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books

  • STACKED
  • About Us
  • Categories
    • Audiobooks
    • Book Lists
      • Debut YA Novels
      • Get Genrefied
      • On The Radar
    • Cover Designs
      • Cover Doubles
      • Cover Redesigns
      • Cover Trends
    • Feminism
      • Feminism For The Real World Anthology
      • Size Acceptance
    • In The Library
      • Challenges & Censorship
      • Collection Development
      • Discussion and Resource Guides
      • Readers Advisory
    • Professional Development
      • Book Awards
      • Conferences
    • The Publishing World
      • Data & Stats
    • Reading Life and Habits
    • Romance
    • Young Adult
  • Reviews + Features
    • About The Girls Series
    • Author Interviews
    • Contemporary YA Series
      • Contemporary Week 2012
      • Contemporary Week 2013
      • Contemporary Week 2014
    • Guest Posts
    • Link Round-Ups
      • Book Riot
    • Readers Advisory Week
    • Reviews
      • Adult
      • Audiobooks
      • Graphic Novels
      • Non-Fiction
      • Picture Books
      • YA Fiction
    • So You Want to Read YA Series
  • Review Policy

Define “Reading”

May 16, 2014 |

A couple of really interesting studies have popped up recently.

First, this survey, done by the Reading Agency, notes that 63% of men feel like they aren’t reading as much as they think they should and a full fifth of men admit to saying reading is difficult or they don’t enjoy it.

NPR wrote about the findings Common Sense Media had when combing through a series of studies that teens aren’t reading like they used to. This one cites a few reasons why this might be, including the rise of tablets and internet-connected devices, as well as the always-present “not enough time” (that’s the big reason for the survey above on why men are reading less).

But before we cry about how no one is reading anymore, perhaps we should examine one of the biggest factors not examined in either of these studies: how is “reading” defined?

It appears in both cases that “reading” is defined as sitting down with a book — print, of course — and reading it cover to cover. This is how we all traditionally perceive reading, and it’s what we’re taught reading is from a very early age. There are different types of reading, including close reading (something that is brought up in Corey Ann Haydu’s Life By Committee in a way that I think all teens “get”: sitting down with a pen and marking reactions, questions, and favorite lines), reading for research (which also includes note taking, whether in the margins or on paper), and skimming/scanning. There are other reading skills taught to us, of course, but those are easily the three biggest ones. All three are taught from early on, and they’re taught via the print medium.

The problem is that in today’s world, this idea of reading is limiting. It defines reading by the medium in which one type of reading occurs, rather than opening up the idea of reading as an activity one can engage in across multiple platforms, devices, and mediums.

A few years ago when I was working the entire youth services program in my small library, I decided I wanted to shake up how our summer reading program looked. For a long time, the program required readers to track the number of books they read in exchange for rewards along the way. While this is an easy tracking system on the end of the library, it’s a very limiting system for readers. Aside from the fact it privileges readers who choose smaller books over larger books and it privileges faster readers over slower ones, it also reinforces the idea of what reading is: a book.

My proposal was that we count time read, rather than books read. After the change was made, when I got into the schools to talk to teens, I asked them specifically what they they thought counted as “reading.”

Many thought graphic novels and comics didn’t count as reading.

Many thought reading anything on the internet — blogs, magazine websites, gaming forums — didn’t count as reading.

Many thought picking up a newspaper or magazine in print didn’t count as reading.

Many thought that listening to audiobooks didn’t count as reading.

When their impressions of “reading” were shared, I told them their perceptions of what counted as reading were very narrow. Why didn’t graphic novels or comics count as reading? Was it because those aren’t typically what’s being read in the classroom? Is it because graphic novels or comics can sometimes have many pages where there’s no text? What made a magazine — either in print or online — not count as reading?

That summer, I told them I wanted them to count those things as reading. I told them I wanted them to count other things that involved reading to be counted toward reading. Do you spend time reading text messages? Then count it. Do you spend time reading the instructions before you dive into playing a game? Then count it. Do you spend time reading Facebook updates? Then count it. I told them to be reasonable — count those things no more than half an hour a day — but that those things absolutely, positively counted as reading.

When summer ended, I saw a marked increase in participation in the reading program, as well an impressive number of hours logged by teen readers. There was nothing inflated and nothing out of the ordinary. Instead, teens saw a redefinition of reading to include the very things they do every single day that require them to be active and engaged readers. You can’t respond to your friend’s text without reading it, processing it, then forming a response to it. Those are the same skills necessary to engage with a novel or a work of non-fiction assigned in school. The responses may be different. The contexts are different. But all require reading.

Reading is a skill set.

Reading is an activity.

Reading is not a format nor a context.

Of course teens aren’t reading like they used to. Of course men aren’t reading like they used to. Why would they? The world of reading is wide and vast and it’s not limited to one thing anymore.

Before panicking about the numbers and what it is teens or men or women or any other group or category of people are or aren’t doing when it comes to reading, or how things were so much better and greater “back in the day,” think about how those researchers have defined reading. Think about how we have defined reading for those groups. Are we limiting them to one idea of reading? Or are we allowing them to think about the fact that nearly every single thing they do in today’s world — online and offline — requires them to engage in reading?

For some more thoughts on this, go read Liz Burn’s post “Teens Today! They Don’t Read!“

Filed Under: reading, reading culture, reading habits, Uncategorized

Reflecting On My Own Year in Reading

December 18, 2013 |

After breaking down the “Best of” lists last week, I thought about how interesting it would be to look at my own year of reading YA in different categories and see what I did and did not get to. Then I read this post over at YA Highway about making a commitment to be a better reading in the upcoming year, and I knew it would be worth it to look and see what a year in my reading life really looked like. While I don’t believe in making reading resolutions — that’s something I talked about at the beginning of this year — I do think there is a value in looking at what I am reading and reflecting upon why and how those were the titles I chose to spend time with. I think there’s merit, too, in considering what books I didn’t read and how and where I can better expand my reading in the future.

My reading this year has been significantly impacted by being on a committee. This committee has made me read a lot of books outside my comfort zone. I’ll be so bold as to suggest that I have read far more authors of diverse backgrounds when it comes to race, ethnicity, religious viewpoint, sexuality, and more than I ever have in my entire life. It’s been an amazing experience, and I can’t wait to talk a little bit more about it when my committee develops out final list at ALA Midwinter in January. Though I have read fewer titles this year than I have in recent years — about 170 so far, as opposed to breaking over 200 the last couple of years — I’ve read much wider and deeper than I think I ever have.

Because I can’t really talk about the books I’ve read for that committee nor what those books look like quite yet, what I decided to do for this post was look exclusively at the YA fiction titles that I’ve read in 2013. As of this writing, I’ve read 72 YA titles in the past year.

What have I read? Here’s a list, in moderately chronological order from the beginning of the year:

Pretty Girl-13 Liz Coley
The Murmurings Carly Anne West
Just One Day Gayle Forman
Thousand Words Jennifer Brown
All You Never Wanted Adele Griffin
Black Helicopters Blythe Woolston
The Whole Stupid Way We Are N. Griffin
I’m With Stupid Geoff Herbach
Wild Awake Hilary Smith
Scowler Daniel Kraus
Charm and Strange Stephanie Kuehn
Bruised Sarah Skilton
Me, Him, Them, and It Caela Carter
Dr. Bird’s Advice for Sad Poets Evan Roskos
Out of the Easy Ruta Sepetys
Sex and Violence Carrie Mesrobian
Pinned Sharon Draper
Rotten Michael Northrop
17 & Gone Nova Ren Suma
Permanent Record Leslie Stella
Over You Amy Reed
If You Could Be Mine Sara Farizan
Starting From Here Lisa Jenn Bigelow
The Book of Broken Hearts Sarah Ockler
Chasing Before Lenore Appelhans
Curveball: The Year I Lost My Grip Jordan Sonnenblick
Fault Line Christa Desir
Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass Meg Medina
Second Impact David Klass / Perri Klass
If He Had Been With Me Lara Nowlin
The Chocolate War Robert Cormier
Sold Patricia McCormick
Freakboy Kristin Elizabeth Clark
Sex and Violence Carrie Mesrobian
September Girls Bennett Madison
Winger Andrew Smith
Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock Matthew Quick
Tomorrow CK Kelly Martin
The Program Suzanne Young
The Moon and More Sarah Dessen
All Our Pretty Songs Sarah McCarry
All The Truth That’s in Me Julie Berry
Maggot Moon Sally Gardner
Rotters Daniel Kraus
To Be Perfectly Honest Sonya Sones
Infinite Moment of Us Lauren Myracle
Teeth Hannah Moskowitz
Roomies Tara Altebrando / Sara Zarr
Fangirl Rainbow Rowell
Reality Boy AS King
Thin Space Jody Casella
The Theory of Everything Kari Luna
Cinder Marissa Meyer
OCD Love Story Corey Ann Haydu
Bright Before Sunrise Tiffany Schmidt
Dead Ends Erin Jade Lange
Friday Never Leaving Vikki Wakefield
Meet Me at the River Nina de Gramont
Engines of the Broken World Jason Van Hee
The Golden Day Ursula Duborasky
Waking Dark Robin Wasserman
Chasing Shadows Swati Avasthi
The In-Between Barbara Stewart
Inheritance Malinda Lo
Sick Tom Leveen
Juvie Steve Watkins
Ink is Thicker Than Water Amy Spalding
Heartbeat Elizabeth Scott
We Were Liars E Lockhart
Prince of Venice Beach Blake Nelson
The Killing Woods Lucy Christopher
Just One Year Gayle Forman

Gender Breakdown


When it came to my own year in reading, I definitely read more female authors than I did male authors. This doesn’t surprise me at all — though it’s also not intentional nor is it out of some principle I hold to read more female authors than male. I think the books I most wanted to read this year happened to also be written by female authors, and I do think because there are more females writing and publishing YA, the opportunity to read more females presents itself.

I read a total of 72 authors this year. I doubled up on two authors: Gayle Forman and Daniel Kraus. I counted them each only one time. Of those 72 authors, 80% were female and 20% were male.

Because I broke down the gender of main characters in the “best of” analysis, I thought I’d break down the gender of main characters in my own reading, too. This was tough because of multiple characters, but I found I’d had 84 main characters to pull from. Because it was too hard to tease out who were or weren’t main characters in Robin Wasserman’s The Waking Dark, I chose to keep that book out of this tally.

Like with the “best of” breakdown, the percentages are a little closer together than they were with gender of authors. There was one book featuring a trans main character, and I read 32 male characters and 51 female main characters.

Front List and Back List


What sort of distribution was there when it came to date of publication in my YA reading habits? Did I tackle more front list than back list?

It doesn’t surprise me in the least that I read far more books published in 2013 than I did books published prior. There were a total of 60 books I read published in 2013, with 7 books published prior to this year. I also read 5 books that will be published in 2014.

Again, I don’t put pressure on myself to reach certain reading goals, but I do think I want to spend a little more time in the coming year reading more books from the back list. I will say that this year I bought more books that were back list titles than I have in the past. I just haven’t yet read them. Perhaps it’s time to get working on that.

Books by Genre


I know I read primarily realistic fiction, and that was especially true at the beginning of this year when I was trying to wrap up reading some titles for my own book on contemporary YA. I also know I read quite a bit of horror, and that played out in an article I was able to write for School Library Journal in September.

But what did the actual distribution of YA genres look like this year for me?

Almost 70% of my reads this year were realistic, with historical fiction and horror in far second and third place. I read an equal number of science fiction and fantasy titles, as well as two titles I chose to classify as magical realism, rather than putting them in another category.

LGBTQ and POC Representation


I know one place I can definitely do better, and it is reading more titles written by or featuring LGBTQ or POC. I’m trying to be more observant of this because I want to make sure these are titles I’m spending more time reading and recommending not only here at the blog, but also in my own work in the library.

Out of the 72 books I read this year, I read a total of 9 books that were written by or featured LGBTQ characters or situations within them (by “situations,” I mean it’s a plot point or discussion when the main character may not identify). Some books do double duty, and the author and a character identify.

The books I put in this category include:

  • Me, Him, Them, and It by Caela Carter (the main character’s aunts are lesbians)
  • Over You by Amy Reed
  • If You Could Be Mine by Sara Farizan
  • Starting From Here by Lisa Jenn Bigelow
  • Freakboy by Kristin Elizabeth Clark
  • Winger by Andrew Smith
  • Teeth by Hannah Moskowitz
  • The Waking Dark by Robin Wasserman
  • Inheritance by Malinda Lo
When it came to POC in the books I read this year, I did a little bit better. But I could still improve in my reading. I read a total of 11 books written by or featuring POC characters or situations within them (again, by “situations,” I mean it’s a plot point or discussion when the main character may not identify, such as in Geoff Herbach’s I’m With Stupid, where Felton’s girlfriend/not-a-girlfriend is biracial). Some books do double duty, and the author and a character identify.
The books I put in this category include:
  • I’m With Stupid by Geoff Herbach
  • Charm & Strange by Stephanie Kuehn
  • Pinned by Sharon Draper
  • Permanent Record by Leslie Stella
  • If You Could Be Mine by Sara Farizan
  • The Book of Broken Hearts by Sarah Ockler
  • Fault Line by Christa Desir
  • Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass by Meg Medina 
  • Sold by Patricia McCormick
  • Chasing Shadows by Swati Avasthi
  • Inheritance by Malinda Lo 
Debut and Seasoned Authors

The final category I looked at in my YA reading this year was whether the books I read were written by debut or more seasoned authors. I limited myself to the 60 books I read published in 2013. 
I read a total of 23 novels by debut authors this year and 37 written by more seasoned authors. I’m pretty impressed with this divide, actually: I read far more debut novels this year than I thought I did. 
What I’m Taking From This


I’m not sure there is a whole lot to “take” from breaking down my own YA reading this year, though it does offer insight into the kinds of books I tend to gravitate towards. Part of this was certainly related to outside projects going on in my life — I saved a number of books I was really looking forward to reading as rewards for getting through committee reading. I also front loaded this year on realistic fiction so I could write about them in some way. 
Part of me wonders what it would look like if I broke down my year in writing reviews and features here on STACKED. I wonder if I don’t talk enough about diversity or about other topics outside my own comfort zone. But then I think about those things I did write about: female sexuality, body politics, and more, and I’m seeing that the way I read really does impact what I’m writing about, whether I’m calling something out specifically or not. It all influences my thinking and my perspective on reading and on writing about reading.
Which brings me back to that YA Highway post and a quote from Haruki Murakami that has been one of my all-time favorite quotes for years: If you only read the same books that everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking.  
The more I push myself to read outside my comfort zone, the more I think I’m able to write outside my comfort zone and the more I’m able to read those books I love reading and which are comfortable to me in a manner that makes them have more power or impact — whether it’s because I discover I like them more or because I discover they might be problematic or speak to an issue in a way I never thought about before. While my YA reading year didn’t feature as much diversity as I hoped, my committee reading certainly has, and I see where the ideas I’ve read about there and the voices I’ve experienced have impacted my thinking about the other things I’ve read.
For those who love reading and those who love to talk about reading, particularly those who spread their love of reading to other readers or emerging readers, I think spending time to reflect upon your own reading is invaluable. I don’t think you have to set goals or resolutions to read or do certain things in your habits. But I do think when you look at the hard data and admit to yourself where you’re weak, you’re acknowledging something about yourself and about the perspective you have. Even though I don’t set goals, I see where I have some holes and I find that I want to do better. Not only does it make me a better reader and a better global citizen, but it helps me better encourage other readers to do the same thing. 

When it comes to the end of the year and reflecting upon your own reading, do you notice any trends? Are there things you wish you did better? Or are there things you’re impressed you did do, even if it didn’t feel like it in the moment? I’d love to hear what you see in a year’s worth of your own reading.

Filed Under: Data & Stats, reading habits, Uncategorized

Critical Reviews & Critical Advocacy

January 21, 2013 |

I’ve blogged before about being authentic. About being critical. About speaking up and not being afraid to not “be nice.” And even though I believe every single one of those things, they’re all things I struggle with regularly, especially when it comes to blogging about books.

In the last couple of weeks, there’s been discussion about critical reviews again. There’s been an interesting phenomenon of people asking how to write them, as well as how to read critically on a broader scale. As new people start blogging and discovering their voices in doing so, it becomes a question of not just the mechanics of writing critical reviews, but a question of how to share that without looking like a jerk or without looking like you’re doing it for some ulterior motive. There’s also the question of how far is too far, how “mean” is too mean, and how much space to dedicate to reading (and thus reviewing) books that weren’t exactly good fits for you as a reader.
This is something I’m still struggling with and maybe something I’m struggling with more now that I’ve been blogging longer and now that I do have a good sense of what I like and do not like in books. When I write out a critical review and post it, I angst about it the entire process. But why is that?
I’ve been thinking about this in light of other things I’ve blogged about. Before delving into that though, maybe it’s worth talking a little bit about my process, since I think anyone who wants to or does write critical reviews may be curious about. It’s quite complex. When I’m reading a book, I don’t take notes. Periodically, I’ll open up a draft email or draft blog post and write down some page numbers if something is rubbing me either positively or negatively. But for the most part, my reviews come a few days after shutting the book and letting it settle in my mind. Many times I’ll write up initial reactions and thoughts on Goodreads, and a lot of that is so when I do turn to write the lengthier review, I have something to look back at and reflect on in terms of initial thoughts (and sometimes that writing can turn my opinion). For the actual writing itself, it’s usually a one draft thing. It takes a couple of hours, since I draft it slowly and edit as I go. I write completely out of order, all of the time (which means that I’ll draft it, then I’ll move things around — I write as things come to me which helps me work through them logically as I see them, rather than as I think them). I tend not to read other blogger reviews of titles, but sometimes I’ll track down professional reviews once I’ve drafted something. I usually do this more for books that didn’t sit well with me, just to see if maybe I missed something huge. The writing process is the same, regardless of whether I really liked the book or I did not like the book. Maybe the most important part of my process, though, is this: I focus solely on the book at hand. There are no outside influences in terms of who the author is, the story of the book’s publication, where it came from, and so forth. Frankly, I don’t care. I write about the book as it came to me, and I am forthright in admitting whatever biases I bring to my own reading experience. But when it comes to who wrote it or what their status is (debut or not, male or female, etc.) it doesn’t matter one bit. 
I’m in it for the book and the book alone. 
A lot of people don’t like writing critical reviews because they don’t like to finish or write about a book they didn’t like. That’s completely fair. But there are also a lot of people who don’t like to write critical reviews because they’re afraid of hurting feelings. That’s where I take some issue. Writing a review isn’t about feelings — we all know there is work involved in the process of writing, revising, and editing a book. There’s a lot more bound up in the book than the pages. The thing is, that is not on the side of the reader/reviewer. 
One part of my process that’s been a struggle for me lately, though, is the one that comes when I schedule and then post a critical review. I angst about it going up. I angst about where it’ll end up. I angst about who will read it and what their response will be. I angst about sharing the post. I angst and angst and angst. 
But why? 
I write reviews for myself and for other readers. I write them for those who are looking for the right book to meet their needs. This is why even in the most critical reviews, I try to offer some sort of read alike or tap into what the reader appeal is. That’s supremely important to me because I know there are blogs I read where I always disagree with the reviewer and it’s in that disagreement where I find books I want to read. It’s also important to me to be critical because that’s just how I read. I’m a detail person. I notice little things and I notice bigger ones, and it’s in those details where the story can be made or broken for me as a reader. I like to blog about it, in part, to know I’m not alone in reading this way or thinking about things in this way. 
The struggle and angst seem to come, though, from the belief that somehow being critical — especially if that means being “mean” in a review — means I’m not advocating for books or reading. And that’s simply not true. Being critical is a high form of advocacy: it’s advocating on the part of the reader. 
With as many books as there are being published, with the way that marketing and publicity handle what are and are not their lead titles, with the way that gatekeepers and readers discover titles, I think it’s crucial to be critical. It’s important to look at every book as simply that: a book. It can be good and it can be bad. That all lies in the taste of the reader. And every single reader approaches and engages with a book at a different level, with different expectations and different biases coloring their reading experience. To think that a critical review isn’t somehow advocacy for reading is to say that reading is a singular experience with a singular purpose. 
It’s been hard for me to remember this sometimes when I do write a critical review or when I spend time finishing and thinking about a book that I did not like. And I think a lot of my struggle comes from the fact that in the last couple of years, I’ve really put myself out there personally on the blog. I’ve talked about things I’m struggling with as an individual, as a blogger/writer, as a librarian, and as a reader. I’ve talked about these things in a way that, I think, let readers in on who I am a lot more than I ever thought I would when this blog began. So when I do write a critical review, it almost feels like I’m undercutting myself in the process. Or maybe it’s not so much undercutting myself but leaving anyone who reads this with the task of separating the personal stuff from the critical reading. The advocate side of me from the actual critical side of me. I have to remember that when I review a book, especially if it’s very critical, that I’m reviewing the book at hand. That same thing is what I hope for in return, too: that when I write a critical review, my words are being read through the eyes of a reviewer and not through the eyes of me on a more personal level. Yes, reviews are personal things and yes, I bring baggage to books. But those are things that allow me to objectively critique a book from the eyes of a reader. 
I still get tangled up in the belief I need to be nice about everything. I don’t. I need to be fair to myself and to other readers. This means remembering I’m allowed to be critical and sharp. That I don’t have to like everything (or anything!). That sometimes the book everyone loves is a book that just doesn’t work for me and that is okay. More than that, though — and this is an interesting trend I’ve picked up on not only in myself but in other bloggers — it’s important to remember there’s no need to apologize for or create excuses for having the opinions that I do. Being critical and having an opinion that may differ from others doesn’t mean being against the crowd. Rather, it’s another shade on the spectrum. This is something I’ve been wrestling with for a long time now, but it’s pretty simple. Just because I don’t agree with something doesn’t mean I can’t still be an advocate for it. Likewise, enjoying something tremendously doesn’t mean that I can’t carry opinions about other aspects of the product or creation that are contrary. 
I can severely dislike a book and still advocate for YA fiction. I can also dislike a book and still advocate for it individually. I can and do still pass it to readers who will find much to enjoy in it. Being critical allows me to think about the reader end of things. But the same feelings go the other way, too. I can love a book and find, say, the author or their behavior frustrating and disingenuous. And that’s not to say I wouldn’t advocate for the book, either. Humans are complex individuals, and one of the biggest benefits of this complexity is the ability to hold and consider differing opinions at the same time and act accordingly.
Because in the end, being critical is about developing the skills necessary to be an advocate. Sometimes, being critical means choosing not to talk about being critical. In my case, though, it means taking the time and effort to advocate for being critical. Being critical, for me, is a means of strengthening my own voice, my own opinions, and my own ability to be clear, direct, and honest. Doing so only helps me be a better advocate for other readers. 

Filed Under: reading habits, Uncategorized

Why Good Readers’ Advisory Matters

September 6, 2012 |

A teen boy came to the reference desk while I was working a couple of weeks ago. He asked me to tell him a good book to read. I knew nothing about the boy, other than he looked maybe 14 or 15.

My first step in answering his question was to ask him more questions: what was the last thing he read that he liked and what kind of books does he usually like? The first question stumped him, but the second question he answered with: I like scary stories and things that are kind of fantasy.

The first author that came to mind was Darren Shan. He writes scary books and they’ve got massive appeal to boys. I led my patron over to the shelf, and that’s when he said to me (before I handed him a Shan book) that the last book he started reading and liking before he had to return it was something to do with Demons. It hit me he was already talking about a Shan series, and I showed him the cover of the first book of the Demonata series — and that was the book he’d returned. He eagerly took it, as well as the next couple of books in the series, and he left the library happy.

It was dumb luck that I struck upon the exact book he’d been reading before, but that I was able to pull out from his description of favorite types of reads Darren Shan was a good hit wasn’t. I asked the teen the questions about what he likes, and from there, I narrowed down a list of potential good fits for his taste. This is called readers’ advisory.

The image above was shared by Molly Backes, and it came to her on a receipt after she purchased a copy of Elizabeth Wein’s Code Name Verity from a bookstore. It’s kind of a neat idea, to suggest other books that the reader might be interested in based on what they’ve just purchased. However, what’s wrong with this image is this: those books have nothing to do with Verity, which is a book about friendship, spying and female piloting during World War II. Monument 14 is a dystopia set in the United States about 14 kids trapped in a big box store. Princesses of Iowa — Backes’s own book — is a contemporary story set in Iowa about a girl who is dealing with fitting back into her popular crowd of friends following a horrific decision of drinking and driving. Never Fall Down is a war book about a teen imprisoned in Cambodia. Second Chance Summer follows a family as they struggle with one member’s illness (there’s a romance here, too). Jersey Angel follows one girl’s sexual awakening on the Jersey Shore.

Not a single one of those books makes a good comparison to Wein’s title. Beyond the obvious fact none are historical, none of them are set in Europe, and none of them tackle friendship in any of the same ways Wein’s title does. None explore spying or piloting, either. The only thing these books have in common is that they were all released on May 8, 2012 (except Monument 14, which was released June 5). This list of “you may also like” is not readers’ advisory. In this capacity, the list is clearly in hopes of selling additional books. From a bookstore’s perspective, readers’ advisory is a great way to make sales — nothing wrong with that, since that’s the bookstore’s purpose — but in this instance, there is no actual readers’ advisory going on here. It’s simply a book list of titles that have nothing to do with one another except similar publication dates. And they all happen to be YA titles.

Readers’ advisory requires a certain skill set to perform well, though by no means is it something limited to librarians. The ways of performing readers’ advisory can be what sets librarians or others in the book industry apart from a friend offering book recommendations, though. It requires being able to ask someone about their reading preferences and being able to interpret their answers (or non-answers as often the case is) with sensitivity to their needs. In other words, what I like to read isn’t what matters; it’s what the person standing in front of me likes to read that matters. The questions I ask revolve around recent favorite reads, favorite genres, and my favorite — things they definitely do not enjoy reading. From there, I’m able to pull from my own knowledge of books or I’m able to do a search on the web or in one of the incredible databases that exist (see the end of this post).

More than that, though, it’s about not judging the readers’ tastes. If a reader comes and asks for read alikes to Wein’s title, I’m not going to tell them how much I didn’t care for Code Name Verity (true story) but instead, I’m going to ask what it was about the book they liked — the setting? The relationships? The spying or piloting? The pace of the book? That it’s not straight foward in narrative structure? From there, I’ll build a list of 4 or 5 possibilities and quickly talk about the qualities those books have and why they might fit the bill. I can gauge pretty well if I’m hitting the mark or not based on their responses and then either I’ll show them where the book is at on the shelf or I’ll try again with other options. Along with not offering judgment based on my feelings about a title, there’s a lot to be said about sensitivity toward the qualities that make a book work for a reader. Someone asking for books similar to Fifty Shades of Grey? Their needs are just as valid and worthy as someone looking for those similar to Wein’s title.

This may just be me, but one of the readers’ advisory questions I get that makes me cringe a little bit is being asked what some of my favorite books are. Knowing my tastes are wide AND specific (in that I’ll read anything that sounds good but I tend to love books that are dark) and knowing I have opinions about books, I tend to redirect those sorts of queries. I like to ask the reader to tell me what they’re looking for instead, and most of the time, they just need a little prodding on my part to get to the real question at hand (that they want a good mystery or something else that I don’t tend to read as widely). That doesn’t mean I keep my tastes out of the question completely — if I’m offering a list of suggested titles and a patron asks if I’ve read/what I’ve thought of them, and I can say something positive, I will. I don’t tend to offer negative opinions.

So why a whole post about readers’ advisory? Because I think it’s a topic that’s important and I think that librarians, bloggers, and anyone who reads widely has a stake in it. They’re interested not only in terms of being a good readers’ advisor themselves, but they’re interested in being recipients of good readers’ advisory. They want to know how to figure out whether the next book they pick up is going to compare to something else and they want to know how to best ask someone how to find a good next read. I think there are a lot of people — professionals and non-professionals — who believe reading culture is a dying thing and it’s not worth investing time or effort into. That people aren’t interested in being hand-sold a book.

I can’t think of anything further from the truth. Not only do I get a host of readers’ advisory questions at the reference desk, I think bloggers themselves provide readers’ advisory services when they write a book review and make comparisons among books. They do it when they put together book lists or talk about the trends emerging in YA books or in genre fiction. I think a lot of people believe reading culture isn’t important because getting a handle on it is tough. It requires work and critical thinking and association. It’s not something you can learn sitting in a classroom or sitting through a workshop. It’s not a one-off task. It requires constant work and constant learning, and maybe most importantly: it requires reading. A lot of reading.

It’s half science and half art. 

Readers’ advisory requires thinking about the elements that make up a story. This includes genre/subgenre, the writing style, the character and the character’s arc, the plot generally and the plot specifically, pacing of a story, format (is it a traditional narrative? Epistolary? Vignettes? A novel in verse?), time period, and so forth. These things aren’t mutually exclusive, either. There are also the non-objective elements of a book that one thinks about when considering it that also are valid aspects of reader’s advisory — is a tear-jerker? Is it steamy? Does it leave you feeling confused? Contented? Are there plot points that stick out in the story as things that might interest readers? I like to note those — so things like road trips, setting (especially if it’s different — a foreign city or a beach or a small Midwest town), non-traditional family structures — tend to be things I hold on to mentally because they can be great go-tos for recommendations and comparisons. Often pulling out these aspects as I’m reading will tell me what books I’ve read before share similar qualities.

I don’t read everything, though, so of course, there are genres and topics in readers’ advisory for which I am at a loss personally. But that’s why librarians and other professional readers have developed tools to make this easier. I love to read through book lists and I love looking them with the hopes of remembering an author or a title that’s similar to something I’ve put many holds on or something I’ve heard of in my own reading. In other words: reader’s advisors don’t read everything. They don’t have to. They just need to read and they need to be comfortable and confident enough to navigate the tools available for them. One of those tools? Other people.

Early on in August, Liz Burns, Sophie Brookover, and myself started thinking about how we could put our interest and passion for readers’ advisory out there for those who themselves are interested in this skill set or who want to become more familiar with it. We thought hosting a weekly chat via Twitter would be worth trying out, and we were blown away with the positive reception in our first three beta chats (which happened during the Olympics, even!). We’re going to bring it back again starting Thursday, September 6, starting at 8 pm Eastern time. The hash tag is #readadv, and we hope you join us. Each week centers around a different theme, though we always have time for more general talk. It’s open to anyone who wants to chat books, recommending books, and strengthening reader’s advisory skills.

I think readers’ advisory is something most readers have an interest in — even if they don’t call it that properly — I thought it’d be worthwhile to share some of the great resources that exist that almost everyone has some access to. This isn’t comprehensive, so if you know of other great readers’ advisory resources, feel free to drop a line in the comments:

  • Novelist: If you work in a library or you are a library patron, I bet you have access to NoveList in some capacity. For non-librarians, look under the electronic resources or databases on your library’s website. When you log into the database, you can search through titles (and read alikes to those titles), you can search by genres, and you can peruse different topical lists. I use NoveList extensively when I don’t know how to approach a genre or author read alike.
  • Books & Authors: Like NoveList, this is a subscription database you might have access to through your library. Same basic idea: you can learn read alikes, find book lists, discover new authors similar to perennial favorites, and so forth. 
  • Readers’ advisory guides (available through ALA): These come in a number of different genres (and formats — there’s an entire guide for graphic novels) and they’re likely available at the public library for those who don’t want to buy them. But they’re set up so you can browse by different categories within genres and find comparative titles. These guides pull out those qualities within a book that stand out.
  • RA for All blog: This is my favorite readers’ advisory blog because not only does Becky talk up many genres with which I’m unfamiliar, but she links to so many other great resources. If you don’t keep this one on hand, you should. 
  • Juvenile Series and Sequels & What’s Next: Both of these databases let you figure out the series books an author’s written and what books would follow or precede in any given series.
  • Good Googling: When all else fails — and admittedly, sometimes my first stop — is to hop on Google and look for book lists developed by other librarians. Want a book like Sara Gruen’s Like Water for Elephants? Try the search string “Like Water for Elephants Read Alikes.” Then look through the lists on library websites. Easy but effective.

Back to the subject of this post, though: why does good readers’ advisory matter? Because getting a list of random books that you might like based on arbitrary qualities like publication date stinks. Because there are millions of books out there, and each one has a reader. Each reader has something they want from a book. Because reading matters, and being able to connecting the reader to his/her book and that book to his/her reader only furthers that. Because there is nothing better than seeing a 14-year-old boy walking out of a library with exactly the kind of book he wants to read because you took the time to listen to what he likes and offer him something that makes him excited about reading.

And the truth is? It’s not hard. It requires being aware of what’s out there, staying invested and engaged in your reading life, and understanding that books — and people — aren’t just widgets.

Filed Under: librarianship, readers advisory, reading habits, Uncategorized

Second quarter reading roundup

July 1, 2012 |

I’d almost forgotten that the second quarter of 2012 finished up yesterday. Since I did it at the end of March, I thought I’d keep up the trend and share (very quick) reviews of every book I read between April 1 and June 30. Some of these are going to have longer reviews to share and some have longer reviews over at Goodreads. I did slightly better on the number of books read this quarter, but I think only because of the readathon weekend.

Starred titles are ones that stood out to me a little bit more than others. 

1. Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein (YA): I get the hype and the acclaim but it didn’t do anything for me as a reader. I was uninterested for the bulk of the story.

2. Beneath a Meth Moon by Jacqueline Woodson (YA): This one needed more development of character and story. But, it will make a great book for more reluctant readers. It melds the story of Hurricane Katrina with a story of meth addiction.

* 3. The Children and the Wolves by Adam Rapp (YA): I think my review says it all. I really loved how dark and far this title went. 

4. Thumped by Megan McCafferty (YA): I dug the sequel to Bumped and loved how well the two stories played off of well-worn tropes in dystopias. Review here.

5. Hemlock by Kathleen Peacock (YA debut): I’m not usually a werewolf reader, but I liked this mystery/paranormal story. Review here.

6. Faking Faith by Josie Bloss (YA): This end-of-2011 title about a girl who pretends to be of a certain religious background to make friends didn’t quite work for me. It needed a little bit more development.

7. The Little Woods by McCormick Templeman (YA debut): This didn’t bring anything new to the new girl at a boarding school storyline. I hoped it would, but ultimately, I figured out the mystery by the end of the first chapter.

8. Monument 14 by Emmy Laybourne (YA debut): No external threat, very off-putting messages about females, and a mega cliffhanger ending did nothing for me. Review here. 

9. After the Snow by S.D. Crockett (YA debut): Liked the idea, but the execution didn’t necessarily work great. I did dig the dialect. Review here.

10. Personal Effects by EM Kokie (YA debut): A story about a boy who has lost his brother to war but hopes to get him back by discovering his past. I liked it, but it wasn’t a favorite in the war genre. Definite appeal, though.

* 11. Long Lankin by Lindsey Barraclough (YA debut): A great traditional horror novel for young adults. There’s a review coming, but I loved how atmospheric this one was.

12. The Stone Girl by Alyssa Sheinmel (YA): An eating disorder book that did absolutely nothing for me as a reader. It’s more than an eating disorder book, since the girl has a catalog of mental illnesses, but ultimately, I didn’t care about her.

13. Tomorrow, When the War Began by John Marsden (YA): I wanted to like this classic of YA and of the genre, but it took forever to get into and at the end, I didn’t feel rewarded.

14. A Midsummer’s Nightmare by Kody Keplinger (YA): My favorite Keplinger to date. There’s a review coming, but it’s a great story about family and shifts therein. The voice is fantastic.

15. Keep Holding On by Susane Colasanti (YA): This felt like an after school special about bullying and I never once bought the main character or her struggle.

16. Sweethearts by Sarah Zarr (YA): The last Zarr book I needed to read, and it was satisfying.

17. Love and Other Perishable Items by Laura Buzo (YA): This Australian import will satisfy older YA readers and adult readers. Great story about love, growing up, and figuring everything out. There’s a longer review coming later this year.

18. Cracked by KM Walton (YA debut): I liked this dually narrated story about a bully and the bullied. Review here.

19. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson (Adult fiction): Getting through this volume took more stamina than I thought it would. But I did it. And decided to pursue the rest of the series.

20. Chalked Up by Jennifer Sey (Adult non-fiction):  I had no idea who Sey was before reading this, but it was recommended to me based on my love for US Gymnastics. Sey’s memoir about being a gymnast kept my attention, but I felt that she came off a little too “poor me” at times.

* 21. Ask the Passengers by AS King (YA): My favorite King book to date, and it’s a great exploration of sexuality. I know Kim dug this one, too.

22. Adaptation by Malinda Lo (YA): A fun scifi story about….aliens. Also touches upon sexuality. And aliens. This one hooked me immediately and kept me going. I’m looking forward to the sequel.

* 23.  Beautiful Music for Ugly Children by Kirstin Cronn-Mills (YA): Another story about sexuality, but this time, it tackles transsexuality. It’s also about music, growing up, hiding your identity and damn, it was good, good, good.

24. Reunited by Hilary Weisman Graham (YA debut): Road trip story, as well as a story about friendship. It was funny, but nothing brilliant. Good for readers who want a light-hearted and fun summer read.

25. Burn for Burn by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian (YA): A revenge tale. Good writing, but I figured out what was going on in the first few pages. Though it twisted a bit and made me second guess my instincts, the end sort of validated my initial thoughts. I will read the sequel in hopes of being toyed with some more.

26. Cat Daddy by Jackson Galaxy (Adult memoir): I love “My Cat from Hell” on Animal Planet and I love Jackson Galaxy. Not brilliant writing by any means, but it made me cry a couple of times.

27. The Opposite of Hallelujah by Anna Jarzab (YA): Great writing and a story about sisters and secrets. The flap copy on this one does nothing for the story — I mean, what happens when your older sister’s been at a nunnery for years and she comes home? And why did she go to the nunnery in the first place?

28. The Girl who Played with Fire by Steig Larsson (Adult): Book two was a little better than book one. Still a fan of Lisbeth here. Especially at the end! Cliffhanger!

29. Drama by Raina Telgemeier (MG graphic novel): Great followup to Smile about a girl who is a drama girl…a behind-the-scenes drama girl, not the one who likes to be on stage. Huge appeal, but it got a little too into the story of having a crush on someone for me as a reader.

30. The Downside of Being Charlie by Jenny Sanchez (YA debut): Being the fat kid was hard for Charlie. I didn’t care for this one much — the dialog felt false, the characters were boring, and I didn’t buy the fat-kid story.

31. Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote (Adult short story): Love! What a dark, complicated character sketch. If you haven’t read this one in a while or your only reference is the movie, pick it up. Capote is a genius.

32. Shadow Bound by Rachel Vincent (Adult fiction): The second in Vincent’s urban fantasy series hooked me with great characters and strong tension and stakes.

33. In Honor by Jessi Kirby (YA): A road trip book, but it’s also an exploration of grief and loss.

* 34. Rats Saw God by Rob Thomas (YA): A YA classic, I think, and I loved every second of it. Might even inspire me to actually watch Veronica Mars one of these days.

35. Quiet by Susan Cain (Adult non-fiction): This was interesting, but I didn’t really learn a whole lot new about introverts and I felt at times Cain made her points about the “power” of introversion by degrading extroverts. And I say that as an introvert.

36. Butter by Erin Jade Lange (YA debut): One of the best books on weight issues in YA I’ve read. I have a review of this one coming later, but it’s a heavy subject tackled very well — even if, at times, it got a tiny bit lesson-y about how bullying is bad.

* 37. Come See About Me by CK Kelly Martin (Adult fiction): Do I need to say more than I said in my review?

38. My Friend Dahmer by Derf Backderf (Adult graphic novel): A fantastic graphic novel about Jeffery Dahmer’s high school life told through the eyes of one of his classmates. Not a sympathetic story but an engaging one nonetheless.

39. Choke by Diana Lopez (MG):  I’ve mostly forgotten this one by now since it was underdeveloped and took a long time to get to the actual “choke game” aspect.

40. Address Unknown by Kressmann Taylor (Adult): A little gem of a book about an American, his non-American friend, and the rise of Nazi Germany. It’s a one-sit reading.

41. Stranger with My Face by Lois Duncan (YA): A classic Duncan but ultimately, it didn’t do much for me.

42. Idaho Winter by Tony Burgess (Adult): What a messed up little story but also a really fun one. The main character is mistreated but he gets his revenge…on the author himself.

43. Safekeeping by Karen Hesse (YA): A modern-day set dystopia. I had some issues with it, but I think the writing, the style, and the twist on the genre will appeal to many readers.

44. Tina’s Mouth by Keshni Kashyap (Adult graphic novel): This was a fun graphic novel about growing up in the midst of more than one culture. A little reminiscent of Persepolis.

45. Narc by Crissa-Jean Chappell (YA): Great male voice, great story about the grit of high school and drugs, totally disappointing and emotionally-empty ending. It was like reading two different stories.

46. Bloody Chester by JT Petty (YA graphic novel): Violence was pretty much all this was. Which, it succeeded at. But it left me really bored. And I don’t mind violence.

47. Off Balance by Dominique Moceanu (Adult memoir): My favorite gymnast shares her story. I totally dug it. I loved how she wasn’t ever once a whiner, and I loved the last two chapters were basically about how screwed up the politics of US Gymnastics are. Perfect reading before the Olympics.

48. The Girl who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest by Steig Larsson (Adult fiction): The final book in the trilogy was probably the most satisfying. Ultimately, I enjoyed the series as a whole and how much Larsson wrote strong females and how that in and of itself was the reason men in the story behaved as they did.

49. Never Enough by Denise Jaden (YA): This took on too many issues and underdeveloped all of them.

* 50. This is Not a Test by Courtney Summers (YA): I reread it on release day and it was every bit as satisfying as I said here. For me, Summers is better on rereads, even if she’s already good on first reads.

* 51. Send Me a Sign by Tiffany Schmidt (YA): I hate cancer books, but this is not a cancer book at all. Huge appeal to Jenny Han fans and those who think the cancer genre is a tired one. There will be a long review coming of this one later on.

52. Holding On To Zoe by George Ella Lyon (YA): I forgot to write this one down in my notebook and rereading the review I wrote on Goodreads reminds me I didn’t care for it at all. I didn’t buy the story or the setting and I figured out the truth of the narrative within pages. Not really a pregnancy story, by the way. So it’s not going to appeal to that readership. 

53. Happier at Home by Gretchen Rubin (Adult non-fiction): I liked this one, but it wasn’t as great as Rubin’s The Happiness Project. What I do love, though, is how much joy Rubin says she gets out of really small things in life, and it makes me happy simply reading it.

I had a two books I didn’t finish this quarter, too: Bethany Griffin’s The Masque of the Red Death and Huntley Fitzpatrick’s My Life Next Door. The first just didn’t feel new or interesting to me and the second never hooked me with the premise.

I think it’s obvious I’ve been in a little bit of a reviewing slump, but many of these titles have reviews sitting in my queue to post. Also, when you read so much, it’s hard to keep up with reviews. Because, you know, you’re reading.

Have you had a favorite so far this year?

Filed Under: reading habits, Uncategorized

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