Week Twelve Prompt: Readers' Advisory Matrix for Nonfiction

The Voyeur's Motel

Gay Talese

Grove Press

233 pages

Narrative Continuum

Mixed; highly narrative

Type

Sociological portrait of one man

Subject

Human sexuality

Appeal

Gay Talese is a sociologist who was studying human sexuality in 1980 when he was contacted by Gerald Foos. Foos told him that he had purchased and modified a motel outside Denver, Colorado expressly for the purpose of “satisfying his voyeuristic tendencies”. Foos told Talese that his meticulously recorded observations could illuminate human sexuality; they corresponded for thirty years before Talese wrote the book.

This books is a quickly-paced, intimate glimpse into the life and psyche of a voyeur. Much of the narrative recounts Foos’s life and marriages; his observations of his guests’ sexual habits are sometimes transcribed and sometimes paraphrased during the decades he ran his motel. Foos’s experience and observations provide a lot of insight into human sexuality in the 1960s-1980s. There are accompanying photos of Foos and his motel, but there are no charts, graphs, or overtly scholarly information.     

Why Would a Reader Enjoy This Book

1. Tone, nonjudgmental recounting of salacious events
2. Characterization, introspective
3. Learning/Experiencing

Annotation: Literary Fiction

The Goldfinch

Donna Tartt

Little, Brown and Company

784 pages

Synopsis

The Goldfinch is the story of troubled Theo Decker’s life from adolescence to adulthood. After his mother was killed in a terrorist attack at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, traumatized Theo absconds with the titular, real-life painting. What follows is a coming-of-age story with a dash of the criminal underworld thrown in. The Goldfinch won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction.

Literary Appeal

The Goldfinch is a character-driven work that features a cast of complex, memorable people; among them is the charming delinquent Boris, elderly antique dealer Hobie, and the wealthy and damaged Barbour family. At 784 pages, the story is leisurely-paced and richly-detailed. Tartt employs the symbolism of the famous painting of a bird chained to a perch that relates multiple characters’ lives and obsessions; everyone is chained to something: addictions, memories, or another person. The tone is quite melancholy, and though the book is long, the author describes characters’ journeys through loss and grief so lyrically it propels the story forward.       

Read-a-likes

Tell the Wolves I’m Home by Carol Rifka Burnt is the tale of fourteen-year-old June who is mourning the loss of her beloved uncle in 1987. This is a YA book, but readers who like a haunting coming-of-age story will like Burnt’s portrait of grief. This story also features quirky characters

The Secret History is Donna Tartt’s first novel and features similar pacing and stylistic complexity. Like The Goldfinch, it is a coming-of-age story that details the often debauched youth of several characters and employs both symbolism and elements of danger.

She’s Come Undone by Wally Lamb is about the troubled life of Delores Price. It is similarly-paced, engaging, and melancholy. There are multiple characters, both sympathetic and cruel. Delores ultimately overcomes her horrific childhood and adolescence, and the ending is uplifting.  

Annotation: Historical Fiction

The Hamilton Affair

By Elizabeth Cobbs
Arcade Publishing
408 Pages

Synopsis

The Hamilton Affair is part historical fiction, part biographical novel, and part love story. The novel is told from the perspective of both Alexander Hamilton and his future wife Elizabeth Schuyler in alternating chapters and details their lives through childhood to Hamilton’s death in a duel. With a supporting cast of characters includes figures like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, The Hamilton Affair covers the Revolution and early post-colonial history through the lens of a marriage well-known to fans of Hamilton’s eponymous hit musical. As the title suggests, much time is spent detailing Hamilton’s scandalous affair with Maria Reynolds and the effect it had on his marriage and political future.  

Historical Appeal  

Set in the colonial and post-colonial era, the writing is very engaging. Readers get a sense of the economic and social struggles common to that time period. The historical setting is richly detailed, though the story is primarily character-driven. Characters who actually lived are realistically portrayed as flawed but sympathetic, and though Cobbs takes liberties with certain subjects, there is enough documented history for readers who want accuracy.

Read-a-likes

Ben Franklin’s Bastard by Sally Cabot is another character-driven historical novel about people who actually lived. It is similarly set during the Revolutionary, and deals with the scandalous life of a founding father. The book is detailed and dramatic.

Patriot Hearts by Barbara Hambly is a richly-detailed account of the Revolutionary War from the founding mothers’ perspectives. It balances biographical information about Martha Washington, Abigail Adams, Dolley Madison, and Sally Hemmings with personal narratives. Focusing on Sally Hemmings adds a layer of drama to the story for readers who want a little more.   

The Traitor’s Wife by Allison Pataki is an account of the life of Peggy Arnold, wife of Benedict, and their betrayal of the Revolution told by Peggy’s maid. Readers who want richly-detailed accounts of the colonial era will like this authentic look at historical figures who do not often get starring roles.

Week Eleven Prompt: Ebooks and Audiobooks

In many respects, appeal factors for e-books are the same for print: tone, setting, pacing, and so on. There are traits of the format that go beyond those factors. E-books are so portable and convenient; users with devices and Internet access can get and read books anywhere at any time. They can carry them almost anywhere; several of my older patrons who receive home delivery and could no longer physically hold books rely exclusively on e-books.

The format also offers readers more choices. E-publishing allows writers a format for distribution that would otherwise not exist. I have noticed many romance and erotica requests I received have only been available in a digital format.*

Audiobooks are different than print books because readers are relying on narrators to relay the story to them. Cadence, accents, tone, and pitch must be considered in an audiobook. Jim Dale's narration of the Harry Potter series has received many accolades, and readers who consumed the series in print also enjoyed it in audio because of the narrator. There are books that my patrons can't get into because the narrator was poor; one patron who had already read and liked Slaughterhouse Five couldn't handle listening to Ethan Hawke's voice.

The voice gives life to characters that readers would otherwise create in their imaginations. If those are too dramatically different, it will alienate readers. Multiple narrators, varying in age and gender, like with Emma Donoghue's Room should be taken into consideration. Hearing a five-year-old character in the voice of a child (really an adult female voice actor, but still) made quite an impact and gave Jack's story an urgency that I can't say it would have had in my head.    


*There is a market for dinosaur erotica. I am as surprised as you are.

Book Club

I attended a book club held a public library. It was composed entirely of women over 50 and facilitated by a staff member. They meet monthly, and I get the sense that attendance is pretty consistent. There are typically no refreshments served, but sometimes they have special events, like a holiday party. During one meeting, a member made a cake from a recipe that was featured in the book the group read.

The staff member has a list of prepared question; after the meeting, the facilitator told me that sometimes she writes the questions, and sometimes the questions are the standard "book club questions" that come in the back of book club editions or can be found online. She asks the questions and allows others to answer before she does. The titles are primarily selected by the facilitator, and they tend to be lighter, beach read fare, but sometimes she picks bestsellers if enough attendees are interested. I was told this book club was created to appeal to readers who didn't like the heavier fiction and nonfiction titles read in the other adult book club.

Not every attendee participates equally. There are a couple very strong personalities that tend to dominate conversation and make jokes that are not always well-receieved. The facilitator tries to mitigate some of that and is not always successful. She also tries to keep the conversation germane, though it often goes off the rails. I think that is perfectly acceptable, as this book club fulfills a primarily social need rather than a literary one.

Attendees are pretty vocal about whether they liked the book or not, and time is spent discussing character traits and motivations rather than author intention. A large part of the conversation is actually devoted to readers' advisory activities. The facilitator is a circulation manager, and seems to enjoy connecting the title read to other titles. She is very popular with the patrons she knows, and her suggestions carry a lot of weight. I think people primarily attend because of the facilitator and not necessarily because of any particular book being read.

It was interesting to compare this book club to the one I facilitate. I think we face the same issues as facilitators, and this provided insight into the reasons people join book clubs. Many do so for exposure to a variety of books, though they may not have much to say or facilitators can't always draw it out of them. For many more, reading is integrated into their social lives whether through shared interests with other readers or the act of talking about books with people they wouldn't otherwise spend time with.    

Special Topics Paper: Passive Readers' Advisory

Passive readers' advisory is delivering suggestions for leisure reading in a way that does not “engage the patron directly” (Smith, Warburton, and Rutledge, 2016). Passive readers' advisory techniques involve utilizing library spaces, cataloging, and marketing to suggest titles to readers or to help readers find more of what they want. Passive readers' advisory is important because it engages patrons who may not be comfortable asking for help as well as patrons who do not come into the library much. Further, passive readers' advisory services can be easily integrated into workflows.

Displays draw readers in with eye-catching signage or decoration. Displays can be themed around current events or recent pop culture topics. They can be changed rather quickly, and they are an effective use of book cover art that is often hidden when the items are shelved. Speaking of shelving, many libraries choose to shelve by genre so their patrons will be able to find items they're looking for. Cataloging books with respect for their genre is a must for patrons and staff to efficiently use the OPAC.

Passive readers' advisory is very easily integrated into libraries' marketing. Especially in an age where so many people are connected via social media, libraries can post read-a-like lists, images of displays, or new and upcoming book orders. Posts are sharable and, in many case, interactive.

Passive readers' advisory is related to active readers' advisory in that librarians should take into consideration appeal factors beyond genre, such as pacing, setting, and tone. Displays, reading lists, and social media posts are great ways to promote titles in a way that indirectly engages library patrons and potential patrons but may be more convenient and less intimidating than a face-to-face interaction. 

Smith, S., Warburton, S., and Rutledge, J. (2016). Connecting patrons with library materials: a readers’ advisory crash course. Innovative Libraries Online Conference. Retrieved March 1, 2017 from http://www.statelibraryofiowa.org/ld/c-d/continuing-ed/iloc/iloc-2016/handouts/connecting-patrons/connecting-patrons.pdf