently available and I’m not really interested in sad or romantic dramatic YA literature. The librarian asked me who are some of my favorite YA authors in the past so she could get a start on which direction to conduct the search. I mentioned that my favorite YA author is Sarah Dessen and that I loved how her books are more realistic and relatable but not pushing any limits and are simply a good read. She then asked me if I’m interested in books that have been released in recent years because she noted that there aren’t that many new releases that are along the lines of Sarah Dessen’s work. She mentioned John Green books are sort of on the level but doesn’t quite fit the YA books I’m looking for. So, I noted that it would be great if there were some new releases that reflect Sarah Dessen’s novels but I’m perfectly fine reading older release. She asked me what is one of my favorite Sarah Desson books. I replied with “Lock and Key”. From there she conducted a Goodreads search and typed in “Lock and Key”.  She showed me one book called “The Nature of Jade” by Deb Caletti. She goes to give a brief summary of the book and thought it has similar elements to “Lock and Key” with its relatable feel. Next, she finds “Fixing Delilah” by Sarah Ockler. She mentions its has the dysfunctional family aspect “Lock and Key” has but written very nicely not over done and dramatic. Lastly, she recommended “Pearl” by Jo Knowles. This book also has the element of dysfunctional families but has a light feel similar to the other books she recommended. She wrote down the names of the books and searched the library’s catalog and wrote down the call number. She gave me the list and mentioned that if I needed any help finding the titles to ask the ladies at the circulation desk. I thanked her for her helped and conducting such a good interview.

What I liked most about the interview is that she asked a lot of questions that I did not think of prior to the interview, that made me dive further into knowing what books I wanted. I came out knowing that I wasn’t exactly looking for a simple YA read but one that is more of intense yet meaningful without being so dramatic. I didn’t realize that is what I liked most about Sarah Desson books and its cool that she picked up on that and know what types of books to recommended. She focused on two elements of the book I liked and focused on finding books that matched those elements. I enjoyed my experience and definitely will return for future suggestions.

Caletti, Deb. ”The Nature of Jade”. Simon and Schuster. 2007. Pg. 286

Ockler, Sarah.” Fixing Delilah.” Little Brown. New York. 2010. Pg. 308

Knowles, Jo. “Pearl”. Henry and Holt Co.  2011. Pg. 216.