Genre Study Program - SCIENCE FICTION

Just in time for the 2014 Hugo Award Winners to be announce, the Readers' Advisory Training Genre Study program is beginning it's sessions on Science Fiction!

The benchmark for the SF book discussion is FORTUNE'S PAWN by Rachel Bach. It is a fast-paced, military sci-fi, adventure story featuring a "tough, sexy, armor-clad space chick ..." (Kirkus Reviews)

NoveList description: "When professional mercenary Deviana Morris took the security guard job aboard the Glorious Fool, all she wanted was a fast route into the Devastators --- the elite league of armored fighters entrusted with the most important duty on her home planet of Paradox."

The science fiction book discussion will take place on Wednesday, August 27 starting at 9:00 AM in Room 112 at General Administration. Any SCCCLD staff who are interested in reading Fortune's Pawn, copies are available for checkout on the district catalog (book or CD spoken) or by contacting Lucy, the RAT Queen at: llockley@stchlibrary.org

For more information about Fortune's Pawn look under the Benchmarks tab.

Genre Study Program - ROMANCE

On Wednesday, May 28, 2014, the Readers' Advisory Training program will begin its study of the Romance genre. The benchmark title is DARK WITCH by Nora Roberts and participants will be listening to the  audiobook version read by Katherine Kellgren.

Dark Witch is the first in the author's 'Cousin's O'Dwyer' trilogy and centers on the youngest cousin from America. Iona Sheehan has come to Ireland in search of Irish ancestors and hopes to learn more about some mysterious and uncontrolled powers she seems to have inherited from the O'Dwyer's. Little does Iona know that there is an ancient family curse and romance waiting for her as well. 

For more about Dark Witch check under the Benchmarks tab and scroll down to the section on ROMANCE.

Genre Study Program - LITERARY FICTION

The next genre (or non-genre, if you will) we will be covering is Literary Fiction! This is the area of fiction with the most awards and reviews as well as the type of titles which appear on many Best of ... lists. Literary titles also are often the book of choice for discussion groups.

Our benchmark title for Literary Fiction is Adam Johnson's award-winning The Orphan Master's Son. Johnson's book won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Literature and was also an ALA Notable Books: Fiction category choice for 2013. It covers a very timely topic, taking place and dealing with life in North Korea under the regime of Kim Jong II.

In an article for NoveList, titled Getting Up to Speed in Literary Fiction, David Carr describes the genre as follows: "Literary Fiction renders the life experiences and personal perspectives of characters in the midst of complex situations and conflict over values and relationships. Tensions typically involve finding ways to respond and cope, and to understand the origins of those problems. In Literary Fiction, resolutions do not come easily, and the reading experience often evokes related issues of character, family, ethics, memory, faith, and forgiveness."

The Online book discussion for the Literary Fiction benchmark will begin on Wednesday, November 13 and run through Tuesday, November 19. Watch for a question to be posted on the blog each day. The book discussion meeting will be held on Wednesday, November 20 in Room 112 at the General Administration office.

For more information about The Orphan Master's Son look under the Benchmarks tab.

Genre Study Program - HORROR

The first genre we will be learning more about is Horror. Yes, I know, not everyone's cup of tea but there's HORROR (very scary and descriptive with blood, gore, sex, etc ..) and there's 'horror' (more psychological and/or easier to take for those who may be a bit squeamish). 

Customers needing help with readers' advisory may ask about any genre (or sub genre) so it can be VERY useful to have, at least, a grounding in each genre area, including Horror.  :-)

To try and make this genre perhaps more palatable, I chose a short story collection as the Horror benchmark title; a first for the RA Training program! The book discussion selection is 20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill and because the benchmark is a short story collection, you can read one story at a time if you wish ... :-).

Check out under Benchmarks for more information about Joe Hill's 20th Century Ghosts.