Prompt #4: Celebrity Book Clubs

When I first read the article by Angela Liao (2017), I immediately thought of the celebrity book clubs that I personally follow on social media that are run by Reese Witherspoon, Jenna Bush Hager, and Emma Watson.  As a reader, I chose to begin following these accounts because there are different aspects of the celebrities’ lives that I find interesting and I was curious about the types of books they read, which is more than likely why millions of other readers are following their accounts as well. I have read quite a few of the recommendations from these celebrity book clubs, some I liked and some I didn’t, but all have stayed true to the endorsing celebrities’ brand. People are often drawn to celebrities because of their personalities (or brands). Armitstead (as quoted in Liao, 2017), states, “... if someone wants to project themselves as a fun person, they are going to choose fun books.” Readers can get an idea of the types of books that a celebrity recommends based on their personas. If you find someone to be boring or dull, you are probably not going to run to the bookstore to find their recommendations.

While many critics discredit the merit of these book clubs, one thing is an obvious benefit: people are reading. Some skeptics assume that celebrities are only promoting books to increase their popularity or make money, but what matters is that more people are being exposed to new literature and are taking an interest in the literary world. Liao (2017) writes, “...what [celebrities] bring is their brand. There are so many books in the world that any kind of ‘sorting hat’, to use a Harry Potter term, is a good thing for reading.” Celebrity book clubs allow readers to get recommendations on new books in their preferred genres which increases the exposure to literature and benefits the publishing industry.

Another aspect of celebrity book clubs that was brought to my attention was the amount of time that these book clubs can last. This appears to be the result of two main factors: popularity and celebrity interest. Liao (2017) stated in her article that “they have a shelf life and people like Emma Watson will get bored and start looking for the next new thing.”  Celebrities may lose interest in their book clubs or move on to a new ideology that drives their recommendations and can make the club lose steam. In addition, celebrities are not always celebrities forever and their popularity may wane. The article regarding Oprah’s Book Club by Butler, et.al (2005) found that book club picks from her early years were more popular than those in the later years “indicated Oprah lost some of her clout with consumers as the book club matured (p. 23).” As her popularity diminished, as did the success of her book club.

Although some individual celebrity book clubs may diminish in popularity for several reasons, their benefits are still high because it leads people to finding a renewed interest in reading. Seeing as these book clubs have been around for many years, the existence of the concept has longevity. Even if the popular clubs of today are gone, more will be in line ready to promote a new generation of great authors to their followers. With the existence of social media, it is easier than ever before to reach millions of followers to promote the love of reading.  

Resources:

Liao, A. (2017). Celebrity book clubs create virtual reading community. Retrieved from           https://bookstr.com/article/celebrity-book-clubs-create-virtual-reading-community/

Butler, R., Cowan, B., & Nilsson, S. (2005). From obscurity to bestseller: Examining the impact of
          oprah’s book club selections. Publishing research quarterly, 20(4): 23-34.

Prompt #3: Promoting Romance

Dear Boss,

I’ve been noticing recently that our romance collection doesn’t get the attention it deserves and was thinking that it's time we promote this great collection. I’ve been brainstorming how to promote the romance genre and have a great idea. I would love to do a display on romance items in the adult fiction section of the library. The featured items would be wrapped in bright colors with the first lines written on the front so that you cannot see the cover of the book. The label of the display would say “Intrigued by the First Line? Check Out the Rest!”. The display would include a mixture of physical fiction and nonfiction books, audio books, movies, and television shows. Often the first lines of stories are the ones that reel you in, so this would be a great way to draw patrons to the romance collection. A colorful, exciting display will also catch their attention and the mystery of what the title of the book is would intrigue them. I also think that too often, romance books are judged by the covers, so by hiding the fronts, patrons can get to know the text first. We could use this display for a variety of genres/themes in the future after we see how it increases the appreciation/circulation of the romance collection.

Kirkus-style Review: The Other Woman

Title: The Other Woman
Author: Sandie Jones

Publishing Date: August 2018
ISBN: 978-1-250-19198-4
Page Count: 304
Genre: Romantic Suspense, Psychological Suspense

A woman falls in love with a handsome man, but when she meets his mother, her dream romance starts to into a nightmare.

Emily Havistock eyes handsome, charming, and successful Adam Banks from across the room at a company event and it’s love at first sight. A previous failed relationship left Emily fearing love, but she is willing to take a chance on this stranger. Their love blossoms quickly, so when Adam asks Emily to meet his mother, Pammie, it seemed like the logical next step. To Adam, Pammie is a kind-hearted, wonderful mother whom he adores and is abnormally close to. To Emily, Pammie is insufferable, angry, and overbearing. Can their love overcome this other woman? Emily is head over heels in love and is determined to make it work, no matter what. What follows is a continuous stream of horrible actions from Pammie that show her trying her best to ruin this relationship. Since Adam keeps his mother on such a high pedestal, Emily fears showing him her true feelings. “Perhaps it was all part of that in-built defense mechanism that women seem to be born with, that bogs us down and keeps us from saying the things we really want to say.” Emily feels like the only people she can talk to about the problem is her friends Pippa and Seb, and Adam’s gorgeous younger brother James. While confiding in James, Emily starts to feel an attraction that she doesn’t understand. It all culminates in a terrifying and unexpected twist that shows Adam may not be who he appears to be. Told from Emily’s point of view, readers with develop a love/hate relationship with her. One minute, you feel sympathy for her situation and another you want to yell at her to just put them in their place. Emotions will be all over the place in this fast-paced, emotionally intense, and suspenseful debut of author Sandie Jones.

A thrilling novel with high tension throughout and an ending that leaves readers in complete shock.

Prompt #2: Review Sources

Reviews assist librarians in determining whether a book would be an asset to the library’s collection. They give us not only the summary of the plot, but also whether the story is told in a quality manner. Unfortunately, reviews are often only published in professional publications when they are “mainstream”. If a librarian relies too heavily on these types of publications for their reviews, it can affect their collection development in a negative way. While I understand that major publications prefer to review books that are considered mainstream or have incredibly popular authors, it seems unfair that those titles are reviewed over and over again by a multitude of sources while others, like E-book only titles, are never reviewed. Books that are “E-book only” or from lesser known authors may offer a new perspective or level of diversity to the collection that the popular books may not offer. The librarians may not be fully providing patrons with the types of books that they want. They are not purposefully omitting books in their collection that patrons may enjoy, but by not being aware of what all is out there in the publishing world, they may miss some incredible titles. In addition, their collections may be biased towards one genre/type of book or another if they rely on either mainstream and popular reviews or genre heavy publications.  

Looking at the reviews provided for The Billionaire’s First Christmas, I am not enticed to add this title to my collection. The reviews are not of professional quality with misspellings, incomplete sentences, and the use of non-professional slang (such as “lol”) included in the review. I personally was so caught up in the writing errors, that it was difficult to determine what the book was about. I do think there is some merit to reading customer reviews on websites, such as Amazon, and personal blogs as it increases a librarian’s exposure to new titles that may diversify their collection and meet the wants/needs of the community. These types of reviews allow librarians to see opinions on titles from everyday readers, with similar lifestyles, viewpoints, and preferences as their own patrons. However, it is important to consider the quality of the personal reviews and to look at more than one. If I only read the given reviews, I would not purchase this book, but there may be other reviews online that explain the quality and plot of the title in a clearer and more professional manner that would increase the likelihood of purchasing this title for my collection.

In contrast, the reviews for Angela’s Ashes have intrigued me to add this title to my collection. This title was given positive and descriptive reviews by many prominent professional sources. It is not unusual to have at least one good review on a title, but to have all of the major publications give rave reviews shows that this is a quality book that many would enjoy. In addition, I must consider the fact that Kirkus, in particular, gave it a positive review. Since I know that they are more than willing to give negative reviews, if warranted, then the fact that this title got a positive review shows that there is merit to this novel.

I appreciate Kirkus for their honest reviews, both positive and negative. By including negative reviews within their publication, they are giving readers a real look at the titles available, instead of simply sugar coating it. They want readers to truly understand the novels plot (both solid and weak), as well as the quality of writing. I think that those publications who do not include negative reviews are setting themselves up for the disappointment and distrust of their readers. Many who read book reviews are trying to determine if a novel is worth their time and money. If they are not getting both the positive AND negative aspects, then they can’t really trust that a book is worth it.

I do not currently buy for my library. However, as  reader, I mainly rely on the reviews of friends, family, and local librarians when determining if a book is worth my time. I also look at reviews by my favorite authors and those celebrities with book clubs that I follow on social media as they have similar taste in literature as I do. In addition, before buying a book, I always look at the Amazon and Goodreads reviews because it allows me to see what everyday people with similar reading preferences are saying about a title.

Romantic Suspense Annotation: Come Sundown

BASIC INFORMATION: 

Title: Come Sundown 

Author: Nora Roberts

Genre: Romantic Suspense 

Publication Date: 

June 2017 ISBN: 9781250123077

Number of Pages: 466 

Geographical Setting: Western Montana 

Time Period: Present Day; Flashbacks to the 1990’s mixed in

PLOT SUMMARY: Come Sundown is a standalone romantic suspense novel set on the Bodine Ranch in Western Montana. The Bodine family runs a working ranch and resort, with Bodine Longbow overseeing it all. When new hire, Callen Skinner, comes back to town, Bodine is swept off her feet by his cowboy ways and must decide if he can have her heart...and her trust. Meanwhile, terrible events are happening in their resort town: people are missing, hurt, and murdered. It is up to the Bodine family to put everyone at ease through these trying times. 

Unknown to Bodine and family, only a few miles away lives the aunt who ran away twenty plus years ago without a trace. Alice Bodine is living her own reality, one that is twisted, dangerous, and much different than the life she left behind. When their worlds collide, Bodine must face the dangerous world in which her aunt lived and decide if her love for her home, her family, and Callen Skinner are enough to help her overcome her enemies. 

CHARACTERISTICS/APPEAL OF ROMANTIC SUSPENSE: 

Intricate Plot: Most romantic suspense novels have plots that are similar to those found in Adrenaline and Mystery’s with unexpected twists and exciting endings. Come Sundown has an action-packed story line with many twists and turns and is nonlinear, as it shifts between time periods. It is also character-driven because the story line moves forward through the characters thoughts, growth, and action. Wyatt & Saricks (2019) write "the courtship and relationship aspects of the Romance remain primary, but the novel further revolves around elements of danger (p. 221).”

Tone: The tone of a novel is the emotion it evokes. Come Sundown has a bittersweet tone because it causes mixed emotions. The relationships (familial, romantic, and community) make the novel feel heartwarming, romantic, and homespun. However, the dangerous aspects set the tone as scary, menacing, and suspenseful. 

Pace: Most Adrenaline novels are fast-paced and the twists keep the story moving. In this novel, the story moves in an intensifying manner because it starts slow with the building of relationships in the beginning of the novel, and then speeds up as more suspenseful, action-packed events take place. 

READ-ALIKES: 

Come Home: Lisa Scottoline 

Blood Trails: Sharon Sala 

Night Diver: Elizabeth Lowell 

BLOGGER'S REVIEW: 

I really enjoyed Come Sundown by Nora Roberts! This book had a lot of the appeals that I personally enjoy. It was thrilling and suspenseful, but also had a few well-developed love stories weaved throughout the novel. It did start out a little slow, to the point that I was wondering if it would be considered a romantic suspense, but it eventually picked up and I couldn’t stop reading until I found out what happened next. The violent scenes got the point across without including too many gory details. This would be a great book for those interested in romantic suspense without having scenes that were too grotesque.

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

Secret Shopper Summary

I was pleasantly surprised by my secret shopper experience, especially after seeing some of the poor experiences my peers have had. It did start off a bit rocky, but eventually turned into a good experience. I first told the librarian that I was looking for a new book to read and was wondering if she had suggestions. I kept my initial question vague, because I wanted to see if she would ask more questions to clarify and what types of questions would be asked. Initially, she froze up and seemed very surprised/confused when I asked her the question. However, she recovered from the shock and started asking me questions such as what genre and authors I usually read. I indicated that I read a mixture of genres, but I was looking to get into more historical fiction.

The librarian then had a few titles in her head and lead me over to the general fiction section where she started with two different titles set in the Victorian time period. I indicated that I didn’t care much for this era, so we moved on to other suggestions. After showing me a few titles, she left me to decide on my own what I wanted, but was ready at the desk with more suggestions and resources, such as the Book Page catalog, when I was ready to check out. This showed me that she took a lot of initiative and care in helping me.

Overall, I felt like the interaction went well aside from the initial reaction. Once the librarian understood what it was I was wanting, she was able to find titles that I ended up checking out and am excited to read. I do feel that had she asked more clarifying questions, we could have avoided the first two titles that were a bust since I don’t enjoy that time period. She also showed me that she really understood her collection because she was able to come up with multiple titles from different authors and could show me right where it was on the shelf. I appreciated that she was able to show me older titles, as well as newer ones, because it shows patrons that she knows the entire collection, not just those that have crossed the desk recently.

The librarian did indicate that historical fiction is her personally preferred genre, so I question if patrons would have as good of an interaction had they been searching for titles in a different genre. Unfortunately, since I had already indicated that I was well versed in other genres, I didn’t feel like I could do the secret shopper technique again to determine if this experience was fluke due to what I was wanting or if this librarian really does know her entire collection. However, it did show me that good librarians need to be well-versed in most genres, if not all, so that they can better assist patrons.