html> Ex Libris--an E-Zine for Librarians and Information Junkies -- issue 103 http://marylaine.com/exlibris/xlib103.html

Ex Libris: an E-Zine for Librarians

#103, June 22, 2001

BOOK REVIEW: THE READERS' ADVISORY GUIDE TO GENRE FICTION

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Guru Interviews

  1. Tara Calishain
  2. Jenny Levine, part I
  3. Jenny Levine, Part II
  4. Reva Basch
  5. Sue Feldman
  6. Jessamyn West
  7. Debbie Abilock
  8. Kathy Schrock
  9. Greg Notess
  10. William Hann
  11. Chris Sherman
  12. Gary Price
  13. Barbara Quint
  14. Rory Litwin

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Or at least on this page, anyway? I'd like to print here your contributions as well as mine. As you've noticed, articles are brief, somewhere between 200 and 500 words -- something to jog people's minds and get their own good ideas flowing. I'd also be happy to run other people's contributions to the regular features like Favorite Sites on _____. I'll pay you the same rate I pay me: nothing.

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Cool Quotes

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When and How To Search the Net






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My page on all things book-related. NEW STUFF ADDED in August

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The directory I built for O'Keefe Library, St. Ambrose University, still my favorite pit stop on the information highway.

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Subject Index to My Word's Worth at
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Neat New Stuff I Found This Week
June 22: cowboys, Elvis, , inventions, skyline webcams, and more.

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My resume

http://marylaine.com/
resume.html
Or why you might want to hire me for speaking engagements or workshops. To see outlines for presentations I've done, click on Handouts

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What IS Ex Libris?

http://marylaine.com/
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The purpose and intended scope of this e-zine -- always keeping in mind that in response to readers, I may add, subtract, and change features.

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Highlights from Previous Issues:



My Rules of Information

  1. Go where it is
  2. The answer depends on the question
  3. Research is a multi-stage process
  4. Ask a Librarian
  5. Information is meaningless until queried by human intelligence
  6. Information can be true and still wrong


REVIEW: THE READERS' ADVISORY GUIDE TO GENRE FICTION

by Joyce G. Saricks. American Library Association, 2001. 0-8389-0803-9. $38.00 (ALA member price $34.20, ordered direct, 800 545 2433 press 7)

Saricks, the award-winning librarian who for many years has coordinated the readers' advisory service at Downers Grove Public Library, has outlined here a method for librarians who want to do a better job of helping readers find books that match their needs and interests, and, better yet, books they will love.

Genre, she points out, is a fluid sort of thing that leaks at the boundaries -- where does romance become romantic suspense, thriller turn into horror, and fantasy blend into science fiction? Furthermore, even if we can clearly define characteristics of each genre (which she does), that doesn't tell us the elements in genre books that appeal to individual readers. Are they charmed by a particular kind of heroine? Do they care as much (or more) about literary style as they do about plot? If they loved Stephen King's The Stand, was it because of the suspense, or the horror, the grand battle between ultimate good and evil, or the philosophical musings of its characters? A careful readers' advisory librarian will try to match for these kinds of considerations as well as for just genre.

That's why for each genre she tackles, Saricks presents a working definition of the genre, analyzes its appeal in terms of plot, characterization, pacing and frame, and identifies subgenres like cozy mysteries and futuristic romance. She also suggests benchmark writers in each genre (as we all know, readers will often ask us for authors "like Clive Cussler" or "like Nora Roberts").

Most interesting, though, is her set of suggestions for each genre. First she suggests books WITHIN the genre that have specific kinds of appeal, for instance, romance writers to try if you enjoy adventure, fantasy, inspirational, literary, thriller, etc. Secondly she suggests books to expand readers' horizons BEYOND their normal genre boundaries, on the basis of the same kinds of appeal -- mystery readers, for instance, are referred to literary fiction by Martin Cruz Smith, "gentle" fiction by Dorothy Gilman, romantic suspense by Iris Johansen, suspense by John Sandford, etc.

The problem for readers' advisory librarians is that there's no way any of us can be familiar with the whole range of popular fiction; some of us may even consider entire genres repellent (not everybody has the stomach for horror or romance). That's why she also suggests reference resources for every genre, and a method for librarians: the five-book challenge. She suggests five books that exemplify the range of each genre, and challenges librarians to use these books to familiarize themselves with one new genre each year. She also suggests that each librarian keep track of book recommendations readers themselves make, and the nature of their appeal. Finally, each readers' service librarians should have a list ready at hand of "sure bets."

This is a fine resource. Its hundreds of fully described recommended titles left me jotting endless notes to myself about books to pick up at the library. In fact, the only quarrel I have with it is the absence of internet resources in the listed reference resources.

Saricks explains the reasoning behind this, the dread of sending people to 404 error messages in the fast-changing world of the net, but that's a problem that should be solved by referring readers to a web page for the book, where internet reference sources, of which there are many, are linked and updated as needed. At a bare minimum Morton Grove Public Library's Readers' Services (http://www.webrary.org/rs/rsmenu.html) and the Fiction-L booklist site (http://www.webrary.org/rs/FLbklistmenu.html) should have been mentioned. The supplemntary web page is becoming the norm for reference publishing, and ALA is behind the curve in not doing this.

Nonetheless, this valuable and interesting book should be required reading for anybody working with readers' advisory services or preparing genre reading lists for brochures or web pages. It's also likely that readers will want to browse through the book's recommendations themselves.

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COOL QUOTE

"Summer reading" is a defensive attitude. Hey, I'm on vacation. I don't gotta beat my way through the sentences of Henry James with a machete and a headlamp. I am not required to endure metafiction so I can understand the future of the novel . . . Nothing translated from the Polish! I'm getting a tan here!

Both statistics and common sense indicate that reading patterns do not change that much, season by season. What you read in December is more or less what you read in July. But in winter, we can keep our book stack safely private, next to the bed. In summer, we have to lug it onto airplanes or have it next to us on the beach. We need a way of saying, "I am not really this kind of person," when in fact we are that kind of person.

Jon Carroll. "The Books of Summer." San Francisco Chronicle, June 10, 2001. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/
chronicle/archive/2001/06/10/RV132980.DTL

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Ex Libris: an E-Zine for Librarians and Other Information Junkies.
http://marylaine.com/exlibris/
Copyright, Marylaine Block, 2000.

Publishers may license the content for a reasonable fee.