Participant A
Participant
A is a 53 year old male. When asked to
describe his reading habits, participant A responded, “I don’t really have
reading habits. I don’t read books, but
I do listen to them on audiobook. I am a
professional truck drive, so I drive for 8 to 10 hours a day. I listen to audiobooks on CD when I am
driving because I get tired of listening to the radio.” The genre that he listens to the most is
westerns and he has listened to most of the Louis L’Amour audiobooks. The reason that he enjoys westerns is because
the good guy always wins, the description of the landscapes, and the unsettled
territory.
In addition to L’Amour,
the participant also likes Robert Parker, the author of Appaloosa and the Jesse Stone books (these are nonwestern murder
mysteries) and had recently started reading the William Johnstone books. The patron usually borrows books or buys them
as they are available, so he does not always have the opportunity to start a
series from the beginning.
I asked the patron if he
wanted a classic western or if he was looking for something different. The participant had a very specific request
as he had recently started Johnstone’s Mountain
Men series. He had started the books
in the middle of the series, so he did not quite understand some of the
connections between the characters.
Because of this, the participant wanted to know the first book of the
series so that he could restarted the books chronologically. I used the series feature of NoveList to find
the order of the series. I recommended
William Johnstone’s The First Mountain
Man and provided a list of the additional books in the series.
Participant A really
enjoyed the audiobook and is looking forward to the next book of the
series. As there are 60+ books in the
series, the patron was excited to have something substantial to listen to since
he has finished the L’Amour books.
Participant B
Participant B is a 50 year old
female. The participant’s genres of
choice are murder mysteries and biographies/autobiographies. When I asked her what sort of recommendation
she was looking for, she requested a murder mystery. In a murder mystery, the participant is
looking for a female detective or a strong female protagonist. She is typically not interested in the
murder/crime itself but enjoys further characterization in regards to the lead
character. She likes to know personal
information about the detective and what led he or she to fighting against crime. I asked the participant how much violence
that she wanted in her murder mysteries.
She said that she likes details and does not mind violence but does not
particularly seek it out. The last book
that she read was Shane Gericke’s Cut to
the Bone which is about a female detective whose father was also a
detective. She was looking to something
specific to this book. The participant
also mentioned that she enjoyed Sue Grafton’s Alphabet Murder series.
Using
NoveList, I looked up Gericke’s book which led me to some subject headings and
appeal terms including suspense stories, fast-paced, detectives, policewomen,
and women detectives. Using these terms,
I was able to pinpoint books that also features these phrases in their
description. One of the first authors
that resulted in the search was Sandra Brown.
I read the participant the description of Brown’s Low Pressure which is based around a murder and a family
secret. I discussed this book with the
participant and she believed that this was a book that she would enjoy.
The
participant enjoyed Brown’s book and the description of the characters. She has decided to read more books by Brown
and is starting with the some of the author’s older books.
Participant C
Participant
C is a 25 year old male. He generally
only reads one or two books a year. He reads very sporadically and usually does
not finish a book that he starts unless he is really interested in the
material. He usually reads nonfiction
books. He likes books about basketball
and enjoys essays by Chuck Klosterman and topical nonfiction by A.J.
Jacobs. The participant’s favorite book
is A Confederacy of Dunces by John
Kennedy Toole. When asked what he liked
about the book, the participant said that he enjoyed its interesting characters
and sense of humor. He said that he also
enjoyed Catch 22 by Joseph Heller for
the same reasons. Pacing was also
important to the participant as he said that if the book had too many slow
parts, he would stop reading. He needs
something that is fast-paced with short chapters to keep his interest.
The
participant was not looking for anything specifically so I used NoveList to
find books similar to both A Confederacy
of Dunces and Catch 22 which has
the commonalities of darkly humorous and character-driven. Looking through the list, I suggested Michael
Chabon’s The Yiddish Policemen’s Union
by Michael Chabon. The reader had heard
of this author and had seen the cover of The
Adventures of Kavalier and Clay before and so he was interested in reading
it.
The
participant is roughly half way through the book currently. While he enjoyed the plot itself, the
participant found the author’s use of Yiddish as distracting and thought that
it broke up the flow of the story.
Because of the Yiddish, the reader felt that he was missing some of the
humor which was causing him not to completely enjoy the story.
Participant D
Participant D is a 26 year old
male. He typically only readers 1
chapter a time, so he likes a book that he can easily put down and take breaks
from reading. He hates nonfiction and
usually reads fantasy or science fictions.
Although he does not typically like realistic books, he does usually
enjoy American classics which he considers distinct. He really likes authors like John Steinbeck but
does not enjoy the descriptions of an author like Dickens. He is a slow reader and does so on purpose so
that he can take his time with the story to remember details. His favorite books include Harry Potter, To Kill a Mockingbird, and
The Road.
He recently finished A Wizard
of Earthsea which he really liked.
He also likes Stephen King books although he has not read very
many. He enjoys graphic novels and his
favorites are Fable and Hellboy.
He likes for books to have strong, unique distinct characters. Although he loves the Game of Thrones television show, he does
not have interest in reading the books because he feels as if there are too
many characters and would blend together.
He wants a story that is original and creative and prefers short
chapters. Long chapters turn him off
from reading the book.
During
the time of the interview, the participant said that he was rereading Harry Potter and decided he wanted a
more realistic book. He had just
finished Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt
Vonnegut and wanted something more similar to this. After we started discussing various books and
what he was looking for in a book, the participant wanted to first look at
classic science fiction options. I
offered classics such as 1984, A
Clockwork Orange, Alas Babylon, The Handmaid’s Tale, Brave New World, and Fahrenheit 451 all of which the participant
said that he had read and did not enjoy or did not want to read based on the
description. The participant then
switched back to his original feelings of wanting a realistic, American classic
book. One of the suggestions that was
presented from A Clockwork Orange was
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by
Ken Kesey. The book has appeal terms
such as witty, books to movies, and satirical fiction that I knew that the
participant would enjoy. The book’s
description also mentioned the strong, unique characters of those in the mental
hospital in which the book is placed.
The
participant, although picky and intimidating in his requests, actually loved
the book. As I had gotten a library copy
for him to borrow, he recently purchased the book to add to his personal
collection.
Participant E
Participant
E is a 25 year old male. He reads in
spurts—he might read a book intensely for one week and then leave it alone for
a month. He likes a book that he can
pick up and put down. He is a slow
reader and likes to take his time with the book. He enjoys books with a lot of action and if
he’s caught up in a book and there is a good narrator or character that he
really likes, he will read heavily. He
also enjoys graphic novels. The last
book that he read was To Kill a
Mockingbird and was reading The Black
Dahlia during the time of our interview.
When asked what appealed to him in a book, he said that he likes a good
adventure story. He also likes books
that make him laugh. He also enjoys
books that are suspenseful. His favorite
literary character is Sherlock Holmes who he described as funny, smart, and
witty. He likes the suspense of the
mysteries and the drama of Sherlock’s personal life. He appreciates Watson as the narrator.
As
the participant liked graphic novels and Sherlock Holmes, I asked if he knew
that there are authors who write Sherlock Holmes based graphic novels. He listed off some of the stories that he had
read and I selected a title that the participant had not yet read which was The Sign of Four by Ian Edginton. The participant was excited to try a new way
of looking at the Holmes’ story as he loves the movie and television adaptations.
I
knew that my recommendation was risky as the participant mentioned that he was
very particular about the style of the artwork in a graphic novel. Although he liked the idea of the graphic
novel, he did not love this particular author’s interpretation or artwork. He felt that the frames were two tight on the
scene and wanted wider viewpoints.
Although he did not love this version of the story, he still was hoping
for another variation of this type of story.
Conclusion
Overall,
I found the advisory process more challenging than I expected. I did feel more pressure because these were
people that I knew and am close to. I
wanted to provide them with a positive reading experience and look “good” at
what I have learned over the course of the semester. While I did not have a 100% success rate with
all of my suggestions, I learned from my mistakes (such as not considering the
language/dialect with participant C) and these experiences will only make me
better at providing recommendations in a real world setting. I gained confidence in my discussion skills
and my use of tools as, prior to this course, I had never used NoveList before. Instead of feeling intimidated from
recommending materials in the future, I am excited to have conversations with
patrons and learn more about them as readers and about myself as a
librarian.
