The Hobbit: There and Back Again...and Again and Again

The Hobbit: There and Back Again by J.R.R. Tolkien
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; 1997
(Classic) Fantasy

A familiar story to some, Tolkien's novel starts with Bilbo Baggins, a comfortable hobbit. Hobbits do not travel and definitely do not go on adventures: they do live simple lives.  When the wizard Gandalf unexpectedly visits Bilbo, everything changes in a blink.  Bilbo resists the idea of traveling, but when a large group of dwarves takes over his home, he can't help but be intrigued.  Following at last, Bilbo joins the company and takes off on a journey to defeat the dragon Smaug and take back the dwarves' home.  He meets many dangerous creatures along the way and even finds a magical ring.

Tolkien takes us on a journey through his made-up land of Middle-earth.  Filled with magic, dwarves, trolls, dragons, and wizards, The Hobbit lets us relive the fantasy of our childhood when we wished magic was real.  The sweeping landscape starts with the small Hobbit village and continues through forests, caves, and more.  The descriptions paint the picture of a fantastical place.  If you like adventure and magic wrapped into one story, then this book will be good for you.  I read it when I was much younger, but I often revisit it because the adventure never ends in my mind.  The Hobbit: There and Back Again...and Again and Again.  You won't want it to stop.  Good news is that it doesn't end there because Tolkien continued this story in The Lord of the Rings.  I don't know about you, but I love getting to keep characters for more than one book :)

READ-A-LIKES (click the link for Amazon)

Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin

Bantam; 1997

The Once and Future King by T.H. White

Ace; 1987

The Golden Compass: His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman

Laurel Leaf; 2003

Time-Traveling Scottish Romance

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
Dell; 1992
Historical (Romance) Fiction

Oh, this book.  First off, let me share that this series (yes, it's a series!) is currently being made into a STARZ Original series, and I can't flipping wait.  I decided I would review this novel as a way to encourage more people to read it before the series starts on TV.

On to the review.  Gabaldon's novel starts in 1945 with Claire Randall, a former British combat nurse, enjoying her second honeymoon with her husband in Scotland.  She is walking one night when she leans upon an old rock.  Unbeknownst to her, this rock is something more.  Part of an ancient stone circle, Claire leans and falls into the past.  She is transported back in time to 1743 - a time when Scotland is war-torn and being British is very bad.  Discovered by an untamed Scotsman, James Fraser, Claire quickly falls into deeper trouble.  She now has a husband in the future and a lover in the past.

I don't always fall in love with the characters I read, but Diana Gabaldon creates characters you can actually feel.  Although a long book by anyone's standards at 850 pages (not, however, too long for historical fiction), Outlander's pages fly by.  Gabaldon takes her time when laying out the details of the story, so you get to know the characters and become deeply invested in their story.  The description of the Scottish setting and 1743 time period make you feel that you are in the story with them.  Jamie is definitely a product of tumultuous Scotland and his world affects Claire when she falls back in time.  I laughed, cried, and my heart definitely fluttered.  If you aren't blushing when Jamie whispers to Claire in his Scottish accent, then you're not reading it correctly.  I can't wait to see if the passion that burns on the page can be translated to the screen.  This is a MUST READ and hopefully a must see.  Have the second book ready to go because you won't want to wait!

READ-A-LIKES (click the link for Amazon)

Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon (Book 2)

Delta; 2001 (reprint)

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

Penguin Books; 2011
Magic and history in one book!

11/22/63 by Stephen King

Gallery Books; 2012

Historical time-traveling

Special Topics: Genrification

Rearranging the Library: Dewey or Don't We?

Let me start the Dewey discussion by talking about my love for bookstores.  I truly miss them.  We don't have any nearby because of all the closures, so I can't stop to browse anymore.  I mean, I love an eBook and the library, but I LOVE book stores.  I love the way they smell, the hustle of shoppers, and the feel of a brand new book.  I know my blood pressure lowers when I walk in and browse the shelves.  I love bookstores for all those reasons, but I love them the most for how they are organized.  I like that when I walk in I see the bestsellers right up front.  I like that there are tables full of books pulled by themes.  I like that I can go to the fiction and find a science fiction book quickly because it has its own section.  What do I not like about libraries?  I have to know exactly what I want before I go there.  With bookstores, I can have an idea and browse until I find something wonderful.

When I started as a school librarian this year, I never thought about changing the setup of my libraries.  I was worried about appearance, ease of access, and a good collection.  I wanted to make the library student-friendly and a place teens want to go.  I bought new furniture, moved the circulation desk, painted, put in new carpet, changed the technology, and added flat screen TVs.  I was making it a place for teens to hang out and relax, but books still weren't being checked out.  I would make suggestions and help students find books, but they weren't browsing the shelves like I wanted them to.  I was at a loss for what I should do next.  Cue the Indiana Library Federation Conference.

I attended the 2013 ILF Conference and was inspired by the presentation made by teacher-librarians Sherry Gick, Kathy Burnette, and Megan Scott.  This "League of Librarians" discussed how to genre-fy the library in a step-by-step process.  They had data to prove the usefulness of the time-consuming change.  Sherry Gick shared that her circulation doubled in the first year, and 84% of  Megan's students liked the change on her end-of-the-year survey (Burnette).  I felt like this might be the solution to my problem.  I wanted to increase my circulation and meet the needs of the students.  Why not change my library to be more like a bookstore?

At first I was worried about time and manpower, but I figured out a plan and decided to start the process.  I knew that splitting the library up into genres would be better for my students.  It would help especially with my teen readers' advisory.  Most students come into the library with an idea of what they want. "Where can I find a book like Divergent?" or "I want a scary book."  With the current setup, I have to show them a variety of books from around the library.  I sometimes encourage them to use the online catalog, but that takes a little more time for them to search.  If the books were split into the genres already, they would be able to find more books based on what they are looking for.  Time wasn't mentioned in the ILF presentation, but many of my students come in during passing period and have a very limited amount of time to find books.  I can't do a personalized readers' advisory for each student during that short time, so I usually talk to one or two students and get them quickly checked out.  The other students hopefully find something to suit their needs.  With a genre-fied library, my students will be able to find a book much more quickly.  All around, I think my new setup will help the students and me.

I'm working on labeling the books right now and the next step will be to split them up into sections.  It's funny because my students have started asking about the labels and what they mean.  I'm even able to tell them, "Look for the pink labels if you want romance books."  They are already loving it, and I'm not close to finished!  I plan on including nonfiction in the new genre setup, but I will leave some of the nonfiction in its current location.  The spine labels will also stay the same: fiction will have F and the author's last name, and nonfiction will be labeled with the Dewey numbers.  Ultimately, I want what is best for my patrons.  If the new setup doesn't work, I will change it back, but I don't think the current setup is helping me circulate more books.  All I want to do is capture that feeling I used to have when walking into a bookstore.  If changing my library will help my students feel the same passion I do for books, I'm one step closer to my goal.

Works Cited

Burnette, Kathy, Sherry Gick and Megan Scott. "Genre-fying the Library One Shelf at a Time." Google Presentation. Indiana Library Federation Conference, Indianapolis, IN. 23 Oct. 2013.

James Patterson: Book Machine

WEEK SEVEN PROMPT

After reading the article "The James Patterson Business" by Jeff Zaleski, I have to say I'm surprised by how much criticism Patterson has taken over the years.  This article was published in 2002, so I know Patterson has continued to take hits over the past 12 years of his writing.  The criticism some readers have is that he is in the "business" of writing and therefore his writing suffers.  He uses co-authors and sees his writing as a brand that he needs to sell.  I don't understand how this is an issue.  As someone who has read and loves Patterson's books, I think the more the merrier!

Patterson's background in advertising gives him a unique take on publishing books.  He sees that people want familiarity.  It works in ads, so why wouldn't it work in books?  In the article, he classifies people as two different bookstore shoppers: the regulars and the in-and-out people.  He wants to be sure to appeal to both of those types.  If you keep a consistent cover and title art for each book, people immediately recognize and are comfortable with that author.  Changing it up makes it more difficult for people to find a book.  I totally agree with this philosophy.  If people think this mindset makes Patterson's writing suffer, then they don't have to buy his books.  The average reader wants an author and storyline they recognize without too much effort.  The more prolific reader might be more critical, but that's the beauty of choice.  As a librarian, I know that people want comfort.

What critics might forget is that this "advertising" style of writing isn't new.  We see this in children's writing all the time.  Once a child is introduced to a series of books, Clifford for example, they want nothing but that book!  I have a hard time suggesting other books to that child.  Thank goodness there are hundreds of Clifford books to choose from.  The same idea works for adults.  Once they like an author, a character, storyline, etc., they want more!  Patterson recognizes this want and provides for his readers.  If the books weren't any good, he wouldn't be able to see them.

Patterson has a newer series for middle school students, and I can't keep them on the shelf.  My nephew, who is in 6th grade, says nothing but awesome things about I Funny.  The books are hysterical, and Patterson seems to understand what middle school kids want to read.  These books are the next step past The Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, and kids love them.  Students keep asking me when the next one is coming out.  I'm just glad Patterson is a book machine because I can always tell my students "soon."