Reader's Advisory Blog

Author: Trevor Noah Title: Born a Crime Publication date: November 15, 2016 Number of pages: 304 Geographic setting: South Africa Time period: 1990s Subject headings: Noah, Trevor--1984-.Comedians--Biography. Television personalities--Biography. Type: Biography, Memoir Series notes: N/A Book summary: As the current host of The Daily Show , Trevor Noah is broadcast into millions of homes, sharing his specific worldview and experience with them. And despite "apartheid Africa" being a familiar idea, many know little to nothing about the lives of those who lived under it. As a mixed child, the son of a white Swiss man and black Xhosa woman, born in Johannesburg, Noah's very existence was illegal. In this episodic memoir, Noah recounts his sometimes violent upbringing with his signature wit and self-deprecation, sparing little detail or embarrassment. He tells of having to hide away when seeing his white father and having to pretend to be the nanny's...

In some ways, whether a book is an ebook or an audiobook shouldn't affect the appeal factors too much. The book itself--the words that were written--don't change between formats. However, realistically, how a reader ingests a book is going to make a big difference in their experience with it. I think this is more heavily affected in audiobooks than in ebooks, though. Because an audiobook is produced by a group of people, their decisions of a narrator and/or cast, music, and direction are integral to the quality of the reader's experience. As Kaite Mediatore says in "Reading With Your Ears: Readers' Advisory and Audio Books," "a poor match between the pace of the story and the pace the narrator uses can cause a reader to stop listening to an audio book. Clyde Edgerton's Walking Across Egypt is narrated by Norman Dietz. Even though the book's southern setting and small town characters warrant a narration slower than that of a thriller, Dietz is to...

The Alienist by Caleb Carr (Dr. Laszlo Kreizler #1) Synopsis: It's 1896 in New York City and someone is killing and mutilating boy prostitutes. The police want nothing to do with the murders of the least of city's denizens, but Theodore Roosevelt, the newly appointed police commissioner, is determined to bring the person responsible to justice. So he enlists his friends Dr. Laszlo Kreizler, a well-known (and largely disliked) psychologist, and John Moore, a crime beat reporter, to investigate--unbeknownst to anyone else in the department. Kreizler seeks to do something no one has ever done: create a portrait of the killer using the evidence and inference--then find the man who fits that profile. However, it's not just time and the killer they're racing against, as the city's crime bosses don't want anyone snooping in their business and even the police interfere, fearing the loss of their income through pay offs and illegal dealings. And as Kreizler and Moo...

For my book club observation, I visited the book club my mom runs. She has run it for at least six to seven years, and while it’s something I’ve been aware of and made suggestions for books to read for, I’ve never actually been to a meeting. This is in large part because of when they meet—midday on the first Friday of the month—and what they read, which is not to my taste for the most part. I didn’t have time ahead of the meeting to read the book, so I simply observed, and I made them aware that I was observing for a class assignment. This was because they all know me and would think it odd if I showed up to a meeting and didn’t participate. The group meets in the parlor at our church, a mid-sized, comfy room with couches and armchairs scattered in a loose circle around the room. My mom, the creator of the group, normally prepares a snack, which is most often a coffee cake or something similar, and sets up coffee and water to drink. This is all set along a sidebar in the room, for pa...

For my special topics paper, I wrote about book packagers, an aspect of publishing most people don't know about. The American Book Producers Association equates a book packager to an indie film, where a small company puts together a movie and seeks distribution for it. The little guy did all the creative work, but the larger company is the one that puts it in theaters and handles the marketing. That is largely the same for a book packager. In most instances, the packager handles the creative aspect--the story, editing, writing, production--and the publisher takes the product, puts their name on it, and sends it out into the world. Book packaging is far from a new idea. As early as 1899, Edward Stratemeyer produced the Rover Boys series and would later publish the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew books as well. The Sweet Valley High series was as a result of packager, 17th Street Productions, which later became Alloy Entertainment--which is responsible for the Gossip Girl, Vampire Diar...

You come in my Barnes & Noble for any period of time, you'll hear one of us complain about James Patterson. The gist is that he's got so many books coming out that it feels like there's at least one a week. Realistically, it's closer to one a month, probably less. His books also release on Monday, a day earlier than the rest of publishing, so it's extra effort at the beginning of the week, instead of when you're already doing new releases. They always go directly onto bestsellers and live on promotions for weeks after. In my store, his books take up more than an entire bay (approximately 5 shelves, 4 feet long). We don't get reasonable numbers of them, either. Instead of the 15 or so we may sell in the first week, we get triple that, so we're sitting on ridiculous numbers of books by Patterson. And then we all lament that he doesn't actually write them, and want to know why people continue to buy them, when a "James Patterson" book is...

Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters Synopsis: Miss Amelia Peabody is a spirited single woman of a certain age in possession of keen intellect and disposable income. Her curiosity and upbringing lead her to an interest in Egypt, and as the country is under British protection, she undertakes a journey, picking up a companion in Evelyn Barton-Forbes--the destitute, scandalized granddaughter of an earl, who has been abandoned by a lover in Italy. The two soon meet the Emerson brothers, who are excavating a site at Amarna. Not long after the ladies' arrival, a mummy appears and begins to antagonize then! Amelia can't imagine that the apparition is truly the dead revived, but how can they prove such a fact when all clues point to the supernatural? Characteristics of mysteries: Solving of a crime drives the plot:  While no explicit crime has been committed by the mummy at the outset, it attempts multiple times to commit crimes and succeeds, including trapping ch...

I love a good theme, so when I sit down to read a book, I pick music to listen to that matches it. Often, I'm then in the mood for a movie that goes along with it. For example, if I'm reading a historical romance, I may pick the Pride & Prejudice soundtrack to go with it. Then, I probably want to watch Lost in Austen  or North & South . And even if the time periods don't all quite match up, it's all got a similar feel. So, for a display, I'd propose to setup, perhaps, a themed weekend binge--in this case, the romance edition. Each book (or books, if I wanted to suggest a series, for the fast reader!) would be accompanied by a movie and a music selection, all that work together in some way. For example: I'll suggest Sarah MacLean's Scandal & Scoundrel series: And for music, I'll suggest either a collection of Mozart (because Sarah MacLean says on her website that she listens exclusively to classical music while writing--and...

Lucia, Lucia by Adriana Trigiani Synopsis: Lucia Sartori is the belle of Greenwich Village--the most beautiful girl in the neighborhood, only daughter of a prosperous grocer, a talented seamstress at the posh B. Altman's, and engaged to the handsome Dante DiMartino. Her orderly life is upended when she ends her engagement because Dante's mother would make her leave her beloved job upon their marriage. Lucia dreams of a big life, and seems to get one when she falls in love with John Talbot, a wealthy, though secretive, businessman who treats her to the luxury-filled life she hopes for. But when she is left at the altar and learns the secrets of John's life, in addition to her mother falling ill, Lucia has to pick up the pieces and choose between following her dreams or dedication to the family she loves so deeply.  Characteristics of gentle reads: Old-fashioned tone:  Lucia is raised in a traditional Italian family. Their values, while not always representative of...

Beyond Scandal & Desire by Lorraine Heath First book of A Sin For All Seasons series Synopsis: Mick Trewlove was born in sin, the bastard of a duke, and given away, seemingly never to be heard from again. However, Mick has fashioned himself into a man to be reckoned with—a highly successful businessman who members of the ton scramble to invest in. All of this power is a means to an end: revenge on the man who sired him. He intends to destroy the duke’s legitimate son, taking his income and stealing away his intended. However, Mick didn’t plan on Lady Aslyn Hastings. She’s beautiful, kind-hearted, and adventurous, and Mick can’t help but be drawn in by the women he is supposed to seduce. And Aslyn feels the same; despite her betrothal, she can’t help but keep meeting Mick and falling in love with him. But when the truth comes out, will their relationship withstand the beating? Characteristics of romance: Easily identifiable types: Mick is a confident, capable, stron...