Prompt: Fake Memoirs

My reading tastes and interests do not follow the majority of people. Anything endorsed by Oprah is to me a sign to avoid it usually. So I had never heard of the controversy surrounding "A Million Lies". I had never even heard of the book or author. But by the description of it in The Smoking Gun's article, I find it hard to believe that people read it and actually thought it really was non fiction. It sounds completely implausible  that one person could live such a horrible life and live to tell about it. I don't blame the author completely for being untruthful. He did write it as fiction, and his publisher decided to sell it as non fiction. He just cooperated with the falsehood.  Like the article said, probably many books sold as non fiction have been fabricated to one degree or another. But, at what degree of falsehood is it considered a travesty? The thing that struck me was they didn't even put a disclaimer of  "some names have been changed". I guess they knew pretty much the whole thing was false so why even bother!

As a librarian, it's good to know what it going on in the book world. But if a patron wanted to get into a discussion with me about this book or any controversy, I think it is important to not get too personal about what I think, even if they are agreeing with my point of view. It's not easy to do always, but I try to listen and be honest without coming across as judgmental or condemning of another point of view. And if we have the same opinion it's still a good idea to maintain an air of professionalism. I've seen colleagues get too close and personal with patrons and have it come back to bite them.  I also try to remember my job is to help people find what they are looking for, not criticize them for reading something I find utterly unappealing or even ridiculous. I don't have to read "Fifty Shades of Grey". I just have to help them find it and smile when they squeal with delight.

On a happier note, the controversy surrounding the Harry Potter series when it came out is why I started the books in the first place. As a teacher and a new mother, I got the first one just to see what the fuss was about and to have an opinion if a parent ever asked me what I thought. I read the first one in two days and went the very next day to buy Chamber and Azkaban, and pre-ordered Goblet. I never had a parent ask me if they thought it was OK for their child to read Harry Potter, but I have always been glad I picked up that first volume!

Mystery Annotation: The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency

Author: Alexander McCall Smith

Published: 1998

256 pages

Setting: Botswana, Africa

Precious Ramotswe is Botswana's best (and only) lady detective. She serves the people of her hometown and solves their puzzles, uncovers con-men, and locates missing children, all while sipping red bush tea and enjoying the simple things in life. She has seen her share of heartache and happiness, and is at peace with life as it has turned out. But is running Botswana's finest female detective agency enough to satisfy, or will life offer more?

Elements of (cozy) Mystery Books:

Amateur Detective (usually female): Mma Ramotswe investigates, but solve crimes more by intuition and knowledge of human nature.

Body is offstage: There are no explicit descriptions of any of the crimes, even though one suspected crime would be truly grisly if it were described.

Strong sense of place: The story relies more on the sense of being in Africa, rather than descriptions of procedures or clue-finding.


Read-alikes:

The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra byVaseem Khan

Marriage Bureau for Rich People by Farahad Zama

Killed at the Whim of a Hat by Colin Cotterill

Personal critique: As much as I enjoyed this book, I don't know that it would be my first suggestion for a reader looking for a mystery series, even a cozy series, unless they were also a great gentle reads fan. It is rather heavy on the cozy but light on the mystery. It also doesn't follow the conventional mystery blueprint: body, clues, another body, more clues and surprising revelation. There isn't really any murder or clue-finding in it. But something about it is very enjoyable, nonetheless, even by a serious Agatha Christie devotee.

Prompt Response: Promoting Romance

Romance is so popular that it really doesn't need promotion, at least at my library. But it is something that lends itself well to a few ideas. I was thinking of a take on the classic blind-date-with-a-book, sort of a cross between that and Garanimals. You could have a display showing a series of cards with read-likes and words giving a clue to the elements in the book (like historical, contemporary, intricate plot, Ireland, paranormal, racy, etc), which each contain a symbol that would match up with paper-wrapped Romance books, which would have that symbol on them too if they are a good "match" for the clues and books listed on the card. Readers could search for a book they have read and want a read-alike for, or just factors that appeal to them, and have a little fun playing a game finding their next Romance read. It could be tied in with a Valentine's day drawing, also. If you enjoyed the book you read, or weren't that crazy about it, write a brief review for other readers and be entered in a drawing for dinner for two at a local restaurant. Reviews (with permission) could make up another display after the first is finished.

Integrated Advisory would be great to do with Romance. There are so many movies in this genre that having a monthly movie night featuring new and classic romance films would be fun for many people. Even those who don't really read romance could definitely have an interest in seeing An Affair to Remember, or Breakfast at Tiffany's, or Austenland, or The Time-Traveler's Wife. Information about the movie, the book (if it was based on a book), and a list of books, audio books, other movies, and music that the library offers could be given out at each showing, as well as information regarding the many Romance and other book clubs the library system offers.

Gentle Read Annotation: Miss Buncle's Book

Author: D.E.Stevenson

Published: 1934

304 pages

Setting: fictional English village of Silverstream

Times are hard and Barbara Buncle is getting desperate to increase her dwindling bank account. She turns her hand to writing, and publishes a novel depicting her home village with each villager portrayed true to life, warts and all. Luckily she publishes under an assumed name, as indignation at seeing themselves portrayed in such a manner causes some in the village to vow revenge. Miss Buncle is surprised that she even got published, let alone that the book is a smash hit. But when events in life start to imitate the events in her book, it really turns her little world upside down, and she will never be the same again.

Elements of a Gentle Read:

Tone: Upbeat and unpretentious. Reflects traditional values with no shocking surprises.

Pace: Pacing is gentle and leisurely.

Setting: Set in a small village, and characters pursue many daily, domestic pursuits such as gardening, baking, and shopping.

Story line: Story centers around relationships between characters with no explicit sex, violence or language.

Read-alikes:

Miss Julia Lays Down the Law by Ann B. Ross

Wed and Buried  by Toni L.P. Kelner

Bridesmaids Revisited by Dorothy Cannell

Thrush Green by Miss Read

Personal critique: I really enjoyed this book! It really is a comforting, warm, gentle read that draws the reader into village life and gives a sense of peace and well-being. Personally, I liked the fact that it is not set in contemporary times but I think it would appeal to anyone who desires a book that allows the reader a glimpse into the domestic concerns of a small town and its inhabitants. I am a big fan of the Miss Read books and this is the closest thing I have found to her books yet.

Kirkus-Style Review: Leave it to Psmith

The last book in the Psmith series takes the inimitable and unflappable Psmith to Blandings Castle in pursuit of a profession which will enable Psmith to continue his leisurely and impeccable journey through life, with as little to do with fish as possible.

            Psmith (the P is silent, as in pshrimp) is down on his luck and has tried his hand at an uncle’s fish business, which is definitely a no-go. By placing an ad in the papers for “Any job you need doing, CRIME NOT OBJECTED TO” he soon attracts the attention of Freddie, son of Lord Emsworth of Blandings Castle. Freddie has just been commissioned by his uncle to steal his aunt’s necklace, thus providing Freddie and uncle with cash needed for the wooing of Eve Halliday (by Freddie) and to set up Uncle’s step-daughter Phyllis’s husband Mike in business which will support Phyllis in the manner which she deserves. Since Mike is a good friend of Psmith and he has no other plans for the day, Psmith agrees to go to Blandings and steal the necklace for Freddie. However, a mix-up occurs in London with a very near-sighted Lord Emworth and a poet named Ralston McTodd, which results in Psmith going to Blandings in the guise of the poet McTodd as a guest of the castle. Soon the lovely Eve arrives (whom Psmith became enamored of in London and who believes Psmith to be McTodd, husband of her friend Cynthia who has just run off and left his wife in a poet’s rage). A crook named Cootes, also posing as McTodd and attempting to steal the necklace soon arrives on the scene as well. The necklace does get stolen and hidden in a flowerpot, and the events which transpire to recover the necklace, uncover the thief, win the heart of Eve and have everyone live happily ever after (with the possible exception of Lord Emsworth’s suspicious secretary Baxter, whom his employer believes is mad because he cannot resist the urge to throw flowerpots) are hilarious in true Wodehousian form.

Another delightful tome by P.G. Wodehouse, Leave it to Psmith takes the reader into the world of the eccentric British upper-class in the pre-WWII era, providing many intertwining plot twists and hysterical side-trips which all get resolved in the end, as no one but Wodehouse can do.

Week Five Prompt

The Billionaire's First Christmas does not seem like Romantic Suspense to me. The tone is described as "light and cozy", not uneasy. The heroine does not seem to be in danger, unless the Santa-hating guy turns out to be a serial killer. The hero does seem to have a little of the "villain or hero?" mystery about him, but a guy named Winters, who heads Winter, Inc. but hates Christmas because of childhood trauma seems more like the plot to a Tim Allen comedy than a modern gothic thriller to me, so I'm voting Romance, not Romantic Suspense.  Cozy Romantic Suspense, perhaps?

The two reviews were reliable if you were just thinking for yourself about reading the book, but not if you are a collection librarian considering it for purchase. They lacked the professionalism and finesse one likes to see to get a better grasp as to whether the ebook would be a good purchase for a library.  I think that the longer ebooks are around and the more they are read, the more ebook-only titles will be reviewed. But right now I guess it would be a problem for collection developers in deciding which ebook-only titles to purchase. I think it is definitely a problem for this particular ebook, since the genre doesn't even seem to be clear. But wouldn't vendors have a thing where they give you so many ebook-only titles with your purchase of X other titles? Sounds like a good business deal, anyway.


The reviews of Angela's Ashes would make me definitely want to purchase it for my library's collection. It's the kind of book that is good to have multiple copies of when it first starts circulating, then after the first popularity dies down to keep several copies in the system because it will continue to be checked out and probably even studied in classes or book clubs.

I don't think it's fair that some types of books never get reviewed, while others are reviewed to death. It may have an impact on collection development if you have the type of collection developer that concentrates on what a colleague and I call the sheep list ( NY Times bestsellers), but if you have a savvy collection librarian, or different ones for different genres in a larger system, hopefully they would have a good feel for what the reading public of their specialty likes and would have cultivated sources to assist their buying decisions. I don't have a problem with negative reviews, but I can see how it wold have an impact on purchasing decisions one way or the other.

I have never been much of a book review reader for choosing my own reading material. Maybe because movie critics and I almost never agree, so I don't even try with book reviewers? I usually rely on a book's synopsis, on Amazon, Goodreads or similar places, or on the inside of the cover. However, I am starting to get into reading reviews more often with an objective view in mind: increasing my skills at RA and getting a better feel for those genres that I don't read for personal pleasure so that I can be informed in making suggestions for patrons. I enjoy Kirkus and Booklist reviews, particularly. Also I like them short and snappy. Too long and it does feel like you might as well have read the book.

Secret Shopper Assignment

For this assignment I visited the tiny library in the small town where my sons attend school. I had never been inside before, even though I drive by it every day, and I have been curious to see what it was like inside and if they actually had anything to read. Upon entering it was immediately apparent that it was a library for readers, but not if your tastes were too out of the mainstream. There were many books on display, a few Young Adult but mainly recently published bestsellers.

I was greeted by a friendly librarian who asked if she could help me find something. I told her I was looking for something to read. She asked if there was anything specific I was looking for, and I said, "Not really", which seemed to stump her. So I volunteered that I loved the Miss Read series, both Thrush Green and Fairacre, hoping to find a Gentle Read for my next annotation. She asked if they were mysteries, romance, etc. I told her that they weren't really those, just books about life in an English village. She then turned to the computer and started searching. I couldn't see what website she was searching, but she found the author and read me a description with a few appeal terms, so I thought we were getting there. Unfortunately, the library is so small the author read-a-likes she tried were not in the library. She then tried what looked to me like Amazon from the sideways view I had of the screen. As she was looking this time the conversation finally started rolling. She started recommending authors to me that I had either read and liked, or others that were on my to-read list, and we also began discussing mysteries. However, she seemed to miss the fact that the series I mentioned were set in England, and although one of the subsequent series she mentioned is also set in England I don't think she made the connection. I ended up checking out a couple of books I had already read (and liked) because I had to get to school and pick up the boys and I couldn't be there forever.

If she had asked me more questions at the beginning of the conversation I think she might have been able to be even more accurate in her search, but she was hampered by the lack of conversation and the fact that the library was so small. Also, she never offered me ILL, which led me to believe it wasn't available.

So, overall it was a good experience and a bad one. Good that she did manage to come up with some things of interest to me, and bad that they were nothing I had not already found on my own. Given the size of the library I really didn't expect much more, so I was pleased to see that the inside of the library was mostly dedicated to fiction. I also felt that I experienced some of the correct things to do in Reader's Advisory, but maybe not in that particular way.