A Bookworm and Her Books

In all my years as a reader, I’d never given much thought to so called ‘fake’ or ‘faux’ celebrity memoirs, or faux memoirs in general. I haven’t been much of a non-fiction reader in the past though, so I found this compelling that someone would go so far out of their way to write about a life they never lived. Or put such an exaggerated spin on their actual lives for the purpose of profiting off of it. I know there are people out there who do that, but it never occurred to me that there were books written about it. One of the best examples of this is James Frey’s 2003 memoir, A Million Little Pieces which made it to the top of Oprah’s Book Club list, which in turn then made it onto the best seller’s list. Frey wrote about his life as an addict and his time in an drug and alcohol treatment facility, and what he experienced during detox and withdrawal. He also shares about the patients he meets who are as troubled as he is, who become his friends and confidants, his advisors. It’s des

  Author: Ruth Ware  Title: The Turn of the Key  Genre: Mystery  Publication Date: May 12, 2020  Number of Pages: 384  Geographical Setting : Scottish Highlands, British Isle, Scotland  Time Period:   21 st Century Series (If applicable): No  Plot Summary: “I am the nanny in the Elincourt case, Mr. Wrexham. And I didn’t kill that child.” A modern day twist on a classic, Ware has done it again and continued her reign as the modern Agatha Christie with The Turn of the Key. Rowan Caine wasn’t looking for a job as a live-in nanny, until she stumbled across the ad: WANTED LARGE FAMILY SEEKS EXPERIENCED LIVE IN NANNY. COMPETITIVE SALARY, USE OF CAR, EIGHT WEEKS HOLIDAY A YEAR. HEATHERBRAE HOUSE, CARN. BRIDGE. Heatherbrae House. A beautiful home, outfitted with all the modern conveniences, a luxurious smart home with a picture-perfect family and a beautiful location: the Scottish Highlands. It was perfect. Except for the rumors and superstitions regarding

One of my favorite things about my previous position as a Children’s Clerk was getting to brainstorm and implement creative displays to help with Reader’s Advisory and to help familiarize myself with the collection as a whole. Romance is one of those genres where people either love it or hate it. They either read it, fully committed, or they actively avoid it like the plague and say that it’s not for them. I used to be one of those people. Until I found bookstagram. And now I read at least one to two romances a month.... side note: Emily Henry and Christina Lauren are my FAVORITE romance authors. To change things up a bit for the month of February at my local library, last year I did a kid friendly version of a ‘Blind Date with a Book’ display. I pulled different titles from different genres (picture book, non-fiction, fiction, graphic novel), wrapped them up in corresponding colors, and put them on a Valentine’s Day themed display for the month of February. I asked my co-workers to

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. How does this affect collection development? The fewer reviews a book has, the less likely it is that readers are going to take notice of a book, and the less likely it is to get into the hands of a librarian and a library’s collection. However, relying on professional reviews such as those with Kirkus, Publisher’s Weekly, Library Journal, etc. makes it more likely that we ignore books that are not as popular because we’re not seeing them as frequently, especially with ebooks and those that are independently published. I have posted two more documents in the week five files. One is two reviews of an ebook only romantic suspense novel, one from a blog and one from amazon. Look over the reviews - do you feel they are both reliable? How likely would you be to buy this book for your library? Based on the reviews g

  Big city journalist who returns home and seeks to bring a killer to justice after twenty years, only to discover the deeper she digs, the more twists and turns there are to be discovered. All Good People Here , written by  Crime Junkie  podcast founder and hostess, Ashley Flowers, focuses on the lives of two women: Margot Davies, a struggling journalist who returns to her hometown of Wakarusa, Indiana after twenty years to care for her ailing uncle, suffering from onset dementia, and Krissy Jacobs, a wild child, the girl from the wrong side of the tracks, who falls in love with the golden boy, Billy Jacobs, football player turned farmer, and becomes a mother of two before she’s even had a chance to live. Upon Margot’s return, she stumbles upon the abduction of a five-year-old girl in Ohio whose disappearance eerily resembles the abduction and murder of a young girl from 1994. The victim? Krissy’s five-year-old daughter, January. Margot’s neighbor and friend. A beloved young beauty pa

This assignment was an interesting one! Reader’s advisory is still a new concept to me and one I hadn’t really considered an integral part of working in a library or getting a degree in library science until I started my journey in the MLIS program. My county/town has three libraries within one entity, so I had to venture to the next town over to talk with the reference librarian. I wound up having to go to the library twice, as the first time I went the reference librarian was out on vacation. The second time I went, I spent an hour with the reference librarian and I really think she did a fantastic job with her reader's advisory. She asked me what I was looking for and I told her that I wanted a good mystery, suspense, or thriller, something that would have me on the edge of my seat, unable to put it down, and reading long into the night. I was then asked the following questions: 1) Are you looking for fiction or non-fiction? A: Fiction 2) Do you have a specific subgenre in mind