Week 7 Prompt

I am writing this reader's response on the "Fake memoirs" page at Wikipedia. One of the most surprising things about fake published memoirs is the sheer amount. I had no idea there were so many discredited memoirs published. It makes me wonder that there are more out there that have not been discovered.

It is a curious thing for the publisher when something like this is discovered. While there are certainly consequences for the author, the blame also seems to rest on the editor, or publishing company that released the book. How much can they be held responsible? Should an investigation take place to assess the accuracy of an author's claims? This seems an unlikely event. However, it seems reasonable that a publisher should do something to confirm the authenticity before publication.

These fake memoirs are similar to other types of creative and biographical nonfiction. There are plenty of biographies, and autobiographies, that have conflicting series of events. Or inaccurate information. The difference seems to be one of degrees. A fake memoir is completely, or mostly, fabricated, whereas errors in biographies are more specific and often attributed to poor memory, biased analysis or lack of  information.

Science Fiction Annotation - The Incal: The Epic Conspiracy

The Incal: The Epic Conspiracy by Alejandro Jodorowsky & Moebius 
(Translated by Sasha Watson and Justin Kelly)

John DiFool is a Class R private investigator. He recovers The Incal, a powerful, mystical artifact, from an alien disguised as a mutant. The Incal leads DiFool and his allies, including a dog-headed mutant, a superhuman Metabaron, a reformed revolutionary and a concrete, talking bird, on a quest deep into the planet. They are pursued by the planet's Aristo president cloned into the Necrodroid, Technopriests who have launched the Shadow Egg to devour the galaxy and agents of the Emperoress, the Holy Androgyne.









Characteristics of Science Fiction:

The Incal is a science fiction story with a galactic backdrop. Being a graphic novel the visuals enhance the setting, emphasizing the advanced science of spaceships and futuristic cities. As well forms of trans-humanism and intelligent alien life.

Jodorowsky's language highlights familiar science fiction terms, "Within nanoseconds, beams of dark energy poured out of the egg, reducing our fleet to scattered atoms."
And pseudo-scientific neologisms, "Yes! The Ekonomat supports the Technoguild's position and demands a vote of no confidence!"

The mood of The Incal is grim and hallucinatory and the pacing is fast. The story is an adventure quest set against a doomsday scenario.



Suggested Reading:




The Metabarons #1: Othon & Honorata
by Alejandro Jodorowsky and Juan Gimenez



Transmetropolitan: Back on the Street
by Warren Ellis and Darick Robertson

Saga: Chapter One
by Brian K. Vaughn and Fiona Staples



Heavy Metal Magazine
by Various

The House on the Borderland - William Hope Hodgson

Synopsis:

Two friends on a fishing trip discover the ruin of an old house. The ruins sit at the end of a jutting promontory above a large pit, ringed by waterfalls. The men find an old book amongst the house's remains and experience feelings of terror as they examine the area. They make a frightened retreat back to their camp and begin reading the partly destroyed book. The book is a diary of the accounts of the last residents of the house; an elderly man and his sister. The elderly man records a series of terrifying events as the house comes under attack from dangerous, inhuman creatures. Believing he has driven the creatures back, the diary's author examines a cave-like entrance in a nearby ravine, the place he believes the creatures came from.



Characteristics of Horror:

Erratic Pacing

"The house was perfectly silent. Slowly, I stood up, and yawned. I felt desperately tired, still, and sat down again; wondering what it was that had waked me... It was the sound of a step, as of a person moving cautiously down the corridor, towards my study. In an instant I was on my feet, and grasping my rifle."

Setting

"For a couple of centuries, this house has had a reputation, a bad one, and, until I bought it, for more than eighty years no one had lived here; consequently, I got the old place at a ridiculously low price."

Story Line

"The minute-hand was moving round the dial, faster than an ordinary second-hand. The hour-hand moved quickly from space to space. I had a numb sense of astonishment. A moment later, so it seemed, the two candles went out, almost together."

Style/Language

"What a long, weary day it was. If only I could have gone out into the gardens, as is my wont, I should have been content enough; but to be cooped in this silent house, with no companion, save a mad woman and a sick dog, was enough to prey upon the nerves of the hardiest."

Characterization

"I am an old man. I live here in this ancient house, surrounded by huge, unkempt gardens. The peasantry, who inhabit the wilderness beyond, say that I am mad. That is because I will have nothing to do with them. I live here alone with my old sister, who is also my housekeeper. We keep no servants - I hate them. I have one friend; a dog."


Read-A-Likes:



Something Wicked This Way Comes - Ray Bradbury

A terrifying carnival arrives in Green Town, Illinois, bringing Halloween a week early.

At the Mountains of Madness - H. P. Lovecraft

An Antarctica expedition encounters eldritch horror and a lost, alien civilization. Part of the Cthulhu Mythos.

The Talisman - Stephen King and Peter Straub

In an attempt to save his mother's life, young Jack Sawyer travels across a landscape both real and unreal.

The King in Yellow and Other Tales - Robert W. Chambers

A collection of stories including the four influential "King in Yellow" tales about a book that brings madness and despair to those who read it. 

The Imago Sequence and Other Tales - Laird Barron

A collection of stories of the fantastic and grotesque. The Imago Sequence was nominated for a World Fantasy Award, and Proboscis was nominated for an International Horror Guild Award.

Integrated Advisory:

The House on the Borderland

Graphic Novel

Something Wicked This Way Comes

Motion Picture (1983)

At the Mountains of Madness

Video Game

The Talisman

Graphic Novel

The King in Yellow

Board Game Expansion

Week 6 Prompt: Horror Display

I think that the horror genre offers an excellent opportunity for libraries to engage in integrated advisory. I would encourage a library to offer a horror movie night. Perhaps integrated into an ongoing movie night series at the library, or as a special event. Perhaps around Halloween or another day of the year that holds horrific, creepy or eerie, significance. The movie night could be promoted with the traditional horror movie tropes of the "double feature" or "midnight viewing." The later viewing could be designed for the older patron, perhaps a movie with an adult rating (R).

Catchy displays and movie posters seem the most advantageous way to promote the movie night in the library. Colorful displays could show horror books, graphic novels, non-fiction, etc that have been adapted for television or movies. Movie posters could help legitimize the library's event by being displayed similarly to movie theaters. The images below give a visual example.

A Kirkus-like review of Hiero's Journey by Sterling E. Lanier

Thousands of years in the future Hiero Desteen  travels across a post-apocalyptic America in search of ancient knowledge and lost technology.

Hiero Desteen is a telepathic priest and warrior who travels upon his mighty steed, the brave moose Klootz. Hiero's world is one of strong fantasy. The modern world has long collapsed allowing room for evil magicians and mutated giant mammals to live in the overgrown Great Lakes region of the United States. Fearing domination by an organization of evil psychics, known as the Dark Brotherhood or Masters of the Unclean, Hiero ventures across the landscape in search of answers. He meets and befriends a telepathic bear, enjoys the company of the Eleveners, a group of pacifist vegetarian environmentalists and rescues a young woman, Luchare, from sacrifice, thus precipitating a long romantic engagement. Lanier brings the dangerous and mutated world of Hiero Desteen to life through situations of the fantastic. Ancient, giant sea monsters live among the rusted remains of ancient cities, submerged by the flooded Great Lakes. Giant mutant animals roam the wilderness, little understood. Some have developed psychic talents. The world is fantastic. Telepathy and other psychic disciplines have emerged in humans and other animals, thus blurring their differences. Animals with psychic abilities tend to be humanized, while evil characters tend to bestial behavior. The magic of Lanier's world is one of pseudo-science whose origins are implied through the lingering presence of radiation and its mutating effects.

Hiero's Journey is a great read in the tradition of the mythic quest. Lanier has filled his world with wonder and imagination and treats with respect and sincerity otherwise absurd concepts.

Adventure Annotation - King Solomon's Mines by H. Rider Haggard

King Solomon's Mines 

By H. Rider Haggard

Synopsis:

The elephant hunter Allan Quatermain is hired by Sir Henry Curtis to locate his lost brother George. George disappeared while searching for the location of the diamond mines of King Solomon of the Old Testament. They set off, north into Africa, with a 300 year old map and clues to the last known whereabouts of Sir Henry's brother. Their search takes them across a desert, up and over mountains and embroils them in a civil war of the Kukuana people.





Characteristics of Adventure:

Pacing

King Solomon's Mine moves at a fast-pace with brisk storytelling.

"We left Durban at the end of January, and it was in the second week of May that we camped near Sitanda's Kraal. Our adventures on the way were many and various, but as they were of the sort which befall every African hunter, I shall not -  with one exception to be presently detailed - set them down here, lest I should render this history too wearisome."

Characterization

The protagonist is the hero Allan Quatermain, a tough individual known for his hunting and survival skills, honesty and misplaced modesty.

"...for I do not like to be thought one of those silly fellows who consider it witty to tell lies, and who are for ever boasting to new comers of extraordinary hunting adventures which never happened."

Story Line

The story line includes copious action scenes that propel the plot forward. Quatermain and his crew engage in a dangerous quest (for treasure).

"Presently the smoke cleared and revealed - oh, joy! - a great buck lying on its back and kicking furiously in its death agony."

Tone/Mood

The tone of King Solomon's Mines is one of grim reality and occasional bleak humor. The heroes face death continually and risk their lives on adventure.

"Anyway, the slaughter will be awful, and as we have a reputation to keep up, we shall have to be in the thick of it."

Style/Language

Haggard uses colorful language, military jargon and the jargon of African big game hunting.

"Round his throat he fastened the leopard-skin cloak of a commanding officer, on his brows he bound the plume of black ostrich feathers, worn only by generals of high rank, and round his centre a magnificent moocha of white-ox tails."

Frame/Setting

The setting for King Solomon's Mines is the varied environment of south and south/central Africa; desert, mountains, jungle.

"Here were dense patches of lofty forest, there a great river wound its silvery way. To the left stretched a vast expanse of rich, undulating veldt or grass land on which we could just make out countless herds of game or cattle..."

Read-A-Likes:

• Allan Quatermain by H. Rider Haggard
• Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs
• The Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle
• Flashman by George MacDonald Fraser

Week 5 Prompt

The Billionaire's First Christmas by Holly Rayner is not a book that I would be likely to buy for the library. At least not based on the reviews offered. The Amazon review was confusing and completely put me off the book. The blog review was more helpful by offering more information about the title. It was also easily readable with clear language, appropriately short, and honest with its assessment. This title does not appear to belong to the romantic suspense genre. There doesn't seem to be any of the characteristics of romantic suspense; fast pacing, uneasiness, threatened and resourceful heroine (Saricks 37).

The reviews for Angela's Ashes make me more likely to add this book to a library collection than those from The Billionaire's First Christmas. The reviews are from professional publications giving them a familiar structure and a sense of reliable authorship, even when anonymous.

I don't have a strong opinion on the fairness of books being reviewed more often than others. It may be that books that are reviewed more often are more deserving of notice, although some of my own favorite books seem to receive little notice, or have few available reviews. This may mean that a library misses the opportunity to include a book in the collection, one that may be appropriate, or desirable, based on the community's needs, but is unknown to the buyer due to little/no press.

I think there is a place for reviews devoid of negative content, although users should be made aware of this fact. I don't think avoiding negative press is inappropriate. Negative reviews have value although I think their value is greater for an individual's personal reading rather than for a library's collection purchaser.

For me I tend to avoid reviews of books. I do not trust that the reviewer's opinion of the title will match mine, nor do I have much interest in that opinion to begin with. If a book is reviewed a lot it will probably catch my attention and I will check it out.

Secret Shopper

I had a positive experience at a small city-branch library. The librarian was engaging and helpful and I felt that my question was important and my time valuable. Not everything was perfect. I felt that the initial questions for the RA from the librarian were superficial and not directed at finding what I was interested in reading. Nonetheless, I would recommend the library, and librarian, to someone looking for something new to read.

Week Three Prompt

1. I am looking for a book by Laurell K. Hamilton. I just read the third book in the Anita Blake series and I can’t figure out which one comes next!

I would recommend the next two books in the Anita Blake series, The Lunatic Cafe and Bloody Bones.

These choices seem straightforward for the request, following the book reading order. I also think it would be worthwhile to confirm that the first two books in the series, Guilty Pleasures and The Laughing Corpse, had been read.

I would also recommend the Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series of graphic novels that share the same titles as the books.

In suggesting the graphic novels I thought the patron may enjoy seeing the stories told through a visual medium. It is also an opportunity to broaden the patron's experience with an alternate form of reading, different than the traditional book.

For me it was quicker to find the Anita Blake series book order from Wikipedia than it was from Novelist. Entering the keywords "Anita Blake series" into Novelist did not return a results list for the novels under the "Series " tab. Altering the search to just "Anita Blake" returned a link to the book series in numerical order. 







2. What have I read recently? Well, I just finished this great book by Barbara Kingsolver, Prodigal Summer. I really liked the way it was written, you know, the way she used language. I wouldn't mind something a bit faster paced though.

I would recommend The Gentlemen Poet by Kathryn Johnson. 


I based this recommendation on the Novelist keywords from Prodigal Summer, "lush" and "lyrical." I also added the keyword, "fast-paced" and chose Johnson's book based on the "Romantic" tone listed in Novelists' Book Appeal Terms for Prodigal Summer, in connection with the short description of the book. 

I would also recommend The Enchantress of Florence by Salmon Rushdie. 

For this recommendation I again used "fast-paced" and "lyrical" as keywords in Novelist, but replaced "lush" with "complex." This gave a different result list and I chose the Rushdie novel because he is a popular author and one I am familiar with. 

I focused my searches on Novelist's "Writing Style" book appeal terms (those associated with Kingsolver's book), since the original question was concerned with the writer's style. Determining other keywords to use was trickier, not knowing what other factors may appeal to the patron.


3. I like reading books set in different countries. I just read one set in China, could you help me find one set in Japan? No, not modern - historical. I like it when the author describes it so much it feels like I was there!


My first recommendation, for fiction, is The Dragon Scroll by I. J. Parker

I made this choice based on the keywords, "Japan" and "historical" and "descriptive." This novel is the first in a long series and by suggesting it I thought that the patron would then have a clear continuation of books to read, assuming the initial recommendation was enjoyable. 


My second recommendation, this time for non-fiction, is Kendo: Culture of the Sword by Alexander Bennett

I used similar search keywords for this recommendation, "Japan" and "historical." The keywords "richly detailed"  offered more results than "descriptive."  I also searched for just nonfiction titles. I 
chose this particular title because it offers a historical account of Japanese culture, something I think would assist the patron feel like he "was there!" It is also not entirely clear the patron is seeking solely fiction, so a nonfiction title is an appropriate choice, I think. 






4. I read this great mystery by Elizabeth George called Well-Schooled in Murder and I loved it. Then my dentist said that if I liked mysteries I would probably like John Sandford, but boy was he creepy I couldn't finish it! Do you have any suggestions?


My initial recommendations are A Great Deliverance and Payment in Blood by Elizabeth George

Through Novelist I was able to determine that Well-Schooled in Murder is the third of a series. For this reason I suggested the first two novels in the Thomas Lynley series. This seems like an obvious first choice to me, given the available information.

I would also recommend Cover Her Face by P.D. James

For this suggestion I used the Read-alike option in Novelist. The keywords match nicely. I was also conscious of avoiding keywords associated with John Sandford that I thought could be construed as "creepy." These were "flawed," "violent," and "gritty." This is also the first book in a longer series, which may appeal to the patron, based on the fact that Well-Schooled in Murder is also part of a larger series. 





5. My husband has really gotten into zombies lately. He’s already read The Walking Dead and World War Z, is there anything else you can recommend?

I would suggest The Rage, Volume 1: Zombie Generation

I found this title as a Read-alike to The Walking Dead, Vol. 1. I chose it because it was a graphic novel that featured zombies. It is collected in a series of volumes, much like The Walking Dead series. It appears to share similar similar themes of violence and action. The only matching keyword in Novelist with The Walking Dead series was "compelling." 




I would also recommend The Zombie Autopsies: Secret Notebooks from the Apocalypse by Steven C. Schlozman

This title was a Novelist Read-alike suggestion for World War Z. I chose it because the synopsis/book description makes it seem similar to the same type of fiction as World War Z. A fictional story pretending to be nonfiction. I also made this suggestion because it is a novel, not a comic book, in order to balance the first recommendation, and to match the medium to the patron's initial comparisons. 

Reader Profile

I love to read. My favorite genre is science fiction, followed closely by fantasy. These two genres are often intermingled, which makes the line between them unclear and their respective definitions difficult to distinguish. I like to read a variety of different genres, but as I've gotten older my reading time has unfortunately shrunk.

I also enjoy reading mysteries and detective fiction and find myself drawn to series characters like Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin, Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe, John D. MacDonald's Travis McGee and Lawrence Sander's Archie McNally. I don't read much horror fiction, but Stephen King is one of my favorite authors, as well Kurt Vonnegut, Philip K. Dick, Leigh Brackett and Jack Vance.

I did not reach my reading goal last year, alas, but these were my favorite reads from 2015:

The Prefect - Alastair Reynolds This book takes place in the same science fiction setting of British author Reynolds' Revelation Space series. Reynolds fiction is often categorized as the "New Weird SF," or just the "New Weird." This book is a murder mystery blending detective fiction with SF.

Hiero's Journey - Stanley E. Lanier This story takes place thousands of years in the future after a post-apocalyptic destruction of modern society. Lanier's protagonist Hiero undergoes a mythical quest across a wild and overgrown landscape of ruined cities and degenerate cultures encountering giant animals, psychic bears, evil sorcerers, friendship and love.

The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula K. le Guin Le Guin became known for writing science fiction with a more anthropological and sociological viewpoint than her peers and predecessors. This novel details the adventures of an off-world anthropologist on a planet where humanity has evolved into hermaphrodites. Winner of the 1970 Hugo and Nebula Awards.