Author: Kristin Hannah

Title: On Mystic Lake

Genre: Gentle Reads, Romance

Publication Date: April 4, 2000

Number of Pages: 416 pages

Time Period: Mystic Lake  

Plot Summary: After 20 years of being a devoted wife and mother, Annie Coldwater's husband tells her that he wants a divorce. With her daughter finishing her senior year aboard, Annie decides the only place to find her new place in the world is to head home, back to Mystic Lake. A place she escaped right after her first love Nick Delacroix chose her best friend instead of her. Upon return home, Annie falls back into old routines, taking care of Nick's little girl who has been left behind after her mother's suicide and her father's drunken decline. The story leads you through the relationships that help these three navigate their way through the healing process. Just when Annie feels like she can have a somewhat normal life again, fate steps in and throws in decisions that will change it all over again. 

Elements of Gentle: 

     Tone-Old fashioned values
     Story line-Relationship focused
     Language-No profanity, toned down sexual encounters if any

     

     

Similar Authors:

Rice, Luanne
Thayer, Nancy
Shumas, Holly
Wiggs, Susan
Maccomber, Debbie

Week 6 Prompt

For this week's prompt, I would like you to think of an innovative way to promote romance, gentle reads or horror at your local library.

I picked the horror category to find a creative way to promote material in my library. I seen this  done at another branch this year, although they were promoting banned books, I think a similar approach would work for horror. I would place a barrier or wall around my display so you cannot see the contents. I would put police tape and other pictures that make the scene look gruesome yet intriguing. Warning signs not too look and beware graphic scenes beyond. I would put peepholes in the barrier for patrons to peek in. The display could be filled with horror novels, movies and music. If it was possible each peep hole could display a different set of horrific scenes. For instance the top hole has view able materials from all things werewolf, while the side hole displays bloody murders. There is something about telling someone not to look that makes them want to see exactly what is inside. 

Week Five Prompt:

For this week's prompt, I want to start a conversation about the different types of reviews. Different publications review different types of books and they allow different types of conversations. For example, Booklist will not publish negative reviews, while, as you have all seen, Kirkus has no problems with it. Ebook only books, which are increasingly popular especially in the romance genre, see little to no reviews in professional publications unless they have a big name author, and then still it's usually only RT Reviews (formally Romantic Times) or other genre heavy publications. How does this affect collection development?

I do think this will affect the collection development to a certain extent. From what I know (which is still very little) a big percent of collection development is acquired through an agreement with the book sellers that new titles come automatically for popular authors or popular titles. I do not know the percent of the collection that is ordered by request or automatically, but this percent I think is where the affect will have the most effect from good or bad reviews. I have several patrons who request things that they find in the Bookpage, Amazon or other sites they subscribe to such as Goodreads. As a patron you know the newest and greatest are going to be supplied by the library without any prompts from patrons, so one must look for the titles that are off the beaten paths. But most do not know where to find these kinds of titles. If the hidden gems can't afford to pay the extra money for advertising, then they have no choice but to rely on reviews from readers of their books. So now, how do you get your book into the hands of people who will give you a good review? If you chose to offer early reader books on a website, you have no choice but to allow both good and bad reviews. If you limit your reviews to sites that only allow good reviews, you are then in danger of not having any reviews at all. How will readers and collection development professionals find you? I think this is a problem with self published or hidden gem books that aren't backed by big name publishing companies. 

 Look over the reviews - do you feel they are both reliable? How likely would you be to buy this book for your library? Is this ebook even romantic suspense?

I was not overly impressed with either review, nor would either inspire me to purchase the book. I think however I would probably want to have this title as the person ordering books, but not because these reviews swayed me in any way, but because I can see the light romantic holiday book would be a good addition to the collection. I find myself reading what a book is about and pretty much ignoring what the review of the book is when I chose books for reading. From the reviews I would not consider this to be a romantic suspense.

How do these reviews make you feel about the possibility of adding Angela's Ashes to your collection?

These reviews are much more to my liking, as the review tells me what the story is about, in many differing angles. Even though there is very little personal or opinionated quotes in the reviews, you still get a sense of what the reviewer thought of the story. Every one of them made me want to read the book (again) and it would persuade me as the collection development person to purchase this title.

Do you think it's fair that one type of book is reviewed to death and other types of books get little to no coverage? How does this affect a library's collection?  And how do you feel about review sources that won't print negative content? Do you think that's appropriate? If you buy for your library, how often do you use reviews to make your decisions? If not, how do you feel about reviews for personal reading, and what are some of your favorite review sources?

I do think it is unfair the process in which books get reviewed. As mentioned earlier, I think books that have big money backers get more attention and reviews, which is sort of redundant. Those titles will get purchased by libraries whether they get reviews or not, so why not spend your time writing reviews for books that won't get good coverage. Those hidden gem books that won't be found by the collection development person. 

I do not think that a reviewer should be limited as to what they are allowed to say. I believe both good and bad reviews should be allowed. However as consumers and professionals who may be purchasing books, I think we should all bare in mind that every person is different, they will have different reactions and different emotions toward books. I do not like to read reviews that have too many personal opinions, and to try to stick to reviews written more like a Kirkus review. (I'm glad I have a name for them now). I also think, the hidden gems that I think need the exposure, if they are getting reviews, whether good or bad, at lease they are getting exposed. I think as a person buying for a collection would know not all reviews are equal and would do further research on a title that may get bad reviews. But if not for the bad reviews, maybe that title would not of been exposed at all. So I'm all for freedom of speech!!

I used to like to find books on Goodreads, and I still use it as record of books I like and read and recommendations but not as much for reviews. I adore the Bookpage and usually find a hidden gem in there every month, either for myself or for a patron. My new favorite I learned in this class is the Kirkus Review. I love the way the format guides the reviewer to say what appeals to me about books, which is the content of the book, not what someone else opinion of the book is. 

Unforgiven by B.J. Daniels

Synopsis

    High School sweethearts, Destry and Rylan never really stopped loving each other even after their families were ripped apart by the tragic death of Rylan's sister Ginny's murder. But when Destry's brother is accused of the murder they can no longer pretend that they will be able to spend their lives together. But years later they decided the past is in the past and they begin to rebuild the life and love they once had for each other. Just when they feel like their happily ever after is within their reach, details of Ginny's death resurface. 

     The book is a roller coaster ride of emotions as the couple struggle with their love for each and their loyalty to their families. This book keeps you guessing till the end and you can feel the emotions of the lovers as they are torn in two.

Characteristics of Romantic Suspense
      Tone/Mood- this book is not shy on having uneasy moments. The feeling of unrest is a theme throughout the book for the lovers and for the families involved. As new characters get introduced you can sense the tone does not change either. The author does a great job of describing the emotions of the characters. You feel as the reader on edge and stressed waiting for what will happen next.
   
     Frame/Setting-in most Romance Suspense novels the setting is elaborate and detailed adding to the intense scenes the characters populate. This novel sets a great landscape for the storyline for not only this novel but for the series yet to come.

     Pacing- as expected in a suspense novel the pace is fast and intriguing. The protagonist is a heroin who can save herself but actively tries to clear the name of her brother in order to save her lover to. From the very beginning the reader is engaged in the lives of the two main characters and will want to know how the story will play out. It seems as if your heart is wrapped up in whether the lovers will find peace and be able to be together.

Read-a-likes
     -McKenna, Lindsey-The Defender
     -Anderson, Catherine-Endless Night
     -Krentz, Jayne Ann-Trust No One
     -Martin, Kate- The Raines of Wild Canyon Series
     

Kirkus Style Review of "Orphan Train"                                        by Chrisynthia Casper

Title: Orphan TrainAuthor: Christina Baker KlinePublisher: HarperCollins
Pages: 288
Publication Date: 2013

     

     Cleaning out some rich old lady's attic wasn't any foster kids idea of fun, but in order for Molly to stay out of Juvenile Detention that's exactly where she finds herself.      

     From the outside, Vivian Daly seems to have a life of ease with lots of money, a nice house and a full time housekeeper. So when Molly's boyfriend secures her a job doing community service cleaning out Vivian's attic, filled with what appears to be junk, Molly quickly learns there is more to this old woman than she could ever of imagined. Their lives are not as different as one would think and they become unexpected friends. This book weaves together two women's stories, stories of pain and of healing.           

     The Orphan Train sparks emotions of empathy that had me tearing up until the last sentence. 

Secret Shopper

This activity was a little hard for me, because I am a browser. I like to read book covers and find my own books. So asking at the desk for a good book took some good acting on my part. I approached the front desk, because this library's reference desk is not always manned. I asked the person working if they could help me find a good book to recommend at my next book club meeting. The person asked several questions about the book club. How many people in the group, age range of group, and the one question I was hoping she would ask......What titles have we already read and did we enjoy them.

I shared that most of the titles we have read thus far were self help, religious or relationship books. I wanted to recommend to the club something that was fiction, but had a morale. I couldn't contain any bad language or sexual content. She showed me several titles in christian fiction that would of been good, but I said I wanted to use my title to draw in more people to the group. That the titles we have read so far seemed to all be christian in one way or another, so I wanted something a little broader in content to attract others that may not participate because of the "christian" label.

She showed me several titles that other book clubs had reported were good titles and a few that she personally enjoyed. She didn't however look on the internet to use any RA tools. Even after I rejected the first several titles, she still just sort of browsed the shelves finding titles that had gotten good reviews. I did however leave with three titles that would work for my group, her methods worked for my needs, but I wonder what she would have done if I would of kept rejecting her suggestions.

Week Three Prompt

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!

     I used Novelist to answer all these questions. I searched by the Author, then went to the series tab and found the fourth book, called The Lunatic Cafe.


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.

     The Poisonwood Bible by Kingsolver offers the same characteration, attention to setting, but demands more of the reader. (Novelist, 2015) I located this by searching read a likes. By doing a basic search on Kingsolver and changing the tone to moving and making sure to check writing style to lyrical. It suggested this title.


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 it feels like I was there!

     I would probably ask the patron if they want Fiction, Non-Fiction or both. I assumed it was Fiction and searched Novelist. I changed to descriptive writing style and Japan. I would recommend Ingrid Parker who wrote two titles, The Convicts Sword and Island of Exiles, both about historical Japan.


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 he creepy I couldn't finish it! Do you have any suggestions?

     I searched Read a likes on Novelist for Elizabeth George. Because Sanford was to creepy for the patron I chose a good old mystery and would suggest Crombie Series by Deborah Crombie.

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?

     I did an advanced search for this one because a basic search for zombies didn't return any results. Several came up, so I sorted by newest and found The Last American Vampire by Seth Grahame-Smith.



For my own personal reading and for RA needs up to this point, I have used various things to find books. I am always on the look out for titles to suggest to people. I take every chance I get to ask patrons when they return their books if they liked the book. I suggest books to others I know have similar tastes purely by hearing what patrons have stated they liked or disliked about a book. I also find authors and titles on the Bookpage, from list serves that I subscribe to, GoodReads, LibraryThing, Wowbary and from the app on my phone called Flipboard. After using the RA tools on Novelist I think I will start using this site on a regular basis. I enjoyed the different ways in which to search, the option to change the categories. I was not impressed however with the RA tool available on IUPUI library site. I didn't find any easy way to search.

Author: Jennifer McMahon

Title: The One I Left Behind 

Genre: Thriller, Suspense

Publication Date: January 2, 2013

Number of Pages: 422 pages

Time Period: 1980's and present day in Brighton Falls, Connecticut 

Plot Summary: This character driven story about Reggie Dufrane's life is molded by a serial killer's decision not to kill her mother like all the others, and instead leaving behind a hand and no body. Her successful life as an architect can only distract her for so long until the day she gets a call they have found her mother alive. The story alternates from Reggie's childhood leading up to and after the disappearance of her mother. And what happens after they find her mother alive in a homeless shelter. Reggie goes back to face and discover the killer may be a little closer to home than she ever imagined.

Subject Headings: Serial Killer, Connecticut, Women Architects, Crime against women

Elements of Suspense: 

     Fast paced-has short chapters that go back and forth between 1980 and present day. The tone is quick and intriguing which makes you want to keep reading. You want to know what it going to happen next. 

     

     Serial Murders-the killer has been cutting off hands and leaving dead bodies behind, until Reggie's mother's body does not follow the severed hand. Serial Killers are a theme used in suspense novels and this one is no exception. 

     Unknown dangers resolved through confrontation-Discovering why Reggie's mother is different than the other victims has always haunted Reggie. Coming face to face with the killer will give her an opportunity to ask him. 

Similar Authors and Works:

Deaver, Jeffery-The Burning Wire shares the suspenseful serial killer aspect with book.

Robb, J.D.-Calculated In Death is about women murder victims

Grafton, Sue-S is for Silence has missing women just like this title