Science Fiction Book Talks

One Wednesday morning, Sept 24th, there was a RATraining book talks session for the Science Fiction genre. The titles talked about were:

 Redshirts by John Scalzi 
Sheri K (DE) really liked the book even though she is not a science fiction reader. When she learned it was read by Wil Wheaton (who also read Ready Player One, the RAT Round 4 Science Fiction benchmark), she borrowed the audio version from St. Louis County! [ NOTE to self: need to order the audio book for SCCCLD... :-) ] The story revolves around a TV show called "SSS Intrepid" and is a spoof of  the original Star Trek television series. Sheri said you don't have to be a science fiction fan to enjoy the book, would highly recommend it to anyone, and thought YA readers would like Red Shirts as well. Sheri's full review has been posted on the SCCCLD Book Challenge.

Hull Zero Three by Greg Bear  
Lisa K (KR) read and listened to the book; with the audio version, she occasionally found the dialogue hard to follow. The book starts out with no background build up - a young man wakes up from a frozen state, trying to pull himself free from a pod while being encouraged to hurry by a young girl, and proceeds from there. He is in one of three sections (hulls) of an enormous space ship, each of which wakes up at a different time. But things have gone wrong ... The story is written from the main character's point of view and the  author does a good job of tying everything together. Lisa said the book is very Sci-Fi oriented but believes Young Adults would find it interesting as well. Lisa's full annotation/review is also to be posted on the SCCCLD Book Challenge.

 Archetype by M.D. Waters
Although Sue D (MK & Float) was unable to be at the book talks session she posted about her Science Fiction title on the SCCCLD Book Challenge.



A book talk for After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall by Nancy Kress will be posted soon to the SCCCLD Book Challenge blog by Michelle N (CP). 


Other Science Fiction book talk posts will be linked from Tales from the RAT Queen to their entries on SCCCLD Book Challenge as they show up on the blog.

Science Fiction Book Talks from SCCCLD Book Challenge

Searching the 'Blog Archive' on our SCCCLD Book Challenge I found a some entries from staff for Science Fiction titles posted in 2011. Click on a title to read what your co-workers had to say about these books:




 Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Matched by Ally Condie 

 Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Watch for links to other Science Fiction entries from the 'Blog Archive' of our SCCCLD Book Challenge in future posts. :-)

Romance Book Talks

The Readers' Advisory Training program will hold a Romance book talks session on Wednesday, June 25th. The meeting, which is open to all staff, will be held at the Kisker Road Branch and begins at 9:00 AM.

Book talks are a great (and quick) way to learn about titles in any genre. Come on over to Kisker, share tips and/or insights into this VERY popular genre, and listen to your co-workers talk about the Romance titles they recently read!  

A list of some of the titles which may be book talked is available under the Book Talk Titles tab. 

Book Talks Meeting - HORROR

On Wednesday, October 30 (the day before Halloween!) we had our first book talks meeting. Everyone came to talk about the 'other' Horror title they read for this section of the genre study program. Book talks give everyone a chance to learn more about the genre by hearing about other titles representative of that genre. It also gives everyone a chance to practice their book talking skills! :-)

The titles talked about were:

Joyland by Stephen King - Classic Stephen King, similar to his early titles. Listened to it on CD and really enjoyed the narration by Michael Kelly.

Red Rain by R. L. Stine - Yes, the guy who wrote the Goosebumps books! Blurb on the back makes it sound more scary than it is. Might be a good suggestion for someone new to Horror or as an Adult / YA crossover.

Let the Dead Sleep by Heather Graham - First in a series. Some readers might consider it more of a paranormal romance with a Southern setting rather than Horror.

Breed by Chase Novak - Enjoyed the book, although at first wasn't sure would be able to keep reading because the combination of genetic engineering and infertility was creepy. But stuck with the story and glad of it.

Wide Open by Deborah Coates - A murder mystery with some witchcraft and/or an ancient evil and an interesting female leader character. Never really learned what the title meant though ... :-)

Charlotte Markham and the House of Darkling by Michael Boccacino - Another interesting female lead and premise but not sure if it completely followed through on it's promise.

The Wolf Gift by Anne Rice - Rice has created another character, like her vampire Lestat, who glories in being a monster; this time - a werewolf!

Doctor Sleep by Stephen King - LOVED IT! The return of Danny Torrance from The Stand, all grown up but still dealing with his 'gift.' Only complaint - that it had to end! :-)

A few of the annotations for these Horror titles have already been posted by the participants. Scroll down to see them and keep watching for the rest! :-)



The next genre, Literary Fiction, was announced and copies of the benchmark title, The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson, were available. Information about this title can be found by clicking on the Benchmarks tab.