Week 5:

 Romance

I've been monitoring all three of the links for the Romance genre. One thing that I've really been exploring is the romance subgenres. I knew about a few of them such as historical, erotic, and paranormal, but I've also come to learn about hockey/sports romances, small town, time travel and inspirational. It's been interesting to learn how the settings, plots and characters can very so much within Romances. Reading book excerpts reviews, as well as author interviews, has been very informative in expanding my knowledge of the Romance genre and its subgenres.

Early Word

Early Word is a site that I haven't used much in the past, but I plan to start visiting every couple of days simply because of the sheer information it gives you about books and authors. In particular, the monthly twitter discussions about galleys and the vast amount of news given for collection development and readers advisory were particularly useful. I also love the different lists that they've compiled for website visitors to explore: Coming Soon, Awards, Best Book Spreadsheets and Movies and TV shows based on books. 

Amazon Best Books of July 2015: Bull Mountain

Bull Mountain is a multi-generational family saga with a sweeping storyline. It has an atmospheric and violent tone that focuses on the landscape and culture of rural Appalachia and a brotherly battle of good and evil . It is similar to books like Above the Waterfall, The Wapshot Chronicle and The Children's Crusade in that they are all family sagas that strongly evoke the setting to set the mood for the story.

Bull Mountain would appeal to fans of adult fiction authors and books that use atmospheric and violent tones. Two authors who fit this bill are Ron Rash and Patrick deWitt.

 

Week 4: Goodreads

Goodreads: Likes and Dislikes


There were aspects of Goodreads that I liked and others I found to not be useful. In particular, the Recommendations section of the website was of limited use. Even though I have rated books from a multitude of genres, the vast majority of my recommendations were for one genre. Furthermore, I didn't find many of the recommended books to be of much interest.

I did find the Explore tab to be very informative and user-friendly. I mostly use Amazon for browsing for books and  for reading user reviews. I find that Goodreads provides a much better experience for engaging in these activities.


Recommendations


Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman by Ernest J. Gaines

Recommended to: Brenda
I recommended this classic work of fiction to you because of your positive ratings for three books: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas, The Autobiography of Malcolm X and The Help.


I thought you would be interested in the Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman because of the composite picture it gives of the African American experience over a 100 year period. Both Narrative and The Autobiography of Malcolm X have character-driven storylines. On the other hand, The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pitman has a sweeping storyline that covers the events from the times of Frederick Douglas (Slavery and Reconstruction) to those of Malcolm X (the Civil Rights movement). 



In addition, Jane Pitman is told from the point of view of a strong, self-reliant and bold African American, similarly to parts of The Help, a book that you clearly liked.





The Killing Moon by N.K. Jemisin

Recommended to: Katie



I recommended this to you for two reason. First, you want read another title authored by Jemisin, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms. Secondly, you are clearly interested in high/epic fantasy. The extensive world-building that Jemisin uses to lay the groundwork for her story completely immerses the reader. While the setting has traces of ancient Egypt, it clearly is Jemisin's creation with in-depth descriptions of the people, temples, religious system, and historial background. The Killing Moon is mainly told from the point of view of the three main characters. The plot revolves around a system of magic rooted in Freudian dream theory and ancient Egyptian medicine.  There isn't a lot information thrown at the reader at one time; instead, the author adds depth to her world bit by bit with interludes and small sections at the beginning of each chapter. So in summary, I thought that an immersion  story with rotating points of view, extensive world-building and a plot that revolves around political intrigue and magic might be of interest to you.