Gentle Reads Annotation

The Best of Me: A Novel by Nicholas Sparks

 

 

Summary: Two soon-to-be high school seniors, Amanda and Dawson, fall in love in the spring of 1984.  However, people with the stereotypical “small-town” mindset set the odds against them.  Soon, the two go different ways in life.  Years later, the two are reunited when returning to the small town of Oriental for a funeral.  It is discovered that neither the lives of Amanda nor Dawson have turned out as they once predicted.  Their desire for one another is evident, but the two must decide whether their love can exist within their current lives.

Genre:  Mainstream Fiction, Love, Gentle

Appeals:

Pacing – Sparks builds emotion through slow scenes meant to capture the different moments of Amanda and Dawson’s relationship.

Characterization – Realistic characters that are easy to relate to who face realistic challenges that are presented throughout the course of the story. 

Storyline – A heartwarming and heartbreaking journey for two individuals who were told they were wrong for each other but yet truly loved one another. 

Tone/Mood – Sparks book a tone that is realistic and melancholy.

Frame/Setting – Small town North Carolina

Read Alikes:

In A Class By Itself by Sandra Brown

Mike, Mike and Me by Wendy Markham

The Last Time I Saw You I by Elizabeth Berg

Bring Me Home For Christmas by Robyn Carr

A Lady of His Own by Stephanie Laurens

Week Six Prompt

Personally, I don't agree with this statement. I think it's good to have read the book. but, I don't think you have to like it. I don't like certain genres, but if it's a good book, even one I might not personally like, I should be able to see things in it that would appeal to readers who do like that genre. Let's use Twilight for example. Personally, I don't really like it. However, I can see the appeal so I could booktalk the heck out of it. If I had to, I could sell it to a teen audience, because I can see how it would appeal to THEM as opposed to me. It's part of being non-biased and well-versed in different genres and styles.

Week Six Prompt - Book Talk

Midwinterblood by Marcus Sedgewick

Have you ever had the feeling you’ve lived another life? Or maybe that you know a person from somewhere, but you just can’t put your finger on it? When journalist, Eric Seven, arrives on Blessed Island to investigate rumors of a population who has discovered the fountain of youth, there’s something vaguely familiar about residents Merle and Tor. It’s like he’s known them before, but something’s not right. And then things start to go horribly wrong.

A long time ago, before recorded history, crops start to fail. Villagers are starving and dying. In order to save his people, a sacrifice must be given and only one will do. King Eirikr the One and his Queen, Melle, fight to save their people and fight to stay together. But this isn’t just any love story. It’s dark, and chilling, and scary.

From prehistory, to Vikings, to World War II, to the year 2073, the award-winning Midwinterblood takes the reader on a roller-coaster through time. In seven, interlocking stories, Marcus Sedgewick weaves the story of two souls and their struggle to find each other. It’s Midwinter and only blood will appease the gods. See how it all comes together in Midwinterblood.

Kirkus Style Review

Infinite Moment of Us by Lauren Myracle

Lauren Myracle’s Infinite Moment of Us is written from the perspectives of two protagonists, Wren Gray and Charlie Parker.  Wren is an excellent student who has always gone out of her way to make her parents happy, including not dating while she was in school.  Wren’s original plan (and her parents plan for her) was for her to study at Emory University.  However, Wren, feeling pressure from all around her has decided to not attend Emory straight out of high school, rather she decides to spend a year in Guatemala with a group similar to the Peace Corp.  Charlie, on the other hand, is an intelligent young man who has been in and out of foster homes since childhood.  Charlie’s plan is to attend Georgia Tech where he has received a scholarship.

Infinite Moment of Us is a 3 month-long look at the development of an intense and romantic relationship between Wren and Charlie.  Not forgetting the hectic times, Myracle creates realistic characters who find realistic obstacles in the way of their relationship.  Wren at times can be stubborn while Charlie has to deal with an ex who doesn’t exactly want Charlie to move on without her.  The attraction between Charlie and Wren is clear, and the obstacles only help their relationship grow and for Charlie and Wren to get to know each other better.

Myracle does not shy away from teenage sexuality, as there are several intimate scenes described in detail.  These scenes might be surprising for those who have not read a Myracle story before, but rather than detracting from the story, the scenes enhance it. This book will be popular with mature teen readers who enjoy steamy romance.

Adventure Annotation

The Quest:  A Novel By Nelson DeMille

 

Summary: Set in 1975, The Quest follows two journalists and a photographer Frank Purcell, Henry Mercado, and Vivian Smith who are in Ethiopia covering a Civil War.  They come across an elderly priest who has been sentenced to death.  Just before death, the walls of the priest’s cell explode and he is hurt, but free.  Insisting that he is dying, the priest tells Purcell & Mercado of the Holy Grail.  While the journalists originally escape Ethiopia (after close calls of death from local tribes and government.  The trio decides to go back to Ethiopia.  Feeling that for whatever reason they have been chosen, the trio makes their way through the jungles of Ethiopia searching for a mythical monastery that hides the Holy Grail.  Many obstacles stand in their way, but the draw of the Grail leads them on.

 Genre: Adventure, Suspense

 Appeals:

 Pacing – Quick in action parts but a much slower pace in others.

 Characterization – The characters in the Quest are believable as people even though they seem to be against all odds in their quest to find the holy grail.  What transpires at the monastery at the end is open to different interpretations. 

 Storyline – The Quest combines many genres including adventure, mystery, and suspense.  DeMille includes a lot of actual history within the storyline as well as undertones of faith and religion.

 Tone/Mood – Certainly a dark tone is found in The Quest, due in large part to the actual history of the Ethiopian Civil Wars and the brutality of the fighting.  Purcell, Mercado, and Smith rely on faith to see them through numerous trials that they come across.

 Frame/Setting – Civil War torn Ethiopia in the 1970s.  Much of the novel is set in the jungles.

 Read Alikes:

 Labyrinth by Kate Mosse

Shadows of Steel by Dale Brown

Scavenger by David Morrell

Thunderhead by Douglas Preston

The Five Greatest Warriors by Matthew Reilly

 

Week 5 Prompt

Ebook only books could be quite tricky for collection development.  Are these books published the same way that print books are?  Or are they books that might appeal to a smaller audience, but due to the ebook format, are able to more easily be self-published.  An increase in self-publications would be problematic as it is likely that as quantity increases, quality will decrease.  Additionally, there is no universal way for libraries to lend e-books.  Because of this, many libraries would not even take the time to read reviews for e-books.

 Buying a book like this would depend on a couple of different factors. First, what is your library’s collection development policy? Some libraries do not purchase self-published (or small independent publisher’s) work that is not professionally reviewed. Second, if this is an e-book only work, can a library even purchase it for lending? Ebooks platforms are still limited and due to licensing issues, it’s not as easy as just clicking on the buy now option through amazon.

 Personally, I put little stock into Amazon reviews. Not all reviews need to be professional, but I do want reviews that are unbiased, and you cannot assume that with Amazon reviews. I’ve seen many blog posts from self-published authors asking friends and family to go and give positive reviews on Amazon. Based on the above reasons, I would probably pass on this title in a collection development role. However, if the book was requested by a patron, I would take another look at the reviews and try to add it to the collection if reviews and price are agreeable.

 Blog reviews can also be hit or miss. There are some blogs written by professionals that I would trust as much as I would a review from a print journal. There are others that aren’t written by professionals that are well-researched, smart, and extremely useful. But, everyone can start a blog and review books, even people with an agenda to support their books or books of their friends. Before purchasing a book based on a blog post, I would have to familiarize myself with the blog and the writer and decide if this fit with my library’s collection development policy.

The other document contains some reviews of Angela's Ashes, by Frank McCourt, an incredibly popular memoir. These reviews are all from professional publications, feel free to find more on your own I just nabbed a few from the Book Review Digest database for you. How do these reviews make you feel about the possibility of adding Angela's Ashes to your collection?

 Based on reviews, Angela’s Ashes is a book most libraries would quickly purchase. While they aren’t all 100% positive, most agree that McCourt is a master storyteller with an interesting story to tell. These are professional reviewers giving their unbiased opinion.

 Additionally, the reviews make it clear that there’s a lot of buzz about this book. When that’s the case, it will draw patron interest. In this case, they’ll turn to their library for copies of the book, and we’ll want to have it on our shelf. When books are reviewed by more popular sources, including People or Newsweek, there’s more chance the public will see them. The first review also states that Angela’s Ashes is a best seller and a Pulitzer Prize winner. If a librarian hadn’t yet bought the book, those two descriptors should result in an automatic purchase.

I don’t believe it is necessarily “fair” for a certain type of book to be reviewed all the time while other types are left out, but I suppose it is what it is.  However, certainly if a librarian purchasing books selected books based only on the reviews, then that library might have a bias toward a certain type of book.  It is far from ideal.  A good collection should choose from any number of book types.

I’d feel fine purchasing books using a review source that won’t print negative reviews, but would likely use it in conjunction with or as a supplement to other review sources.  I think it is appropriate enough to have a review source for those books that have only positive reviews, and this could allow purchasing librarians a decent way to see what books have been receiving positive publicity.  While I don’t purchase for a library, I think the use of review sources is a definite plus and that the majority of my selections would be based on these journals.  However, there are books from authors who have a large following that likely would be purchased regardless of review.  After all, if a Stephen King or James Patterson book receives a poor review, there will still be patrons in wanting the book.  It would not be entirely fair to omit this book from a collection based on bad reviews.  I think a negative review would be more likely to sway me if I were on the fence about a book from the beginning.

A Local Library & Reader's Advisory Assistance

I decided to visit a library that was nearby, but on in which I had never been in.  The library serves a population of around 60,000 people, so the library was decently sized.  Prior to visiting the library, I examined the library’s website and as far as I could tell, they did not subscribe to Novelist.

 Visiting the library in the afternoon, I found it to be rather busy.  There seemed to be only one librarian on the reference desk, but she was available right away to assist me.  I noted a few booklists around the desk as well as some interesting book displays, but none were of what I came to ask about.  The librarian working the desk was friendly and smiled asking, “Can I help you.”  I told the librarian that I needed help finding a book to read but I wasn’t exactly sure what I wanted. 

 From there the librarian asked about what my usual reading interests were.  I told the librarian that I wanted to try some fantasy, with the librarian prompting whether or not I wanted contemporary or historical fantasy and asked about supernatural creatures such as vampires or zombies.  I told the librarian that I had been watching Game of Thrones on the HBO app, so I thought maybe I’d like something like that.

 At mention of Game of Thrones, the librarian mentioned that she loved the show as well as the book series.  The librarian began searching on the computer, turning the screen so that I might see what the search is for.  Using the library catalog, the librarian suggested a couple of books that read similarly to the Game of Throne Series asking whether I had read Patrick Rothfuss’ The Name of the Wind or Neal Stephenson’s Anthem.  The librarian explained that both books were high fantasy set in an alternate world.

 The librarian then asked if I might follow them to the fiction section as she pulled the two books.  The librarian suggested that I take a look at the books and see whether or not they worked.  If they did not work for me, the librarian suggested that we would keep looking.  The librarian also told me that she would print out a booklist for me and that I should come back to the reference desk before I left. 

I decided on the Rothfuss book and again approached the reference desk.  The librarian was helping another patron, so I waited for a couple of minutes but I could tell that the librarian knew that I was there and that she would assist me again in just a moment.  I inquired to the librarian about how she found the books with the librarian responding that it was a genre she were very interested in, so she had read the books prior.  The librarian also noted that she found books in journals and that she keeps lists of books that she thinks go well together. 

 As I was ready to leave, she handed me two lists.  One list from Booklist Online and another was from the New York Public Library.  The librarian told me that if anything on the list appealed to me that I should come back and that she or another librarian could help locate the books.  She then asked if there was anything else I needed and when I responded “no,” she wished me a good day and I was on my way.

 The particular librarian that I dealt with seemed the essence of professional, as she was kind and knowledgeable.  Even though there were many patrons in the library, she made our time feel very personal and gave the appearance that she cared about my question and really took time to give me some thoughtful and researched suggestions regarding my question. 

Week 3 Prompt

1.  Using Novelist and searching for (either by series title or by author name and then selecting series) Anita Blake books, the fourth book of the series was released in January 1996, titled The Lunatic Café. 

2. Using Novelist, did a basic search for Prodigal Summer under title. Scrolled through the title read-alikes to look at pace. The only entry that mentioned fast-pacing was The Queen of the Big Time by Adriana Trigiani. Other titles that may not be faster paced included Anthill by Edward O. Wilson and A Rhinestone Button by Gail Anderson-Dargatz.

3. Using Novelist, did a basic search for “Japanese historical” and limiting to adult. After looking at the entries, found a couple books that looked promising, The Printmaker’s Daughter by Katherine Govier and The Teahouse Fire by Ellis Avery. By clicking on the tag “Japan – History – 19^th Century”, several other titles come up that would be useful.

4. Searched Novelist for the title Well Schooled In Murder. A few possible read-alikes include Still Life by Louise Penny, The Man With a Load of Mischief by Martha Grimes, and Whose Body? by Dorothy L. Sayers.

5. Using Novelist, I searched for the Walking Dead and/or World War Z using a title search.  From there, noticed that the read alikes on the side did not offer the subject of zombies, I found the subject headings and selected zombies.  From there, reading the descriptions, I could recommend a book such as the Living Dead, which through short stories, would offer the patron a variety of stories to read.

In all honesty, most of my reading selections are suggestions made by my wife, and she uses Kirkus, School Library Journal, and Publisher’s Weekly to find books that peak her interest.  I’ve also decided to read a book based on a particular review on Goodreads or a blog.