The Readers' Advisory Matrix

1.      General Information:

·         Title: Waiting to Be Heard: A Memoir

·         Author: Amanda Knox

·         Publisher: HarperCollins

·         Publication Date: 2013

·         Pages: 463

2.      Where is the book on the narrative continuum?

·         Highly Narrative (reads like fiction)

3.      What is the subject of the book?

·         It is about a young girl who travels to Perugia, Italy to study abroad in 2007.  One day, her roommate is murdered and she is charged for a crime she did not commit, and spends four years in an Italian prison before she is set free.

 

4.      What type of book is it?

·         A memoir written in past tense

 

5.      Articulate appeal:

·         Pacing: It is a fast paced book and reads leisurely.

·         Characters: The characters are fact based, meaning they are all real people.  Amanda Knox (main character), Meredith Kercher (her roommate), Raffaele Sollecito (Knox’s boyfriend), and dozens of people, either from the courts, her time in prison, her family, and people she met while in Italy.

·         Feeling of story: Amanda Knox shares her unflinching and personal account of what she endured from her time in Italy, to her friend’s murder, to her time in prison, and her time when she was set free and flew back to the U.S.

·         Author’s intent: Knox wanted to share her experience and her struggle to convince an Italian court she did not murder her friend.

·         Story’s focus: Amanda Knox’s horrifying experience when her roommate is murdered to her time in Italian prison.

·         Language: It matters as it is told through the author’s voice (includes some Italian dialogue).

·         Setting: Well described and important because it sets up what Italy was like and how she came to understand how Italian court system is very different than U.S. court system.  Describes Italy, in her room, in the courts, and her time in prison.

·         Details: Many details about the court system and what the Italian prison was like as well as her thoughts about all of it.  Includes pictures of Amanda before, during, and after her ordeal.

·         Learning Moments: Amanda Knox’s main goal was to tell her side; a side that was not viewed very much in Italy.  She states how she changed from a young, naïve girl to a fighter and a survivor. 

 

6.      Why would a reader enjoy this book?

·         Learning/experience: A true account of an ordeal that changed a young girl’s life in a foreign country.

·         Tone: Very personal.

·         Intent: Wants to give her account of what actually happened; something she was not taken seriously for. 

Literary Fiction Annotation

Literary Fiction Annotation: The Kite Runner

Author: Khaled Hosseini

Title: The Kite Runner

Genre: Literary Fiction (historical)

Publication Date: 2003

Publisher: Riverhead Books (New York)

Number of Pages: 371 pages

Geographic Setting: Afghanistan, California

Time Period: 1975-2003

Series (if applicable): None

Plot Summary:  The story between two friends, Amir and Hassan, who are from different religious and class, but share a very strong bond.  When Amir witnesses a horrible incident with Hassan, he runs away and distances himself from Hassan, so much to send him away with his father.  As the years pass, Amir is still haunted by that incident, so he decides to right the wrongs with the one person who stood by him.

Subject Headings: Male friendships, betrayal, social classes

Appeal: For those who can enjoy a good book, but this is not considered a “fun” book for pleasure.  For ages 16 and up due to disturbing scenes.

3 Terms that describe book: heartbreaking, redemption seeking, and powerful

Similar Works and Authors:

The Help – Kathryn Stockett: A story about a young woman who dares to do the unthinkable: write a book about the maids who take care of their families.

Unaccustomed Earth – Jhumpa Lahiri: A book that contains eight different stories about different people from different backgrounds that explore the secrets of family life at the heart.

Year of Wonders – Geraldine Brooks: A story about a young woman during the plague of the 17^th century where she confronts this dangerous and deadly disease in England.

Personal Thoughts: As I was reading this novel, I was enjoying how these two twelve-year-old friends did everything together, even enter a kite fighting tournament, where they would fly kites and try to get the other kites to fall and the last one flying would be considered a hero in the village, and the other kids would chase the free kites and whenever they caught them, they could claim them as their own.  But when Hassan experiences an awful incident, Amir witnesses it and runs away.  And because of that, he is ashamed and guilty for not sticking up to his friend for years.  “America was different.  America was a river, roaring along, unmindful of the past.  I could wade into this river, let my sins drown to the bottom, let the waters carry me someplace far.  Someplace with no ghosts, no memories, and no sins.  If for nothing else, for that, I embraced America” (Hosseini, 2003, 119). 

“Literary Fiction is critically acclaimed, often award-winning, fiction.  These books are often character-centered rather than plot-oriented.  They are thought-provoking and often address serious issues.  These are not page-turners, per se, although their fans certainly find them engrossing and compelling reading … Literary Fiction novels present dilemmas that please their readers, whether through singular characters, avant-garde style, or an intellectual approach to serious issues” (Saricks, 2009, 177-8).  This book shows us how the power of regret can haunt a person for a long time and the only way to get pass it is to face that guilt head on.  “A man who has no conscious, no goodness, does not suffer” (263). 

References:

Hosseini, K.  (2003).  The Kite Runner.  New York: Riverhead Books

Saricks, J.  (2009).  The Readers’ Advisory Guide to Genre Fiction.  2nd Ed.  Chicago: American Library Association.

Week 11 Prompt

Audiobooks and ebooks are starting to become more popular within libraries.  For ebooks, they are an electric version of a book, like Kindles.  Audiobooks are books but come with a person reading them.  Each of these devices are useful but in my opinion, in certain ways.  I am more of a person who would rather hold the book in my hands and keep it so I can read it again in the near future.  I am not really into the whole Kindles.  But I think Kindles are great for those who can just read a book on an electronic device and can carry it wherever they can.  They can even change the font and size so they can read it in a style that in comfortable for them.  There are people who have bad eye-sights and it can be a challenge to find books with big fonts, so this would be a big advantage for using ebooks.  Audiobooks are also great for those who are interested in hearing it rather than reading it.  Also great for those with bad eyes.  Hearing it in another person's voice can add more dynamic to the story as well as creating a better image of what is happening.
I admit I have never used any of these, but I would like to sometime in the future, just to get a feel of what it is like to read a book electronically and hearing a book in another person's voice.  These two are great for those who cannot read a book very well as well as for those with bad eye-sights.  For library purposes, they are becoming popular and I think libraries should keep them.  There are people who prefer audiobooks and ebooks rather than holding the actual book.  Everyone has different thought about these two, but the one thing that will never change is people have their own ways of reading.

Western Annotation

Western Annotation: Last Bus to Wisdom

Author: Ivan Doig

Title: Last Bus to Wisdom

Genre: Western (historical fiction)

Publication Date: 2015

Publisher: Riverhead Books (New York)

Number of Pages: 453 pages

Geographic Setting: Montana, Wisconsin

Time Period: 1951

Series (if applicable): None

Plot Summary:  Eleven year old Donal heads to Wisconsin to stay with his Great Aunt Kate and Uncle Herman while his grandmother undergoes an operation for the summer.  But while there, he finds his bossy and argumentative Aunt is too much for him, so when she decides to send him to an orphanage back in Montana, he boards a Greyhound bus, along with Uncle Herman (unbeknownst to Kate) and the two of them set off for the adventure of a lifetime.

Subject Headings: Travelers, West, Indians

Appeal: For those who enjoy a good western tale about adventure and family.  For ages 14 and up due to some foul languages.

3 Terms that describe book: Adventurous, coming-of-age, long.

Similar Works and Authors:

The Hour of Lead – Bruce Holbert: A tale of a young man named Matt who is left to take care of the ranch after his brother and father die and his mother walks out and has to learn life’s hardest lessons on his own.

Beyond the Horizon – Ryan Ireland: A story about a man’s pursuit to find the man who murdered his pregnant friend and her unborn child.

Honey for the Lion – Matthew Neil Null: A tale about a man’s new home where he is put to the test of where his loyalty stands in the midst of a union strike.

Personal Thoughts: “In traditional Westerns we expect cowboys, cattle drives, gunslingers, adventure, and gunplay … However, creating a strong a sense of time and place, the feel of the Old West is essential.  Westerns speak to basic, deep-seated feelings about the land and the men who brought justice to the wild, uninhabited country and thus helped make it safe for those who civilized it” (Saricks, 2009, 313). 

Cowboys, gunshots, and adventure is what I would expect in a Western novel, since I am not so knowledgeable in this genre, but Last Bus to Wisdom left me with a good sense of what a Western novel is like.  In this book, there are cowboys, talk of the West and Indians, but the biggest thing I found is how the main character, Donal, comes to realize what people are like and how the West is filled with adventure and room to grow personally in the process, as well as finding where you belong. 

“It sank in on me.  No one in the entire world know that the two of us were free as the breeze.  Herman wasn’t merely flapping his lips; we really were footloose, crazily like the comic strip characters in Just Trampin’ who were always going on the lam, hopping on freight trains or bumming rides from tough truck drivers to stay a jump ahead of the sheriff.  Or at least bus-loose – the fleet of Greyhounds ran anywhere we wanted to go.  It was a dizzying prospect.  Goodbye battle-ax wife, for him, and no Hello, orphanage, for me – it was as simple as sitting tight in a bus seat to somewhere known only to us, the Greyhound itself on the lam from all we were leaving behind” (Doig, 2015, 228-9).

I really enjoyed reading this book, but I would have to say my favorite moments are when Donal asks people who interest him to sign his autograph book.  My favorite can be found on page 38.  If you want to know what it says, you will just have to read it for yourself and find out.

References:

Saricks, J.  (2009).  The Readers’ Advisory Guide to Genre Fiction.  2nd Ed.  Chicago: American Library Association.

Doig, I.  (2015).  Last Bus to Wisdom.  New York: Riverhead Books.

 

Fantasy Annotation

Fantasy Annotation: Neverwhere

Author: Neil Gaiman

Title: Neverwhere

Genre: Fantasy (science fiction/adventure)

Publication Date: 1996

Publisher: Avon Books (New York)

Number of Pages: 370 pages

Geographic Setting:  London

Time Period: unknown

Series (if applicable): None

Plot Summary:  Richard Mayhew lives a simple life until he helps a hurt, young woman named Door who states she is from under London.  When she leaves, he finds he has been erased from the world, meaning no one knows him and he does not exist.  He discovers that under London is actually a whole new world where mystical creatures, murderers, and angels live.  He finds Door, and meets Hunter and Marquis de Carabas, and decides to help her find out who killed her family as well as finding a way to get his life back.

Subject Headings: underground areas, subway, angels,

Appeal: For those who love a good fantasy where monsters and humans exist.  Ages 16 and over due to some gruesome and disturbing scenes.

3 Terms that describe book: twisting, adventurous, and dark

Similar Works and Authors:

The Midnight Mayor – Kate Griffin: A story about a sorcerer Matthew Swift who discovers the secret behind the magical wards of London.

Whispers Underground – Ben Aaronovitch: A story about an apprentice sorcerer who teams up with the last remaining wizard to figure out who killed a young teenager in the London subway.

The Naming of the Beast – Mike Carey: A tale of Felix Castor, who must decide how to face a deadly demon who is roaming the streets.

Personal Thoughts: Fantasy is not one of my strongest genres, but I have started to figure out what kind of fantasy books I like, and this one is definitely one I have never read before.  The thought of a world underneath a city just blew me away, especially a world where angels and murderers live.  “Richard wondered where they were.  This didn’t seem to be a sewer.  Perhaps it was a tunnel for telephone cables, or for very small trains.  Or for … something else.  He realized that he did not know very much about what went on beneath the streets of London” (Gaiman, 1996, 42). 

I would have to say what I liked about this book was the many twists and turns that came with is, as well as Richard figuring out how to face his fears to help his new friends.  What is different about this book is how it is written.  Usually each chapter involves different characters, or one side story is a chapter and the next chapter is another story.  But this one, each paragraph switched to Door and Richard, and the next is about another character, but they do come together. 

Either way, this book is definitely unlike anything I have ever read, but in a good way.  “Fantasy is ultimately an optimistic genre, with the forces of good eventually conquering the evil (although it may take several long books in a series to accomplish this).  The pattern of the genre leads to a hopeful outcome, no matter how grievous the trials along the way” (Saricks, 2009, 269).

References:

Gaiman, N. (1996).  Neverwhere.  New York: Avon Books.

Saricks, J.  (2009).  The Readers’ Advisory Guide to Genre Fiction.  2nd Ed.  Chicago: American Library Association.

 

 

Book Discussion

               

         
              While I have attended programs at my library, this would be the second time I have attended a book discussion.  The first time it was an adult book discussion that mainly talked about female books with females called Round Table Readers, which usually meets on the third Wednesday each month.  This book discussion was different.  This book discussion was called First Thursday Afternoon Book Discussion Group.  This was also an adult discussion and this group meets the first Thursday of every month and it mainly talks about classic and award-winning books. 

               The program was on Thursday March 3, 2016 at 1:00-2:00 (actually it ran to 2:15 because there was so much to talk about.) in one of the  available meeting rooms. When I got there, there were a total of six other people: five females and one male (actually two males since the director of the group was male as well).  This was a first for me because I usually go to a program where there were mainly females, so it was great to have a male attendee and a male director.  Another thing I noticed was I was the youngest person in there, while everyone else was in their 40's and 50's.  There was also a hot pot of coffee available for everyone who wanted a cup.  The book we discussed was Erik Larson’s The Devil in the White City.  It is a historical nonfiction story about the Chicago World’s Fair in the late 1890’s where it is told through two men; one is an architect and the other is a sinister murderer. 

‘It is to be desired, let us say, that it should be better understood than it yet seems to be by some of your fellow citizens, that the Fair is not to be a Chicago Fair.  It is a World’s Fair, and Chicago is to stand before the world as the chosen standard bearer for the occasion of the United States of America.  All Chicago can afford to take nothing less than the very best site that can be found for the fair, regardless of the special local interests of one quarter of the city or another’ (Larson, 2003, 54-5).

This book actually was a finalist for the National Book Awards for Nonfiction.  It started out as the director mentioning upcoming events and what the next book discussion will be as well as asking others suggestions about future discussions.  A couple of people mentioned books, mostly Willa Cather books.  Once that was done, everyone had a chance to speak their thoughts.   I admitted that I had only read a little bit into it, but I made a connection between the Fair and the Indiana State Fair a few years ago when the stage collapsed and killed people, where there were people killed at the Chicago Fair too.  There were a couple other people who had not finished, but there was still a lot to talk about.  One of the women did finish the book and she talked about how she liked how the murderer character went on about his business and how he plotted to kill his victims.  Another person disagreed and how she found is behavior odd and scary at times.  We all came to the agreement how psychopath was an unfamiliar word at that time and how this began the idea of profiling murderers.  The characters in the story could realize there was something odd about the murderer character, but they could not label him since profiling was not yet used.  We also discovered this Fair was where the Ferris wheel was invented and how this gave women the opportunities to find jobs, which lead to many vulnerable people becoming targets for the murderer character.  All the females came to the conclusion that women should watch out for the charming guys and powerful people can do evil things.  The male attendee talked about how this Fair showcased Chicago after the big Chicago Fire, especially its landscapes and buildings.  He mentioned how he used to work as an electrician and how Chicago used lights to show their buildings, even in the dark when the Fair was still going on. 

            I really enjoyed going to this group and it turned out to be a good discussion.  Even though I was not done with the book, this discussion made me want to keep reading to see what it was really like to read through the mind of a psychopath and an architect trying to create something worthwhile at the Chicago World’s Fair.  Plus, we were all able to talk about something about the book.  I really liked how everyone got the chance to speak what was on their minds.  Everyone has different views on books and it is encouraging to hear what others think.  So next month’s reading will be Melanie Benjamin’s The Aviator’s Wife, which tells the story of Anne and Charles Lindbergh.  It sounds like a good book, so there could be a chance I will return next month on April 7^th and find out what the discussion will be like. 

Resource:
Larson, E.  (2003).  The Devil in the White City.  New York: Vintage Books.