Reading Resolutions
By Jennifer Brannen
This article originally appeared in the January 2012 RA News Newsletter. Sign up for this and other newsletters.
New Year's Day. It's a time to think over hopes and plans for the upcoming year and assess the success (or lack thereof) of the previous year's resolutions and endeavors. Commonly the focus is fitness or personal growth but professional development is fair game too. Why not add expanding your readers' advisory horizons to your New Year's resolution list? And let's face it: reading and thinking about books is a lot more fun than hopping on an exercise bike or reviewing your retirement funds.
What follows are several RA resolutions you can make for 2012. If you enjoy readers' advisory and are looking for a good excuse to read . . . then these resolutions will be an excellent rationale for doing just that. If RA interviews make you think longingly of reference, programming, or the clean lines of a well-organized database . . . well, there's still something in here for you, too.
Read outside of your fiction comfort zone
It never hurts to shake things up a little bit. All readers have favorites -- favorite authors, genres, sub-genres, stylistic literary flourishes. And why should librarians be any different? Expanding your literary horizons can mean pushing past your accepted boundaries into literature and literary media that you've previously assumed you wouldn't enjoy. So try the unexpected.
Try some well-regarded literary fiction, if you tend toward more straight-forward storytelling. No matter your genre preference, there are writers out there who are exploring its boundaries or incorporating its conventions into literary fiction.
Put down that weighty tome and try a volume of short stories. It's tempting to immerse yourself in a novel, but short stories are excellent short-term investments for exploring new writers, new narrative techniques, and stories. A good short story can pack a wallop disproportionate to its size. You may also find that writers who don't engage in their novels compel you with their short stories or novellas.
Try listening to audiobooks. Commuting patrons seems to enjoy these especially, so why not make your drive home more interesting? (A cautionary note: Some people have been known to miss their exits when listening to a good bit.) This is also a good way to multitask and explore other genres.
If you received an e-reader as a seasonal gift, take it for a whirl at your library's website. Or embrace the joys of Project Gutenberg, with its guilt-free, copyright-expired classics.
If you haven't read one yet, try a graphic novel. Classics such as Persepolis, Maus, and Sandman are all good places to get started. There are also excellent YA candidates such as The Rabbi's Cat with its clever charm and American-Born Chinese (a ground-breaking Printz-award winner). You might be surprised at how many graphic novels have been adapted for film and television: V Is for Vendetta (a dystopian success in both media), The Watchmen (a valiant effort but Alan Moore's original graphic novel wins), The Walking Dead (which goes in some different plot directions from the TV show), Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (charms in both renderings), and so many more.
Try a different time zone. If you're a fan of historicals, try contemporary stories. And if you are resolutely a modern-reader, give the past or even the future a whirl. (Or you could compromise and read nothing but time-travel stories . . .)
You can certainly could try a new genre (see below), but don't forget that most major genres have a variety of subgenres as well. It can be intra-genre: If you're a fan of serial killer thrillers or noir detectives on mean streets, give the gentle slyness of cozies a go. If urban fantasy is your preference, try exploring more traditional fantasy though the classics or newer writers such as Patrick Rothfuss.
If you are always looking for programming ideas (and who isn't?), go see authors who write in different genres at local booksellers and other venues. Not only can you get a feel for a new author or a different genre, you can get ideas on marketing for different audiences.
Without even realizing it, the majority of people often gravitate to fiction or nonfiction without thinking about how the other half lives (or reads). But there are so many opportunities for crossover reading and recommendations: mystery and thriller readers are often shoe-ins for true crime books, fervent readers of biographies or history may take a real shine to historical fiction, science fiction aficionados often become fascinated by actual science. That's only the tip of the crossover iceberg. There is also an ongoing narrative trend in nonfiction of all sorts to tell a compelling story rather than recite facts, which means that crossing over from one side of the stacks to the other can be a pleasurable process for fiction and factual readers alike.
Read outside of your regular age grouping (crossover, etc.)
There's a wealth of books in the juvenile and teen fiction areas for the intrepid adult reader. Harry Potter and the Twilight series helped jump-start and nurture the trend of adults delving into literature for younger readers, but they are far from the only option. Printz winners and Newbery winners are always good places to start, but you might be surprised at what crosses over. Sisters Red was getting prodigious word of mouth several months ago with teen and adult readers alike.
Additionally, many adult fiction writers have started writing for younger audiences (Ridley Pearson, Neil Gaiman, Kelley Armstrong, and Carl Hiaasen to name but a few). Some writers such as Meg Cabot, Julie Kenner, and Katie Maxwell seem to cross between writing for teens and adults seamlessly and frequently. If you (or a patron) are looking for a good place to get started, Alex winners are a good source of crossover reads for teens interested in adult fiction, but they can also provide insight for adult readers interested in teen lit or teen appeal factors. And if you happen to be a youth services librarian, don't forget to slip into the adult stacks every now and then. You and any precocious younger readers who visit your library will both benefit.
Lift a glass of your favorite fizzing beverage in a toast to Joyce Saricks, and then take her five-book challenge. Grab some books in the genre that makes you nervous or that you would rather go scrumming in post-holiday sales than read. Choose five well-regarded, classic, or popular titles and read them with a critical eye for how they fit into the genre they represent as well as how well written they are overall. You have a year to do it and if you can convince others to join you, lively discussion is likely to ensue.
For my part, I owe a year-long waltz to Westerns. 2012 is probably going to be the year I embrace cowboys, cattle drives, and outlaws. (Though that sounds suspiciously like romances I really do mean Westerns.) For you maybe it's romance, horror, or fantasy. No matter, any genre from historical fiction to science to literary fiction will be a welcome and useful addition in your RA toolbox.
Explore your resources
You don't have to know it all, you just have to know how to find it. The old reference saw is just as true for readers' advisory as it is for answering questions about cat husbandry, the weight of the human head, or tax codes. You're not going to read everything and you don't have to. There are several options printed, human, and electronic that ready for you to avail of.
Print still has its place and the ALA along with a handful of other specialty publishers are still good sources of in-depth analyses and annotated bibliographies in any genre and for any age group.
More than any intricate program or formula, people are at the heart of readers' advisory. Personal experience with a genre, author, or patron preferences can be the key to making successful RA suggestions. Nuances are important. Suzanne Brockmann and Iris Johansen both write romantic suspense but they diverge greatly in how they combine kisses and killers.
RA is at its core a team sport. Find out what your coworkers read. You may find a shelver who is a voracious SF fan and a circulation desk stalwart who devours all the latest biographies. Talking about books is the best (and most entertaining way) to learn what's out there. I've gotten dozens of nifty recommendations from my coworkers since I started working in libraries and more than a few of those have been useful with patrons. Don't be afraid to consult colleagues when you're on the desk. With a patron in a hurry or who has read everything you've found to offer, a colleague in need can be an RA friend indeed.
If you're reading this, then the news that there are online subscription databases to help with RA is probably not news to you. That said, use them. Having a tab open when you're on the public desk can save you time and act as reminder to avail yourself of their rich -- searchable -- resources.
Social networking is now for book lovers. Try both Goodreads and LibraryThing to see how they can combine. Both rely on user generated content: lists, reviews, and tags. And both give insight into what other people are reading . . . and who like some of the same books that you do. I find Goodreads to be a great source for reviews and debate on a given book, while I use LibraryThing to track both what I've read and what I want to read. Some of my tags are cryptic and utilitarian, but others are useful keyword reminders that can make the difference between pulling a specific title out of my noggin to recommend to a patron and grinding my teeth in almost aphasic frustration. You can see who else added that book, related titles, titles with shared tags, and related tags. It's also a good way to see what books are garnering strong word of mouth. A big jump in the number of people who've tagged a title often correlates with people coming up to the desk requesting it.
Regardless of the genre or resource you choose, have fun with your selections. You might just end up surprised at the books and genres that you enjoy, particularly if you always assumed that you wouldn't. As I said earlier, I have a date with Westerns. What will you try?
Jennifer Brannen is a Teen and Adult Services Librarian for Durham County Library. She also presents and writes about readers' advisory for adults, teens, and tweens.