HAVEN'T READ IT

This past Spring semester, I was also enrolled in a Digital Collections course. As part of our last project, we were tasked with creating a digital collection hosted on Omeka, an open-source web publishing platform. We were asked to find a group or institution that wanted to create a digital collection and help them out. However, I took a bit of a different path. My partner's Uncle Jeff died suddenly last fall. He led a very interesting life, and left a lot of papers behind. I reached out to Jeff's son, Will, and asked him what he thought about digitizing Jeff's archive. Will dropped off a rubbermaid tub full of Jeff's personal and professional writing on my front porch in the middle of a global pandemic. Thank you, Will! Jeff was a real character--he had a career in music journalism and radio, and even spent a short time getting a small record label off the ground. I'm sad he didn't live to finish his memoir of the early punk scene in LA. In addition ...

At my local Chicago Public Library branch, the librarian recently moved all of the graphic novels into a single shelving area by themselves. I was delighted--the graphic novel book club often meets at a table by the new section, so it's easy to browse while we wait for everyone to arrive. The shelves are a little shorter than most, so there is room for displaying graphic novels of all shapes and sizes on top. This change was motivated by growing interest in the format and the club. I felt the change improved findability, encouraged browsing within the niche format, and increased visibility via display space. Although it seems similar on the surface, this situation is different than the case of the northwest Iowa library whose patrons requested books with LGBTQ themes be labeled and separated from the rest of the collection. These patrons asked for a change because they object to the content. They're also taking steps to ensure that the library won't be able to add any mor...

Title: Thugs and the Women who Love Them Author:  Wahida Clark Summary: Preface—I didn’t finish this book. I got about 60 pages in, and that was a generous choice. There was so much gratuitous violence against women in those first 60 pages it made me ill. My summary will only reflect the portion of the book I finished. Major trigger warning for graphic sex and violence. Angel lives in the projects, but she’s doing her best to get out. She’s in law school, but she’s stealing handbags and perfume to pay her bills. She’s also dating Snake, descended from a long line of pimps and a notoriously brutal one, himself. In the first 60 pages alone, he violently beats up 4 different women in public, one of them nearly to death. He beats Angel, too, but she beats back...and he also helps with her mom’s bills and the sex is good. Based on the back cover, the reader will also be introduced to two other women in similarly toxic relationships with violent, lying men: Jaz and Kyra. Urban Fi...

This is the stuff that grinds my gears. Talking about what is "legitimate" art and what isn't. What adults should do and what they should be ridiculed for. So much of this conversation is steeped in the patriarchy, heteronormativity, and people scared that if they have to make room for others who aren't exactly like them, there won't be enough to go around. This conversation seems to echo through history. In some circles, romance still isn't seen as a legitimate genre. YA and Graphic Novels just seem to be latest targets. I don't think it's a coincidence that these genres are largely enjoyed by women and young people. If you are feeling threatened by someone else's reading choices, take a step back and look inside yourself. What is really causing these feelings? Why do you feel the person should not be reading that book? What authority to do you have regarding the choices of others? This is not to say that there aren't harmful books out ther...

The Mushroom at the End of the World by Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing A well-read friend recommended this book to me a few years ago. Unfortunately I got a copy the same year I started this degree, so it's just been sitting on my shelf, waiting for me. I completed the matrix based on what I gleaned from skimming a few sections. Hopefully I get to read it soon! Where is the book on the narrative continuum? This book is a mix of narrative and fact-based prose. What is the subject of the book? By examining the matsutake mushroom's place in global commerce and the reasons why various groups treasure it, Tsing also considers the relationship between "capitalist destruction and collaborative survival." What type of book is it?   I would consider this a book of interconnected essays about a shared topic. In the prologue, the author states that this will be the first book in the "Matsutake Worlds" mini-series, with the three volumes each authored by a differe...

As a child, my family would often drive entire days to reach vacation destinations. I'd invariably bring a stack of print books with me. One trip, we investigated the Harry Potter audiobooks, and the entire car was hooked. My dad still quotes them to this day, attempting his best approximation of Jim Dale's Gilderoy Lockhart or Professor Quirrell. Beyond that, I don't have a lot of personal experience with audiobooks or e-books. If I listen to spoken word, it's usually a podcast. I have an iPad, which I hear is great for graphic novels, but I haven't tried it out for that purpose yet, preferring to restrict its use to schoolwork for now. This is one area where I know I need to do a little research and exploration. (Maybe I'll get a chance as this quarantine situation stretches on.) I've gotten as far as downloading Libby, OverDrive, and RBdigital to my phone. I'll be honest, it's a daunting process, and I consider myself reasonably tech-savvy. The ...

Summary: Kell is an Antari --a blood magician, one of the last--and thus he possesses the power to open doors and travel to and from three different worlds: Grey London, where magic is unheard of, Red London, which reveres magic, and White London, which threatens to destroy itself, like the fallen Black London, in its attempts to control magic lest it be controlled by magic. Kell carries official correspondence between Kings and Queens, but it is forbidden to bring anything else to a world it doesn't belong to. Unfortunately, Kell has a habit of picking up trinkets and trading them. One night, he is tricked into taking a curious black stone across the border of Grey and Red. Then, he gets his pocket picked by Lila Bard, a petty thief from Grey London who dreams of adventure and gets more than she bargained for. Kell and Lila have to team up to keep the black stone from falling into White hands. Fantasy Characteristics: Detailed settings depict another world, often located o...

I attended the Graphic Novel Book Club at the Logan Square branch of the Chicago Public Library. The club meets every two months, usually on a Tuesday from 6:30-7:30. There is no food or drink involved. I’ve attended a few times in the past and had wildly different experiences each time. Honestly, the “don’t know what you’re gonna get” aspect is part of what keeps me coming back, but the highs are pretty high and the lows…are pretty low. I do occasionally wish it was more consistently well-attended. Some weeks it’s only 2-3 people, while others it’s a more comfortable 5-7. The book we read in February was  Bttm Fdrs   by Ezra Claytan Daniels and Ben Passmore. I hadn’t read the book before, but I was able to pick up a reserved copy of it from the branch about 10 days prior and finished it without any issue. In the past I’ve had difficulty finishing the book because the leader tends to pick longer titles. The club is facilitated by the Adult Services librarian, Michael. He’...

For my special topics paper I was interested in exploring book clubs as a tool for social change: It’s primary season in America, and a virus is spreading sickness and panic. Society is contending with homelessness, poverty, the opioid crisis, an influx of immigrants fleeing corrupt regimes, climate change, rising gun violence, and more. Tensions are high, and it can sometimes feel, reading comments on local news stories or watching televised debates, like we have lost our collective ability to relate to one another. The internet promised to make us more connected than ever, but it “seems that, even as our Facebook friend circles expand into the hundreds and even thousands, our real-life circles of comrades and kindred spirits are steadily dwindling” (Olmstead, 2018, para. 5). Places where community can flourish without commodification are scarce. One such “place” is the book club. An estimated five million Americans meet in living rooms, bars, bookstores, online forums, and lib...

Summary: The Ekumen have sent First Envoy Genly Ai to the planet Winter to convince its inhabitants to join mankind in unity. Winter's inhabitants include the Gethenians, who are genderless except during mating cycles, when each can become either male or female. Genly is thrust into an alien sociopolitical world with strange rules and shifting loyalties. When Estraven, the King's Ear and the closest thing Genly has to an ally, is unexpectedly banished from the Domain, Genly's hopes of easily persuade the mad King of Karhide to join the Ekumen are dashed. In order to accomplish his singular goal, Genly must journey to the ends of Winter: to ask a question of a group of spiritual foretellers, court a rival civilization full of spies and double-crossers, survive imprisonment and interrogation at a Farm, and finally, cross the treacherous Ice of Winter with Estraven the Traitor. Science Fiction Characteristics: Explore moral, social, intellectual, philosophical, and et...

The reading I most wanted to respond to this week was Jo Walton's SF reading protocols  post on Tor.com. I've never really gotten into Science Fiction, but it's not for lack of trying. I end up feeling confused for the first 150 pages, which is enough to make me abandon a book altogether these days. (Stay tuned for my annotation of Ursula K. Le Guin's The Left Hand of Darkness  later this week.) I appreciated this post for recognizing that my frustrations with SF are not related to lack of intelligence or effort. I just haven't developed the same tools as readers who have engaged with SF since childhood. I don't know when to wonder or ask questions about a detail, or when to "skitter over the surface" of an info-dump the same way my SF fan peers do. I saw myself in that description, for sure. However, my problem with the article is that it heavily implies, and at least at one point outright states, that someone "who doesn't have the skills...

Dating is different today than it was a generation ago. Thanks to the internet and the proliferation of personal electronic devices, apps and websites connect two people who might have never crossed paths in real life. Reading plays a big role in finding Mr./Ms. Right—you can read profiles to get to know someone before you even say hello. I propose a passive promotion display of romance novels with fake online dating profiles for characters stylized like Tinder, OKCupid, Hinge, Grindr, Match, Plenty of Fish, etc. Here’s an example for the romance I just reviewed: These profiles will be cut out and glued to a construction paper backing, and then either posted on a bulletin board space, or peeking out of the books themselves. We can also use these images on the library’s social media accounts throughout the month of February, including a link to the book in our catalog. I could include integrated advisory by making profiles for popular movie and television characters, as well, ...

Summary: Maggie Concannon is a talented glassblower with a temper as hot as her furnaces. Rogan Sweeney is a smooth talking, blue-blooded businessman with a knack for discovering emerging artists and championing them in his world-renowned galleries. The two couldn’t be more different—heart vs. head, Clare vs. Dublin, struggle vs. family wealth, fire vs. water—so when they meet, sparks fly. After enduring her parents’ loveless marriage, which left her father dead and her mother with a bitter contempt for her daughters, Maggie swore she would never let passion get in the way of her dreams. But Rogan’s not used to letting what he wants slip away, and it is Maggie he wants most of all. Romance Characteristics: An emotional tone draws readers into the love story. They can be lighthearted or brooding and tense. Maggie’s father dies suddenly in the first chapter, which I think has the effect of pulling in the reader and making them root for her success in light of her struggles and he...

Title:   Bttm Fdrs Authors: Ezra Claytan Daniels and Ben Passmore An alternate reality Chicago creature feature with the social commentary of  Us , this carnival-colored graphic novel finds symbiosis in a fresh, new genre: Gentrification Horror. When Darla moves into her first apartment—an old animal testing lab cum industrial artist’s loft in the Bottomyards, she thinks she’s found a cheap place to live while she works on her clothing line. The Bottomyards are so far south Darla can’t trust the CTA, her scheming landlord Gene, the creepy ComEd guy who seems to be stalking her, or her best friend Cynthia, an oblivious white woman who is only interested in coming over to Darla’s place when she learns local ironic DJ Plymouth Rock lives in the building, too. On her first night in the building, she meets original tenant Katherine and her traumatized adult son Chucky, who laments the building’s rising rent as she packs for a move to the suburbs. “Everything is a ...

This assignment hits close to home, because I’ve been on the other side of trade reviews as a book publicist (it was a lot less glamorous than it sounds—trust me). Although, I will say that even when the books I repped got dragged by   Kirkus   or another review source, we were often able to eke out a phrase or two that still made it onto the book’s publicity materials. The worst was no coverage at all! A big part of that job was managing author expectations. Everyone thought their book had a shot at the   New York Times  bestseller list. Librarians rely on reviews for collection development, because no one can read everything, or be aware of every book that is published. Reviews from reliable sources help librarians make decisions quickly and with the highest probability that the book will be well-received by readers in their communities. After familiarizing yourself with review publications, you begin to get a sense of their individual personalities—what the...

For the Secret Shopper assignment, I asked the new librarian at my CPL branch for a Fantasy recommendation. The book I chose at the beginning of this class is a Patrick Rothfuss title that is 600+ pages long, and while I’m eager to read it eventually, I also wouldn’t mind a shorter option.  I told Justin that I was looking for a fantasy novel for a class. I told him it had to be a book for adults and that I have very little experience with the genre. I read the Harry Potter series, but had trouble getting into Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones. I told him about the Rothfuss book and how I would prefer something shorter. His first question was, “what do you like to read?” He asked what I meant by “fantasy—do you mean dragons and wizards?” I replied that I was open to high fantasy but I wanted the book to be purely fantasy if possible, and not a blend of multiple genres. Thinking about the interaction from Justin’s point of view, it has to be difficult to “respond to the shiftin...

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! The fourth book in the series is called  The Lunatic Café . 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 noticed  Where the Crawdads Sing  by Delia Owens was in the read-alikes sidebar for  Prodigal Summer . That could be one recommendation, if the library has any copies available—I know this one has been popular so there might be a long holds list. I’d also recommend  The Stars are Fire  by Anita Shreve because it sounds like it starts with some intense action, but still has the lyrical aspect the patron enjoyed. 3.    ...