Google has finally officially opened its eBook site of 3 million titles, with hundreds of thousands available for sale, turning it overnight into the world’s largest eBook store. The site includes many free titles in the public domain, but also offers new titles for sale as well.

Google has partnered with Powell’s Books and more than a hundred independent bookstores, so if you’d like to support your local store with purchases, you can do so if they begin offering the service. The Google store keeps eBooks in “the cloud,” so that a person can buy the book from any of the various sources and access it at any time. The books are in the Adobe format, and will work on most devices except Kindle. According to Publishers Weekly, Google designed their store deliberately in a way that allows independent booksellers to get into the eBook game without a lot of up front costs.

What does it mean for libraries? Google does not have a program that allows libraries to check out books to patrons, and it’s interesting that their store launch is about 6 months late. Google says it delayed its launch in order to “get it right,” finding that it was much more complicated than they thought.

The Chronicle of Higher Education hopes this will lead to more university presses getting serious about digital versions of their publications. And, speaking of these less popular works, one of the coolest things about the Google store is the ability to get a copy of many titles that are not available in digital editions anywhere else. But many will agree that the New Yorker got it right…they badly need a librarian to organize their 3 million titles so it’s easier to browse.

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by Cindy Orr

Janet Evanovich has gone public announcing that she is looking for a stable of three or four writers to work with after her recent success in working with Charlotte Hughes on her Max Holt books. James Patterson works with several co-authors and produces over 20 books every year or so. Clive Cussler and several other authors have worked with their children to keep their brand going, but Cussler has also worked with Jack Du Brul, Paul Kemprecos, Grant Blackwood, and Justin Scott.

Is this the new way to help introduce new authors to a living wage, not to mention the bestseller lists? Will our future bestseller lists contain these new names without their mentors? I think so. Can you list other examples? Is this a way for good authors to get their names known…by auditioning for an established author and then trying to go out of their own?
What do you think?

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by Sarah Statz Cords

There’s no doubt about it: YA books are hot, even for adults.

Some of my favorite books of recent years have been YA titles (I’m looking at you, John Green), but I typically only stumble across them more or less accidentally (or when they have been suggested to me by other librarians). I don’t have tween or teenaged kids so I have no real reason to be in the kids’ section of bookstores, and visiting teen sections in libraries makes me feel way too old (I know the teens could care less what I’m doing looking at their books, but I feel like they’re looking at me and judging–”what’s the old lady doing in our section?”). So where’s an adult reader who’s open to YA titles supposed to look?

Well, if you aren’t already reading it, I would highly suggest adding the litblog Bookshelves of Doom to your RSS feed or daily round of blog reading. Written by Leila Roy, a librarian in Maine, it is (and has been, for many years) a wonderful source of all things news and reviews about YA books. She’s more than upfront about admitting that her reviews of books come from her gut reactions to them, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I thoroughly enjoyed, for instance, her recent review of John Grisham’s new YA/kids’ title Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer:

“As you’ve probably already predicted, I want to punch this book in the face.

It didn’t help that I had an attitude from minute one. The Bestselling Author Breaking Into The YA/J Market trend has been annoying from the first, and the TITLE is just… awful. But. I was willing to give both of those things a pass, because sometimes Bad Titles obscure Good Books, and sometimes Big Name Adult Authors do make a smooth transition into the YA/J world. And sometimes we even end up happy that they decided to wander over.”

Even if you don’t agree, that’s honest. And awesome. Two things we need more of in our book reviews, I say.

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by Sarah Statz Cords

Recently Cindy linked to an article in the Guardian about the continuing lack of respect being given to “chick lit.” The article author (Michele Gorman) came out with some fighting words: “So I take issue with those who dismiss all chick-lit as poorly-written fodder for the dim-witted reader. There are some appallingly bad books (as I discovered), but that’s true of every single genre.”

What struck me particularly about the article was the use of a stock photo from a Bridget Jones movie. And I thought, I used to love chick lit, but how long’s it been since I read a great chick lit title (can you believe it: Helen Fielding’s Bridget Jones’s Diary was published way back in 1998)?

Which leads me to today’s question: Is chick lit still hot as a genre, or has it been entirely supplanted by “women’s fiction”? And, in a related question, who are today’s hot chick lit authors?

I confess I’ve lost touch with the genre and its stars, but I wouldn’t mind getting acquainted with some new authors. I’ve started lists of “classic” and new chick lit authors below, but won’t you help us out and suggest your favorites in the comments?

Classic Chick Lit Authors
Melissa Bank
Lauren Baratz-Logsted
Candace Bushnell
Helen Fielding
Jane Green
Curtis Sittenfeld
Lauren Weisberger

New Chick Lit Authors
Holly Denham
Emily Giffin
Kim Gruenenfelder

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by Sarah Statz Cords

Although I still work with readers in a variety of ways, I must admit that some days I miss working IN the library (at the circulation desk, in particular) where I often got an early feel for what authors and genres were starting to become the next big thing.

Of course, in recent years, it seemed that most of the “next big things” were some kind of variation on vampire themes–the Meyer books, Sookie Stackhouse and the HBO series True Blood, new types of paranormal romance–but it was also fun to watch previously under-the-radar authors such as Elizabeth Gilbert burst onto the scene.

So what I’m asking for today is YOUR expertise–have you noticed any new authors or titles or genres (or formats?) that are becoming “hot” this fall? What are the trends in your library? Let us know in the comments! I’d love to feel back in the loop.

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by Sarah Statz Cords

I was fascinated by the recent Fiction-L thread discussing the books Baby Boomers read as children and the YA books they’re reading now. Of course, it was an interesting discussion in its own right. But what got me really excited was the topic of age and how it relates to book and reading interests. Does this mean we can talk about this now?

I’ve noticed before that RAs, in their desire to meet each reader individually*, don’t typically like to discuss such topics as age and gender and race and reading interests. (No less an RA expert than Joyce Saricks reminds us, in her Reader’s Advisory Guide to Genre Fiction, that “We must not stereotype readers. A sweet, grandmotherly lady might adore Robin Schone or other very explicit authors…p. 145.) I have always thought it was a shame, really, not to discuss this more, for the selfish reason that I find those topics FASCINATING. It is my habit, in every bookstore I enter, to take a good look round the nonfiction section and count if there’re more men in it than women. (I always hang too close to readers of SF and Fantasy, too, trying to see which authors each gender picks up).

The topic of age and reading interests is particularly fascinating, as I think many more librarians are doing outreach reading and booktalk programs at assisted living and other eldercare facilities these days. If you had to create a one-hour booktalk for such an audience, what books would you gravitate towards? And why? To me, this is a very practical question and application.

I personally think it’s silly to think our reading interests never change, particularly as we age. So, I may be opening a can of worms, but I really want to know. Do you notice any trends among certain age groups of readers? Do you find your own reading habits changing? (I’ll start: I didn’t really become a nonfiction fiend until my mid-twenties.) How can we use this knowledge, not really to perpetuate stereotypes, but rather, to better serve patrons of all ages?

*Of course we totally support this desire. And I know from personal experience that it’s important not to pigeonhole readers on their looks alone; I still remember drying dishes at a family get-together with my husband’s aunts when one learned I was a librarian and asked if I liked Nicholas Sparks. I said he was very popular with many of our patrons, but that I personally prefer nonfiction books or fiction with lots more swearing and sex. There was silence all around, until one aunt ventured, “Well, I wouldn’t have guessed that.” I couldn’t help it. I like to keep aunts everywhere on their toes.

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by Cindy Orr

I don’t know about you, but for some reason, hearing the sexy parts of a book read aloud is downright embarrassing for me.

I know I’m not alone on this. Just try watching this video and you’ll see what I mean. (The fact that it’s Nathan Fillion reading is a bonus for all you fans.) The laughter is just a cover-up for their embarrassment, right?

And what about The Kama Sutra? Any takers for the audio version? I kind of thought not.

Any theories on why reading sex scenes aloud feels icky (even if you’re alone), when you can read them silently with your eyes and be just fine? What’s going on here?

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by Sarah Statz Cords

It’s been a while since we talked litblogs, so I’d like to get back into the swing of things today by showcasing one of my favorites: MADreads, the book news and review blog published by the Madison Public Library in Madison, Wisconsin.*

MADreads is very much a collaborative effort, with reviews being contributed by an amazing number of library staff members–forty-four, to be exact, if I’m counting the names along the right-hand column correctly. (Not all of those names represent active reviewers, but their sheer number still speaks well for Madison PL’s democratic dedication to letting any reading staff member, regardless of their job title, contribute reviews.) That depth of reviewing power is what gives this litblog what I consider its greatest edge: its wide range of titles. Today’s review is about a memoir titled I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti, by Giulia Melucci, which I had never heard of, and as a dedicated nonfiction and memoir reader, I’m always impressed when someone can get a memoir by me that I’ve never even heard of before.

Other books discussed over the past few weeks have been the graphic novel Ghostopolis, Patrick Rothfuss’s fantasy novel The Name of the Wind, the literary novel Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand, a number of romances by Mary Balogh, and the nonfiction title Reaching the Animal Mind by Karen Pryor. There is truly something here for everyone, and the writing is always of the highest caliber. Although it boasts a wide number of contributors, the blog is edited by librarian Jane Jorgenson, who not only does an admirable job of coordinating the blog’s wide array of genres and titles, but who is also the author of a forthcoming book on the thriller genre for Libraries Unlimited, and whose own reviews on both thrillers and romances display her wide knowledge on the subjects.

It’s not only a fun blog to read, but it’s a great tool for RAs everywhere looking to expand their title awareness and understanding of genres (especially as the blog also offers clickable “categories” including historical fiction, literary fiction, romance, and many others).

*Full disclosure: when I had the pleasure of working for MPL, I also contributed to this blog. I admit I’m biased–I love it for my own personal reading suggestion use, and I still think it’s one of the best library litblogs out there.

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by Sarah Statz Cords

Recently a discussion on Fiction-L centered on a poster’s desire to create a display of “readable nonfiction” titles. It made my heart glad to see that numerous people responded to the question with a number of great nonfiction title suggestions. But I’d be lying if the chosen title of the display didn’t rankle me just a bit.

Now, it is no secret to anyone who knows me that I am a diehard nonfiction reader. I read novels too, but they’re a much tougher sell; if, on the other hand, you start a sentence with something like “Hey, I read a great biography the other day…” or “Have you seen this new science book…” you can be sure I’m listening and will most likely add that book to my TBR pile, regardless of subject.

So every time I see the words “readable” or “narrative” in discussions of nonfiction, I feel a bit sad about all of the nuances of nonfiction types and genres that are being missed. To some extent I understand the use of the terms; when dealing with nonfiction, library staff often feel compelled to make distinctions between NF titles that are used almost exclusively for informational purposes and those that can be read more recreationally or, arguably, more as a “story.” But I would submit that most of the “informational” types of NF have their own names: cookbooks. Baby name books. Car repair manuals. Decorating books. Self-Help.

The problem I have with “readable” and “narrative” is not that they are inaccurate labels. Rather, it is that they are so broad as to be useless, and they obscure the glory and variety of nonfiction titles. The Fiction-L list of readable nonfiction titles will be an interesting one–but it may not be a very unified list (I don’t know, for example, that I would suggest Erik Larson’s true-crime history Devil in the White City to the same reader who might enjoy Elizabeth Gilbert’s self-discovery memoir Eat, Pray, Love–and they were both on the list).

As previously noted: I’m completely biased (as only a person who has written two nonfiction reader’s guides can be). I also take my nonfiction way too seriously. As Albert Brooks once said in the wonderful movie Broadcast News, “I grant you everything.” But these are my questions: How can we become more comfortable thinking about NF in terms of both subject areas AND genres (or interest categories, which is what bookstores use)? How can we learn about and promote more specific types of nonfiction? What tools do you currently use to learn about nonfiction titles and their peculiarities? These are the things I want to know–because I think there’s a world of biographies, memoirs, women’s nonfiction, true crime, adventure, science, “big think” (like Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point), “year in the life,” and foodie titles out there–they’re all readable, and they all deserve displays of their own.

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By Katie Dunneback

Yesterday I covered, in a greatly abbreviated manner, some of the technical issues of offering e-books in the library. Today we’ll cover the questions beyond the technical that need to be considered.

Beyond being savvy about the technical issues surrounding e-books, we need to be savvy about the books themselves. Librarians have long been looked to for suggestions on what to read next. With the explosion of all titles published (the projected number for 2009 was nearly double that of 2008 according to Bowker, and the sales growth rate during the same period was 176.6% according to the Association of American Publishers, our skills to cull out what it is our patrons want are essential.

Why is it I think we need to talk about how to perform RA services in a digital environment when electronic collections of popular materials, and sales of the same in the greater market place, are still a very small fraction of the whole? First, they’re already here and they’re not leaving. Second, I do believe we will see a shift in publishing to a digital-first/-only model well within my lifetime, and I’m in my early-30’s. There are a number of well-established digital-first/-only model publishers of popular materials, especially in the romance genre, which command significant portions of the market. The world’s largest romance publisher, Harlequin, opened the sales doors of its new multi-genre, digital-only (for the time being) division, Carina Press, at the beginning of June. I think we will see more and more publishers moving in this route. This means we will not only need to be aware of when a print title is also available in digital format, but we will also need to be aware of books that only exist in the digital realm.

The amount of print-alone books we need to be aware of is mind-boggling by itself. How do we incorporate this new format…especially as other book formats are typically titles that first appeared in regular print. We need to incorporate new methods of book awareness to our workflows. A young service called NetGalley is making advanced reader copies available in electronic formats for review by librarians, reviewers and book bloggers. You will be able to review titles in these formats, though most of the participating publishers are print publishers. However, you will be able to get an idea as to how they process their digital editions. I should note that NetGalley does not do sales of books. You will have to use your regular vendor for purchasing titles.

Every smart author with a website these days also includes an excerpt of their book. And, if not the author, the publisher typically does. The Los Angeles Times ran a story dated June 27, 2010 (but online as of the 25th), about the emergence of book bloggers and their influence in the culture of reading. An overlapping group not mentioned in the article consists of people who use social networking sites like Facebook and, especially, Twitter, to talk about books. These people are another source of book information to whom we need to pay attention—especially since the publishers are. The way television and radio shows were, and still are, tastemakers, so too is this new breed of book critic.

With so much being said, there is also a multitude that has been left unsaid here—such as the question of availability of e-books for libraries in the first place, but that’s a treatise in and of itself.

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