I read the articles about the book trailers and watched the embedded book trailers. I particularly enjoyed the two from Jeanette Walls having read The Glass Castle and Half Broke Horses. I just can't imagine having a mother like that. I'm one of those people that cringe at the thought of it. Do I think book trailers are an effective marketing tool? Not so much. I don't believe that most people even know that they exist. There are very few that have grabbed me enough to want to go out to read the book. I also don't think they are a useful tool for Readers' Advisory. Will we be running around the branches with our iPads showing the customers book trailers? Somehow I doubt it.
Using YouTube I did watch the trailer for Room, which I thought was pretty good and captured the essence of the book. It was creepy enough that I would want to read it. I loved John Green's The Fault in Our Stars, and thought the trailer very lame. Watching the trailer would not drive me to the book. We looked at some book trailers for the Legal Thrillers Genre Bootcamp and most left much to be desired. It appears that the most successful ones incorporate some author interviews which make them more appealing.
What have I taken away from these nine weeks of exercises? I enjoyed exploring websites and genres that I normally would not have looked at if left to my own devices. I certainly have a better working knowledge and vocabulary when it comes to the "appeal factors" of a book though I still have difficulty describing a book in those terms without going into the plot in much detail. Having joined Goodreads over a year ago and never having posted a thing, I now am keeping a list of books I have read there. I don't find it useful for much else frankly. I can get the same useful information from Amazon if I want opinion reviews. Week number 6 was a waste of time looking for fan sites which didn't appear to exist, or existed at one time and expired several years ago. It sounded like someone's library school project we had to revisit. But all in all it hasn't been too bad!
Signing off for the last time!
Monday, June 24, 2013
Friday, June 14, 2013
Week 8 - Nonfiction (Almost Done!!)
Four categories:
Food:
Yes Chef by Marcus Samuelsson (641.5092S)
Tender at the Bone by Ruth Reichl (Biography)
Blood, Bones and Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton (641.5092 H)
Medical:
Hot Zone by Richard Preston (614.57 P)
Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks (616.8 S)
Anatomy of Addiction: Sigmund Freud, William Halstead and the Miracle Drug, Cocaine by Howard Markel (362.29M)
Science:
Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman by Richard Feynman (Biography)
Beautiful Swimmers by William Warner (639.544 W)
Longitude by Dava Sobel (526S)
Memoirs:
Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls (Biography)
Out of Africa by Isak Dinesen (916.7 D)
White Masai by Corinne Hofmann (Biography)
Tender at the Bone by Ruth Reichl
Tender at the Bone is the first in the series of the cooking memoirs by the New York Times food critic, Ruth Reichl. Reichl learned to cook out of fear of the cooking disasters created by her manic-depressive mother known as the "Queen of Mold." Her mother often cooked, and entertained with spoiled food resulting in more than one case of food poisoning. This character rich food memoir takes place in diverse locales such as Manhattan, Connecticut, Paris, Canada and finally in a Berkeley commune in the 1970's where Reichl prepares a Thanksgiving dinner from food found in dumpsters. Recipes are sprinkled throughout with lush food descriptions. A gastronomic delight! For those customers who like humorous memoirs, cooking, family relationships and mother daughter stories.
White Masai by Corinne Hofmann
The White Masai by Corinne Hofmann fits the bill for lovers of romance and /or travel adventures. While on holiday in Kenya, Hofmann meets a Masai warrior and is instantly smitten. She sells her business, moves to Kenya, actively pursues him and becomes his wife. Life in a small dung hut with her often jealous husband, Lketinga, grows ever more difficult. Mesmerizing descriptions of wild animals, tropical diseases, and the life of the Masai make for a compelling read. The reader knows from the beginning that this culture clash cannot have a happy ending, but like a train wreck the reader cannot look away. Recommend this book for readers who are interested in African life and culture, star crossed lovers, interracial relationships, and even Reality TV shows!
Food:
Yes Chef by Marcus Samuelsson (641.5092S)
Tender at the Bone by Ruth Reichl (Biography)
Blood, Bones and Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton (641.5092 H)
Medical:
Hot Zone by Richard Preston (614.57 P)
Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks (616.8 S)
Anatomy of Addiction: Sigmund Freud, William Halstead and the Miracle Drug, Cocaine by Howard Markel (362.29M)
Science:
Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman by Richard Feynman (Biography)
Beautiful Swimmers by William Warner (639.544 W)
Longitude by Dava Sobel (526S)
Memoirs:
Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls (Biography)
Out of Africa by Isak Dinesen (916.7 D)
White Masai by Corinne Hofmann (Biography)
Tender at the Bone by Ruth Reichl
Tender at the Bone is the first in the series of the cooking memoirs by the New York Times food critic, Ruth Reichl. Reichl learned to cook out of fear of the cooking disasters created by her manic-depressive mother known as the "Queen of Mold." Her mother often cooked, and entertained with spoiled food resulting in more than one case of food poisoning. This character rich food memoir takes place in diverse locales such as Manhattan, Connecticut, Paris, Canada and finally in a Berkeley commune in the 1970's where Reichl prepares a Thanksgiving dinner from food found in dumpsters. Recipes are sprinkled throughout with lush food descriptions. A gastronomic delight! For those customers who like humorous memoirs, cooking, family relationships and mother daughter stories.
White Masai by Corinne Hofmann
The White Masai by Corinne Hofmann fits the bill for lovers of romance and /or travel adventures. While on holiday in Kenya, Hofmann meets a Masai warrior and is instantly smitten. She sells her business, moves to Kenya, actively pursues him and becomes his wife. Life in a small dung hut with her often jealous husband, Lketinga, grows ever more difficult. Mesmerizing descriptions of wild animals, tropical diseases, and the life of the Masai make for a compelling read. The reader knows from the beginning that this culture clash cannot have a happy ending, but like a train wreck the reader cannot look away. Recommend this book for readers who are interested in African life and culture, star crossed lovers, interracial relationships, and even Reality TV shows!
Monday, June 10, 2013
Week 7, Young Again!
First I must say that I really loved the Flow Chart. I found it very useful. I wish the Prezi had been in that format.
I read these two articles:
New Adult: Needless Marketing - Speak Or Valued Subgenre?
The Next Big Thing: Adults Reading Teen Literature
It's no big surprise to me that many adults read teen fiction. I believe the writing and selection has improved considerably over the years. So many of the "big" adult authors have jumped on the YA bandwagon cashing in on the popularity - Grisham, Patterson, Picoult just to name a few. Regarding the books made into movies, people (or sheeple) will read anything made into a movie at any age level. Charlotte's Web is a good example, so I'm not sure that the Hunger Games, Twilight, or Harry Potter have anything much to do with the speciality of the young adult genre per se. I've had people ask me for the book version of movies for which there are no books. The numbers surprised me - 55% of buyers of works published for ages 12 to 12 are 18 or older with the largest segment aged 30 to 44. 78% purchased for their own reading. Those numbers are huge.
I'm on the fence about the "new adult" subgenre. Hasn't this always been around? Are we getting nitpicky here? Where are these items going to be shelved? With the young adult? Regular fiction? Will they be tagged as "new adult" in some way? I see another Genre Boot Camp in the future! What I found interesting about the first article is that the term "new adult" has been around since 2009, but I've only heard about it recently. I guess I have been living under a rock. It may be a good marketing ploy though. Time will tell.
I posted comments on Christina Miller's blog and Justin Hartzell's blog. I tried on Friday and it refused to take my password. Thank goodness it worked today.
This week I'm following Teenreads and Forever Young Adult. The Teenreads website has changed very little over the past week. It includes book reviews, author news and interviews, and the Ultimate Teen Reading List - 400 Titles for Reading and Discussing. The dream is that schools will use this list for summer reading instead of those often awful required summer reading lists. The list was compiled by Teenreads.com and staffers. The list includes a mix of teen, unusual adult titles, and many usual adult titles that do show up on school reading lists. I found the website rather uninspired though informative. I don't know how appealing it actually is to teens. When I went to the corporate link and who reviews the books, sadly everyone in the photos looks quite advanced in years. If teens look deep enough that would be a turn off!
Forever Young Adult is a much more appealing site. The graphics are better and would appeal more to teens. The reviews are catchy with the ability for people to post comments, and they do! Also there is a photo of the reviewer, their interests etc. listed at the end of the review. Teenreads is an anonymous name. This site also does movies. This would be my go to site of the two, no question.
I looked at the Harlequin Teen website. It's sorted by the newest releases first. Each release is provided with a detailed book description, read-alikes (If you like - Harlequin recommends), AND Harlequin reader reviews which a reader can input, as well as reviews from Goodreads. A very comprehensive site for forthcoming teen books. What I took from this list is a lot of dystopian books as well as steampunk reads being released. Doesn't look like much in the way of "popular young adult." Perhaps that's just not so popular!
Harper Teen is the other website I looked at. Again, the forthcoming books here included alien adventures, dystopian worlds, magic, horror, and many, many sequels. There were top author lists included as well and top books where I saw the Pretty Little Liar series listed. A favorite at Cockeysville. TV news is included as well. Good social networking site as well.
I found both websites to be helpful and will visit them in the future as long as I can remember them!!
I read these two articles:
New Adult: Needless Marketing - Speak Or Valued Subgenre?
The Next Big Thing: Adults Reading Teen Literature
It's no big surprise to me that many adults read teen fiction. I believe the writing and selection has improved considerably over the years. So many of the "big" adult authors have jumped on the YA bandwagon cashing in on the popularity - Grisham, Patterson, Picoult just to name a few. Regarding the books made into movies, people (or sheeple) will read anything made into a movie at any age level. Charlotte's Web is a good example, so I'm not sure that the Hunger Games, Twilight, or Harry Potter have anything much to do with the speciality of the young adult genre per se. I've had people ask me for the book version of movies for which there are no books. The numbers surprised me - 55% of buyers of works published for ages 12 to 12 are 18 or older with the largest segment aged 30 to 44. 78% purchased for their own reading. Those numbers are huge.
I'm on the fence about the "new adult" subgenre. Hasn't this always been around? Are we getting nitpicky here? Where are these items going to be shelved? With the young adult? Regular fiction? Will they be tagged as "new adult" in some way? I see another Genre Boot Camp in the future! What I found interesting about the first article is that the term "new adult" has been around since 2009, but I've only heard about it recently. I guess I have been living under a rock. It may be a good marketing ploy though. Time will tell.
I posted comments on Christina Miller's blog and Justin Hartzell's blog. I tried on Friday and it refused to take my password. Thank goodness it worked today.
This week I'm following Teenreads and Forever Young Adult. The Teenreads website has changed very little over the past week. It includes book reviews, author news and interviews, and the Ultimate Teen Reading List - 400 Titles for Reading and Discussing. The dream is that schools will use this list for summer reading instead of those often awful required summer reading lists. The list was compiled by Teenreads.com and staffers. The list includes a mix of teen, unusual adult titles, and many usual adult titles that do show up on school reading lists. I found the website rather uninspired though informative. I don't know how appealing it actually is to teens. When I went to the corporate link and who reviews the books, sadly everyone in the photos looks quite advanced in years. If teens look deep enough that would be a turn off!
Forever Young Adult is a much more appealing site. The graphics are better and would appeal more to teens. The reviews are catchy with the ability for people to post comments, and they do! Also there is a photo of the reviewer, their interests etc. listed at the end of the review. Teenreads is an anonymous name. This site also does movies. This would be my go to site of the two, no question.
I looked at the Harlequin Teen website. It's sorted by the newest releases first. Each release is provided with a detailed book description, read-alikes (If you like - Harlequin recommends), AND Harlequin reader reviews which a reader can input, as well as reviews from Goodreads. A very comprehensive site for forthcoming teen books. What I took from this list is a lot of dystopian books as well as steampunk reads being released. Doesn't look like much in the way of "popular young adult." Perhaps that's just not so popular!
Harper Teen is the other website I looked at. Again, the forthcoming books here included alien adventures, dystopian worlds, magic, horror, and many, many sequels. There were top author lists included as well and top books where I saw the Pretty Little Liar series listed. A favorite at Cockeysville. TV news is included as well. Good social networking site as well.
I found both websites to be helpful and will visit them in the future as long as I can remember them!!
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