The readers’s advisory librarian’s weekly update, from a scan of more than 100 blogs, newsletters, magazines, newspapers and television. This blog is brought to you by the Reader’s Advisor Online, the subscription database based on Libraries Unlimited’s Genreflecting Advisory series. We’d love to hear from you. Feel free to comment on any of our posts, or contact us at rablog@lu.com.
By Cindy Orr
This Week In Books
Happy Fathers Day to all fathers! In case you forgot to buy Dad a gift, there are some more new hot titles this week. New to our Most Wanted Mashup of bestselling titles (look to the right for the full list), are Jeffery Deaver’s Roadside Crosses, Katherine Howe’s The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane, Relentless by Dean Koontz, and Eric Van Lustbader’s The Bourne Deception, based on the character of Jason Bourne by Robert Ludlum. If you look at the nonfiction bestsellers, you’ll find three new titles on those lists: Melissa Gilbert’s Prairie Tale, Soul Survivor by Andrea and Bruce Leininger with Ken Gross, and Joe Scarborough’s The Last Best Hope.
Our Under the Radar list this week is Fiction Beach Reads by Sarah Statz Cords. Look to the right, just under the Most Wanted Mashup for that list. It’s a nice long one.
Just under this post, you’ll see our usual New, Noteworthy, and No-Brainer list of titles to be published this week. Some of the big names include Mary Kay Andrews, Janet Evanovich with number 15, James Rollins, Gregg Hurwitz, Madeleine Wickham and even Gloria Vanderbilt (Anderson Cooper’s mom writes an erotic tale). In nonfiction, there’s Back to the Garden: The Story of Woodstock by Pete Fornatale, Magnificent Desolation: The Long Journey Home from the Moon by Buzz Aldrin & Ken Abraham, and James Gavin’s Stormy Weather: The Life of Lena Horne. This is only a very small selection, so be sure to scroll down to see the rest.
Now on to the news of the week.
Book News
10-Day Temporary Restraining Order Issued in Salinger Case
Jeffrey Archer Rewrites Kane and Abel
Barack Obama’s Half-Brother to Write Book
Nora Roberts – profile in The New Yorker – June 22 issue, p. 60. She sold 8 million books in 2008. One rule of writing: “ass in the chair.” New Yorker author profiles are terrific. Be sure to check this one out.
Reading Group Guides Survey Results
“A lot has changed since 2001,” the last time Reading Group Guides did a survey of their users. The survey excluded people who said they were not a member of a formal book group either in person or online. Here are some highlights:
for selecting books.
stores, 48.2% buy at online retailers, 39.5% shop at “big box” stores and 27.5% buy at
independent bookstores.
There is a ton of good information in the survey. Thanks to Carol Fitzgerald who owns the site for conducting the survey. Full results of the 62-question survey are here.
Authors Choose Book Characters to Spend a Day at the Beach
Well, you knew someone would choose Mr. Darcy (Jodi Picoult). Take a look at who the others chose here.
Joining the Conversation About You
If you’ve read The Cluetrain Manifesto you’ll remember the premise that the market is a conversation. “Through the Internet, people are discovering and inventing new ways to share relevant knowledge with blinding speed. As a direct result, markets are getting smarter—and getting smarter faster than most companies.” Here’s an interesting blog conversation on the subject. Do you use Twitter and other sources to see what your customers say about you?
Romance Writers of America Annual Conference
Coming soon…the RWA Annual Conference in Washington, D. C. July 15-18. Go here to register and find out more info.
Library School Accreditation Report Does Not Mention RA Work
The ALA Library Education Task Force Final Report which was submitted to the ALA Committee on Accreditation of library schools was completed and has a list of core competencies of librarianship. They are: 1. Foundations of the Profession, 2. Information Resources, 3. Organization of Recorded Knowledge and Information, 4. Technological Knowledge and Skills, 5. Reference and User Services, 6. Research, 7. Continuing Education and Lifelong Learning, 8. Administration and Management. I’m personally a bit disappointed that they didn’t mention readers’ advisory training. I suppose you could possibly infer that it’s part of reference and user services, but many library schools completely ignore the subject. It’s especially disappointing because the committee asks that the new standards be written as “mandates not suggestions.” The report is here. And some of the comments are here.
A Look Through Old Publishers Weeklies
Maureen Corrigan on NPR finds by looking through old Publishers Weekly magazines that what people were reading long ago isn’t so different from what people are reading today.
The Digital Bookmobile in Denver
The Denver Public Library hosted OverDrive’s Digital Bookmobile last week and it was a huge hit. See the video here.
Ethics for Memoirists
This LA Times article by Marion Winik is a serious discussion of the ramifications of writing a memoir. What does the author owe to the subjects of the book? Who owns a memory when it is remembered differently by different people? Great story.
Books on Screen
Screen Gems Buys Michael Cunningham’s Beautiful Girls
Beat Writers Featured in Three Upcoming Films
Authors
Scott Brick – invites you to audition to be an audiobook reader
Kaye Gibbons - faces drug charges
Harold Norse – called “the best poet of your generation” by William Carlos Williams – obituary
Lists
- The Millions Most Celebrated (Award-Winning) Books of the Last 15 Years
- Independent Mystery Booksellers Association May Bestsellers
- Nancy Pearl Picks Summer’s Best Books
- NPR: Three Books to Keep You Sane on a Family Road Trip
- Barry Award Nominees
- 433 Unique Book Lists from Flashlight Worthy
Summer Reading Lists
Lighthearted Link of the Week
Original Titles of Some of Your Favorite Books
