Prompt #1: Reader's Advisory Questions

1. I am looking for a book by Laurell K. Hamilton. I just read the third book in the Anita Blake series and I can’t figure out which one comes next!

The fourth book in the Anita Blake series by Laurell K. Hamilton is The Lunatic Café (1996).

 2. What have I read recently? Well, I just finished this great book by Barbara Kingsolver, Prodigal Summer. I really liked the way it was written, you know, the way she used language. I wouldn’t mind something a bit faster paced though.

Anthill (2010) by E. O. Wilson and A Parchment of Leaves (2002) by Silas House are both novels that would read like Prodigal Summer. They have the same lyrical and descriptive writing with complex characters and elements of environmentalism. Another popular option is Where the Crawdads Sing (2018) by Delia Owens. It also features lyrical writing and complex characters, but with less emphasis on environmentalism.

3. I like reading books set in different countries. I just read one set in China. Could you help me find one set in Japan? No, not modern – historical. I like it when the author describes it so much that it feels like I was there!

Laura Joh Rowland writes many historical fiction novels set in Japan with rich details about the country and culture. Two of her novels are The Shoguns Daughter (2003) and The Iris Fan (2014). Another great historical fiction read set in Japan with a descriptive writing style is The Pure Land (2007) by Alan Spence.  

 4. I read this great mystery by Elizabeth George called Well-Schooled in Murder and I loved it. Then, my dentist said that if I liked mysteries I would probably like John Sandford, but boy was it creepy. I couldn’t finish it! Do you have any suggestions?

If you liked Well-Schooled in Murder, you may like to try some of the other books in the Thomas Lynley series. The next book in the series is A Suitable Vengeance (1991). Louise Penny writes similar police procedural mysteries with the first in the series being Still Life (2006).

5. My husband has really gotten into zombies lately. He’s already read The Walking Dead and World War Z. Is there anything else you can recommend?

Neil Druckmann is a popular zombie/apocalyptic writer. One of his graphic novels is The Last of Us: American Dreams (2013). Justin Cronin has a book called The Passage (2010) that features a post-apocalyptic world with zombie-like characters they call “virals”. Another graphic novel recommendation is Zombies: A Brief History of Decay (2017).

6.  I love books that get turned into movies, especially literary ones. Can you recommend some? Nothing too old, maybe just those from the last 5 years or so.

Two books that came out in 2017 called A Simple Favor by Darcey Bell and The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas were made into feature films. The Land of Steady Habits by Ted Thompson was recently made into a movie by Netflix.

7. I love thrillers, but I hate foul language and sex scenes. I want something clean and fast paced.

For an older series, the Hamish MacBeth mysteries by M.C. Beaton are clean and lighter reads. The first book in the series is Death of a Gossip (1985). For more recent reads, The Insider (2014) by Sian Ann Bessey has been found on many lists for top clean thrillers. Bestselling author John Grisham write legal thrillers that feature no foul language or sex scenes, such as The Firm (1991). Also, Mary Higgins Clark writes clean mysteries/thrillers. Her novels border on the genres of suspense and thriller, but are fast-paced great mystery reads like I’ve Got My Eyes on You (2018).

HOW I FIND BOOKS TO READ

Mostly, I use word of mouth to find great book recommendations. I like to get ideas from family members, friends, and co-workers on great new books to read. For a class last semester, we were required to get a Goodreads account and I have really enjoyed finding new books from the recommendations based on my reviews and past books read. I also get recommendations from Amazon and Book Page. Surprisingly, some of the best books I read last year were ones that were suggested through the Reece Witherspoon Book Club with her company Hello Sunshine. All the books featured are written by strong, intelligent women and there were a lot of suggestions I would have never thought to pick up and ended up loving! I haven’t used a lot of the resources noted by Chelton, but I look forward to trying some of them out.

Thriller Annotation: The Paris Diversion

BASIC INFORMATION
Title: The Paris Diversion (Kate Moore series #2)
Author: Chris Pavone

Genre: Thriller
Publication Date: May 2019
ISBN: 1524761508
Number of Pages: 384

Geographical Setting: Paris, France
Time Period: Present (12 hr. timeframe)


SUMMARY: 
The Paris Diversion is the second book in a series that follow ex-CIA Agent Kate Moore and her husband, Dexter through their lives as expats. In this book, they are living a seemingly normal life in Paris: taking their children to school, meeting for breakfast, and planning a fancy dinner party. However, both Kate and Dexter are hiding secrets from one another. Kate is running an off-the-grid intelligence substation in Paris that even the heads of the CIA are unaware of and Dexter is making secret investments with a company called 4Sytes, following insider trading information from colleagues. 

Their secrets collide when a man enters the courtyard of the Louvre with a suicide vest and a metal suitcase radiating nuclear particles, bomb threats are called in around the world, and the owner/CEO of 4Sytes is missing. When evidence points to Dexter as the mastermind behind the chaos, Kate must investigate to find out who is really behind the madness. But when those responsible turn out to be enemies from the past, Kate must work to clear Dexter's name and stop them from continuing with their plans. All while deciding if she wants to continue the way she lives her life, or if different choices could redeem the lives lost and save those in the future. 

CHARACTERISTICS OF THRILLERS:
Intricate Plot: A defining characteristic of thrillers is the use of an intricate plot with many twists and turns. The Paris Diversion definitely had unexpected and perilous events, and an ending twist that the reader will not see coming. It also includes political elements and hot topic issues.  

Characterization: Wyatt & Saricks (2019) write that in thrillers "protagonists are usually strong, sympathetic characters whether heroes or antiheroes (p. 13)." Kate Moore is a complex character with conflicting motivations and desires. Her internal struggle allows readers to sympathize with her actions and makes her more believable. She is also an expert in her field, which increases the authenticity of her character. 

Tone: The tone is menacing, dark, and violent because it provokes a sense of dread and fear, which is consistent within the thriller genre. 

READ-ALIKES: 
Fiction: 
* Conviction- Denise Mina
* Black Fridays- Michael Sears 
* A Foreign Country- Charles Cumming 

Nonfiction: 
* Broker, Trader, Lawyer, Spy- Eamon Javers
* Fair Game- Valerie Plame Wilson
* Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy- Karen Abbott

BLOGGER REVIEW: 
To be honest, when I checked out this book on my local library's OverDrive acount, it did not indicate that this was the second book in the series. However, I didn't feel like I needed to read the first to keep up with the plot of the story. The author does a great job of filling in the blanks on information from the first novel. It did take me a while to get into this book, but about halfway through, I couldn't put it down! The author alternates point of view on each chapter, showing the days events from the perspective of different characters so the reader can see all sides of the events. This is why it made the main character, Kate, so complex. Since I had an understanding of all the emotions/experiences involved, it made it hard at times to root for Kate to succeed. Overall, I felt that this book was eventually compelling, fast-paced, and intriguing, once you get past the first part. I think it would be a hard novel for thriller first timers to enjoy, but experienced thriller fans would really like it!

RESOURCES:
Wyatt, N. & Saricks, J. (2019). The readers' advisory guide to genre fiction. Chicago, IL: ALA Editions. 

Reading Profile

Ever since I was a little girl, books have always been a huge part of my life. I grew up going to the library (practically living there since my mom is the Assistant Director in my hometown library) and always loved getting as much reading done as possible. As an adult,  I still  never go anywhere without a book. My co-workers have a running joke that pretty soon there won’t be any books left in the library that I haven’t read. Luckily for me, there are always new books to add to my “To Read” list. Last year, I read 112 books and my goal for 2020 is to read 120. My mom and I have a challenge every year to see who can read the most books and I finally won this year (for the first time in 4 years), so I have to keep up the streak. 😊

When talking books with other people, I have always had a hard time with describing what kind of books that I like, since I really do read a variety of genres. That’s why I think the idea of Appeal will help with Reader’s Advisory because, as our textbook states, “Genre is not as stable a classifying system as it once was. Genres blend and overlap, making strict divisions difficult to delineate (Wyatt & Saricks, 2019, xvii.) So many books that I enjoy cross genre boundaries, such as in the Adventure genre when thrillers and suspense combine. For me, I want to read a book where I can feel the readers emotions, which is why I love suspense because I like how readers are able to get inside the head of the characters and feel their feelings. On the other hand, I also like more gentle reads/romance because I can feel the romantic emotion that the characters are feeling and can connect to them.

I like to alternate the types of books I read, because if I read too many suspense novels in row, I am so invested in them that my mood starts to drop. Therefore, I’ll read a suspense or thriller, and then something more light-hearted like inspirational romance, contemporary fiction, etc. My guilty pleasure is the Love Inspired series from Harlequin that features Christian romance plots. They are extremely cheesy and predictable, but I like to use them as an escape when I am stressed or busy. I also like to mix in some nonfiction reading in the form of biographies and inspirational/self-help books.

Below are some lists of my favorite genres and authors that may be helpful in getting to know a little more about my reading preferences. 

Top 5 Genres

Suspense/Mysteries
Contemporary Fiction
Romance
Non-fiction/Biographies
Thrillers

Top 5 Authors

Nicholas Sparks
James Patterson
Dorothea Benton Frank
Rachel Hollis
Lisa Jewell 

Resources:

Wyatt, N. & Saricks, J. (2019). The readers’ advisory guide to genre fiction: Third edition. Chicago, IL: American Library Association.

Introduction

Hello!!

My name is Shelby O'Malley and I am so excited to get started on my first blog! I am not usually one to put myself out there for the world to see so this is definitely out of my comfort zone!

A little bit about me...

I graduated from Valparaiso University in 2016 with a degree in Elementary/Special Education. I taught K-3 Special Education for two years until I realized how much I missed being in a library. Before teaching, I worked in the public library in my hometown for about 10 years (off and on through school) and LOVED every second of it. So, I decided to foster my love of reading and go back to school for a Masters of Library Science degree and am now over halfway through the program!

On a personal note...

I got married in June of 2018 to my wonderful husband, Toby. I love traveling, hiking at the Indiana state parks, reading, and watching baseball. You can find me all summer at the ballpark and all winter spending an exorbitant amount of time reading up on the latest stats for the Chicago MLB teams.
(Go White Sox!)

***Here's a picture of my husband and I at the Crosstown Classic where the Chicago Cubs play the Chicago White Sox. We cheer for opposite teams so it makes for an interesting marriage... :)


I am really looking forward to this class and learning more about readers' advisory!.